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Rank #3 of 6 in Identity Verification & KYC

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Stripe Identity

YC S09

Stripe, Inc. · commercial

no public signals

Stripe ships more than one product — each judged line competes in its own arena on the same stories as everyone else.

Not yet judged (10 — no arena where they compete): Invoicing · Capital · Revenue Recognition · Sigma · Data Pipeline · Managed Payments · Lemon Squeezy · Directory · Projects · Climate

Try itExperimental

See what an agent can do with Stripe Identity before you ever sign up. Pick a story: recorded sessions replay real probe-harness transcripts; the live MCP handshake runs real requests from our edge, right now — including, where the server allows it, one real read-only tool call (bring your own key for auth-gated servers); sandboxed self-drive sessions are designed and gated (docs/TRY-IT.md).

$curl -si https://api.stripe.com/v1/identity/verification_sessions | head -4 # Identity sessions API, keyless → 401recorded session — replayed, not live
recorded 2026-09-15 · exit 0 · captured verbatim by our probe harness, secrets redacted

Verified integrations

No integration evidence found in our corpus for this product yet — that means none was found, never that it doesn’t integrate.

By theme — the product's score on each story themeBy theme

Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticnessevidence →

How well agents can access and operate the product

32.9/100

Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depthevidence →

How much of the product can run unattended

18.0/100

Biometric liveness — stories about biometric liveness in this arenaBiometric livenessevidence →

Stories about biometric liveness in this arena

15.4/100

Data checks — stories about data checks in this arenaData checksevidence →

Stories about data checks in this arena

10.0/100

Document coverage — stories about document coverage in this arenaDocument coverageevidence →

Stories about document coverage in this arena

41.0/100

Idv agent access — stories about idv agent access in this arenaIdv agent accessevidence →

Stories about idv agent access in this arena

46.0/100

Integration dx — sandboxes, test modes, webhooks, and how fast a developer gets to a working integrationIntegration dxevidence →

Sandboxes, test modes, webhooks, and how fast a developer gets to a working integration

22.5/100

Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpennessevidence →

Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories

14.4/100

Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy postureevidence →

Data-handling and privacy stories

0.0/100

Privacy retention — stories about privacy retention in this arenaPrivacy retentionevidence →

Stories about privacy retention in this arena

0.0/100

Verification flows — stories about verification flows in this arenaVerification flowsevidence →

Stories about verification flows in this arena

38.9/100

Verification orchestration — stories about verification orchestration in this arenaVerification orchestrationevidence →

Stories about verification orchestration in this arena

16.3/100

Watchlist screening — stories about watchlist screening in this arenaWatchlist screeningevidence →

Stories about watchlist screening in this arena

0.0/100

Story verdicts — every judged story with its evidenceStory verdicts

?

Sorted by importance (agentic first) (high → low) · 53/53 stories · click a row’s chevron for the rationale and evidence

Drive the product through a documented public API G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full8/10T

Connect an agent via an official MCP server G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3partial6/10T

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3n/a0/10

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3n/auntestednone yet

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full8/10T

Subscribe to events via webhooks G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full7/10C

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automation G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial6/10C

Use an official CLI G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial6/10T

Build against official SDKs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial5/10T

Operate the product with natural-language commands G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial5/10T

Set up automations that run autonomously in the background G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial5/10T

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examples G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial4/10T

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent) G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production data G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness1noneuntestednone yet

Launch a complete document-plus-selfie verification with a hosted or drop-in flow — create a session server-side, redirect or embed, and read the result — without building capture UI myself C

Hosted flows

developerVerification flows — stories about verification flows in this arenaVerification flows3full7/10X

The whole verification lifecycle is drivable through the API — create a session, get its status, retrieve results and captured media, and cancel or redact it — with every step documented C

Session api

developerIntegration dx — sandboxes, test modes, webhooks, and how fast a developer gets to a working integrationIntegration dx3partial6/10C

An agent can operate the verification pipeline — create sessions, poll outcomes, retrieve extracted data, and trigger re-checks through the API or an MCP surface with scoped credentials C

Agent operations

ai-native userIdv agent access — stories about idv agent access in this arenaIdv agent access3partial5/10T

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on events G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth3partial5/10C

The platform verifies government IDs from a documented breadth of countries and document types — passports, national IDs, driver licenses, residence permits — with the supported list published C

Doc types

ops leadDocument coverage — stories about document coverage in this arenaDocument coverage3disputed5/10D

Selfie checks match the live user to the document portrait with liveness detection — documented defenses against printed photos, screens, and replayed video C

Liveness

risk analystBiometric liveness — stories about biometric liveness in this arenaBiometric liveness3partial4/10T

Configure verification logic without code — conditional steps, risk-based routing, country-specific requirements, and template changes that don't need an engineering deploy C

Workflows

ops leadVerification orchestration — stories about verification orchestration in this arenaVerification orchestration3partial3/10X

A sandbox lets me exercise every outcome before going live — documented test documents, personas, or magic values that deterministically produce pass, fail, and review results C

Sandbox

developerIntegration dx — sandboxes, test modes, webhooks, and how fast a developer gets to a working integrationIntegration dx3none0/10

Export all of my data in open formats and leave G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3none0/10

Prevent my data from being used to train AI models G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture3noneuntestednone yet

Self-host the core product G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3n/auntestednone yet

Verified sessions return the extracted document fields as structured data — name, date of birth, document number, address, expiry — retrievable via the API, not just a pass/fail flag C

Extraction

developerDocument coverage — stories about document coverage in this arenaDocument coverage2full8/10C

Send a verification to someone with a no-code link or QR code — no engineering ticket to verify a one-off customer, contractor, or seller C

No code

ops leadVerification flows — stories about verification flows in this arenaVerification flows2full7/10X

Verification outcomes come back structured enough for an agent to decide on — machine-readable check results, risk signals, and failure reasons an automated onboarding flow can branch on C

Agent decisions

ai-native userIdv agent access — stories about idv agent access in this arenaIdv agent access2full7/10X

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UI G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2partial6/10T

Verification lifecycle events arrive as signed webhooks — created, processing, verified, requires-input — so my system reacts to outcomes without polling C

Webhooks

developerIntegration dx — sandboxes, test modes, webhooks, and how fast a developer gets to a working integrationIntegration dx2partial6/10C

Borderline verifications land in a manual review queue with the full evidence — document images, extracted fields, check results — and reviewer decisions feed back into the record C

Review

ops leadVerification orchestration — stories about verification orchestration in this arenaVerification orchestration2partial5/10C

Verify identity against authoritative databases without documents — SSN, national registries, or credit-header data — for lower-friction flows where a doc scan is overkill C

Db checks

developerData checks — stories about data checks in this arenaData checks2partial5/10C

The platform detects repeat and duplicate identities across verifications — the same face or document resurfacing under different names is flagged automatically C

Duplicate detection

risk analystBiometric liveness — stories about biometric liveness in this arenaBiometric liveness2partial3/10C

A person verified once can be recognized and reused across sessions or products — documented re-verification and reuse of a prior passed check instead of forcing a full re-run C

Reuse

developerVerification flows — stories about verification flows in this arenaVerification flows2none0/10

Control data retention and deletion G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2none0/10

Control what happens to collected identity data — documented retention windows and a redaction or deletion API that scrubs PII on demand C

Redaction

ops leadPrivacy retention — stories about privacy retention in this arenaPrivacy retention2none0/10

I get native iOS, Android, and web SDKs with guided camera capture — glare, blur, and edge detection coaching the user to a usable document photo on the first try C

Native sdks

developerVerification flows — stories about verification flows in this arenaVerification flows2none0/10

Perform bulk operations across many items at once G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2none0/10

Screening is not one-shot — previously verified users are continuously re-screened against watchlist updates, and changes raise events I can act on C

Monitoring

ops leadWatchlist screening — stories about watchlist screening in this arenaWatchlist screening2none0/10

See verification funnel analytics — pass rates, drop-off points, completion time by country and document type — to know what verification is costing me in signups C

Analytics

founderVerification orchestration — stories about verification orchestration in this arenaVerification orchestration2none0/10

The vendor documents specific defenses against AI-generated faces, deepfakes, and camera-injection attacks — named detection capabilities, not just a marketing mention of fraud C

Deepfake defense

risk analystBiometric liveness — stories about biometric liveness in this arenaBiometric liveness2none0/10

Choose where my data is stored (region/residency) G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2noneuntestednone yet

Enrich verifications with phone, email, and device risk signals — carrier checks, address history, device fingerprint — as additional documented check types C

Risk signals

developerData checks — stories about data checks in this arenaData checks2noneuntestednone yet

Opt out of telemetry and usage tracking G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2noneuntestednone yet

Read the product's source under an open license G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2n/auntestednone yet

Schedule recurring jobs or workflows G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2n/auntestednone yet

Screen verified users against sanctions, PEP, and adverse-media watchlists as part of the same verification — one vendor, one API, one review surface C

Screening

ops leadWatchlist screening — stories about watchlist screening in this arenaWatchlist screening2noneuntestednone yet

The vendor documents how biometric data is handled lawfully — GDPR bases, US biometric statutes like BIPA, and the consent language my flow needs — so legal review has something to review C

Consent

founderPrivacy retention — stories about privacy retention in this arenaPrivacy retention2noneuntestednone yet

Verify businesses, not just people — registry lookups, UBO identification, and documented KYB flows that chain into KYC on the owners C

Kyb

ops leadData checks — stories about data checks in this arenaData checks2noneuntestednone yet

Version, review, and roll back my automations G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth1n/auntestednone yet

Opportunities — the stories that would move this product's scores, from its own judged verdictsOpportunitiestop 8 of 39 stories with headroom

What would move Stripe Identity’s scores — derived from its own judged verdicts, biggest headroom first. Each line quotes what the judge found missing; shipping it (or evidencing it publicly) is the fix.

  1. Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesExport all of my data in open formats and leave

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    Stripe Identity is a KYC/identity-verification API for businesses, not a personal data platform; end users have no account or export mechanism, and evidence shows only programmatic access by the integrating business (via API/secret key), not data export/portability for the verified individual to leave with their data in open formats.

  2. Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrevent my data from being used to train AI models

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    No evidence pack content addresses AI-model-training data usage, opt-out controls, or any privacy policy specific to AI training exclusion for Stripe Identity; the evidence only covers identity verification features, pricing, and integration mechanics.

  3. Integration dx — sandboxes, test modes, webhooks, and how fast a developer gets to a working integrationA sandbox lets me exercise every outcome before going live — documented test documents, personas, or magic values that deterministically produce pass, fail, and review results

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    No evidence of documented test/sandbox mode, magic values, or deterministic test personas for triggering pass/fail/review outcomes in Stripe Identity's docs; evidence only covers live verification flow, review tools, and API access, with community complaints about real-world verification failures (not sandbox testing).

  4. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productGet AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product

    nonemoves Built-in AIimpact 30

    No evidence that Stripe Identity itself generates AI-driven insights or suggestions from verification data; the docs describe verification, review tools, and manual override, not AI-generated analytics or recommendations.

  5. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productIssue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent

    nonemoves agent-readyimpact 30

    The axis applies to this product kind (peer products hold positive or none verdicts on this story), so lack of evidence for an applicable capability is "none", never "na".

  6. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productDownload a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    The evidence pack shows an explicit probe for OpenAPI/swagger spec files at standard paths, all returning 404, and no docs page or claim points to a downloadable machine-readable API spec for Identity; only human-readable curl examples and prose docs exist.

  7. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    Missing: versioning scheme docs, deprecation policy docs, changelog/migration guides.

  8. Verification orchestration — stories about verification orchestration in this arenaConfigure verification logic without code — conditional steps, risk-based routing, country-specific requirements, and template changes that don't need an engineering deploy

    partialq3/10moves PA Scoreimpact 21

    Missing: no-code conditional-step builder, risk-based routing rules, country-specific requirement configuration, and independent confirmation that Flows support these beyond simple reuse.

Showing the top 8 of 39 — every none/partial verdict in the story verdicts table is headroom.

Think a verdict is wrong? Every verdicts-table row has a Flag link — see the methodology.

Coverage map — which docs area, API section, or community source covers which judged storiesCoverage map6 surfaces · 25 covered stories

Where the cited evidence behind each covered verdict came from — the same citations the verdicts table shows, no extra judging.

Identity docs22 stories

Probe proofs — replayable recordings from the probe harnessProbe proofs

Replayable recordings from our probe harness — see the Prove-It protocol to submit one.

$curl -si https://api.stripe.com/v1/identity/verification_sessions | head -4 # Identity sessions API, keyless → 401reproduced
$ curl -si https://api.stripe.com/v1/identity/verification_sessions | head -4  # Identity sessions API, [redacted]less → 401
HTTP/2 401

server: nginx

date: Tue, 15 Sep 2026 19:35:46 GMT

content-type: application/json
$curl -sL https://docs.stripe.com/llms.txt | head -3reproduced
$ curl -sL https://docs.stripe.com/llms.txt | head -3
# Stripe Documentation

When installing Stripe packages, always check the npm registry for the latest version rather than relying on memorized version numbers. Run `npm view stripe version` or check https://www.npmjs.com/package/stripe before pinning a version. For Python, check https://pypi.org/project/stripe/. Never hardcode an old version number from training data — always install with `@latest` or verify the current version first.
$curl -s -X POST https://mcp.stripe.com/ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '<jsonrpc initialize>' # the remote MCP server Stripe documents at docs.stripe.com/mcpreproduced
$ curl -s -X POST https://mcp.stripe.com/ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '<jsonrpc initialize>'  # the remote MCP server Stripe documents at docs.stripe.com/mcp
{"error":"Unauthorized. See https://docs.stripe.com/mcp for usage instructions."}

Claims vs evidence — vendor claims reconciled against independent verdictsClaims vs evidence

6 of 13 testable claims verified · 1 contradictedintegrity 31/100

13 distinct capability claims found in Stripe Identity’s own claimed-docs/GitHub materials, reconciled against our judge’s independent verdicts.

6

Verified

6

Unverified

1

Contradicted

12

Undersold

Verified (7)
Unverified (6)
Contradicted (1)
Undersold (12)

Business model

usage-based

Published usage-based pricing: $1.50 per document+selfie verification, 50¢ per ID-number lookup, first 50 verifications free; above ~2,000 verifications a month Stripe routes you to sales.

pricing ↗

Score trend

How this product’s scores have moved as evidence and verdicts are re-derived — a point per change, not per day.

PA Scoretracked since Sep 15 '26 — no movement recorded yet
Agent-readytracked since Sep 15 '26 — no movement recorded yet

Try Experimental

Run it in the microterminal →

Recorded agent sessions — and a live MCP handshake where the vendor ships one.

Flag

⚑ Flag a verdict

Think a verdict is wrong? Opens a prefilled GitHub issue — or use the ⚑ next to any verdict above.

Badge

Embed this product's score badge →

Hotlinked SVG — always shows the live current score.

For agents

Data