Comparison

OBD Diagnostics vs CarScan

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

OBD Diagnostics

Features
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OBD Diagnostics turns your iPhone into a powerful real-time vehicle data scanner, dashboard, session recorder, and AI analysis tool. Connect to supported Bluetooth OBD-II adapters, including Veepeak and compatible ELM327-style adapters, to read live vehicle data directly from your car. View key engine metrics, track driving sessions, graph sensor data, and send your recorded measurements to AI for personalized analysis based on your vehicle’s make, model, year, and engine. Whether you are troubleshooting a check engine light, monitoring engine performance, reviewing fuel trims, checking battery voltage, or learning how your vehicle behaves over time, OBD Diagnostics helps make your car’s data easier to understand. **Real-Time OBD-II Dashboard** Monitor live data from your vehicle with a clean, easy-to-read dashboard. View supported OBD-II PIDs such as: Engine RPM Vehicle speed Coolant temperature Battery voltage Engine load Short-term fuel trim Long-term fuel trim Oxygen sensor readings Fuel level Additional supported sensor values Large gauges, live value cards, and quick-access charts help you focus on the vehicle data that matters most. CarPlay support with live data. Shortcut actions to automatically connect and start as well as disconnect and stop analysis. **Interactive Graphs** Visualize your vehicle’s live data with real-time graphs. Select up to 10 dashboard PIDs and track changing values over the last 60 seconds. Great for reviewing RPM changes, coolant temperature rise, fuel trim movement, voltage behavior, speed changes, oxygen sensor activity, and engine load patterns. **Session Recording and History** Record OBD-II sessions and review them later. Each session can include duration, sample count, vehicle information, VIN when available, make, model, year, engine, battery voltage, and min/max/average stats for recorded metrics. Use session history to compare drives, spot changing patterns, and better understand intermittent vehicle issues. **AI Vehicle Analysis** Send recorded session logs to AI for a plain-language review of your vehicle data. OBD Diagnostics can analyze readings using your vehicle’s make, model, year, and engine to help explain performance trends and possible areas to watch. AI analysis can help summarize coolant temperature, RPM, speed, battery voltage, oxygen sensor readings, engine load, fuel trims, and other supported metrics. Choose from multiple AI provider options, including Apple on-device AI where available, OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, xAI, or a custom URL. AI Analysis should NOT be considered a replacement to a professional automotive expert. Please use the data as a means to provide a rudimentory analysis of your vehicle. **Demo Mode** Explore the app without an adapter using Demo Mode. Simulate vehicle data, view dashboards, test graphs, record sessions, and preview AI analysis workflows before connecting to a real car. **Built for Drivers and DIY Mechanics** OBD Diagnostics is useful for car owners, DIY mechanics, used car shoppers, fleet users, and anyone who wants better visibility into vehicle health and performance. **Key Features** Real-time OBD-II Bluetooth data Veepeak and ELM327-style adapter support Live RPM and speed gauges Custom dashboard PID selection Interactive vehicle graphs Session recording and history Vehicle info and VIN capture when available Min, max, and average metric summaries AI-powered session analysis On-device AI option where supported Custom AI provider support Demo Mode for offline testing Clean dark-mode iPhone interface OBD Diagnostics combines live OBD-II data, Bluetooth scanner support, real-time charts, session tracking, and AI-powered vehicle analysis into one simple app for understanding your car’s performance and health.

About

CarScan

Features
Read full description

CarScan reads your car's fault codes through an OBD-II adapter and explains them in plain words — no dictionary of abbreviations, no "see your dealer". WHAT IT DOES • Polls the control modules and shows which answered and which stayed silent. • Reads fault codes and decodes them: not just «P0171», but what usually stands behind it and what is cheaper to check first. • Shows live data: RPM, speed, temperature, pressure, engine load. Remembers the lowest and highest value of the trip. • Records a trip to a file — for the intermittent fault that never shows up at the garage. • Shows inspection readiness and on-board monitoring test results. • Resets the service interval — where the car allows it. • Builds a report for the mechanic in plain text: forward it or print it. • Demo mode: walk through every screen on a made-up car before buying an adapter. HONEST ABOUT THE LIMITS An OBD-II adapter is required and bought separately. Any of four kinds will do: Bluetooth, Bluetooth BLE, Wi-Fi or USB. A service reset is not possible on every car and not with every adapter: it needs talking to modules directly, and cheap ELM327 clones cannot do it. The app checks whether your adapter can, and says so plainly instead of trying blindly. If a module stayed silent, we write exactly that — «did not answer». It is not the same as «no faults». WHAT STAYS WITH YOU Trip recordings, communication logs and parameter snapshots are kept on the phone only and never leave it by themselves. ACCESS The app is free for the first few days, so you can see that it talks to your particular car. After that a licence is required. LANGUAGES Russian and English, switchable inside the app. SUPPORT Write to us from inside the app, on the Support tab — the answer arrives there. Privacy policy: https://carscan.app/privacy/

Screenshots

OBD Diagnostics4 screens
CarScan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: CarScan at none against OBD Diagnostics's shown. CarScan also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On price, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. OBD Diagnostics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and CarScan sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OBD Diagnostics ships an update monthly, CarScan every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
OBD Diagnostics versus CarScan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOBD DiagnosticsCarScan
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.216.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEJSmithVitali Zeliankevich

In-app purchases

1 purchases

OBD Diagnostics

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99
3 purchases

CarScan

Subscriptions2
  • One month access$5.991 Month
  • One year access$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full access forever$29.99

Questions

Is OBD Diagnostics free?
OBD Diagnostics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CarScan free?
CarScan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do OBD Diagnostics or CarScan have ads?
OBD Diagnostics shows ads; CarScan does not.
Which is updated more often, OBD Diagnostics or CarScan?
OBD Diagnostics ships an update monthly, and CarScan every 10 days. Most recently, OBD Diagnostics was updated on October 31, 2026 and CarScan on October 31, 2026.

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