Compared
Certaby vs Thirdfort
Thirdfort is a UK compliance vendor focused on legal services, conveyancing, estate agents, and accountants. Ships AML plus ID plus Source-of-Funds via Open Banking. Particularly strong in legal sector adoption. Pricing is quote-only; contracts are subscription with per-check fees.
Certaby is pay as you go with no contract: £1.39 a person for sanctions, PEP and adverse media, so a sale with a buyer, a seller and the property risk pack is £4.07. Thirdfort pricing is quote-only with no published per-check rate; typical contracts start at the mid-hundreds per month plus per-check fees.
| Feature | Certaby | Thirdfort |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per check (a sale from £2.78) | Quote-only subscription + per-check |
| Time to first check | Email sign-in, ~60 sec | Demo + contract + onboarding |
| Sector focus | Lets, property sales, finance and business | Legal + conveyancing + estate + accountancy |
| AML + PEP screening | Official UK, UN, EU and US sanctions lists; PEP as a 40p add-on | Proprietary data layer |
| Source-of-Funds (Open Banking) | On our roadmap | Built in |
| ID + biometric verification | Not yet (you check the document, Certaby records it) | Built in |
| Property environmental pack | The property risk pack (flood, crime, EPC); order the environmental search as usual | Separate environmental search |
| PSC tree walking | Company and owners check: every director and owner screened | KYB module |
| Audit-cert format | Hash-bound + public verifier (7y) | PDF cert |
Where Thirdfort wins
- Thirdfort has Open Banking Source-of-Funds production-wired; Certaby does not yet. For conveyancers who specifically need SoF inside the same cert, Thirdfort is the closer fit today.
- Biometric ID verification is built in to Thirdfort. Certaby does not verify identity documents yet.
- Thirdfort has deeper accountancy-sector adoption than Certaby.
Ready to compare for real?
Run a Certaby check on a real prospect to see the output format, audit-cert PDF, and verify URL alongside your existing tooling. No card to view the result; no contract.
Frequently asked questions
Does Certaby include source of funds checks?
Not yet. Certaby screens the parties by name against the sanctions lists, with PEP and adverse media; that is name screening, not document or biometric identity verification (and not an HMLR Digital ID / Safe Harbour check), and it does not pull bank transaction history. Source of funds via Open Banking is on our roadmap. For enhanced due diligence you would still need a separate source of funds process.
What does a Certaby sale check cover compared with Thirdfort?
A Certaby Property sale covers sanctions, PEP and adverse media for the buyer and the seller, the company and owners check for any company party, the property risk pack and one signed certificate: £4.07 for a typical sale. It does not replace the environmental search (a separate £25-£60 chartered product), ID verification or source of funds. Thirdfort includes ID verification and source of funds, priced by quote, so compare like for like.
Can I use Certaby in a Lexcel-accredited or CQS-accredited firm?
Yes. Lexcel and CQS specify what the firm must do (the risk assessment, the per-matter due diligence, the file retention); they do not specify the vendor. The Certaby audit-cert PDF satisfies the per-matter due diligence evidence requirement when paired with your firm risk assessment and onward enhanced due diligence where required.
Or see the 5-vendor matrix to compare Certaby against all peers in one view, run the free suite demo for no card, or review pricing.