Retrieval · comparison

Reading data from bswift, Ease, Employee Navigator and PlanSource through a unified API

Sometimes, and only as file-based sources: of the seven unified APIs compared, Bindbee lists bswift, Ease, Employee Navigator and PlanSource as read-only SFTP connectors, Apideck, Knit and Unified.to list none of the four and document no file connectors, and Merge, Finch and Kombo were not verified.

By Eli Wilson · Published 2026-10-01

Short answer: sometimes, and only as file-based sources. Of the seven unified APIs compared here, Bindbee lists bswift, Ease, Employee Navigator and PlanSource, as SFTP connectors rather than API connectors. Apideck, Knit and Unified.to do not list any of the four, and document no SFTP or file connectors at all (checked 1 Oct 2026). Listings at Merge, Finch and Kombo were not verified for this piece. With an SFTP connector, your customer, or their ben-admin system, drops an export file on a schedule, and the unified API normalizes it into the same models its API connectors return. You get whatever the export template contains, refreshed on the sync schedule (24 hours by default on Bindbee), and you cannot write back to these systems through Bindbee, because SFTP connectors have no write support and all four benefits models are read-only on every connector.

That’s useful when an employer’s real enrollment record lives in its ben-admin system. It’s the wrong fit if you need to push changes into that system. For the general trade-offs of file-based connectors, see API vs SFTP connectors for benefits data.

Per-system status in Bindbee

All four also read Company, Group and Location. A model is populated only if the export includes the columns. Source: the model availability page.

Comparison: ben-admin systems as data sources (as of 1 Oct 2026)

“Not verified” means the vendor’s pages were not checked for these systems for this piece. It is not a claim that the vendor lacks them. “Not listed” and “not documented” mean the named page was checked on 1 Oct 2026 and nothing was found; a vendor may still build a connector on request.

Why you’d read from a ben-admin system at all

Benefits platforms usually read enrollment data from the HRIS or payroll system. That works when the source exposes benefits models. In Bindbee, benefits read is supported on Workday, UKG Pro, UKG Ready and BambooHR, among others, but not on the ADP Workforce Now API, Paychex API, Paycor API or Rippling API connectors (benefits data model). Other vendors have their own gaps: Apideck and Kombo have no benefits model, Unified.to lists no Benefit or Deduction object on Workday, and Finch’s Benefits API is Early Access on ADP WFN and Workday (reading benefit enrollments from an HRIS).

When an employer administers benefits in bswift, Ease, Employee Navigator or PlanSource, that system may hold elections and dependents in a form the payroll connector doesn’t expose. Reading it as a second connection for the same employer gives you (more detail in reading benefit enrollments from an HRIS):

• Employer Benefit: the plan catalog (plan name, provider, category, deduction code)
• Benefit: one enrollment per plan year, with coverage_tier, employee_contribution, company_contribution and effective_date
• Dependent Benefit and Benefit Coverage: who is covered and for how much
• Dependent: relationship, DOB, SSN, student status

That holds only if the export carries those fields. A ben-admin export built for one carrier’s needs may leave out what you need.

How it works in practice

These steps describe Bindbee’s SFTP setup.

1. The customer authorizes the connection through a magic link. Bindbee then issues SFTP credentials, and the customer uploads CSV files to sftp.bindbee.dev (set up an SFTP connection).
2. An export is configured on the ben-admin side and delivered by SFTP. Per Bindbee’s help centre, files are named Employee_Census* and column names must exactly match Bindbee’s standard template; templates exist for 12 platforms, including bswift and Ease. The customer decides which data goes into the export, so get it agreed early with the customer’s ben-admin contact. No API setting changes it.
3. The file is synced into unified models on the connection’s schedule, 24 hours by default on Bindbee (sync frequency). A different cadence is arranged through support.
4. You read it with the same endpoints you use for API connectors. include_raw_data returns the original row alongside the unified record, which helps when a ben-admin system uses plan or tier labels you need to map yourself.
5. Watch for files that stop arriving. A missing file does not fail the sync. Bindbee re-reads the last file it received, so the data simply stops changing and no connector_sync_error fires. Track when each connection’s data last changed and alert when that gap is longer than the customer’s export schedule. Keep connector_sync_error (webhooks are Pro and Enterprise) for real failures, such as a file whose columns don’t match the template.

Combining with payroll

One way to cover both sides is two connections per employer:

• Ben-admin system (SFTP) for elections and dependents
• Payroll (API) for census, terminations and, where supported, deduction write via POST /employee-payroll-runs (see writing benefits deductions back into payroll)

In Bindbee, deduction write is Supported (write payroll deductions). The two connections can also come from different vendors: for example, Knit documents deduction enrollment on ADP WFN, Paycor, Paychex, Paylocity and PrismHR, and Finch documents deduction write on Pro. That means two integrations to run and two bills. You then reconcile the two: election in the ben-admin export, matching deduction line in payroll. The same employee is two records with two Bindbee IDs, because remote_id is unique only within a connector. Agree a join key with the employer, such as employee number, and check it exists in both the export and the payroll connector before you rely on it. Keep in mind each connection is billed as an active connection under Bindbee’s per-connection pricing.

Limits by vendor

• Bindbee: you can’t push enrollments, life events or terminations into bswift, Ease, Employee Navigator or PlanSource. Freshness is bound to the export: if the customer exports weekly, a 24-hour sync still gives you weekly data. Content is bound to the export, and missing fields cannot be recovered on Bindbee’s side. A missing file raises no error. Bindbee does not generate EDI 834 files for carriers; on the read side, its SFTP-to-API bridge can ingest legacy EDI 834 files delivered over SFTP and serve them as normalized API data (EDI 834 explainer). Pricing is per active connection on a quote basis and not published, so a second connection per employer is a real cost to model.
• Merge: SFTP is not on the Launch plan. Listings for these four systems were not verified.
• Finch: assisted connections are not file connectors, and refresh every 7 days. Listings for these four systems were not verified.
• Kombo: SFTP needs the Scale plan or above. Listings for these four systems were not verified.
• Apideck, Knit, Unified.to: these four systems are not listed and no file-based connector is documented, so ben-admin data would have to come from an HRIS or payroll connector, or from your own file pipeline. New connectors are a paid add-on on every Apideck plan; build terms for Knit and Unified.to were not verified.

Employee Navigator offers a marketplace of pre-configured carrier 834 feeds; if your goal is carrier feeds, that is a separate product category (which unified API generates EDI 834).

Frequently asked

Is there an API (not SFTP) connector for bswift, Ease, Employee Navigator or PlanSource?

Not in Bindbee, which lists all four as SFTP connectors as of 1 Oct 2026. Apideck, Knit and Unified.to don't list them at all. Merge, Finch and Kombo were not verified for this piece.

Can I update an enrollment in PlanSource through a unified API?

Not through Bindbee: SFTP connectors have no write support, and all four benefits models are read-only on every connector. No other vendor here was found listing PlanSource.

Source limits

Sources checked

Wrong or out of date? payrolldataspecs@gmail.com — corrections are free. How claims are scored: methodology.