Identity verification and KYC
Tessio vs Veriff
Veriff is a mature global KYC platform built on document and biometric checks. Tessio is a much narrower tool: it proves someone is over 18 from the EU Digital Identity Wallet and stores no personal data. If all you need is an age gate, that difference is the whole story.
Veriff verifies identities at scale. A user photographs an ID document and their face, Veriff matches them against thousands of document types across almost every country, adds liveness and fraud signals, and returns a full identity verification result. It is a strong fit for onboarding where you genuinely need to know who someone is.
Tessio isn't trying to do that. It answers one question, is this person over 18, using a credential from their EU Digital Identity Wallet. There is no document capture and no biometric processing, and we keep no personal data. If you only need an age check, you don't have to take on the data that full KYC brings with it.
Tessio and Veriff, side by side
| Tessio | Veriff | |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | EU Digital Identity Wallet credential over OpenID4VP | Document scan plus facial biometrics and liveness, matched against thousands of ID types |
| What you get back | A signed over-18 yes or no | A full identity verification result |
| Personal data stored | None. No date of birth, no document image, no selfie | Processes ID documents and biometric data |
| EU Digital Identity Wallet | Native. The whole product is built on it | Accepts the wallet as one document type in its flow, not a wallet native design |
| Self-hosting | Yes. Open-source .NET core under Apache-2.0 | No. Hosted service |
| Full KYC and AML | No. Age assurance only, on purpose | Yes |
| Built on | Open-source ASP.NET Core (OpenID4VP, SD-JWT VC, mdoc) | Proprietary |
| Primary market | EU age assurance for regulated platforms | Global KYC and identity verification |
We try to keep this fair and current from public sources. If something about Veriff is out of date, tell us at hello@tessio.eu and we'll fix it.
Where Veriff is strong
- Very broad document coverage, matching thousands of ID types across 190 plus countries with strong automation.
- Mature fraud and liveness detection, tuned over years of high volume onboarding.
- Well established across fintech, crypto, marketplaces and mobility where full identity proofing is the job.
When to choose Veriff over us
If you need to actually verify identity, not just age, Veriff is the stronger tool. Full KYC, AML screening, document capture and fraud monitoring across almost every country is exactly what it's built for, and Tessio deliberately does none of that. When your compliance obligation is know your customer rather than confirm the customer is an adult, go with a platform like Veriff.
When teams pick Tessio
Pick Tessio when the requirement is age, not identity, and you want to hold no personal data. You get a signed over-18 boolean, so there is no document image or biometric template to secure or breach. It is EU wallet native, so it is built for the eIDAS mandate rather than accepting the wallet as one more document type, and you can self host the .NET core if data cannot leave your environment.
Frequently asked
Is Tessio a Veriff alternative?
For age checks, yes. If you only need to confirm someone is over 18, Tessio does it without collecting a document or a selfie. If you need full KYC and identity proofing, Veriff does far more than Tessio does, so it depends on the obligation you're meeting.
Does Veriff support the EU Digital Identity Wallet?
Veriff lists the EU Digital Identity Wallet among accepted document types, so it can take a wallet credential as an input to its identity flow. That is different from a wallet native, data-minimal design that returns only an age result, which is what Tessio is.
Can I use both?
Yes, and plenty of teams will. Use Veriff for full identity onboarding where you need it, and use Tessio for the high volume age gate where you only need a yes or no and would rather not store personal data.
Compare and explore
Age verification API
See if Tessio fits
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