Plate or VIN lookup
Make, style, year, colour, engine, body, capacity and VIN of the registered vehicle. Private cars, light trucks and motorcycles.
API Registro Vehicular
Data API · Costa Rica
Costa Rica plate API: owners, transfers, marchamo and Dekra
With the plate or the VIN, your system gets as JSON what Costa Rica’s National Registry publishes — specifications, owners, liens and annotations — plus the history of owners and transfers, whether the marchamo is paid up according to INS, and when the Dekra technical inspection expires. You start free with 10 queries and buy your plan online.
Before buying, insuring or financing a vehicle, someone has to find out whose it is, what it owes and whether it is up to date. That lives in three places — the National Registry, INS and Dekra — and is checked plate by plate. The API brings it together in one integration, and your system gets the data ready to use.
The journey
End to end, frictionless
1
Create your account
At rnp.egobytes.com, with 10 free queries to try it and no card.
2
Generate your key
From your portal, one per system, and you revoke it whenever you want.
3
Query by plate or VIN
One HTTP call with the key in a header. The answer comes back as JSON.
4
Pick your plan
Monthly from USD 11.30, or top-ups with no monthly fee. Paid online.
10
free queries
To try it with real plates, no card.
3
sources in one API
National Registry, INS marchamo and Dekra inspection.
USD 11.30
from, per month
100 queries. There are plans of 250, 500 and 2,000.
0
charges if the source fails
If it does not answer, or answers halfway, nothing is deducted.
All in one system
The modules that run the operation
Current owners
Name and ID of the registered owner, with their right and share.
Owner and transfer history
Every transfer with the owner at the time and its date, the registry movements in order, and how many times it truly changed hands.
Liens and annotations
Whether it is pledged, annotated or has infractions in the Registry, today and in its history. “None” and “unknown” are never mixed up.
Marchamo paid or pending
Per INS: whether it owes, how many periods, how much is due today, how much of that is surcharges, and the breakdown.
Dekra technical inspection
When it expires according to Dekra, whether it is valid or expired, and the month it is due by the plate’s last digit.
Marchamo and transfer estimate
What the marchamo and a transfer would cost from the fiscal value, with the official rates of the year.
Origin and model photo
Country of manufacture from the VIN and an illustrative photo of the same model and year, with its credit.
Impossible plates are free
A plate that cannot exist is rejected before querying. With its prefix attached, like CL272490, it is looked up in its own class.
Why this one
What makes it different
No need to write to anyone
You sign up, try it free and buy your plan online. For large volumes there is Enterprise.
You pay per complete answer
Every answer says whether it was charged and how much balance you have left. If the source does not answer, or answers halfway, nothing is deducted.
Three sources, one integration
National Registry, INS and Dekra without visiting three sites or fighting sessions that drop.
JSON, already parsed
Fields, lists and dates ready to store. Whatever the source does not publish comes back null, never invented.
Errors with names
Vehicle not found, impossible plate, no balance or source down are different codes your program can tell apart.
Test vehicles
Demo plates to build against a case with liens and history without querying a real person.
Who it's for
Who this changes the day for
If your business depends on knowing whose a vehicle is, what it owes and whether it is up to date before deciding, this removes the slow part.
Car dealerships
Know in seconds whether the car is pledged, owes marchamo, how many owners it had and whether its inspection is valid.
Insurers
Quote and underwrite with real specifications and liens in view, without waiting for a manual lookup.
Lenders and leasing
Verify the collateral and its transfers before disbursing, and verify it again afterwards.
Inspection centres and workshops
Preload the vehicle record from the plate alone and know when its next inspection is due.
Fleets and logistics
Keep the marchamo and inspection of dozens of units current without someone dedicated to checking them.
Lawyers and notaries
Check registry status and owner history before a transfer, with the query kept on record.
Classifieds and marketplaces
Validate a listing against the Registry and show a trustworthy record.
Adjusters and appraisers
Identify the unit with certainty when opening a case.
Before buying a car: whose it is, what it owes and whether it is up to date.
Owners and transfers from the National Registry, marchamo from INS and the Dekra inspection in a single integration. It presents public information: it does not replace a registry certification.
Frequently asked
What people ask us most
The National Registry publishes none of its own. Registro Nacional CR API queries by plate or VIN and returns the information as JSON, with one HTTP call and the key in a header. The documentation is at rnp.egobytes.com/docs.
With the history query: it returns every transfer with the owner at the time and its date, the registry movements in order and the liens it had, current or not. It counts only real changes of owner and tells you what changed since you last checked that plate.
The marchamo is collected by INS, which is who knows whether it is paid. The API asks INS by plate and answers whether it is up to date or pending, how many periods are owed, how much is due today and how much of that is surcharges. To estimate what it costs there is a free calculator at rnp.egobytes.com/guias/como-saber-si-un-vehiculo-debe-marchamo.
The plate lookup includes when it expires according to Dekra and whether it is valid, expired or unconfirmed, plus the month it is due by the plate’s last digit. There is also a Dekra-only query that does not use up balance.
You start free with 10 queries, no card. Monthly plans are 100 queries for USD 11.30, 250 for USD 22.60, 500 for USD 33.90 and 2,000 for USD 111.87, VAT included. There are also top-ups with no monthly fee. Everything is bought online at rnp.egobytes.com.
If the plate cannot exist, it is rejected before querying and not charged. If you type it with its prefix, like CL272490 or M123456, it is looked up in its own class.
No. It presents what the National Registry publishes: it does not generate, validate or certify it. A legal procedure needs a registry certification, and this does not replace it.
The query fails with a code your system can read and retry, never with blank data that looks valid. When that happens it is not charged.
No. Queries go by plate or VIN. Owner data reaches identified clients through the API with every query logged, and never in the open demo on the page. It is not a people search.
It is one HTTP call with your key in the X-API-Key header. There are examples in cURL, Python, JavaScript and PHP, and test plates to build without spending queries.
Try it with 10 free queries
Create your account at rnp.egobytes.com, generate your key and run your first query today. If you need a large volume or a custom integration, write to us.