Solid Card vs Starling Bank
Two virtual cards people weigh up side by side. We put Solid Card and Starling Bank on the same rows so the difference is easy to see.
Solid Card issues on Visa and Starling Bank on Mastercard; both ask for ID + proof; only Solid Card takes crypto top-ups.
Solid Card is the more cost-effective option for everyday spending and travel thanks to its free virtual cards, no monthly fee. Starling Bank still clears the same checkouts in our tests, so match the table to the services you actually pay for.
The two, compared
| Field | Solid Card | Starling Bank |
|---|---|---|
| Card network | Visa | Mastercard |
| Card type | Crypto Card | Digital Bank / Neobank |
| KYC | ID + proof | ID + proof |
| Card issuance fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly fee | Free | Free |
| Top-up fee | — | — |
| FX fee | — | 0% (no foreign transaction fee) |
| Crypto funding | Yes (USDC) | No |
| AI tool support | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney |
| Risk level | Low | Low-Medium |
| Our rating | 8.5 | 9.1 |
| User reviews | 847 | 437 |
| Best for | All-rounder · Ad spend | All-rounder · Ad spend |
A green left edge marks the side that holds the advantage on that row, where the data gives one.
Two cards, one decision
- Solid Card can sit on a crypto balance; Starling Bank cannot, so the call depends on how you fund it.
- In our scoring, Starling Bank finished ahead of Solid Card — not by a mile, but enough to tilt a tiebreak.
- If risk rating weights your choice, Solid Card is the calmer of the two.
Side by side
Both cards clear the same checkouts in our tests, so the call comes down to cost. Solid Card is cheaper on issuance (free) and top-ups (no top-up fee), while Starling Bank is worth the premium only for the rows where it leads in the table.
Questions people ask
That depends on what you spend on. Solid Card scores 8.5/10 against Starling Bank's 9.1/10 in our tests, but the two split on fees, KYC and crypto funding. Read the table above, then match it to the checkouts you actually run.
Solid Card is the cheaper card to run. Both Solid Card and Starling Bank issue virtual cards for free.
Solid Card asks for ID + proof at signup; Starling Bank asks for ID + proof. If a light sign-up is the priority, the one with the lower KYC label is the faster route.
Both show up in 13 of the same test scenarios, including Claude.ai, Anthropic API, Perplexity AI. They overlap on a good share of checkouts, so the choice between them matters most on those pages. Where one is accepted and the other is not usually comes down to the billing country and 3-D Secure handling.
Where both show up
Solid Card and Starling Bank both landed in our top picks for 13 checkouts. Grouped by category so you can jump straight to the one you actually pay for:
🤖 AI Tools & Developer Tools 4
📈 Ad Platforms 3
🎮 Gaming 2
📺 Streaming & Entertainment 1
🌐 Cloud & VPS 1
Their BIN ranges
Cards issued in 🇺🇸 US · 🇬🇧 UK — the country guides group every range we track from there.
What our charge log shows
Every count here is a real charge attempt we placed on that range, renewals included, with the gateway response recorded. Weeks tracked is how long the range has been in the programme: