Carly vs xProtect
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Carly
This app provides comprehensive car diagnostics, live engine data, and repair guides. It helps users understand their car's health, perform maintenance, and even unlock hidden features. Compatible with a wide range of car brands, it empowers owners to take control of their vehicle's upkeep.
- Read and clear fault codes
- Monitor engine live data
- Access expert repair guides
- Perform car maintenance
- Check starter battery condition
- Code and unlock hidden features
- Detect mileage manipulation
Read full descriptionHide full description
Carly is the most versatile OBD2 solution, offering diagnostics, engine live data, and guides for car repair and maintenance. It's helped over a million car owners to save up to $2,000 per year for car-related topics. Get the Carly app and the Carly Universal Scanner to access data through the OBD2 port of your car. Unleash your inner car hero with Carly! It works for Audi, BMW, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes, Mini, Opel, Porsche, Renault, Seat, Skoda, Toyota, VW, and almost all other car brands with an OBD2 port. As every car is unique, which specific Carly features are available will vary with every model, build year, hardware, and software. ———— BASIC FEATURES INCLUDED IN THE (FREE) BASIC PACKAGE Diagnostics (OBD), Live Data (OBD), and Emission Check (OBD) enable you to have control over the most important systems — engine and transmission. ADVANCED FEATURES INCLUDED IN THE PREMIUM PACKAGE (YEARLY LICENSE) • UNDERSTAND YOUR CAR'S HEALTH With Carly Diagnostics, you can read and clear fault codes from all built-in electronic control units (ECUs), including engine, transmission, ABS, airbag, and multimedia, keep track of your car’s health, gauge the severity of problems, and more. • POWERCHARGE YOUR REPAIR SKILLS Get expert repair guides for your specific issues to help you understand and fix the issues by yourself. • MONITOR ENGINE LIVE DATA Live parameters or live data can help you take the guesswork out of understanding what your car needs and narrow down the fault causes. • PERFORM CAR MAINTENANCE INDEPENDENT OF THE WORKSHOP The Carly Maintenance feature helps you step-by-step to service your car yourself, reset your service and keep track of your service intervals directly from your phone. • VIEW THE CONDITION OF YOUR BATTERY The Carly Battery Check function helps you monitor the status of your car's starter battery, which will help to increase your batterie lifetime. • CODE AND UNLOCK HIDDEN FEATURES Access hidden features set by the manufacturer and customize your car to fit your needs. This feature is only available on certain car brands/models, and the coding options vary between each control unit. • DETECT MILEAGE MANIPULATION Mileage manipulation is on the rise. Don’t get tricked when buying a used car — use Carly to perform a used car inspection before buying. ———— HOW IT WORKS Step 1: Check which features are available for your car model Step 2: Order your Carly Universal Scanner Step 3: Plug the scanner into the OBD2 port and log in on this app THE CARLY UNIVERSAL SCANNER — THE MOST ADVANCED OBD DEVICE The OBD2 device was designed to support almost all car brands with an OBD2 port and to enable advanced Carly features. The scanner comes with: • A lifetime warranty • Premium customer support Take the health of your car into your own hands! ———— You can purchase a subscription for an individual car brand or for all car brands. This is a yearly subscription. The subscription automatically renews for one year if not canceled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. The subscription can be managed in your purchases and the automatic renewal can be deactivated there. Terms of Use: https://bit.ly/35Mxg5s Privacy Policy: https://bit.ly/35Rruze
xProtect
This app transforms your car's existing controls into a robust security system. Create a unique code that must be entered before driving, rendering the vehicle immobile if unauthorized access is attempted. It requires a specific Wi-Fi adapter for installation.
- Customizable security code
- Immobilizes vehicle without code
- Uses existing car controls
- Requires Wi-Fi adapter
- No permanent modifications
- Full app control
Read full descriptionHide full description
Protect Your BMW with a Code only you know! xProtect turns your car’s existing controls into a powerful security feature. This app lets you create a unique code that must be entered inside your vehicle before driving. Without the correct code, the car remains stationary — even if someone has copied your key or hijacked the remote signal. All you need is our xA Ultra Wi-Fi adapter (or compatible) for installing xProtect to your car. No permanent modifications are required. How It Works • Connect the App to your car via our xA Ultra Wi-Fi adapter. • Create a custom code inside the xProtect app, using your vehicle’s existing controls. • Enter the code before driving. • Wrong code or no code? The car won’t move. No additional hardware installations are required. No rewiring. Just smart protection. Why You’ll Love It • Advanced theft protection even against the latest tamper technology • Only requires our xA Ultra Wi-Fi adapter — no vehicle installation • Uses existing vehicle controls • Customizable code — change it anytime • Discreet and effective — invisible and impossible to remove for the bad guys • Full control through the app Smart Security, made simple Modern car theft requires modern anti theft solutions. Add an extra level of protection that only you control — directly from your phone. No code. No drive. Note xProtect is an additional access feature and does not replace or modify factory-installed vehicle security or safety systems. Supported functions may vary depending on vehicle model and configuration.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: xProtect at 100% against Carly's 29%. xProtect also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Carly's advantage is ratings volume (9.9K vs 7) and chart position (#194 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Carly sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $21.99 per year. xProtect asks for nothing beyond the download.
xProtect holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Carly has 9.9K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of Carly's written reviews are positive against 100% of xProtect's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Carly | xProtect |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (9.9K ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 29.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 9.9K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #194 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 417 MB | 265 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carly Solutions GmbH Co KG | xAutomotive GmbH |
Customer experience
Carly
xProtect
Bugs and requests
Carly
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes or freezes
- Adapter not working as expected
- Inaccurate or misleading diagnostic information
Requested features
4 requests- More vehicle support
- Improved user interface
- Offline functionality
- Easier subscription management
xProtect
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Carly
- Toyota$21.991 Year
- Mercedes$28.991 Year
- Smart Mechanic$35.991 Year
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda$53.991 Year
- Carly for BMW Full-Version$59.991 Year
- BMW and Mini$63.991 Year
- All Brands Upgrade6 Months trial$78.991 Year
- All Brands$82.991 Year
- BMW and Mini + Smart Mechanic$99.991 Year
- All Brands + Smart Mechanic$118.991 Year
xProtect
No in-app purchases









