How Much Does DVSA MOT API Integration Cost in the UK?

The DVSA MOT History API itself is free. You register with DVSA, they approve your application and issue credentials, and every lookup costs nothing. The cost of a MOT API integration is purely the development work — building the proxy, handling the OAuth authentication, parsing the response, and connecting it to your platform. That cost starts from around £895 for a straightforward lookup and display build, and from £2,295 for a full fleet monitoring system.

What the three tiers actually involve

Standard lookup: from £895

A registration input on your website or platform that calls the DVSA API and returns the full MOT history. The integration handles OAuth authentication — acquiring a Bearer token from Azure, caching it for its 60-minute validity window, and refreshing it automatically when it expires. The API key is stored server-side and never exposed in client-side code. Error handling covers invalid registrations, vehicles with no MOT history, API rate limit responses and Azure authentication failures. This tier takes 3–4 days.

Platform integration: from £1,495

Everything in the standard lookup, plus the integration wired into your existing platform. Results stored to your database or CRM when a lookup runs. Lookup triggered by your existing workflow. Display built to match your platform’s design. Right for car-buying platforms, part-exchange tools, insurance applications and dealer management systems.

Fleet monitoring: from £2,295

A scheduled system that checks MOT expiry dates across a fleet and triggers alerts before vehicles expire. Configurable thresholds, notifications by email or webhook, a fleet dashboard and bulk registration import. For fleet managers, leasing companies and rental operators.

What drives the cost up

Complex existing systems. Legacy dealer management systems, bespoke CRMs, platforms with restricted API access take longer to integrate. Multiple trigger points. Lookups triggered from multiple places in the same system adds scope. Data storage and history. Storing lookup results for audit purposes adds database design and build work. Large fleet sizes. Fleet monitoring for thousands of vehicles is more complex than for dozens.

What drives the cost down

Clean, modern platform with a well-documented REST API. DVSA credentials already in hand. Simple display requirements — a clean standard display is fast to build.

Compared to commercial vehicle history APIs

Commercial vehicle data APIs — HPI, Cazana, cap hpi — charge per lookup. Typical costs range from 5p to £2 per lookup. At 10,000 lookups a month, that becomes a significant ongoing cost. The DVSA API returns MOT history only. If you need finance checks, write-off history or keeper changes, you need a commercial provider. But if MOT history is what your use case requires, the free DVSA API pays for itself quickly. For the full comparison, see DVSA MOT API vs HPI check.

For the full service details and pricing, see the DVSA MOT API integration service. Try the live MOT History demo to see exactly what the API returns.

Costs after the build

The API stays free. There's no per-lookup charge from the DVSA, however many registrations you check, as long as you stay within the usage limits the DVSA sets for your account.

Hosting. The integration runs on the server your website or platform already uses, so there's usually nothing extra to pay.

Optional support. A retainer from £49 a month covers keeping the integration working: renewing credentials, adapting to DVSA changes and fixing anything that breaks. It's optional. Without it, any change is quoted as a separate job when it's needed.

What you need before the build starts

You need DVSA API credentials in your own name. Registration is free: you apply through the DVSA, describe what you'll use the data for, and they issue a client ID, a client secret and an API key once approved. Approval can take days rather than hours, so it's worth applying as soon as you've decided to go ahead. I'll tell you what to put on the application. Because the credentials are yours, you're never dependent on me for access.

How long each tier takes

The Standard lookup takes 3 to 4 days, Platform integration about a week, and Fleet monitoring about two weeks. The clock starts once the DVSA credentials are through and the deposit is paid. Payment is 50% to start and 50% on completion.

Is it worth it?

Work it out on your own numbers. If you currently pay a data provider per lookup for information the DVSA gives away free, divide the build cost by what you spend each month on those lookups. For most dealers and fleets doing more than a few hundred checks a month, the build pays for itself within the first year, and the data is the official record rather than a copy of it.