Free VAT API — 100 validations/month
TaxID's free plan gives you full REST API access to validate EU VAT numbers across 31 countries. Not a trial — free forever. No credit card required.
No credit card · Free forever · Working integration in under 2 minutes
What's included in the free VAT API
- 100 VAT validations/month — forever
- All 31 countries (27 EU via VIES, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Australia)
- Company name + registered address
- Sub-10ms cached responses
- JSON REST API — no SOAP
- Stripe-style machine-readable error codes
- Format validation before VIES (doesn't count against quota)
- No credit card required
How to get your free VAT API key
Create a free account
Sign up with email or Google. No credit card, no trial period. Your account is active immediately.
Get your free API key
Your API key is generated instantly in the dashboard. It looks like vat_xxxxxxxxxxxx.
Make your first call
One GET request. Pass the country code and VAT number. Get back JSON with company name, address, and validation status.
curl https://www.taxid.dev/api/v1/validate/DE/DE123456789 \
-H "Authorization: Bearer vat_xxxxxxxxxxxx"Who the free VAT API is for
- Side projects with fewer than 100 VAT checks per month
- Developers building and testing a new integration
- Early-stage SaaS apps entering EU markets
- One-off VAT lookups or internal tooling
Need more than 100/month? Paid plans start at $19/month for 1,000 validations.
Free VAT API vs calling VIES directly
VIES is free and official — but raw SOAP, ambiguous errors, and no cache. Here's what you get with TaxID's free plan instead.
| TaxID free | VIES direct | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0/month forever | $0 (but no wrapper) |
| Protocol | REST + JSON | SOAP + XML |
| Error granularity | invalid vs service_unavailable | Same error for both |
| Cached responses | Yes — under 10ms | No cache |
| Response time (p95) | ~40ms | 1–4 seconds |
| Downtime handling | Structured error, retryable | Silent failure or timeout |
| Setup time | < 2 minutes | SOAP client + XML parser |
Free VAT API — frequently asked questions
Is the free VAT API really free forever?
Yes. The free plan is not a trial — it gives you 100 validations per month indefinitely. You only need to upgrade if you exceed that quota.
Do I need a credit card to get a free API key?
No. Sign up with email or Google and your API key is generated immediately. No payment details required.
What happens if I exceed 100 validations per month?
Requests beyond the free quota return a 429 rate_limit_exceeded error. Your integration keeps working — it just needs to handle that status until the quota resets on the first of the month, or until you upgrade.
Which countries does the free VAT API support?
All 31 countries available on paid plans: 27 EU member states via VIES, plus the UK (HMRC), Switzerland (BFS UID), Norway (Brønnøysundregistrene), and Australia (ABR).
Can I upgrade from the free plan at any time?
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately from the billing portal in your dashboard. Starter starts at $19/month for 1,000 validations.
Get your free VAT API key
100 validations/month. All 31 countries. No credit card. Ready in under 2 minutes.