The HIBP API Alternative With a Free Tier
Have I Been Pwned vs xonPlus — an honest, sourced comparison for developers and security teams.
Have I Been Pwned
Free personal breach checks; paid-only API
xonPlus
Free API tier; team & partner platform
HIBP is the household name and a great free service for personal breach notifications. But its API is paid-only from day one, and stealer-log access starts at $379/month on Pro plans. xonPlus gives developers a free keyless API tier, roughly 4x lower prices at equal throughput, and stealer-log exposure included on every plan.
Side by Side
No parity theater — where Have I Been Pwned is stronger, the table says so.
| Feature | Have I Been Pwned | xonPlus |
|---|---|---|
| API Pricing | ||
| Free API access | None — paid only, from $4.39/mo (10 req/min)[1] | Free keyless community tier (personal checks) — no signup needed[4] |
| ~1,000 requests/min | $319/mo (Core 5, 1,000 rpm)[1] | $73/mo (1,250 rpm)[3] |
| ~25,000 requests/min | $5,833/mo (24,000 rpm)[1] | $1,337/mo (25,000 rpm)[3] |
| Entry-level API plan | $4.39/mo — 10 rpm, 1 domain[1] | $5/mo — 50 rpm[3] |
| Stealer Logs & Data Access | ||
| Stealer-log exposure | Pro plans only — from $379/mo[1] | Included on all plans[5] |
| Risk score & breach analytics at search time | Risk score, timeline, exposed-data categories | |
| Free domain exposure snapshot | Free up to 25 breached addresses (Core 1 beyond)[1] | Free domain check, no address cap[6] |
| Developer Experience | ||
| Official SDKs | Community libraries only[2] | Official SDKs in 8 languages |
| AI-agent surface (MCP server, llms.txt) | MCP server for AI assistants | |
| Open-source engine | Pwned Passwords is open source; the platform is not | Community edition on GitHub |
| Webhook notifications | On Ultimate API tier and above | |
| Teams & Partners | ||
| White-label / multi-tenant platform | Included on all partner tiers, from $99/mo[3] | |
| Slack / Teams / SIEM delivery | Email notifications | Slack, Teams, webhooks, SIEM integrations |
| Executive & domain dashboards | Domain search dashboard | CXO dashboards, trends, CSV/PDF exports |
The Honest Verdict
Choose Have I Been Pwned if…
- You want a free personal breach-notification service — HIBP has done this superbly for over a decade.
- You need Pwned Passwords: their open-source password corpus is free, unlimited, and the industry default.
- You value the longest-running, most battle-tested API contract in the space (v3, stable since 2019).
Choose xonPlus if…
- You want to prototype tonight: the free keyless API needs no key, no card, no signup.
- You're paying HIBP for throughput: like-for-like rate limits cost roughly 4x less here.
- You need stealer-log visibility without a $379/mo Pro plan — it's included on every xonPlus plan.
- You're a team or MSSP: white-label, multi-tenant, Slack/Teams delivery, and dashboards from $99/mo.
- You're building AI tooling: the MCP server and llms.txt make breach checks agent-native.
Common Questions
Is there a free alternative to the HIBP API?
Yes. HIBP's API is paid-only, starting at $4.39/month. xonPlus offers a free keyless API tier for breach checks with no signup, plus paid tiers from $5/month when you need higher rate limits.
How much cheaper is xonPlus than the HIBP API?
At comparable throughput, roughly 4x. HIBP charges $319/month for 1,000 requests/minute; xonPlus charges $73/month for 1,250 requests/minute. At the top end, HIBP's 24,000 rpm plan is $5,833/month versus $1,337/month for 25,000 rpm on xonPlus. Prices verified July 2026.
Does Have I Been Pwned include stealer logs?
Only on Pro plans, which start at $379/month — HIBP's own subscription page states stealer logs are not available on Core plans. xonPlus includes stealer-log exposure on every plan, including free searches.
Can I white-label breach monitoring with HIBP?
HIBP doesn't offer a white-label or multi-tenant product. xonPlus includes both on all partner tiers from $99/month, which is why MSSPs use it to resell breach monitoring under their own brand.
Sources
Competitor facts verified July 2026. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
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