Welcome to the Edmunds Developer Network

Get Started Right Now! 

Follow the steps below to start using the Edmunds API:

  1. Register for a user account.
  2. Apply for an API key.
  3. Browse the documentation.
  4. Join a discussion in the forums.

What are the Edmunds' APIs?

Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs, allow web developers and application engineers to programmatically access Edmunds data for use in their own applications. Our goal is to provide a way by which developers and engineers can access our data to create innovative and new experiences for their users.

Why open up Edmunds' data?

We here at Edmunds believe strongly that innovation is fostered best through openness and transparency. We’re opening up our data because we want to give you, the developer, the ability to explore its potential. You can use the breadth and detail of the automotive information available through the Edmunds’ API to create mashups, mobile apps, visualizations and other data consuming applications that will provide an added dimension of user experience for the automotive consumer.  Edmunds is committed to helping automotive consumers find the car that meets their every need. Providing our data to other developers interested in automotive data is a key component to achieving our goal.

What data can I access to through the Edmunds' APIs?

The current version of the Edmunds’ APIs divides automotive information into the following three areas:

  • Vehicle API: Detailed information about a vehicle(s) as defined by Make, Model, and Model Year. Also, the Vehicle API provides information about a vehicle's Style, Pricing, Incentives, Rebates, Maintenance and media, such as Photos. The API also offers a VIN Decoder to make it easier to get vehicle information.
  • Dealer API: Dealer information was well as information about incentives and rebates are available through this API.
  • Inventory API: Get an inventory vehicle from a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) 

You access a particular dataset using RESTful methods that are defined within one of the three sections listed above. For example, if you want to get a dataset the describes all vehicle makes in a given calendar year, you use the following REST call within Vehicle API; http://api.edmunds.com/{version}/api/vehicle-directory-ajax/findmakes?api_key=xxxxxxxxxxx&fmt=json where:

  1. http://api.edmunds.com/{version}/api/vehicle-directory-ajax/findmakes? is the RESTful call
  2. {version} defines the API version
  3. api_key=xxxxxxx defines your API key
  4. fmt=json indicates that you want to the dataset returned in JSON format. (Please note that the Edmunds’ APIs return datasets in either JSON or XML format.