License Plate OCR API Pricing and Cost per Scan
What license plate OCR costs with StructOCR: 1 credit per successful scan, prepaid credits that never expire, and no charge for failed requests.
What Drives OCR Cost
OCR pricing differs by whether failed requests are billed, whether credits expire, minimum monthly commitments, and the price per document type. Those terms matter more than the headline rate.
How StructOCR Prices It
Each successful license plate request costs 1 credit. Credits are prepaid from $5, never expire, and are only deducted for successful (200 OK) responses. See the full pricing page and start with 200 free credits.
Where This Fits
- Pilot: 200 free credits cover a realistic test on your own images before you pay anything.
- Steady volume: Larger packages lower the cost per credit, and unused credits carry over indefinitely.
- Enterprise: Contact sales for custom volume pricing and support terms.
Track Cost in Your Code
Each successful response consumes a fixed number of credits, so cost per document is predictable.
Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY
import base64
import os
import requests
with open("plate.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")
response = requests.post(
"https://api.structocr.com/v1/license-plate",
headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
json={"img": image},
timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("plates:", data.get("plates"))
print("region_text:", data.get("region_text"))
print("country_guess:", data.get("country_guess"))Technical Specs
- •Endpoint: POST https://api.structocr.com/v1/license-plate
- •Authentication: x-api-key request header
- •Inputs: JPG, PNG, or WebP as Base64 JSON; maximum 4.5MB
- •Price: 1 credit per successful request; failed requests are not billed
- •Free trial: 200 free credits on sign-up, no credit card required
- •Mini ($5): about $0.0100 per license plate
- •Starter ($15): about $0.0083 per license plate
- •Business ($29): about $0.0073 per license plate
- •Pro ($99): about $0.0058 per license plate
Key Features
- •No subscription: Buy credit packages when you need them.
- •No expiry: Purchased credits are yours until used.
- •Failures are free: Errors, timeouts, and unreadable images are not billed.
- •Crypto bonus: Paying with USDT or USDC adds a 10% credit bonus.
Billable Response
Only a successful response like this consumes credits. Field values are illustrative.
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"plates": "…",
"region_text": "…",
"country_guess": "…"
}
}Frequently Asked Questions
How much does one license plate scan cost?
1 credit, which is roughly $0.0058 on the $99 package and $0.01 on the $5 package.
Am I charged when OCR fails?
No. Only successful extractions are billed.
Do credits expire?
No. Purchased credits never expire.
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From tutorial to production in 5 minutes.
You've seen the code. Now get your API key, grab your 200 free credits, and see it work with your own images. No credit card required.