by IP LEVERAGED SASData anchoring and timestamping
A web app that certifies versions of IP projects on Bitcoin with EU and China timestamps, billed per registration credit.
Court-oriented proof of authorship for IP files: Bitcoin anchoring plus EU qualified timestamps, without the vendor seeing your files.
Bernstein turns each version of a project (code, designs, documents, datasets) into a certificate: the files are encrypted in your browser, their fingerprint is anchored to Bitcoin, and Scale and Enterprise add EU qualified and China timestamps. The PDF certificate can be handed to lawyers or courts and verified without Bernstein. It replaces notarised deposits and sealed envelopes for teams that document IP over time.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Data anchoring and timestamping: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Bernstein | Hedera Consensus Service | OriginStamp | 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 timeAnchor your hashes to Bitcoin and Ethereum through one REST call, without running wallets, nodes or Merkle batching yourself. | 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 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| Free option | Paid only | Paid only | –Not measured | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Sales call required | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $54/mo | $0.0008/message | –Not measured | $0 |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Usage-based | Custom quote | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Prices hidden | Prices hidden |
| What it anchors to | Bitcoin, plus EU and China timestamp authorities | Hedera public ledger (messages on a topic) | Bitcoin and Ethereum (Merkle root per batch) | 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 | Offer based on timestamps and proofs | Items a month per plan; paid tiers not on sale |
| Free option | None; certificate validation is free | Testnet only | Free web tool for single proofs; test API key on request | 50 items a month, 90-day retention |
| Reference scenario (100,000 hashes/mo) | Not offered (no API) | $80, one hash per message, computed | Priced by sales | No plan on sale |
| Proof you keep | PDF certificate | No proof file; records on mirror nodes | Downloadable certificate or raw proof | Self-contained proof bundle (JSON or binary) |
| Verify without the vendor | Manual steps documented; browser validator | Open-source mirror node you can run | Manual steps documented | Open-source CLI, offline |
| Only the hash leaves your systems | No; files uploaded encrypted | Yes, you choose the message content | Yes | Yes; content can also be redacted |
| Qualified timestamps (eIDAS) | EU qualified on Scale and Enterprise | No | eIDAS compatibility on request | No (terms say not qualified) |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Not stated | Node data centres must be SOC 2 Type 2 | Not stated | Not stated |
| API and webhooks | None | SDKs, mirror node REST and gRPC; no webhooks | REST API, batch hashes, webhooks | REST, GraphQL, CLI, MCP; webhooks on paid tiers |
| SSO | Enterprise plan, one-time setup fee | Not applicable (key-based accounts) | Not listed | 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, OriginStamp is a long-running anchoring API with two chains, batching and webhooks. The price is an offer, and a few docs pages describe an older anchoring method. | 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; OriginStamp: 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.
Review from public pages
Written from Bernstein's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read Bernstein's pricing, how-it-works, validate, enterprise, FAQ, court-evidence, press and imprint pages on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up or certify a file for this review. The pricing page sets its currency from the visitor's location: from ours it showed South Korean won, with no switch, so the USD prices here come from the same page as archived by the Internet Archive on Oct 4, 2026, where it showed US dollars.
The product is a web app, not an API. You create a project, upload files (encrypted in your browser), and spend one registration credit to certify the current version: Bernstein builds a project fingerprint, turns it into a key and records a 3-of-3 multisig Bitcoin transaction that ties the files, your owner key and Bernstein's key together. The validate page documents how to rebuild that address with standard tools.
One detail on the pricing page needs a question: the Starter card checks 'EU & China qualified timestamps', while the note below the plans says they are included with Scale and Enterprise.
Scale ($119 a month) adds EU qualified and China timestamps to the Bitcoin anchor without a sales call.
vs OriginStamp: OriginStamp mentions eIDAS compatibility on request; Hedera and Truestamp offer no qualified timestamps.
A court-evidence guide cites decisions, including a May 2026 Supreme Court of India order on hash-value certificates, and the eIDAS rule on non-qualified timestamps.
Files are encrypted client-side, and each certified version extends the project’s history.
SAML or OIDC SSO, role-based access and hash-chained audit logs are described for enterprise teams.
Certification happens in the web app, one credit per project version, so automated anchoring of system hashes is not covered.
The pricing page shows prices in the visitor’s local currency with no switch (South Korean won from Korea, US dollars from the US).
Workaround: Check the price in your currency at checkout.
The Starter card lists EU and China qualified timestamps; the note under the plans says they come with Scale and Enterprise.
The cheapest entry is one pay-as-you-go credit at $64; validation of certificates is free.
Bernstein bills registration credits: one credit certifies one project version of up to 99 files. Starter is $54 a month for 1 credit, Scale $119 for 5 and Enterprise $329 for 30; yearly billing gives 2 months free ($540, $1,190 and $3,290), and extra credits start at $39, $24 and $14. A single one-time credit is $64, Bitcoin only. Prices are shown in the visitor’s local currency. SSO on Enterprise has an unpublished one-time setup fee. Our 100,000-hash scenario does not apply: there is no API.
The FAQ says the blockchain proof never needs renewal and stays verifiable without Bernstein; an active plan is needed to create new certificates and to reach stored files. Keep the original files, the project cover file and the PDF certificate, which holds the transaction ID and public keys the manual check needs.
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.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| What it anchors to | Bitcoin, plus EU and China timestamp authorities |
| Billing unit | Registration credit (one project version, up to 99 files) |
| Free option | None; certificate validation is free |
| Reference scenario (100,000 hashes/mo) | Not offered (no API) |
| Proof you keep | PDF certificate |
| Verify without the vendor | Manual steps documented; browser validator |
| Only the hash leaves your systems | No; files uploaded encrypted |
| Qualified timestamps (eIDAS) | EU qualified on Scale and Enterprise |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Not stated |
| API and webhooks | None |
| SSO | Enterprise plan, one-time setup fee |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Bernstein yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Bernstein yet.
Bernstein lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Starter, costs $54/mo.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: bernstein.io pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing, fee, security, legal and docs pages of three data anchoring services on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. How each one bills, what 100,000 hashes a month cost, and who should pick which.
