500 free lookups every month
Track up to 500 packages per month on the free plan — enough for prototypes, internal tools, and small stores. No credit card required to start.
Free plan — no credit card
Free Tracking API
Track up to 500 packages per month for free. Auto-detect 80+ carriers, get normalized shipment statuses, event timelines, and HMAC-signed webhooks — no credit card required.
Track a package — free
curl https://api.traceapi.dev/v1/track \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRACE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"tracking_number":"1Z999AA10123456784"}'
# Response:
# {
# "carrier": { "code": "ups", "name": "UPS" },
# "status": "in_transit",
# "events": [...],
# "cached": false
# }What you get for free
Everything in the paid plans — at zero cost.
The free plan is not a stripped-down trial. You get the full API surface: carrier auto-detection, normalized statuses, event timelines, batch tracking, and signed webhooks. The only difference is volume.
80+ carriers auto-detected
Send a tracking number and Trace detects the carrier automatically — UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, Royal Mail, YunExpress, 4PX, Cainiao, and 80+ more.
Normalized status data
Get consistent statuses (pending, in_transit, out_for_delivery, delivered, exception) with clean event timelines, locations, and timestamps.
Signed webhooks included
Every plan — including free — gets HMAC-signed webhooks for tracking.updated, tracking.delivered, and tracking.exception events.
Batch tracking
Track up to 20 packages in a single request with /v1/track/batch. Each number counts as one lookup toward your free monthly quota.
30-minute response cache
Repeated lookups are served from a 30-minute cache, so polling the same tracking number doesn't burn through your free quota.
How Trace compares
The most generous free tracking API.
Compare Trace's free tier against other popular tracking APIs. More free lookups, webhooks on the free plan, and no credit card to start.
| Feature | Trace | AfterShip | TrackingMore | Ship24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly lookups (free tier) | 500 | 50 | 100 | 250 |
| No credit card required | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Carrier auto-detection | 80+ carriers | 900+ carriers | 100+ carriers | 50+ carriers |
| Webhooks on free plan | Yes | No | No | No |
| Batch tracking on free plan | Yes (20 per request) | No | No | No |
| Response caching | 30-minute cache | Limited | No | No |
Comparison data based on publicly available pricing pages as of 2026. Free tier limits and features may change — verify on each provider's website.
Free tracking API FAQ
Common questions about the free plan.
Is the free tracking API really free?
Yes. The free plan includes 500 package tracking lookups per month at no cost. You can sign up, create an API key, and start tracking packages without entering a credit card. If you need more volume, paid plans start at $29/month for 10,000 lookups.
Do I need a credit card to use the free plan?
No. You can create an account and generate a trc_ prefixed API key immediately after email verification. No payment information is required for the free tier.
What happens when I hit 500 lookups?
Once you exceed 500 lookups in a calendar month, further requests return a 402 monthly_quota_exceeded error. Your existing data and API key remain valid. You can upgrade to a paid plan at any time from the dashboard to unlock higher limits immediately.
Which carriers can I track for free?
All 80+ carriers are available on every plan, including free. There is no carrier gating — you can track UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, Royal Mail, YunExpress, 4PX, Cainiao, DPD, Evri, PostNL, GLS, SF Express, Aramex, Japan Post, Canada Post, and more from day one.
Can I use the free tracking API in production?
Yes. The free plan is suitable for production use at low volume — internal tools, prototypes, small stores with fewer than 500 shipments per month, and development/testing environments. The API, response format, and webhook delivery are identical across all plans.
How fast is the free tracking API?
The free plan allows 10 requests per minute, which is sufficient for most low-volume use cases. Repeated lookups for the same tracking number are cached for 30 minutes, so polling doesn't consume your quota. Paid plans offer higher rate limits (60–300 requests per minute).
Start tracking for free.
Create an account, generate your API key, and track your first package in under two minutes. No credit card, no sales call, no setup fee.