CARFAX alternative: what the options actually cost and cover
Prices and coverage below were read from each company's own website in September 2026. They change; check the current page before you buy. CarHenry is not affiliated with any of these companies.
The options at a glance
| Service | Price seen | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| CARFAX | $49.99 for 1, $69.99 for 2, $119.99 for 4 (shown at checkout, not on the report page) | The largest private history database: accident, title, service and ownership records collected under contract. Consumers cannot get NMVTIS data from CARFAX. |
| AutoCheck (Experian) | $29.99 for 1, $59.99 for 5, with 21-day access | Auction-sourced damage records, a proprietary score, title and accident records. |
| VinAudit | $9.99 for 1, $19.99 for 5, $29.99 for 10 | NMVTIS-approved provider: title brands, salvage, total loss, odometer at title transfers, plus specs. |
| NICB VINCheck | Free, 5 lookups per day | Theft and insurer-declared salvage only, from the insurance industry's non-profit. |
| NHTSA decoder and recalls | Free | Specifications as reported by the manufacturer and recall campaigns. No history. |
| CarHenry | $9.90 for 1, no subscription | Decode, open recalls with remedy status, owner complaints by component, crash-test ratings, market price range for the same year and trim, known faults. No title, accident, odometer, service or theft records. |
Feature by feature
| What you get | CarHenry | CARFAX | AutoCheck | Free tools (NHTSA, NICB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price for one report | $9.90 | $49.99 | $29.99 | Free |
| Free decode before paying | Included | Not included | Included | Included |
| VIN decode, specs and equipment | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Open recalls with remedy status | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Owner complaints by component | Included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Market price range, same year and trim | Included | Included | Not included | Not included |
| Title brands, salvage, odometer history | Not included | Included | Included | NICB: theft and salvage only |
| Accident and insurance claims | Not included | Included | Included | Not included |
| No subscription or bundle required | Included | Included | Included | Included |
Which one to use
You are shortlisting several cars
Run CarHenry on each one. Ten dollars per car tells you the open recalls, what other owners complain about, how it crash-tests and whether the asking price is within the market range. Drop the ones that fail before you spend a Saturday driving to see them.
You are about to buy one specific car
Add a title check on that car. VinAudit or another NMVTIS-approved provider will show salvage, flood, junk and rebuilt brands and the odometer readings at each title transfer for a similar price to CarHenry. Run the free NICB VINCheck for theft. If the car is expensive, or the seller's story does not add up, CARFAX's accident and service records are worth $49.99.
You just want the specifications
Use the free CarHenry decoder or NHTSA's own; both come from the same manufacturer-reported data.
What CarHenry deliberately does not claim
We do not hold accident, title, odometer, service or theft records for US vehicles, and the report says so in its own words. Sections without a record for your VIN say "no record found"; nothing is filled with a guess. Everything the report does contain is sourced from NHTSA, public listings and our own decoder tables, and each section names its source.
Start with the ten-dollar check
Free decode first. Full report $9.90, paid once, no subscription.