# CarAPI, free: VIN decoder API

> Send a VIN, get back year, make, model, trim, and specifications in one call.

CarAPI's VIN decoder API on its Free plan. It costs $0.00 per 1,000 VINs. It returns 6 of the 8 key fields we check: Type, Engine, Fuel, Drivetrain, Size and weight, Plant.
You get up to 30,000 calls a month.
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/carapi/free
- Get it: https://carapi.app/pricing
- Request: `GET https://carapi.app/api/vin/{vin}`
- API key: with the plan, on https://carapi.app/pricing
- Its API docs: https://carapi.app/docs/api/vin-decoder
- Sold by: CarAPI (https://carapi.app)
- Checked: 2026-10-30

## In the answer

- Completeness: 75%
- Type: ✓
- Engine: ✓
- Fuel: ✓
- Drivetrain: ✓
- Size and weight: ✓
- Plant: ✓

## Price

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

## Not found

- $ per 1,000: $0.00

## In their words

- Their pitch: Send a VIN, get back year, make, model, trim, and specifications in one call.

## Data

- Freshness: 1 day
- Keep data: no limit
- Use data: a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Services in connection with your own applications, websites, and services, in accordance with your applicable subscription plan. This license permits the display of Content within your end-user-facing products but does not permit redistribution of the Content in bulk or as a standalone dataset [...] You shall not use data obtained through the Services, including data obtained via the data feed, directly or indirectly, to create, populate, supplement, or otherwise materially contribute to any collection, compilation, database, or product that competes with or is substantially similar to the Services, without CarAPI's prior written consent. [...] You shall not, and shall not permit any third party to: access or use the Services by means of scraping, harvesting, or other automated means not expressly authorized under your subscription plan, circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with rate limits, authentication mechanisms, or other technical restrictions on the Services, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code or underlying structure of the Services, except to the extent such restriction is prohibited by applicable law, use the Services in furtherance of a product or service that competes with CarAPI, as further described in Section 4, resell, sublicense, or otherwise provide third-party access to the Services or the Content without CarAPI's prior written authorization, use the Services for any unlawful, fraudulent, or deceptive purpose, interfere with, disrupt, or place undue burden on the Services or the networks or systems supporting them, or impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, or redistribute, republish, syndicate, or otherwise make available to any third party the data feed, in whole or in part, whether in its original form or incorporated into another product, dataset, or service, without CarAPI's prior written authorization

## Plan

- Pay: $0
- Enough for: 30,000 calls a month

## Rate limit

- Per day: 1,000
- Per second: 10
- Batch: 1

## Speed

- Answer: in the call

## The call

- You send: vin. Optional: verbose, all_trims
- Method: GET
- Path: /api/vin/{vin}

## About the plan

- Plan: Free
- Who can get it: anyone at least 18 years old

## The 159 fields the plan's answer can hold

VIN, year, make, model, active safety system note, adaptive cruise control, adaptive driving beam, anti-lock braking system, auto reverse system for windows and sunroofs, automatic crash notification, automatic pedestrian alerting sound for hybrid and ev only, axle configuration, axles, backup camera, base price, battery current amps from, battery current amps to, battery energy kWh from, battery energy kWh to, battery type, battery voltage volts from, battery voltage volts to, bed length inches, bed type, blind spot intervention, blind spot warning, body class, brake system description, brake system type, bus floor configuration type, bus length feet, bus type, cab type, charger level, charger power kW, combined braking system, cooling type, crash imminent braking, curb weight pounds, curtain air bag locations, custom motorcycle type, daytime running light, destination market, displacement cc, displacement ci, displacement L, doors, drive type, dynamic brake support, electrification level, electronic stability control, engine brake HP from, engine brake HP to, engine configuration, engine manufacturer, engine model, engine number of cylinders, engine power kW, engine stroke cycles, entertainment system, EV drive unit, event data recorder, forward collision warning, front air bag locations, fuel delivery fuel injection type, fuel tank material, fuel tank type, fuel type primary, fuel type secondary, gross combination weight rating from, gross combination weight rating to, gross vehicle weight rating from, gross vehicle weight rating to, headlamp light source, keyless ignition, knee air bag locations, lane centering assistance, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, manufacturer name, motorcycle chassis type, motorcycle suspension type, NCSA body type, NCSA make, NCSA model, NCSA note, non land use, note, number of battery cells per module, number of battery modules per pack, number of battery packs per vehicle, number of seat rows, number of seats, number of wheels, other battery info, other bus info, other engine info, other motorcycle info, other restraint system info, other trailer info, parking assist, pedestrian automatic emergency braking, plant city, plant company name, plant country, plant state, possible values, pretensioner, rear automatic emergency braking, rear cross traffic alert, SAE automation level from, SAE automation level to, seat belt type, seat cushion air bag locations, semiautomatic headlamp beam switching, series, series 2, side air bag locations, specs, steering location, suggested VIN, tire pressure monitoring system type, top speed mph, track width inches, traction control, trailer body type, trailer length feet, trailer type connection, transmission speeds, transmission style, trim, trim 2, turbo, valve train design, vehicle descriptor, vehicle type, wheel base inches from, wheel base inches to, wheel base type, wheel size front inches, wheel size rear inches, wheelie mitigation, windows, matching trim ID, matching trim make ID, matching trim make model ID, matching trim year, matching trim make, matching trim model, matching trim submodel, matching trim name, matching trim description, matching trim MSRP, matching trim invoice price, matching trim created date, matching trim modified date, matching trim body, matching trim engine, matching trim mileage

## CarAPI's plans (2)

- [CarAPI, free](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/carapi/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 75% complete, 1 day
- [CarAPI, $299 yearly](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/carapi/299-yearly/llms.txt): $0.137 per 1,000, 75% complete, 1 day

## CarAPI's calls (1)

- `GET /api/vin/{vin}`: [CarAPI, free](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/carapi/free/llms.txt)

## CarAPI's APIs (1)

- [CarAPI: VIN decoder API pricing, 2 plans](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/carapi/free/llms.txt)

## CarAPI: VIN decoder API alternatives

- [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
- [MarketCheck, $299 monthly, Basic, GET /v2/decode/car/neovin/{vin}/specs](https://datacircle.dev/vin-decoder-apis/marketcheck/299-monthly-basic-get-v2-decode-car-neovin-vin-specs/llms.txt): $80.00 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://carapi.app/
- https://carapi.app/docs/api/vin-decoder
- https://carapi.app/docs/rate-limits
- https://carapi.app/features/vin-decoder-api
- https://carapi.app/pricing
- https://carapi.app/terms-of-use