If you are building anything in India that touches money, identity or regulated data, you will hit the KYC question early. Usually it arrives the week before launch, when someone realises the signup flow needs to verify a PAN, pull an Aadhaar-based record or match a selfie to an ID.
The good news is that you no longer have to build any of this yourself. A whole category of API providers now handles identity checks for you, from simple PAN lookups to full video KYC. The less good news is that they are not interchangeable. They differ in what they cover, how they are priced, how they handle data and how they behave at 11 p.m. on a Saturday when your traffic spikes.
2026 also raises the stakes a little. The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules were notified in November 2025, with obligations phasing in over 18 months until May 2027. Since January 2025, amended Aadhaar authentication rules have also let approved non-government entities use Aadhaar authentication, which has widened the set of businesses exploring identity checks. Picking a KYC partner is now as much a compliance decision as an engineering one.
So before we get to the list, let’s talk about how to judge these providers in the first place.
What to look for in a KYC API
Every vendor’s website will tell you they are fast, accurate and compliant. Here are the questions that actually separate them.
1. Does it fit your regulatory category? A lending NBFC, a stockbroker, an insurer and a gaming app all have different KYC obligations. RBI-regulated entities follow the RBI’s KYC Master Direction, which has allowed Video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) since January 2020. SEBI and IRDAI have their own rules. Ask each vendor which regulated businesses already use them for your exact use case.
2. Which verification methods does it support? The common building blocks in India are PAN verification, Aadhaar OTP-based eKYC, offline Aadhaar XML, DigiLocker document fetch, Central KYC (CKYC) search and download, bank account verification (penny drop), face match with liveness, and video KYC. Few startups need all of them on day one. But switching providers later to add one is painful, so look at the full menu.
3. How does it fail? Government data sources go down or slow down. A good provider tells you clearly when an upstream source is unavailable, rather than returning a vague error your users interpret as “you failed verification”. Ask about uptime history, fallbacks and how they report incidents.
4. How is data stored and for how long? Under the DPDP framework, you remain responsible for personal data you collect, even when a vendor processes it for you. Check where data is hosted, how long the vendor retains it, whether Aadhaar numbers are masked, and what certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2) they hold.
5. What will it really cost? Most providers price per API call, sometimes with a platform fee. Model your cost per successfully onboarded user, not per check, because retries and failed attempts add up.
6. How good is the developer experience? A clean sandbox, honest documentation and responsive support will save you weeks. Ask for sandbox access before you sign anything.
8 KYC and identity verification APIs worth evaluating
These providers are listed alphabetically, not ranked. The “right” one depends entirely on your use case. Feature details come from each provider’s public documentation as of October 2026, so confirm specifics directly before you integrate.
1. Decentro
Decentro is a Bengaluru-based API platform founded in 2020 and part of Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 batch. Its KYC and onboarding APIs include Aadhaar OTP-based KYC, DigiLocker integration, CKYC search, download and upload, face match and document classification. It also offers payments APIs such as UPI collections, virtual accounts and payouts.
Worth a look if: you want identity checks and money movement from the same provider. As with any multi-product platform, test the specific KYC module you need in the sandbox.
2. Cashfree Payments (Secure ID)
Cashfree is best known as a payment gateway, but its Secure ID suite is a full verification stack. It covers Aadhaar, PAN, driving licence, voter ID and passport checks, along with face match and liveness, bank account verification (including reverse penny drop), GST verification, DigiLocker, eSign and video KYC.
Worth a look if: you already use Cashfree for payments and would rather keep vendors to a minimum.
3. Digio
Digio focuses on Aadhaar-based eKYC and electronic signatures (eSign). It is also widely used for digital mandates, which makes it a common pick for lending journeys that need KYC, a signed loan agreement and a repayment mandate in one flow.
Worth a look if: you run a lending or investment product where signing and mandates sit right next to KYC.
4. HyperVerge
HyperVerge, founded in 2014 and based in Bengaluru, built its reputation on face recognition. Its products cover digital KYC, video KYC, face match with liveness checks, and face-based authentication and de-duplication. In 2026 it was named one of two winners of the government’s IndiaAI Face Authentication Challenge.
Worth a look if: selfie-based verification, video KYC or duplicate-account detection is central to your flow.
5. IDfy
Founded in 2011, IDfy covers individual KYC, business verification (KYB) and employee background verification under one roof.
Worth a look if: you also need to verify delivery partners, gig workers or employees, not just customers.
6. Perfios (including Karza)
Perfios acquired Karza Technologies in 2022 and offers a large set of KYC and KYB APIs alongside its financial data and analytics products.
Worth a look if: you are a lender who wants identity verification and underwriting data from one place.
7. Setu
Setu, owned by Pine Labs, is known for clean developer-first APIs. Its eKYC API creates a verification link the customer completes, after which your system fetches the result. It also offers Account Aggregator and payments products.
Worth a look if: your team values simple, well-documented APIs and a hosted verification page.
8. Signzy
Signzy runs an India API marketplace covering Aadhaar, PAN, CKYC, driving licence and voter ID checks, along with eSign and video KYC. It also offers no-code tools to design onboarding journeys. The company states it is SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified and keeps data within India.
Worth a look if: you are a bank, NBFC or insurer that wants to configure journeys without heavy engineering work.
How to actually choose
A list like this is a starting point, not a decision. Here is a simple way to narrow it down in a couple of weeks rather than a couple of months.
Start with your onboarding flow, not the vendor. Sketch every step a user goes through, from signup to their first transaction. Mark which checks are legally required and which are “nice to have”. You will often find you need three or four APIs, not fifteen.
Shortlist two or three providers and run them side by side. Use the sandbox, then a small slice of real traffic if your compliance team allows it. Track success rates, response times and how errors are reported. A provider that looks great in a demo can behave very differently with real users on patchy mobile networks.
Ask the awkward questions. What happens when DigiLocker or a government database is down? How long do you keep our users’ data, and can we get it deleted? Who is our point of contact during an incident? Their answers will tell you more than any feature table.
Plan for change. Regulations in this space keep moving, from the DPDP Rules to updates in RBI’s KYC directions. Wrap whichever provider you choose behind your own internal interface. That way you can switch vendors, or add a second one as a fallback, without rewriting your onboarding flow.
The best KYC setup is one your users barely notice. It verifies who they are in a minute or two, keeps their data safe and keeps your compliance team relaxed. Pick the provider that gets you there for your specific product, and remember that this decision is worth revisiting as you grow.
