With PlateRunner, you send a number plate and get the vehicle’s technical data back as JSON. It takes five minutes to get started, and the first 3,000 lookups every month are free.
1. Get your free key
Enter your email on the home page. The key lands in your inbox right away. There is no password and no account.
The key is secret. Use it from your own server, never in code that runs in the browser.
2. Make your first lookup
curl https://api.platerunner.dk/v1/plates/DK/AB12345 \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"The address has two parts: the country (DK or NL) and the number plate. Spaces and dashes in the plate do not matter.
3. Read the response
{
"country": "DK",
"plate": "AB12345",
"make": "Volkswagen",
"model": "Golf",
"variant": "1.5 TSI",
"vehicle_type": "Passenger car",
"fuel": "Petrol",
"power_kw": 110,
"first_registration": "2019-03-14",
"vin": "WVWZZZ1KZKW000000"
}The response contains all the technical information we have about the vehicle: make, model and variant, body type, colour, doors and seats, fuel, power, engine capacity and cylinders, weights and towbar, status, usage, first registration and VIN. A field with no value is null. We never provide information about the owner.
4. Error codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 400 | The country is not supported |
| 401 | The key is missing or incorrect |
| 404 | The number plate does not exist |
| 429 | This month’s lookups are used, or you are sending too many at once |
Every response to a valid key, errors included, tells you this month’s usage in three headers: X-Lookups-Used (lookups used this month, this call included), X-Lookups-Limit (the month’s limit including extra packages, or unlimited) and X-Lookups-Reset (the first day of next month in UTC, e.g. 2026-12-01).
5. When you need more
The free plan includes 3,000 lookups a month. If you need more, choose a fixed-price plan: Basic €19 (15,000 lookups), Pro €49 (50,000), Business €99 (200,000) or Unlimited €199. All prices are per month excl. VAT, and you can change or cancel at any time.