Yes, Smartcar has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans. The free plan includes 1 connected vehicle, 3 simulated vehicles, and 1-day log history. FreeTier.co estimates the free tier at about $1.99/mo, and no credit card is required to sign up.
About
Smartcar is a car API platform that provides connected vehicle data and commands through a single integration. Its platform includes Smartcar Connect for user consent, vehicle signals for reading vehicle state, commands for controlling supported vehicles, compatibility lookup by brand/model/year, webhooks for data delivery, and dashboard tools for managing applications and vehicle connections.
The free plan includes 1 connected vehicle, 3 simulated vehicles, 1 application, 2 integrations, 1-day log history, and limited vehicle signals. The pricing page also shows a Build plan starting at $1.99 per vehicle/application/month and a Custom plan for larger deployments, with support for OAuth2-based consent flows, SDKs, and enterprise features on higher tiers.
- 1 connected vehicle
- 3 simulated vehicles
- 1-day log history
- 1 application
- 2 integrations
- Limited vehicle signals
- Webhook-based vehicle data delivery
- OAuth2 consent flow
Free Tier Value
This free tier is a capped starter offering with no credit card required, so it has real value but only for very small-scale evaluation. The closest paid plan starts at $1.99/month and adds much higher vehicle limits plus longer history, so the free tier is worth about the same as that entry price, with its tight caps keeping parity low.
What's included in the free tier
Verified
- 1 connected vehicle
- 3 simulated vehicles
- 1-day log history
- 1 application
- 2 integrations
- Limited vehicle signals
See Smartcar pricing for current limits.
Paid plans
Build
- connected vehicles
- up to 100
- simulated vehicles
- up to 5
- vehicle commands / month
- 100 shared across all vehicles
- log history
- 7 days
- applications
- 2
- Up to 100 connected vehicles
- 5 simulated vehicles
- 100 vehicle commands / month (shared across all vehicles)
- 7-day log history
- 2 applications
Custom
- simulated vehicles
- up to 25
- log history
- 365 days
- Command API calls tailored to your business needs
- Up to 25 simulated vehicles
- 365-day log history
- Custom number of applications
- Custom number of integrations
- Custom vehicle signals
- Customize Smartcar Connect
- Tiered usage-based pricing
Pricing extracted from Smartcar's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.
Common questions
Is Smartcar free forever?
Yes. Smartcar has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans, though the allowance typically resets each month.
Does Smartcar require a credit card?
No. You can start on Smartcar's free tier without entering card details.
What happens when you exceed Smartcar's free tier?
You move to a paid plan. Smartcar's cheapest paid plan is Build at $1.99 / unit / month.
What is Smartcar's free tier worth?
Smartcar's free tier is worth about $1.99 per month. That maps to an FTV score of 47/100. The FTV score is explained at freetier.co/ftv.
