Data anchoring and timestamping · Comparison
Bernstein vs Hedera Consensus Service vs Truestamp
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Bernstein | Hedera Consensus Service | Truestamp |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Compliance includedCourt-oriented proof of authorship for IP files: Bitcoin anchoring plus EU qualified timestamps, without the vendor seeing your files. | Worth the priceOrdered, consensus-timestamped records on a public ledger at a published $0.0008 per message, with no contract or vendor account. | Saves engineering timeProofs that verify offline with an open-source CLI, committed to two public chains, and free for 50 items a month. |
| Overall score | 3.7 | 4.8Best | 3.5 |
| Free option | Paid only | Paid only | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $54/mo | $0.0008/message | $0 |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Usage-based | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Prices hidden |
| What it anchors to | Bitcoin, plus EU and China timestamp authorities | Hedera public ledger (messages on a topic) | Stellar and Bitcoin (epoch roots of its own ledger) |
| Billing unit | Registration credit (one project version, up to 99 files) | $0.0008 per message, paid in HBAR | Items a month per plan; paid tiers not on sale |
| Free option | None; certificate validation is free | Testnet only | 50 items a month, 90-day retention |
| Reference scenario (100,000 hashes/mo) | Not offered (no API) | $80, one hash per message, computed | No plan on sale |
| Proof you keep | PDF certificate | No proof file; records on mirror nodes | Self-contained proof bundle (JSON or binary) |
| Verify without the vendor | Manual steps documented; browser validator | Open-source mirror node you can run | Open-source CLI, offline |
| Only the hash leaves your systems | No; files uploaded encrypted | Yes, you choose the message content | Yes; content can also be redacted |
| Qualified timestamps (eIDAS) | EU qualified on Scale and Enterprise | No | No (terms say not qualified) |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Not stated | Node data centres must be SOC 2 Type 2 | Not stated |
| API and webhooks | None | SDKs, mirror node REST and gRPC; no webhooks | REST, GraphQL, CLI, MCP; webhooks on paid tiers |
| SSO | Enterprise plan, one-time setup fee | Not applicable (key-based accounts) | Not listed |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Bernstein is the most legally oriented option here, with EU qualified timestamps on a self-serve plan. It is a web app for IP files, not an anchoring API, from $54 a month. | From its public pages, HCS is the cheapest way here to put hashes on a public ledger at a price you can compute. You build the proof handling yourself, and there is no plan, contract or vendor audit report. | From its public pages, Truestamp has the strongest proof portability here: two chains, self-contained bundles and an open-source offline verifier. Only the free plan can be used today. |
Evidence: Bernstein: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Hedera Consensus Service: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Truestamp: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Bernstein review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Bernstein when
- You want qualified timestamps and a plan you can buy today.
- Pick Truestamp when
- You want to start free with hash-only submission and an open-source offline verifier.
From our Hedera Consensus Service review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Hedera Consensus Service when
- You need volumes beyond a small free plan at a price you can compute today.
- Pick Truestamp when
- You want a self-contained proof bundle and an offline verifier with no keys or tokens to manage.
From our Truestamp review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Truestamp when
- You want a ready proof bundle with no keys or tokens to manage.
- Pick Hedera Consensus Service when
- You need more than 50 items a month at a price you can compute ($0.0008 per message).
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- BernsteinStarter$54/mo1 credit a month; $540 a year (2 months free); extra credits from $39
- Up to 99 files and 10 GB per project
- Credits roll over for 3 months
- Secure sharing
- No SSO
- Hedera Consensus ServiceMainnet, pay per transaction$0.0008/messageConsensusSubmitMessage; first 100 payload bytes included; paid in HBAR at the live rate
- Topic creation $0.01
- Account creation $0.05
- Messages up to 1,024 bytes
- BatchTransaction $0.001 plus each inner transaction
- TruestampStarterComing soon750 items a month; not on sale yet
- 5 teams, 5 members per team
- 5 webhook endpoints
- Unlimited retention
- Email support
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Bernstein 2026-10-15, Hedera Consensus Service 2026-10-15, Truestamp 2026-10-15.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Hedera Consensus ServiceSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (4.8/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- TruestampFree plan, no card needed; scored 3.5/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Bernstein$54/mo for the Starter plan. Hedera Consensus Service and Truestamp list no comparable paid price.
- Highest overall score
- Hedera Consensus Service4.8/10 (Fair). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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