How much does a KYC cost?
Public identity-check prices can be below $2, but the useful number is total vendor and review cost divided by approved customers.
Direct answer
A KYC price is not one number
For a dated public benchmark, Veriff lists $0.80 per verification for Essential, Sumsub lists $1.35 for Basic and $1.85 for Compliance, and Stripe Identity lists $1.50 for a completed document-and-selfie verification. Those prices do not describe the same bundle.
The real KYC cost also includes minimum commitments, billable retries, screening and address checks, vendor review, internal analyst time, implementation, and unused capacity. Divide that total by approved customers. Modeled at 2,500 monthly applicants with an 82% approval rate and 7% manual review, those same public rates come out to $1.41–$2.42 per approved customer — roughly 1.3–1.8× the list price.
Public KYC prices are only the floor
- Confirm whether the charge is triggered by a session, attempt, completed check, or approved customer.
- Separate included checks from paid add-ons; a document check is not automatically an AML screening bundle.
- Model the monthly minimum at realistic low, expected, and peak volume.
- Add internal exception handling even when vendor manual review is included.
Calculate KYC cost per approved customer
Use: (vendor invoice + internal review labor + known implementation allocation) / approved customers. Keep fraud losses and acquisition spend separate unless the same cohort and time period support them.
Continue the research
Related KYC answers and working guides
Evidence
Sources and scope
Official Essential, Plus, and Premium prices, minimums, and optional screening charges.
Official Basic and Compliance plan prices, minimum commitments, inclusions, and billing notes.
Official completed-verification price and product scope.