Car Scanner ELM OBD2 vs CarbitLink
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Car Scanner ELM OBD2
Monitor your car's real-time performance, diagnose fault codes, and access detailed sensor data. Customize your dashboard with various gauges and charts, and even reset diagnostic trouble codes. This tool helps you understand your vehicle's health and potentially reduce repair costs.
- Real-time vehicle data
- OBD fault code reading and resetting
- Customizable dashboard with gauges and charts
- Extended PID support
- Emission test readiness check
- HUD mode for windshield projection
- Acceleration measurement tool
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Check what your car is doing in realtime, get OBD fault codes, car performance, sensor data and more! Car Scanner is a vehicle / car performance / trip computer / diagnostics tool and scanner that uses an OBD II Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth LE) adapter to connect to your OBD2 engine management / ECU. Car Scanner gives you a bunch of unique features: 1) Layout your own dashboard with the gauges and charts you want! 2) Add custom (extended PIDs) and get information, that was hidden from you by car manufacturer! 3) It can also show and reset a DTC fault code like a scantool. Car Scanner includes a huge database of DTC codes descriptions. 4) Car Scanner allows you to read free-frames (sensors state when DTC is saved). 5) Now with Mode 06 - you can get ECU self-monitoring test results. Helps you fix your car and helps keep repair costs down! 6) Check if your car is ready for emission tests. 7) Check all of the sensors at one screen 8) Car Scanner works with any vehicle that uses the OBD 2 standard (most vehicles built after 2000, but can work for vehicles as far back as 1996, check carscanner.info for more details). 9) Car Scanner includes a lot of connection profiles, that gives you some extra features for Toyota, Mitsubishi, GM, Opel, Vauxhal, Chevrolet, Nissan, Infinity, Renault, Dacia, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, BMW and many others. 10) Car Scanner dashboard includes a HUD mode, that you can use to project data to your windshield. 11) Car Scanner provides a tool for very accurate acceleration measurments (0-60, 0-100, etc.) 12) Car Scanner can be used as a trip computer and can show you fuel consumption statistics! 13) For cars of the VAG group (Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat), built on the MQB and PQ26 platforms, encoding functions are available - setting hidden parameters of the car. 14) And one more thing - Car Scanner provides the widest variety of features for FREE across the App Store. The app requires a Wi-Fi or or Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth LE) OBD2 ELM327 compatible adapter (device) to work. ELM327 devices plugs into the diagnostics socket in the car ang gives your phone access to car diagnostics. Recommended adapters brands: Kiwi 3, Viecar, V-Gate, Carista, LELink, Veepeak. If you buy one of the cheap china OBD2 ELM327 adapters from ebay / amazon, then make sure it’s not marked as v.2.1. This adapters are supported, but they have lot’s of bugs. PLEASE NOTE: Vehicle ECUs vary in the amount of sensors supported. This app can’t show you something, that is not provided by your car. Attention "bad" adapters! We faced the problem, that some adapters (often cheep Chinese clones), can’t connect to the smartphone or the car. Some of them can even make your car engine work unstable, often lost connection, increase time lag when reading data. So, we recommend you to use genuine ELM327 or recommended adapter brands. Car Scanner ELM OBD2 is free but to unlock all the features, a one-time purchase or a subscription is required. Under no circumstances will the developer of this application be held responsible for incidents resulting from the use and/or interpretation of the data in the application. If you have any issues, you can always contact developer using Settings - Contact developer in the app or just send email to wp_soft@outlook.com Car Scanner ELM OBD2 for iOS Terms of use can be found at https://www.carscanner.info/ios-tos/
CarbitLink
This app mirrors your phone's screen to your car's display, offering features like online navigation, music, and video playback for an enhanced driving experience. It also includes essential in-car functions for safer and more convenient travel.
- Phone screen projection to car
- Online navigation with route planning
- Online music streaming
- Online video playback
- Local music playback
- Phone call integration
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CarbitLink is an in-vehicle assistant that supports screen projection from your phone to your car. Convenient interconnection and excellent in-car functions can give you the best driving experience. Key features Online Navigation: Plan the most reasonable travel route for you based on your precise positioning and current road conditions Online Music: You can listen to tons of online albums and songs anytime Online Video: Under the premise of ensuring driving safety, you can watch the most popular news, sports, music, games, fashion and other videos CarbitLink also provides common in-car features such as local music and phone calls to help you drive better. Note:If you subscribe via Apple,payment will be charged to App Store Account at confirmation of purchase.Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.Accout will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period at the rate of the selected plan.Subscriptions and auto-renewal may be managed by going to Account settings after purchase. Auto-renewing subscriptions Online Music: -- In-car online music as a bonus Auto-renewing subscriptions Online Navigation: -- CarbitMap Online Navigation -- HD satellite map -- Real-time traffic and camera alerts -- In-car online music as a bonus Service terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/carbitlink-privacy-policy-id/home We look forward to receiving your feedback. If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact us via the following email: support.ec@carbit.com.cn
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Car Scanner ELM OBD2 at 81% against CarbitLink's 5%. Car Scanner ELM OBD2 also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.3) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). CarbitLink's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Car Scanner ELM OBD2 sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 6 months and CarbitLink sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Car Scanner ELM OBD2 holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Car Scanner ELM OBD2 has 33K ratings behind it against 173, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Car Scanner ELM OBD2's written reviews are positive against 5% of CarbitLink's.
Car Scanner ELM OBD2 ships an update every 5 days, CarbitLink every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Car Scanner ELM OBD2 | CarbitLink |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (33K ratings) — better | 2.3 (173 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.1% of reviews — better | 5.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 33K — better | 173 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 181 MB | 138 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stanislav Svistunov | 亿连(武汉)科技有限公司 |
Customer experience
Car Scanner ELM OBD2
CarbitLink
User reviews
Car Scanner ELM OBD2
From 33K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Works great with cheap OBD2 adapters
- 👍 Highly customizable dashboard
- 👍 Comprehensive sensor data
- 👍 Helpful error code lookup
- 👍 Frequent updates
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional connection issues
- 🐛 Incorrect sensor readings for some vehicles
- 🐛 Crashes or freezes on some devices
- 🔋 Drains battery when left running
CarbitLink
From 173 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good application
- 🚀 Nice and fast
- 🚀 Works as expected on Geely
Room to improve
- 🐛 The new update made the sound system very bad
- 🐛 Useless and deceitful app
- 🐛 Terrible app
- 🐛 Garbage app
- 🐛 Netflix doesn't work
Bugs and requests
Car Scanner ELM OBD2
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unable to connect to certain vehicle models
- Incorrect fuel economy calculations
- Sensor data not updating properly in some cases
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for more vehicle profiles
- Improve CarPlay integration
- Allow custom dashboard templates
- Add option to automatically save data logs
- Expand sensor coverage, especially for transmissions and ABS
CarbitLink
Reported bugs
6 issues- Apple Music not working
- Mirroring not working after update
- Can't register the app
- Doesn't work on iOS 16 and newer
- Doesn't work with iPhone
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Crashes on launch
Requested features
2 requests- Add support for Google Maps or Waze
- Add ability to add apps
In-app purchases
Car Scanner ELM OBD2
- Car Scanner Pro (6 months)$3.996 Months
- Car Scanner Pro (1 year)$4.991 Year
- Car Scanner Pro (low price)$6.99
- Car Scanner Pro (mid price)$6.99
- Car Scanner Pro (forever)$7.99
CarbitLink
- Music1 Month trial$1.991 Month
- Navigation1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- Google maps Navigation1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- Mapbox_Trial$0.99
- Mapbox_Month$2.99
- Mapbox_Quarter$8.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Mapbox_Year$28.99
Questions
Is Car Scanner ELM OBD2 free?
Is CarbitLink free?
Which has better reviews, Car Scanner ELM OBD2 or CarbitLink?
Do Car Scanner ELM OBD2 or CarbitLink have ads?
Which is updated more often, Car Scanner ELM OBD2 or CarbitLink?
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