BMW or MINI and you want to code, reset services and run DPF, transmission or battery-registration jobs yourself? Carly's US price page gives you its longest list: $98.89 a year with the scanner free.
Volkswagen or Audi? Also a good fit: $75.89 a year, coding and parking-brake service included.
Mercedes, Toyota, Lexus, Ford, Jeep, Dodge, RAM, Chrysler, Buick or Subaru? $68.89 to $75.89 a year buys diagnostics, battery check, live data, a used car check and maintenance, but no coding on the US page.
Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Fiat, Alfa Romeo or Land Rover? $68.89 a year buys Carly Diagnostics (which Carly's listing describes as reading all control units; it does not say which respond on your model), battery check and live data; no coding, used car check or maintenance is listed. Compare before paying.
Porsche, Volvo or Tesla? $68.89 a year, each with its own list (table below).
Lincoln, Genesis or Jaguar? The price page says Premium is not yet available.
No subscription at all? The Basic Package is $89.80 once: the scanner and basic features, returnable within 14 days of delivery.
Before paying for Premium: it renews every year. Bought on mycarly.com: the English terms shown outside California say cancel at least one month before renewal (the California version says one week). Bought in the App Store or Google Play: cancel in the store at least 24 hours before. Carly's FAQ says a scanner that came with Premium cannot be returned.
Carly is a German company, Carly Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, that sells a Bluetooth adapter called the Carly Universal Scanner and an app that unlocks features through a yearly licence priced by car brand. This page answers one question: is it worth it for your car, and what exactly are you signing up for? Every price, feature and term below was read on Carly's own pages or its official app-store listings on 30 September 2026, saved, and quoted as printed.
If you want a ranking of many scanners, our OBD2 scanner shelf does that, and BlueDriver vs Autel vs FIXD compares three one-time and subscription tools head to head. This page stays on Carly.
The verdict by owner type
Most "is Carly worth it" questions are really "is Carly worth it for my car". The answer changes more by make than by anything else, because Carly's own price page lists different sets of features for different makes at the same or similar price.
Is Carly worth it, and where does PulsCar stand when it answers that? PulsCar sells none of Carly's products and earns nothing from Carly; every figure here is Carly's own. Read that way, Carly is worth paying for when your make is one where its price page lists coding and service functions and you will actually use them: BMW and MINI owners get the longest list on the page, Volkswagen and Audi owners the next longest. For a Mercedes, Toyota or Ford owner who wants a used car check and maintenance guidance in one app, the list fits that use. For a Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan or Hyundai owner, the US price page lists diagnostics, battery check and live data for $68.89 every year; whether a tool you pay for once covers the same ground depends on the tool. On any make, Premium is a renewal you must cancel on time; only the Basic Package has none.
How we checked, and where the limits are
Everything here was read on 30 September 2026 from Carly itself: the home page and scanner page on mycarly.com, the price page (which draws its figures after the page loads, so we opened it in a browser, set the location picker to the United States, and selected 34 makes one at a time), the English terms and conditions (two versions, explained below), the online cancellation page, the company's 2026 pricing guide on its own blog, and the Carly listings on the Apple App Store, Apple's public lookup data and Google Play. What OBD II is required to do comes from the California Air Resources Board. We also read Carly's brand pages for seven makes, such as the Toyota page.
π’ Published means Carly, Apple, Google or a regulator printed it; the page is in the Sources block. βͺ Reported means a platform's own aggregate, such as a star rating. The verdict rows above carry no marker because they are our reading of those published facts.
Four limits, stated up front. First, the price page shows prices for the location you pick. We read it from outside the US with the location picker set to the United States of America; a buyer in another country may see different figures and currency. Second, the feature list on the price page is by make, and Carly says as much on the same page: "Keep in mind, every car is unique, so specific features will vary with every model." Your model and year can have fewer features than the make's list. Third, Carly's help centre at support.mycarly.com and its Trustpilot profile returned access-denied (HTTP 403) responses to our automated requests, so nothing here comes from them. Fourth, we did not buy a licence or plug a Carly scanner into a car. This is a reading of what Carly publishes, not a bench test.
What Carly is: one scanner, one app, a licence per make
Carly has two moving parts. The hardware is the Carly Universal Scanner, a small Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the OBD2 port, the socket for the OBD II system that, per the California Air Resources Board, "All 1996 and newer model year gasoline and alternate fuel passenger cars and trucks are required to have" (diesels from 1997). The software is the Carly app for iPhone and Android. Carly's scanner page describes the three steps simply: plug in the scanner, start the ignition, and "Download the Carly app to your phone, open it, and connect easily via Bluetooth."
What you pay for is a licence that switches on features for one car make, or for all makes. The app store listings describe it in one line: "You can purchase a subscription for an individual car brand or for all car brands." Carly's own pricing guide explains why the price differs by make: "Premium pricing varies by brand because Carlyβs feature set differs by make and model." That is the single most important fact on this page, and it is Carly's own framing: the licence is not one product with one feature list. On the price page the list changes with the make; the 31 makes that offered Premium fell into seven different lists.
The licence is sold in two places, mycarly.com and the app stores, with different prices, cancellation and refund routes; a section below compares them.
The price page groups the features as Carly Diagnostics, Carly Checks, Carly Coding and Carly Data and Maintenance, which vary by make (tables below). Smart Mechanic, a repair-guidance add-on, is sold separately; the page summarises it as "Understand fault codes better, check components and repair more yourself."
What Carly costs in the US, make by make
Here is Carly's price page as it read on 30 September 2026 with the location set to the United States. The Basic Package was the same for every make we selected: USD 89.80. On the BMW page, the price data behind it splits that into the Carly Universal Scanner at USD 79.90 and shipping at USD 9.90. The Premium Package price depends on the make and comes with the scanner marked "For FREE".
Three lines on the same page frame those numbers: "The displayed prices include VAT", "All countries outside the EU are subject to customs duties" and "The Carly licenses are an annual payment." The first two lines also appear for US visitors; we come back to the customs line in the terms section below.
The prices line up with Carly's own 2026 pricing guide, which gives Premium as "$68.89 β $98.89/year", the Basic Package as $89.80, Fiat at $68.89, Audi at $75.89 and BMW at $98.89, and says "The All Brands total is always $109.88/year, regardless of which brand you start from". On Smart Mechanic the guide gives a range, "approximately $30β45/year on top of your base license", and tells readers to verify the current price on the price page, which showed USD 35.99. One line in the guide's own FAQ does not match its table: it says licences "go up to $109.88/year for brands with more features (such as Audi)", while its table and the price page put Audi at $75.89, and $109.88 is the All Brands total. Go by the price page.
What does that add up to over time? Because Premium is yearly and the scanner is not sold separately inside it, the cost is simply the licence times the years you keep it. Three years come to $206.67 at the $68.89 rate, $227.67 at $75.89, $296.67 at $98.89 and $329.64 for All Brands, before any price change or Smart Mechanic. Carly's guide makes the same point in its favour, correctly: "Year 1 and Year 2 costs are identical." There is no hardware bill up front on Premium.
Carly's guide also makes a point about its own Basic Package, and it is right: "One thing worth noting: the Premium license for entry brands ($68.89/year) is cheaper than the Basic Package ($89.80)". In year one, Premium on a $68.89 make costs $20.91 less than the scanner-only package and does more. On a $68.89 or $75.89 make the Basic Package wins on cost only from year two onward (on BMW and MINI at $98.89 it is $9.09 cheaper even in year one), and only if the basic features are all you want.
What Premium actually unlocks, make by make
This table matters more than the price. When you pick a make on Carly's US price page, the Premium Package box lists what is "Included" for that make. Every make with a Premium Package listed Carly Diagnostics ("Basic OBD Features" and "Carly Diagnostics"). Beyond that, the lists split into clear groups.
Read the table against the price table above and one thing stands out: within a price band, price does not track the feature list. A Toyota and a Chevrolet both cost $68.89 a year; the Toyota's list has a used car check and maintenance, the Chevrolet's does not. Buick lists both; Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac list neither. We re-opened six of these makes (Chevrolet, Toyota, Buick, Honda, Mercedes and BMW) in a different order later the same day, and their lists came back identical. Carly's guide says of its pricing that "You only pay for whatβs actually available for your car β not a flat fee for features your vehicle doesnβt support." The price page is consistent with that in one sense: each make shows only the features listed for it. It also shows that makes in the same $68.89 band get very different lists, so compare the list for your make, not the price.
Two cautions: the table lists features by make, not by model, and it is a list of feature names, not a promise of which modules respond on your car. Carly's own advice for the exact answer is on its scanner page: "To check the supported features specifically for your car, connect the Carly Scanner and open up the lite (free) version of the app." That test needs a scanner in hand, so a first-time buyer starts with the price page's per-make list.
If your make is not in the table, the menu on Carly's home page lists 43 brands, including makes we did not select on the US price page, such as Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Skoda, Seat and Cupra. Three makes we selected, Lincoln, Genesis and Jaguar, showed the Basic Package and the line "Premium features are not yet available for this vehicle.", followed by "Weβre continuously working to support more models β maybe yours will be next!"
The free tier: what the Basic Package reads
Carly's own documents describe the way in without a yearly licence in three slightly different ways.
The US price page describes the Basic Package as "Get the Carly Universal Scanner with only the basic features" and lists the scanner and one feature, "Carly Diagnostics" with the sub-line "Basic Diagnostics". The Apple and Google listings are more generous: "BASIC FEATURES INCLUDED IN THE (FREE) BASIC PACKAGE" followed by "Diagnostics (OBD), Live Data (OBD), and Emission Check (OBD) enable you to have control over the most important systems β engine and transmission." The pricing guide is the narrowest: its free list is "Basic OBD fault code reading" and "Limited vehicle information display", and its comparison table marks live data streaming as not included in the Basic Package.
Carly does not say what "basic" covers beyond the wording quoted above. The listings put "Live Data (OBD)" in the free package, while the guide marks "Live data streaming" as Premium only; they may mean different things, and Carly does not explain, so if live data is the reason you are buying, check it in the free app on your car before paying for a licence.
What Carly lists only under Premium, on the pages we read: coding, used car check, battery check, maintenance and service functions, and the diagnostics that the app listing describes as reading and clearing codes "from all built-in electronic control units (ECUs), including engine, transmission, ABS, airbag, and multimedia". The listing describes the free package's diagnostics as covering the engine and transmission, so if you need to read an ABS or airbag light, check in the free app whether the Basic Package shows it before assuming either way.
So who is the Basic Package for? Carly's guide says it "only makes sense if you already own a Carly scanner and want basic diagnostics without an annual commitment", and further down that it is the right choice for that owner "or if you want to try the hardware before committing to a Premium plan". That second buyer is the one to weigh: someone who wants to test the scanner and the free app on their car and values the 14-day return on the scanner, which, according to Carly's FAQ, does not apply when the scanner comes with Premium.
Coding: where Carly's price page lists it
Coding means changing settings stored in the car's control units: turning on a feature the car's hardware already supports, or switching off one you find annoying. The app listings describe it with care: "Access hidden features set by the manufacturer and customize your car to fit your needs. This feature is only available on certain car brands/models, and the coding options vary between each control unit."
Coding changes how a control unit behaves, so treat it as your own risk. Carly's FAQ says "The Carly solution is safe to use and should not affect the warranty or damage your car if used as recommended." Its terms also say "Claims for damages by the customer are excluded", with exceptions for injury, essential contractual obligations and intentional or grossly negligent breaches. Change one setting at a time and note its original value.
On the US price page on 30 September 2026, Carly Coding appeared in the Premium list for four makes: BMW, MINI, Volkswagen and Audi. It did not appear for Mercedes, Toyota, Lexus, Porsche, Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Jeep, Dodge, RAM, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, or any of the Japanese or Korean makes we selected. Carly's pricing guide points the same direction in general terms: "Development depth varies by brand β particularly for German and European cars, where Carlyβs coding capabilities are most extensive β and pricing reflects that difference directly." Its comparison table is broader than the price page: it marks Premium coding support "Yes (EU brands)" and describes the Fiat licence as having "fewer brand-specific coding options", while the US price page lists Carly Coding for no European make other than BMW, MINI, Volkswagen and Audi.
This matters for anyone who expects BMW-style coding on another make. If your car is a Mercedes or a Toyota, the price page we read lists no Carly Coding for those makes. The US App Store listing's opening line names Ford, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche and Toyota next to "diagnostics, coding, maintenance", but that line lists the three functions together and does not say coding is available on each make; Carly's brand pages also point the other way in general terms: the Toyota page's search description reads "Toyota coding app", and the Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, Honda and Chevrolet pages carry the same "Customization, unlock hidden features inside your car" tile as the BMW page. None of them says what customization covers on that make, so we follow the per-make list on the price page, which is the more specific document, and we say "lists", not "cannot".
Used Car Check, maintenance and service functions
After coding, the features that most change the value of Carly are the used car check and the maintenance group.
Used Car Check. The app listings describe its purpose as "DETECT MILEAGE MANIPULATION": "Mileage manipulation is on the rise. Donβt get tricked when buying a used car β use Carly to perform a used car inspection before buying." On the US price page, Carly Used Car Check appeared for 15 makes: Audi, BMW, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Jeep, Lexus, MINI, Mercedes, Porsche, RAM, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen. It did not appear for Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Volvo, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Land Rover, Mitsubishi or Tesla. If buying a used car is why you want Carly, the make of the car you are inspecting decides whether this feature is listed. Whatever tool you use, the readiness-monitor check on our used-car inspection checklist is a separate step, for recently cleared codes, and it does not depend on any one brand of scanner.
Maintenance and service functions. Carly Maintenance appeared for 16 makes on the US page, and the app listing explains what it is for: "The Carly Maintenance feature helps you step-by-step to service your car yourself, reset your service and keep track of your service intervals directly from your phone." The named service jobs are concentrated where coding is: BMW and MINI list Diesel Particulate Filter, NOx Filter, Transmission, Parking Brake, Engine Adaptations and Battery Registration; Volkswagen and Audi list Parking Brake. If you do your own brakes and batteries on a BMW, this group alone can be the reason to buy.
Battery Check appeared for every make with a Premium Package except Tesla. The app listing says it "helps you monitor the status of your car's starter battery". Smart Mechanic, the add-on at USD 35.99, is described on the price page as a way to "Understand fault codes better, check components and repair more yourself."
Buying in the App Store or Google Play versus on mycarly.com
The same Carly licence has two shop windows, and they differ in ways that matter.
On mycarly.com, Premium is priced per make as in the tables above, the scanner is included, and the payment options in Carly's terms are "Paypal, credit card, purchase on account, direct debit, installment purchase and Google Pay." Renewal and cancellation follow Carly's own terms.
In the App Store, the Carly app is free to download and lists in-app purchases. As read on the US App Store on 30 September 2026, the list showed: Carly for BMW Full-Version $59.99; BMW and Mini $63.99; All Brands $82.99; All Brands + Smart Mechanic $118.99; Smart Mechanic $35.99; BMW and Mini + Smart Mechanic $99.99; All Brands Upgrade $78.99; Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda $53.99; Mercedes $28.99; Toyota $21.99. These are the app side only: under Carly's terms, the app-store subscription is sold "separately from the hardware", so you still need a Carly scanner. The App Store list does not state a period next to each price, and the listing's description says "This is a yearly subscription." Google Play showed that the app offers in-app purchases but did not list prices on the page we read.
The gap between the two windows is not small. A BMW owner who already has a Carly scanner sees "BMW and Mini $63.99" in the App Store against $98.89 on the website, where the scanner is bundled in; a Toyota owner sees $21.99 against $68.89 (comparing year to year, if both are yearly, as the listing's description says). In year one that does not make the App Store the cheaper route for a first-time buyer, because the scanner has to come from somewhere: on the website it is free with Premium or USD 89.80 on its own. Over several years the sum can turn the other way: for a Toyota, the Basic Package plus $21.99 a year comes to $155.77 over three years against $206.67 for three years of website Premium, if the App Store price is yearly and unlocks the same features, which the listing does not say. So a returning customer, and a first-time buyer planning to keep Carly for years, should compare both before paying.
Renewal in the app stores is on the stores' terms. Both listings say: "The subscription automatically renews for one year if not canceled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. The subscription can be managed in your purchases and the automatic renewal can be deactivated there." An app-store subscription is cancelled in the store's own settings; Carly's pricing guide says "Cancellation is available through the same channel you used to purchase (Carly website or the app store)".
Renewal and cancellation, word for word
This is the section to read twice if you buy on mycarly.com. Carly's terms and conditions exist in two English versions, and the site chooses between them by where you are. The page's own code shows one version to visitors located in California and the other to every other English-language visitor. We quote both.
The version shown outside California (section 10 b of the Terms and Conditions of Sale):
"The license agreement runs for at least one year or one month (depending on the license selected) and is automatically renewed for a further year or month (depending on the license selected) if it is not terminated at least one month before the end of the annual period or at least one week before the end of the monthly period (depending on the license selected)."
The same paragraph sets the form: "The license agreement can be terminated in writing or in text form (e.g. via contact form)." "Text form" is a German legal term; Carly's own example is the contact form, and the terms give [email protected] as the address for "other declarations". And it sets the charge: "If the license agreement is extended, we or the respective app store operators are authorized to collect the license fee applicable at that time for the period of the extension, including taxes, via the payment method you have specified."
Read plainly: on a yearly licence bought on the website, you must cancel at least one month before your renewal date. Cancel three weeks before, and under this wording the licence renews for another year; the clause adds that "The right to extraordinary termination remains unaffected by this.", and we do not know how Carly handles a late notice in practice. The US price page describes Premium as an annual payment, so for a Premium buyer it is the one-month rule, not the one-week monthly rule, that applies. Carly's own pricing guide gives advice that fits the rule: "Set a calendar reminder 30 days before renewal if you want to review or cancel". We would set it at 45 days, so a slow reply or a weekend does not push you past the line.
The version California visitors see has a shorter notice period and names the channels:
"The license runs for at least one year or one month (depending on the chosen license) and is automatically renewed for another year or month (depending on the chosen license) at a time if it is not terminated at least one week before the end of the annual or at least one week before the end of the monthly period (depending on the chosen license)."
It adds that Carly or the app-store operator "will charge the full amount of the license fee for the duration of the renewal period including taxes applicable at that time at once", and that "A termination of the license contract can be submitted in writing to the postal address of MyCarly (Balanstr. 73, 81541 MΓΌnchen, Germany), in text form (e.g. via the online contact form) or via the following link". We do not know how Carly decided on the difference between the two versions and do not guess; we report which text each group of visitors is shown.
The online cancellation form. Carly has a page at mycarly.com/cancellation titled "Terminate contract". Its heading reads "YOU CAN CANCEL YOUR CONTRACT HERE", and it asks for three things: "Email", "Invoice number" and "Zip code of the billing address", with a button marked "cancel now". On success it shows "We hereby confirm your cancellation. A separate confirmation email will be sent to you immediately." We read these from the page's code and interface text and did not submit the form. It is a short form, and it is to Carly's credit that it exists. Two practical notes. The footer link to it ("Cancel contracts here") is set in the site's code to show only when the site is in German or the visitor is located in California; on the English pages we loaded, the footer showed Imprint, Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions only. So bookmark the address. And the form needs your invoice number, so keep the order confirmation email from day one.
The account page gives a different instruction. According to the page's code, its text for cancellation reads "If you want to cancel your subscription, please contact our customer support team". We could not log in to an account, so we cannot say what else it shows. The form is the route whose on-screen confirmation we can quote; whichever route you use, keep the confirmation.
If you bought in the App Store or Google Play, none of the above applies. Cancel in your Apple or Google subscription settings, at least 24 hours before the end of the period, as the listings say.
Returns, refunds and the lifetime warranty
Three separate promises apply: the scanner return, the licence withdrawal terms and the hardware warranty.
The scanner. Carly's FAQ, on its scanner page and repeated on its price, brand and feature pages, says: "We accept returns within 14 days of the delivery date. If you purchased the Carly Premium Packet, the scanner is not refundable or returnable, as it was included free with your purchase." The pricing guide advertises a "14 days adaptor return policy". The terms add the European model withdrawal rules for physical goods: 14 days from receipt, refund within 14 days of your notice, Carly "may refuse to refund you until we have received the goods back or until you have provided proof that you have returned the goods, whichever is the earliest", and "You bear the direct costs of returning the goods." So the Basic Package scanner can be returned within 14 days of delivery, and under the terms' withdrawal notice the return costs are yours; a scanner that came free with Premium, by the FAQ's answer, cannot.
The licence. Carly's terms say the right of withdrawal "expires prematurely in the case of a contract for the delivery of digital content not on a physical data carrier as soon as delivery has begun", adding: "By placing an order for the purchase of digital content, you agree to the premature expiry." The terms do not say in so many words that the app licence is such a contract, but the consent text in the upgrade step of Carly's account page, as it appears in the page's code (we could not log in to see it rendered, or see the first checkout), reads: "I am aware that the right of cancellation will expire upon the start of the performance of the contract." Carly's help centre refused our requests, so we cannot quote it. The pricing guide's summary is the one we can quote: "Carly website purchases: Contact Carly support directly" and "App store purchases: Request refunds through Apple or Googleβs standard processes". It also gives advice worth following: "Keep your purchase confirmation and contact support promptly if the product doesn't work with your specific vehicle."
Put the two together and the risk sits in one place: for a first-time Premium buyer whose car turns out to support less than they hoped, Carly's FAQ says the free scanner is not returnable, and the account upgrade text in Carly's code says the right of cancellation ends when the contract starts (we did not see the checkout page, so we cannot say whether a first-time buyer is shown the same words). (The terms' general withdrawal notice does not mention items included free with a licence either way; we did not find a Carly text that explains how the two fit together, so plan on the FAQ's answer and ask Carly in writing if it matters.) That is why Carly's own advice, connect the scanner and open the free app to see what your car supports, is worth taking literally; note that it needs a scanner in hand.
The lifetime warranty. Carly's price page carries "Lifetime warranty on the Carly Scanner", its home and scanner pages a "Lifetime warranty" banner, the app listings say the scanner comes with "A lifetime warranty", and the pricing guide says "Lifetime warranty in the hardware". The FAQ on the price page answers "My Carly Scanner doesnβt work. Do I have a warranty?" with "Of course! All Carly Scanners come with a lifetime warranty." and "If the Carly Scanner is not working properly, we will send you a free replacement.", and points to Carly's support team. "All Carly Scanners" is unqualified, so on Carly's own wording a scanner that came with Premium is covered too. What we did not find is a page with formal conditions: how long "lifetime" runs, or whether it depends on an active licence. The terms and conditions give the legal floor, "The limitation period for statutory claims for defects is two years and begins with the delivery of the goods.", and say that "Any seller's warranties given by us for certain items ... shall apply in addition". If the lifetime promise matters to you, ask Carly for its conditions in writing before you buy.
The terms that change the cost
Carly's terms are long and written under German law. Five clauses change the picture for an American buyer, and each is quoted from the English terms shown outside California (the California version has the same wording on all five).
Discounts are for year one only. Section 3 e: "The discount given is only valid for the first year or the first billing period. In the following year or billing period, the non-discounted sales price will be charged and collected." If you buy with a promo code, budget year two at the full price from the price page.
Reading more than 15 different cars switches you to a business licence. Section 10 e is the clause most relevant to used-car flippers and mobile inspectors: "Commercial use includes, in particular, the reading of data from more than 15 different vehicles during the term of the license and any use of the software by and for third parties (e.g. in the context of rental, lending, paid readout processes, etc.)." When that limit is exceeded, "the license automatically changes from a B2C license to a B2B license without the need for your consent", and Carly or the app store "will charge the fee for a B2B license to your payment method for the current billing period and all subsequent billing periods." The same clause says Carly will also inform you by email that you have exceeded the limit, and that you can object, in which case the consumer licence ends without notice and "any claims for reimbursement of the B2C payments made by you to date shall lapse". We did not find the business licence price on the pages we read.
Prices can change at renewal. Section 12 allows price adjustments in line with costs, up or down (it says cost reductions must have at least the same price effect as increases), and says Carly "will notify you of the price adjustment by email"; for a fixed-term licence "the price adjustment will generally only take effect with the next renewal of the term."
Customs and delivery. The US price page states "All countries outside the EU are subject to customs duties", and section 3 d of the terms says orders "for delivery outside the EU ... may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once the package reaches the specified destination" and that "Any additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you". Section 4 a gives delivery times of "NON-EU countries: up to 7-15 days", and Carly's pricing guide advertises shipping with DHL. We found no US-specific Carly statement on whether duties apply to a scanner at this price; if any are charged, the terms say you bear them.
German law, German contract. The terms state that "The contract is concluded in German" and that "The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to these GTC", while keeping the mandatory consumer protections of the country where you live. Carly says it is not legally obliged to take part in German consumer dispute resolution and chooses not to.
The Carly Universal Scanner itself
The hardware gets less attention than the licence, but Carly's scanner page gives a clear spec sheet: a "32-Bit-ARM processor", dimensions of 2.9 by 1.5 by 0.67 inches, "ECE R10 certified", a "Solid-state Multiplexer", Bluetooth 5.0 on 2.4 GHz, and iOS and Android support. The page also says "The Carly Scanner is suited for continuous operation through ultra-low power mode." (Carly's pricing guide describes the scanner as a "Bluetooth 4.0+ device"; the scanner's own page says Bluetooth 5.0.)
For phones, the App Store listing requires iOS 16.0 or later and weighs 435.9 MB. Carly works on iPhone and Android alike; the price-page FAQ says "The app license works with both Android and iOS systems." The listing tells buyers to get the Carly app and the scanner together: "Get the Carly app and the Carly Universal Scanner to access data through the OBD2 port of your car." Carly's pages describe the scanner only for use with the Carly app, and we did not test it with other software, so check with Carly before buying it for anything else.
Ratings, with counts and dates
Both figures were read on 30 September 2026. The gap between 4.6 on Apple and 3.7 on Google is large, and the Google figure rests on more than three times as many reviews; we did not analyse review text, so we do not claim to know why. Both listings were updated in the two weeks before we read them. The App Store's latest release notes list "All Carly brands in ONE app" and "Improved diagnostics for VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda models between 2015 and 2022".
What Carly does well
A fair review names the strengths plainly, and Carly has real ones.
It is honest about its own price structure. Carly's pricing guide tells readers that Premium is "the better value for most users compared to the Basic Package", tells them to "Check your specific vehicle on mycarly.com/brand for the exact price before purchasing", and tells them to set a renewal reminder.
The price page shows the feature list before you pay. Pick your make and the page lists what Premium includes for it, including whether Carly Coding is on the list. That is exactly the information this review is built on, and Carly publishes it.
The scanner comes free with Premium, and the All Brands total is flat. No separate scanner charge on the price page in year one (customs duties may still apply, see the terms section), and a household with a BMW and a Honda pays USD 109.88 a year whichever brand it starts from.
Depth where the price page lists the most. Of the 34 makes we selected, BMW and MINI have the longest Premium list, with coding and named service jobs (DPF, NOx, transmission, parking brake, engine adaptations, battery registration). For Volkswagen and Audi the price page lists coding and the parking brake service.
iPhone and Android, all brands in one app, recent updates, and an online cancellation form. The App Store rating is 4.6 from 9.9K ratings, and Carly provides an online cancellation form whose texts promise an on-screen confirmation (we read it but did not submit it).
It reads more than the engine, where supported. The listing's all-ECU description quoted above and the guide's "Advanced diagnostics across up to 80 ECU modules" both carry Carly's make-and-model caveat, but where they apply, full-system reading goes beyond the engine.
Three traps a careful buyer still walks into
Trap one: paying for the brand's reputation instead of your make's feature list. The situation: a buyer hears that Carly codes BMWs, owns a Honda, and buys Premium expecting hidden features. What is real: on Carly's US price page, Premium for Honda lists Carly Diagnostics, Carly Battery Check and Carly Engine Live Data, and no coding; of the 34 makes we selected, coding appears for four: BMW, MINI, Volkswagen and Audi. The price: $68.89 for the first year with the scanner included, then the yearly licence price at each renewal, for a list that has no coding on it. The defense: pick your own make on the price page and read the Premium list line by line; Carly's own check, the free app with the scanner plugged in, needs a scanner you already own or the Basic Package.
Trap two: cancelling in the last month. The situation: a website buyer decides in month eleven not to renew and emails Carly two weeks before the renewal date. What is real: under the English terms shown outside California, the yearly licence "is automatically renewed for a further year" unless terminated "at least one month before the end of the annual period". App-store buyers have a 24-hour rule instead, and the California version says one week. The price: another full year at the licence price, and a discount from year one does not carry over. The defense: on the day you buy, note which channel you paid through and put a reminder 45 days before renewal; if you bought on the website, use the form at mycarly.com/cancellation and keep the confirmation email.
Trap three: expecting to return a scanner that came free. The situation: a buyer takes Premium because it is cheaper than the Basic Package, finds their car supports less than hoped, and tries the 14-day return they read about. What is real: Carly's FAQ says returns are accepted within 14 days of delivery, but "If you purchased the Carly Premium Packet, the scanner is not refundable or returnable, as it was included free with your purchase." The account upgrade text in Carly's code says the right of cancellation ends once the contract starts. The price: a year's licence and a scanner that, by Carly's FAQ, is not returnable (the terms' general withdrawal notice does not mention a scanner included free). The defense: if you are unsure your car is well covered, the Basic Package at USD 89.80 is the one with a 14-day return; test the free app on your car, then upgrade if the Premium list is worth it. The trade-off: you will then have paid for a scanner that Premium would have included.
Three composite situations, decoded
These are composite scenarios, not individual customers, built only from facts already on this page.
Scenario 1: the BMW owner who does their own brakes and batteries. Suppose an owner of a BMW does routine work at home and wants to code a few comfort settings. Carly's US price page lists, for BMW, Coding, Maintenance, Parking Brake and Battery Registration among the Premium features, at $98.89 a year with the scanner included. The free app, plugged in, shows which of those the exact car supports. Lesson: BMW is a German make, and Carly's guide says its coding capabilities are most extensive for German and European cars; and the yearly fee buys features the page lists for the make. Add the renewal reminder on day one.
Scenario 2: the two-car household with a Honda and a Ford. Suppose a family owns a Honda and a Ford and wants one app for both. The All Brands add-on brings the total to $109.88 a year. Carly's page lists, for Ford, Used Car Check and Maintenance alongside diagnostics, battery check and live data; for Honda, diagnostics, battery check and live data only. Lesson: All Brands is a fair price for convenience, but the Honda side of it buys only what the Honda list shows; if the Ford is the one that needs service help, compare a single Ford licence at $68.89 with the flat total.
Scenario 3: the weekend used-car shopper. Suppose someone plans to inspect several used cars over a few months before buying one. Carly's Used Car Check appeared on the price page for 15 makes and not for others, including Chevrolet, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan. The terms also say that reading data from more than 15 different vehicles during the licence term counts as commercial use and switches the licence to a business one. Lesson: Carly describes its Used Car Check as a way to detect mileage manipulation, and it is listed only on some makes; the readiness check on our used-car checklist is a different check, for recently cleared codes, that works with any reader that shows readiness monitors on a car that supports them. A buyer inspecting a lot of cars should read the 15-vehicle clause before subscribing.
What no OBD2 scanner can hear
Carly reads what the car's computers store and report, as OBD2 tools do. The California Air Resources Board describes what that system was designed to watch: it is built to "monitor virtually every component that can affect emission performance", and "If a problem or malfunction is detected, the OBD II system illuminates a warning light on the vehicle instrument panel to alert the driver." Carly's Premium reaches beyond the engine on supported cars, to transmission, ABS, airbag and other modules. The fact sheet describes stored malfunction data and a warning light, not sound, and it does not describe the system as watching parts such as a wheel bearing, a heat shield or a belt tensioner, so a noise from one of them can come with no code at all.
We measured how often this matters for our FIXD comparison. In 39,355 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about ten high-volume nameplates, model years 2015 to 2022, 3,838 described a sound and mentioned no light, no code and no scan: 79% of every complaint in that sample that described a sound. The method and limits are on that page; these are mentions in free text, not measured failure rates. The point for a Carly buyer is narrow: if your problem is a new noise and the dashboard is quiet, a clean scan would not be surprising, and it is not an all-clear.
Can Carly tell you what a noise is, and where does PulsCar come in? Carly reads stored fault codes and live data, lists service functions on some makes and coding on BMW, MINI, Volkswagen and Audi; that is a different job from identifying a sound. None of Carly's pages we read claim to diagnose noises, and that is not a flaw, it is the category. PulsCar's free sound check does the other job: you film 30 seconds of the engine running and a report arrives by email within ten minutes of upload, with a health score, a severity level and estimated repair costs. It reads no codes, clears nothing, runs no service function and does not replace a scanner for a warning light. If the check engine, ABS or airbag light is on, a scanner such as Carly is the right tool; if the engine sounds wrong and the dashboard is quiet, a sound check is the tool that listens.
Where a free sound check fits, and where it does not
This is our side of the page, and the details are in the paragraph above. The homepage terms are "No payment, no card, no subscription." If a clip cannot support a confident verdict, the report says "inconclusive" rather than guessing.
It does none of what this page reviews: no codes, no live data, no coding or service functions, nothing to plug in. It is built around the engine; the homepage says some non-engine sounds also reach the microphone and are flagged, but a brake, wheel or suspension noise still needs a physical inspection. It does not work on electric vehicles.
Should you buy Carly or try PulsCar's free sound check first? It depends on what your car is doing today. A warning light that comes with a stored code needs a scanner, and for BMW, MINI, Volkswagen and Audi owners who also want coding and service functions, Carly's own price page makes its strongest case. A new knock, tick, rattle or whine from the engine with no light on is acoustic, and a scanner, Carly included, often has no stored code to read about it, though a scan is still worth doing if you have the tool; the free check costs nothing to try first, 30 seconds of the engine running, no card, report by email. If you have both a light and a noise, do both. A brake, wheel or suspension noise, a smell, a leak or a pull needs a physical inspection, which neither a scanner nor a recording replaces.
Record 30 seconds of your engine running on any phone. PulsCar's AI listens for the acoustic signature and sends back a health score, a severity level and estimated repair costs, for the sounds that come with no warning light and no stored code. A severity level is not a safety clearance. The report arrives by email, so use the address you actually read. Free, no card, no subscription.
What we looked for and did not find
Each item below is something we looked for or tried to read on 30 September 2026.
Carly's help centre and Trustpilot. Three help-centre addresses (renewal, licence return, scanner return) and Carly's Trustpilot page answered our automated requests with HTTP 403. Nothing on this page comes from them; we quote no Trustpilot score.
The business licence price. The terms describe an automatic switch to a B2B licence above 15 vehicles, and Carly's site links to a separate business offering, but we found no B2B price on the consumer pages we read, and we did not open the business site.
Model-level coverage without the scanner. The price page lists features by make only, and Carly's FAQ says to check your car by connecting the scanner to the free app. We did not find a page that lists supported features by model and year without the hardware.
An independent test. We did not buy a licence or plug a Carly scanner into a car, and none of the pages we read reports a controlled test of which features work on which models. Carly's own lists and the free-app check are the best evidence available, and this review says so rather than invent a benchmark.
The EPA's OBD page returned not found and the NHTSA recalls page refused our request; the CARB fact sheet states both the California and federal OBD II requirement.
Your plan: before you order, on the day, and before renewal
Before you order (fifteen minutes, free):
- Open Carly's price page, set your location, pick your make, and read the Premium list line by line. If you want coding, check that "Carly Coding" is in it; on the US page it was there for BMW, MINI, Volkswagen and Audi.
- If your make shows "Premium features are not yet available for this vehicle.", Premium is not an option for that car.
- Decide what you actually need. Codes and live data only: price a one-time reader over three years against $206.67 of Carly Premium at the $68.89 rate, if that price never changes; our scanner shelf and three-way comparison do that pricing, and which kind of tool your problem needs sorts the jobs. Coding and service functions on a BMW or MINI, or coding and the parking brake on a VW or Audi: this is where Carly's price page lists the most.
- If you are unsure your car is well covered, consider buying the Basic Package first: it has the 14-day scanner return that the FAQ does not give a Premium scanner, and you can see in the free app what your exact car supports. The cost of that caution: return postage is yours if you send it back, and if you keep it, the scanner is paid for; the price page offers owners of a scanner an "UPGRADE TO PREMIUM PACKAGE" route, and the App Store sells the licence alone, so compare what each unlocks for your make before paying.
- If you expect to read more than 15 different cars during one licence term, read section 10 e of the terms before subscribing.
On the day you order: 6. Decide on the channel and write it down: website or app store. It decides how you cancel and how refunds work. 7. Save the order confirmation email and the invoice number (the cancellation form asks for your email, invoice number and billing zip code), and a copy of the terms page as it is shown to you that day. 8. If you used a discount code, note the full price for year two; the terms say discounts apply to the first year only.
Before renewal: 9. Find the renewal date (Carly's guide says "itβs visible in your account settings") and set a reminder 45 days before it. If the terms shown to you are the English version for outside California, cancel at least one month ahead (the California version says one week) through mycarly.com/cancellation, and send the same notice by email to [email protected] so you keep a dated copy. App-store buyers: at least 24 hours ahead in the store's settings. 10. Open any email from Carly about prices; the terms say a price change to a fixed-term licence will generally take effect only at the next renewal, and Carly says it will notify you by email.
If you want one adapter for many apps instead of one app per adapter, our OBDLink MX+ review covers that route; PulsCar's app works with the OBDLink MX+, so we have a commercial interest in it. For the wider app landscape, see the full diagnostic-app comparison, what AutoZone's free scan gives you, sound AI versus OBD scanners, what a check engine light means, and what a diagnostic should cost.
Sources and documents
Every number and quotation above comes from one of these pages, each opened and read on 30 September 2026, except those in item 13, which we could not read.
- Carly price page, US location, 34 makes selected one at a time β Basic and Premium prices, All Brands and Smart Mechanic add-ons, per-make feature lists, the FAQ (returns, compatibility, warranty), "The Carly licenses are an annual payment.": mycarly.com/plan
- Carly Terms and Conditions (English; the page shows one version to visitors in California and another to all other English-language visitors) β licence term and renewal (10 b), 15-vehicle clause (10 e), price changes (12), discounts (3 e), customs (3 d), delivery (4 a), withdrawal (6), warranty (7), governing law: mycarly.com/company/terms-and-conditions
- Carly online cancellation page, "Terminate contract": mycarly.com/cancellation
- Carly scanner page β hardware specification, FAQ on returns and compatibility (the same FAQ appears on the price page and Carly's brand and feature pages): mycarly.com/scanner; Carly brand pages for BMW, Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, Honda, Chevrolet and Volkswagen, with the "Customization" tile and the Toyota search description: e.g. mycarly.com/brands/toyota
- Carly website interface text and page code β the cancellation form's wording, the account page's cancellation and purchase texts, and the footer-link rule, read as text as loaded on 30 September 2026 (file names change when the site is redeployed): interface text file, cancellation page code, account page code, footer code
- Carly home page β brand menu (43 brands), "Lifetime warranty": mycarly.com
- Carly, "Does Carly Scanner Require a Subscription? Complete Pricing Guide 2026": Carly pricing guide
- Apple App Store, "Carly β OBD2 car scanner" β rating, in-app purchases, description, release notes: App Store listing; exact rating count and version date from Apple's public lookup
- Google Play, "Carly β OBD2 car scanner" β rating, reviews, downloads, update date, description: Google Play listing
- California Air Resources Board, OBD II Systems Fact Sheet: OBD II fact sheet
- PulsCar's NHTSA complaint count (39,355 complaints, method and limits), published on FIXD vs PulsCar
- PulsCar homepage β the free sound check terms: pulscar.io
- Requested but refused: Carly help centre articles at support.mycarly.com, Carly's Trustpilot page; the NHTSA recalls page; an EPA OBD page returned not found
How this page was built: every Carly fact was read on 30 September 2026 from Carly's own properties (mycarly.com, its terms, its cancellation and scanner pages, and its blog's pricing guide) and from the Apple App Store, Apple's public lookup data and Google Play, and quoted as published. The price page was read in a browser with its own location picker set to the United States and 34 makes selected in turn; six were re-read and matched. The terms are rendered from text in the site's code; we saved both English versions and the rule that chooses between them. Where two of Carly's own documents differ (the free tier, the Bluetooth version, one line of the pricing guide's FAQ, coding wording on brand pages and in the guide versus the price page), both are shown. Star ratings and review counts are the platforms' figures, marked βͺ. No licence was bought and no scanner was tested. The NHTSA complaint count is PulsCar's own, computed and documented on the FIXD page. The three scenarios are composite and contain no invented names, amounts or dates. PulsCar sells none of Carly's products and earns nothing from Carly.
Prices verified: 30 September 2026 Β· Technical documents verified: 30 September 2026 Β· Reviewed quarterly
Bought Carly and found your car supported more or less than its price page listed? Email [email protected] with the car's year, make and model and what worked. A documented counter-example changes this page faster than anything we could write.
