# API Ninjas, free: VIN decoder API

> The VIN Lookup API decodes Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) from vehicles built and sold anywhere in the world (North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Oceania), covering over 600 makes.

API Ninjas's VIN decoder API on its Free plan. It costs $0.00 per 1,000 VINs. It returns none of the 8 key fields we check: Type, Engine, Fuel, Drivetrain and 4 more.
We rank 47 plans by price. [API Ninjas's $299 monthly plan](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/299-monthly/llms.txt) is the cheapest paid plan per 1,000 VINs: $0.03.
[VINquery's $180 pack](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/vinquery/180-pack/llms.txt) covers any number of VINs. VINquery's $180 pack costs less to start than API Ninjas's $299 monthly plan.

- This page: https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/free
- Get it: https://api-ninjas.com/pricing
- Request: `GET https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/vinlookup`
- API key: with the plan, on https://api-ninjas.com/pricing
- Its API docs: https://api-ninjas.com/api/vinlookup
- Sold by: API Ninjas (https://api-ninjas.com)
- Checked: 2026-10-30

## In the answer

- Completeness: 0%

## Price

- $ per 1,000 VINs: $0.00
- Per: call
- Billing: free

## Charges

- Also pays for: from the same budget: 283 other calls

## Overage

- Units cap: hard

## Not found

- $ per 1,000: $0.00

## In their words

- Their pitch: The VIN Lookup API decodes Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) from vehicles built and sold anywhere in the world (North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Oceania), covering over 600 makes.

## Data

- Keep data: for as long as your paid Subscription Plan remains active: once it ends or is canceled, you must immediately cease all commercial use of the Services and Output, and you may not continue to display, use, or provide Output in your commercial applications, products, or to your clients. Data caching/storing allowed: Yes on Business, Professional and Enterprise, No on Developer and Free
- Use data: If you are using the Free Subscription Plan, you may use the Services and Output solely for personal, non-commercial purposes and for development, testing, or evaluation of your Customer Applications. You may NOT: Use the Services or Output in any commercial environment. Use the Services or Output in any commercial product, service, or application, whether internal or external Share, distribute, or make available any Output or content from the Services to any third party in any form [...] Commercial use of the Services or Output is permitted while your paid Subscription Plan remains active. [...] You are strictly prohibited from using any information or Output from the Services to develop, train, maintain, or operate any API, software, database, or service that competes with API Ninjas—regardless of whether it is available on our platform or elsewhere. This prohibition extends to repackaging, redistributing, or making the Output or data accessible in any way that would compete with or substitute for our Services. [...] You agree NOT to use the Services for any purpose that: [...] Resells, redistributes, or sublicenses API access without authorization Creates competing products or services using our APIs White-labels or rebrands Output as your own data source Uses the Free plan for commercial purposes Shares or transfers API Keys to unauthorized parties [...] Attribution required: Yes (Free plan)

## Plan

- Pay: $0
- You get: 3,000 requests a month
- Enough for: 3,000 calls a month

## Rate limit

- Per second: 0.028
- Batch: 1

## Speed

- Answer: in the call
- Median: 0.33 s

## The call

- You send: vin
- Method: GET
- Path: /v1/vinlookup

## About the plan

- Plan: Free
- Who can get it: anyone 18 or over

## The 7 fields the plan's answer can hold

VIN, year, country, region, WMI, VDS, VIS

## API Ninjas's plans (8)

- [API Ninjas, free](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, $59 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/59-monthly/llms.txt): $0.59 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, $149 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/149-monthly/llms.txt): $0.149 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, $299 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/299-monthly/llms.txt): $0.03 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, $468 yearly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/468-yearly/llms.txt): $0.39 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, $1,188 yearly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/1188-yearly/llms.txt): $0.099 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, $2,388 yearly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/2388-yearly/llms.txt): $0.02 per 1,000, 0% complete
- [API Ninjas, contact us](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/contact-us/llms.txt): 0% complete

## API Ninjas's calls for this API (1)

- `GET /v1/vinlookup`: [API Ninjas, free](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/free/llms.txt)

## API Ninjas's APIs (7)

- [API Ninjas: air quality API pricing, 8 plans](https://datacircle.dev/air-quality-apis/api-ninjas/free/llms.txt)
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- [API Ninjas: VIN decoder API pricing, 8 plans](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/api-ninjas/free/llms.txt)
- [API Ninjas: weather forecast API pricing, 8 plans](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/api-ninjas/free/llms.txt)
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- [API Ninjas: phone validation API pricing, 8 plans, GET /v1/validatephone](https://datacircle.dev/validate-phone-apis/api-ninjas/free-get-v1-validatephone/llms.txt)

## API Ninjas: VIN decoder API alternatives

- [CarAPI, $299 yearly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/carapi/299-yearly/llms.txt): $0.137 per 1,000, 75% complete, 1 day
- [Auto.dev, $599 monthly, Scale, GET /specs/{vin}](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/auto-dev/599-monthly-scale-get-specs-vin/llms.txt): $1.00 per 1,000, 50% complete
- [MarketCheck, $299 monthly, Basic, GET /v2/decode/car/{vin}/specs](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/marketcheck/299-monthly-basic-get-v2-decode-car-vin-specs/llms.txt): $1.50 per 1,000, 50% complete
- [CarsXE, $2,490 yearly, Pro (billed annually), GET /specs](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/carsxe/2490-yearly-pro-billed-annually-get-specs/llms.txt): $8.30 per 1,000, 63% complete, 1 day

## Sources

From each provider's own pricing page and docs, and from what providers tell us. We read this row from these pages on 2026-10-30.

- https://api-ninjas.com
- https://api-ninjas.com/api/vinlookup
- https://api-ninjas.com/error-codes
- https://api-ninjas.com/openapi.json
- https://api-ninjas.com/pricing
- https://api-ninjas.com/tos