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Sandbox vs Production in Plaid

Plaid has two environments: free Sandbox for testing and Production for real users. What differs, test logins, the Trial plan, and when to switch BankBridge.

Last updated by the PluginLoom team

Plaid has two environments. Sandbox is free and uses fake banks and test logins. Production connects real bank accounts and is billed by Plaid. Build and test everything in Sandbox first, then switch BankBridge to Production after Plaid approves your account.

What is the difference?#

Plaid's Sandbox docs (opens in a new tab) list these differences.

SandboxProduction
CostFreeBilled by Plaid under your plan
BanksTest institutionsReal banks
Loginsuser_good / pass_goodThe user's real login
Redirect URIshttp allowed (for example localhost)https required
Emails and textsNot sentSent
WebhooksFire normally, except some Transfer webhooksFire normally
DataNot always consistent between callsReal data
SecretSandbox secretProduction secret

Is there a Development environment?#

No. Plaid decommissioned the Development environment on June 20, 2024, according to the Plaid changelog (opens in a new tab). If an old tutorial mentions it, ignore that part.

How can I test with real banks for free?#

Use Plaid's Trial plan if you qualify. Plaid's billing docs (opens in a new tab) say teams in the US and Canada created on or after April 15, 2026 get free use of real Production data, limited to 10 Production Items. Removing an Item does not free up a slot. The trial covers Assets, Auth, Balance, Identity, Investments, Liabilities, Transactions and Statements. Trial plans replaced Limited Production for new teams, per the changelog.

What should I test in Sandbox?#

Test every path a real user might take.

  1. A normal connection with user_good / pass_good.
  2. An OAuth bank. Plaid says all Sandbox OAuth institutions use one generic OAuth flow.
  3. Closing Link halfway, to see how your page handles it.
  4. A broken login. Call /sandbox/item/reset_login to force an Item into ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED. Sandbox Items also enter that state on their own after 30 days.
  5. Webhooks, using /sandbox/item/fire_webhook.
  6. Your WooCommerce, MemberPress or Elementor flow from start to finish.

When do I switch to Production?#

Switch when Plaid has approved your Production access and you have finished the going live checklist. Then:

  1. Set the BankBridge environment to Production.
  2. Paste your Production secret. The client_id stays the same.
  3. Make sure your redirect URI uses HTTPS and is on Plaid's allowlist.
  4. Run one real connection with your own bank account.

Tokens from Sandbox do not work in Production. Plaid tokens include the environment in their format, such as access-sandbox-..., and using one in the wrong environment returns INVALID_ACCESS_TOKEN.

Sources#

Checked October 23, 2026.

Plaid is a trademark of Plaid Inc. BankBridge is an independent plugin and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Plaid.

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