Cleared vs Plaid
Cleared vs Plaid, compared side by side on 15 data points: what each one does, how big it is, what it has raised, the tech running each site, and what users report. We score both out of 100 on traction, team and visibility: Cleared is on 35/100 and Plaid on 70/100.
Where each one leads
Cleared
Leads on none of the measures we hold for both companies.
Plaid
- our overall score: 70/100 against 35/100
- agent readiness: 50/100 against 22/100
- domain rating: 86/100 against 7/100
- funding raised: $734M against $10.0M
At a glance
| Measure | Cleared | Plaid |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Payment verification and clearing for businesses. | Plaid provides a data transfer network powering fintech and digital finance products. |
| Category | Fintech, Payments, Digital Payments, Embedded Finance | Fintech, Payments, Digital Payments, Embedded Finance |
| Sells toBusiness model | B2B | B2B |
| Offering | Software | Platform |
| Founded | 2021 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | San Francisco, United States |
| Status | Inactive | Active |
Size, funding and growth
| Measure | Cleared | Plaid |
|---|---|---|
| Employees | Not published | 1,501 |
| Headcount growthLast 12 months | Not published | +87.5% |
| Total funding | $10.0M | $734M |
| Latest round | Seed | Not published |
| Valuation | Not published | $13B |
| LinkedIn followers | Not published | 245,610 |
StartupHub scores
Our own 0-100 ratings. They measure company strength and site quality, not which product suits you.
| Measure | Cleared | Plaid |
|---|---|---|
| StartupHub scoreOur 0-100 rating | 35/100 | 70/100 |
| Traction | 35/100 | 60/100 |
| Team | Not published | 30/100 |
| Community | 15/100 | Not published |
| Search visibility | 8/100 | 54/100 |
| Quality | 45/100 | 86/100 |
| Agent readinessHow well an AI agent can read and act on the site | F (22/100) | D (50/100) |
| Domain ratingLink authority, 0-100 | 7/100 | 86/100 |
Technology
Detected on each public site, so it reflects the marketing stack as well as the product.
| Measure | Cleared | Plaid |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Not detected | AWS |
| CDN | Not detected | CloudFront |
| Frameworks | Not detected | Next.js, Bootstrap |
| Analytics | Not detected | Segment |
| Open source | No | Yes |
Cleared vs Plaid: common questions
Which is better, Cleared or Plaid?
On our 0-100 score Plaid rates higher (70/100 against 35/100). The score weights traction, team, visibility and profile completeness, so it reflects company strength rather than which product suits you. We compare the two on 15 data points above: read the rows that match what you are buying for.
How do Cleared and Plaid compare on the numbers?
Plaid leads on our overall score (70/100 against 35/100), agent readiness (50/100 against 22/100), domain rating (86/100 against 7/100), funding raised ($734M against $10.0M).
Read the full Cleared review and pricing or the Plaid review and pricing. You can also browse other Cleared alternatives we track.