Alternatives

Auto.dev alternatives

Q: Can Cardog decode VINs in bulk?

Yes. POST /v2/vin/batch takes up to 1,000 VINs a request and bills only the rows that come back valid: true.

Q: Does Cardog check Transport Canada recalls?

Yes. GET /v2/vin/{vin}/recalls lists Transport Canada and NHTSA campaigns for the VIN's model year, each tagged with its authority. The maker confirms whether a specific VIN is affected.

Q: Does Cardog accept a Bearer token?

Yes. Send your API key as Authorization: Bearer or x-api-key. See Authentication.

Q: Does Cardog have an MCP server?

Yes, at mcp.cardog.io. See MCP server.

Last updated: October 2026

Alternatives to Auto.dev for vehicle data, led by Cardog, with what each covers, Canadian coverage, published pricing and free tiers, linked to each vendor's own pages.

Cardog is the alternative to Auto.dev built for Canadian vehicles. Our listing search is built for Canada, with prices in CAD and a radius in kilometres; we decode 99.77% of Canadian VINs to trim level, up to 1,000 a request; and we list Transport Canada and NHTSA recalls for the same VIN. Other vehicle data APIs are listed below with their published coverage and pricing.

This page is written by Cardog, so read it with that in mind. Every claim about another company links to that company's own public page, and we checked those pages on 2026-10-26. Every Cardog claim is something our API serves today.

Why teams look for an alternative to Auto.dev

From Auto.dev's own pages: listings come from "U.S. physical & online dealers" (Vehicle Listings). VINs built outside North America return a 207 with the reason market_not_covered (VIN Decode). Batch processing is listed under the Enterprise plan, recalls and specs start on Growth at $299 a month, and plate-to-VIN and open recalls are on Scale at $599 a month (pricing).

The alternatives at a glance

Alternative	What it covers	Canada coverage, as the vendor states it	Pricing, as published	Free tier
Cardog	Canadian listing search, VIN decode and batch decode, spec sheets, Transport Canada and NHTSA recalls, market quotes	Listing search built for Canada; 99.77% of Canadian VINs decode to trim level	Plans from US$30 a month (pricing)	50 credits a month, no card
MarketCheck	Dealer, private party and auction listings, market analytics, history by VIN, VIN decode	Active dealer listings in the US and Canada (Inventory Search)	Basic $299/mo and Standard $749/mo, plus data fees (pricing)	500 calls a month (pricing)
CarsXE	Specs, international VIN decode, plates, market value, history, images, recalls	Plate decoding lists Canada, with a province code (Supported Countries)	Starter US$40.83/mo and Pro US$207.50/mo, billed annually; Business custom (pricing)	Sandbox, up to 100 API calls lifetime (pricing)
VinAudit	Specifications with equipment, colours, recalls, warranties and photos; market values	"Most makes and models across the U.S. and Canada" (product page)	Self-Service $100/mo plus $0.10/query; Enterprise by contact (product page)	Trial, up to 100 queries (product page)
NHTSA vPIC	VIN decode and reference lists	Populated from US manufacturers' 565 submittals (vPIC API)	No price stated (vPIC API)	Free to call, under automated traffic rate control (vPIC API)

Cardog

Cardog is a vehicle data API from a Canadian company, built for Canadian vehicles first.

Canadian listings. Search, count, facets and detail over Canadian listings, with prices in CAD by default, radius in kilometres and up to 250 rows a page. Filter on refs and canonical specs; an unknown ref returns a 400 that names it.
A listing with its full spec. GET /v2/listings/vin/{vin} returns the listing, its variant and the canonical spec in one call.
Canadian VINs to trim. GET /v2/vin/{vin} decodes 99.77% of Canadian VINs to trim level. See Decode a Canadian VIN.
Batches of 1,000. POST /v2/vin/batch decodes up to 1,000 VINs a request, and one bad VIN fails only its own row.
Transport Canada and NHTSA recalls. GET /v2/vin/{vin}/recalls lists both authorities' campaigns for the VIN's model year, each tagged tc or nhtsa. See Recalls.
Market quotes. GET /v2/quotes returns up to 20 model-year quotes per call, with live count, price quartiles, best price and days on market. See Market data.
No guessing on a miss. A VIN we cannot name comes back valid: false with a reason code; we do not fill it in from similar vehicles.
Clients and agents. TypeScript and Python SDKs, a remote MCP server at mcp.cardog.io, and a dated Cardog-Version header.

A single GET /v2/vin/{vin} bills 2 credits on any 200 answer, including valid: false; a batch bills 2 credits only for rows that come back valid: true; a 400 costs nothing. Each listings request is 1 credit. The Free plan includes 50 credits a month with no card.

MarketCheck

A listings and market data API with dealer, private party and auction search, price prediction, sales statistics, history by VIN and VIN decoders (Cars API). Its inventory search covers active dealer listings in the US and Canada (Inventory Search). Basic is $299/mo and Standard $749/mo, each plus data fees; the free plan is 500 calls a month (pricing).

CarsXE

A catalogue of vehicle APIs: specifications, an international VIN decoder, plates, market value, history, lien and theft, images and recalls (pricing). Its plate decoder lists Canada with a province code (Supported Countries). Starter is US$40.83/mo and Pro US$207.50/mo, billed annually (pricing).

VinAudit

A VIN decoder whose specifications call can include attributes, equipment, colours, recalls, warranties and photos, alongside a market values API (docs). Self-Service is $100/mo plus $0.10/query; the trial is up to 100 queries (product page).

NHTSA vPIC

NHTSA's public VIN decoder, populated from US manufacturers' 565 submittals, with batches of up to 50 VINs and XML, JSON and CSV output (vPIC API).

Where Cardog fits

Cardog is the vehicle API for products built for Canadian buyers and inventory. Search Canadian listings in CAD and kilometres on exact specs and equipment, decode the VINs behind them to trim, check Transport Canada and NHTSA recalls, and price a model year from the live market, all with one key and one set of refs. Start on the Free plan with no card, and move to a paid plan from US$30 a month. The migration guide maps Auto.dev calls to Cardog's.

FAQ

Does Cardog have Canadian listings? Yes. Cardog's listing search is built for Canada, with prices in CAD by default and a radius in kilometres.

Can Cardog decode VINs in bulk? Yes. POST /v2/vin/batch takes up to 1,000 VINs a request and bills only the rows that come back valid: true.

Does Cardog check Transport Canada recalls? Yes. GET /v2/vin/{vin}/recalls lists Transport Canada and NHTSA campaigns for the VIN's model year, each tagged with its authority. The maker confirms whether a specific VIN is affected.

Does Cardog accept a Bearer token? Yes. Send your API key as Authorization: Bearer or x-api-key. See Authentication.

Does Cardog have an MCP server? Yes, at mcp.cardog.io. See MCP server.

Sources

Checked on 2026-10-26:

Auto.dev, Pricing: https://www.auto.dev/pricing
Auto.dev, Global VIN Decode API: https://docs.auto.dev/v2/products/vin-decode
Auto.dev, Vehicle Listings API: https://docs.auto.dev/v2/products/vehicle-listings
MarketCheck, Cars API index: https://docs.marketcheck.com/docs/api/cars
MarketCheck, Inventory Search: https://docs.marketcheck.com/docs/api/cars/inventory/inventory-search
MarketCheck, Pricing: https://www.marketcheck.com/pricing
CarsXE pricing: https://carsxe.com/pricing
CarsXE Supported Countries: https://docs.carsxe.com/docs/guides/supported-countries
VinAudit VIN Decoder API product page: https://data.vinaudit.com/vin-decoder-api
VinAudit VIN Decoder API documentation: https://data.vinaudit.com/docs/api/vin/decoder
NHTSA vPIC API: https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/api/

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