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VATCheck API Alternative — TaxID
VATCheck API is the go-to option if you want maximum headroom before paying anything — 500 free validations per month is the highest free tier in the EU VAT API market. If you're building a prototype or low-volume internal tool, that's a legitimate reason to start there. The question is what happens when you grow: VATCheck API's paid plans cap at 5,000 validations/month, while TaxID scales from 1,000 ($19) to 1,000,000 ($149) per month. You may outgrow VATCheck API before your first funding round.
Disclosure: TaxID is our product. Competitor data is sourced from public pricing pages and documentation, accurate as of May 2026. We link to source pages where possible. Pricing may have changed — always verify on the vendor's site.
Feature comparison
| Feature | TaxID | VATCheck API |
|---|---|---|
| EU countries supported | — | 27 |
| VIES-backed validation | ||
| Response caching | Redis 24h | Unknown |
| Free tier requests/mo | 100 | 500 |
| Max paid requests/mo | 1,000,000 | 5,000 |
| Batch validation | — | — |
| Webhook notifications | — | — |
| SLA guarantee | — | — |
| Company name in response | ||
| Cached response time | 10ms | 250ms |
| Starting price | $0/mo (Free) | $19/mo ↗ |
Why developers switch from VATCheck API
VATCheck API limitations
- No webhooks
- No batch validation
- No VAT rate data
- Paid plans cap at 5,000 validations/month
- Limited language SDKs
TaxID advantages
- 100× higher scale ceiling: 1M/month vs VATCheckAPI's 5,000/month max paid
- VAT rate data via /api/v1/rates endpoint — VATCheckAPI has no rates endpoint
- 24h Redis caching with explicit cached field in response
- Stripe-style error codes with machine-readable status field
- Format validation before VIES call — saves quota on invalid inputs
When to choose VATCheck API instead
VATCheckAPI's 500-request free tier is genuinely the most generous in the market — 5× TaxID's 100. If you need the widest possible free evaluation window for a prototype or internal tool that will never exceed 400 validations/month, VATCheckAPI is a reasonable choice. It also has historically strong uptime and a clean modern API. The ceiling is the constraint: if you'll ever exceed 5,000 validations/month on a paid plan, you'll need to migrate anyway.
Switching from VATCheck API to TaxID
The core change is the endpoint URL and authentication header. Both APIs return company_name, valid, and company address — no downstream code changes needed for the core validation logic.
GET https://vatcheckapi.com/api/v5/check?vat_number=DE123456789 (Header: apikey: YOUR_KEY)
GET https://taxid.dev/api/v1/validate/DE/DE123456789 (Header: Authorization: Bearer)
VATCheckAPI passes vat_number as a query parameter; TaxID uses RESTful path parameters. Auth header changes from 'apikey' to 'Authorization: Bearer'. Both return company_name and address.
Start with TaxID free
100 validations/month free. No credit card. API key in two minutes.
Frequently asked questions
VATCheckAPI has 500 free requests vs TaxID's 100 — why switch?
For prototyping, VATCheckAPI's larger free tier is genuinely an advantage — there's no reason to switch if you're evaluating and need headroom. The calculus changes when you go to paid plans: VATCheckAPI maxes out at 5,000 validations/month, while TaxID scales to 1,000,000/month. If your product will ever validate more than a few thousand VAT numbers monthly, building on TaxID avoids a second migration at growth stage.
Does TaxID have VAT rate data like VATCheckAPI?
TaxID has a dedicated /api/v1/rates/:country endpoint that returns the standard rate, reduced rates, and super-reduced rate for all 27 EU member states. This endpoint requires no authentication and is cacheable. VATCheckAPI does not have a rates endpoint.
How do I migrate from VATCheckAPI to TaxID?
The main change is moving the country code from the vat_number query parameter into the URL path. Change from: vatcheckapi.com/api/v5/check?vat_number=DE123456789&apikey=KEY to: taxid.dev/api/v1/validate/DE/DE123456789 with Authorization: Bearer KEY. Both return the same core fields — valid, company_name, company_address.
What is VATCheckAPI's max validation volume on paid plans?
VATCheckAPI's highest listed paid plan covers 5,000 validations/month. TaxID's Business plan covers 100,000 validations/month at $149, and custom plans are available for higher volumes. For any SaaS or marketplace with meaningful B2B checkout volume, TaxID's ceiling is much higher.