Age assurance and online safety
Tessio vs VerifyMy
VerifyMy is a UK age assurance and online safety specialist with certified, low friction age estimation. Tessio proves someone is over 18 from the EU Digital Identity Wallet and stores no personal data. Both are privacy-minded, so the split is mostly UK Online Safety Act versus EU wallet.
VerifyMy offers one of the widest ranges of age check methods, including facial age estimation with liveness and a proprietary email-based age estimation, plus card, document and mobile checks. It is ACCS certified and aligned to Ofcom expectations, which makes it a strong option for UK Online Safety Act work where you want high pass rates and minimal friction.
Tessio takes the wallet native route. A user confirms they are over 18 from their EU Digital Identity Wallet, and you get a signed yes or no with no personal data kept. Where VerifyMy shines at estimating age for users who don't have a wallet, Tessio proves it cryptographically from one they do.
Tessio and VerifyMy, side by side
| Tessio | VerifyMy | |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | EU Digital Identity Wallet credential over OpenID4VP | Facial and email age estimation plus card, document and mobile checks |
| What you get back | A signed over-18 yes or no | An age assurance result |
| Personal data stored | None. No date of birth, no document image, no selfie | Privacy-minded estimation designed to minimise data, aligned to Ofcom expectations |
| EU Digital Identity Wallet | Native. The whole product is built on it | UK and Ofcom oriented. No EUDI-native wallet verifier we could find, so verify |
| Self-hosting | Yes. Open-source .NET core under Apache-2.0 | No. Hosted service |
| Full KYC and AML | No. Age assurance only, on purpose | Focused on age assurance and online safety |
| Built on | Open-source ASP.NET Core (OpenID4VP, SD-JWT VC, mdoc) | Proprietary |
| Primary market | EU age assurance for regulated platforms | UK Online Safety Act age assurance |
We try to keep this fair and current from public sources. If something about VerifyMy is out of date, tell us at hello@tessio.eu and we'll fix it.
Where VerifyMy is strong
- ACCS certified against the age-check and data-protection standards Ofcom looks for.
- A wide menu of low friction methods, including email and facial age estimation, to maximise pass rates.
- Built around UK Online Safety Act expectations, with online safety and content moderation tooling alongside.
When to choose VerifyMy over us
If your priority is the UK Online Safety Act right now and you want certified age estimation that works for users without an EU wallet, VerifyMy is a strong, low friction choice. Its email and facial estimation cover people of any age with no wallet required, which Tessio can't do on its own today.
When teams pick Tessio
Pick Tessio when you are building for the EU wallet, you want a cryptographic over-18 proof rather than an estimate, and you want to store no personal data. You get a signed boolean, the core is open source and self hostable on .NET, and it is designed around the eIDAS mandate so you are ready as wallets roll out.
Frequently asked
Is Tessio a VerifyMy alternative?
For EU age verification, yes. VerifyMy estimates age with certified methods that need no wallet, while Tessio proves age cryptographically from the EU wallet. Both keep data to a minimum, so the right pick depends on your market and whether you want an estimate or a wallet proof.
Does VerifyMy support the EU Digital Identity Wallet?
VerifyMy is UK and Ofcom oriented, and we could not find a native EUDI Wallet verifier. If native EUDI support matters to you, confirm the current state with VerifyMy directly.
Can I use both?
Yes. A sensible mix is VerifyMy age estimation for users who don't have a wallet and Tessio for wallet native checks as EU wallets roll out, so you cover everyone without storing personal data.
Compare and explore
Age verification API
See if Tessio fits
Access is invite only while we onboard design partners. Tell us what you're building and the volume you expect, and we'll get you a sandbox key and a quote.