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Monthly request bundles vs one credit balancevatlayer sells 20,000 VAT requests for $99.99 a month, and 1Lookup bills $0.010 for each EU VAT number that comes back valid.
Both check an EU VAT number and return the company name and address where the country shares them. vatlayer sells requests in monthly bundles with a per-call overage and adds EU VAT rates and price calculation on the same key. 1Lookup bills only valid numbers, from one balance shared with every other lookup.
vatlayer is a VAT API from the APILayer suite. One request validates an EU VAT number and returns the company, and the same key returns EU VAT rates by country or IP address and VAT-compliant price calculations. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month for 1,000 requests. 1Lookup sells the EU check on its own: 2 credits, about $0.010 on the Starter plan, charged only when the number is valid.
The vatlayer validation, priced per valid number
vatlayer gives each plan a monthly quota of requests and charges an overage for every call past it. This is the check on its own, as a single API call on a shared balance.
1Lookup vs vatlayer: the same criteria, side by side
Both products measured on identical criteria, with vatlayer’s numbers taken from its own published pricing.
1lookup1lookup.ioData and validation APIs
vatlayer.comVAT number validation- vatlayer · Starts at
- Basic at $9.99 a month for 1,000 requests (commercial use, standard support). The Free plan gives 100 requests a month for non-commercial use.
- 1Lookup: $99/mo for 20,000 credits. At 2 credits each (EU VAT Check API), that is $9.90 per 1,000 VAT checks on Starter, down to $4.00 on Enterprise.
- vatlayer · Free trial
- The FAQ calls the Free plan a trial version without a time limit: 100 monthly API requests and a slightly limited set of functions.
- 1Lookup: 7-day free trial on every plan: $5 of credits on Starter, $20 on Growth, Professional, and Enterprise, with no payment today
- vatlayer · Do credits expire?
- Plan volumes are monthly. A rollover of unused requests is not printed on the pricing page.
- 1Lookup: Unused monthly credits roll over for 3 months; separately purchased credits last 1 year
| Criteria | 1Lookup | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly plans with universal credits; core phone, email and IP lookups cost 1 credit, enrichment and intelligence products cost more | Monthly or yearly subscription by API requests per month (prices in US dollars), with an overage fee per call past the quota. Free: 100 requests a month, non-commercial use, no support. Basic: $9.99 a month ($107.99 a year) for 1,000 requests. Professional: $29.99 a month ($314.99 a year) for 4,000 requests. Enterprise: $99.99 a month ($1,019.99 a year) for 20,000 requests. After 100% of the allowance, overage fees apply per call: $0.03996 on Basic, $0.02999 on Professional and $0.019998 on Enterprise. Per-1,000 figures are the plan price divided by its requests, rounded down to the cent. |
| Starting price | $99/mo for 20,000 credits. At 2 credits each (EU VAT Check API), that is $9.90 per 1,000 VAT checks on Starter, down to $4.00 on Enterprise. | Basic at $9.99 a month for 1,000 requests (commercial use, standard support). The Free plan gives 100 requests a month for non-commercial use. |
| Free option | Free single lookups via the online tools at 1lookup.io/tools, no account required | Free plan: $0.00, 100 API requests a month, for non-commercial use, with no support. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on every plan: $5 of credits on Starter, $20 on Growth, Professional, and Enterprise, with no payment today | The FAQ calls the Free plan a trial version without a time limit: 100 monthly API requests and a slightly limited set of functions. |
| Do credits expire? | Unused monthly credits roll over for 3 months; separately purchased credits last 1 year | Plan volumes are monthly. A rollover of unused requests is not printed on the pricing page. |
What vatlayer costs at volume
| Volume | vatlayer price | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 requests a month (Basic) | $9.99 a month | $9.99 |
| 4,000 requests a month (Professional) | $29.99 a month | $7.49 |
| 20,000 requests a month (Enterprise) | $99.99 a month | $4.99 |
vatlayer's per-1,000 figures are the plan price divided by its requests, rounded down, and its overage past the quota is $39.96 per 1,000 on Basic. 1Lookup's check is $9.90 per 1,000 on Starter and $4.00 on Enterprise, drawn from a balance that also pays for every other lookup. Compare a month of your real volume.
Before you sign: vatlayer and 1Lookup on the operational terms
The terms that decide what a year actually costs, rather than what the first month does. “Not listed” means we could not verify it on either product’s published pages, not that the answer is nothing.
| Term | 1Lookup | vatlayer |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum commitment | None. Monthly plans with no contract and no minimum volume; cancel any time | Not listed |
| Going over your quota | Not listed | After 100% of the monthly allowance, an overage fee applies per call: $0.03996 on Basic, $0.02999 on Professional and $0.019998 on Enterprise. The FAQ's example is 10,000 extra calls costing $399.60, $299.90 and $199.98. |
| API access | Included on every plan and during the free trial; there is no tier that unlocks it | API access on every plan. The Free plan is non-commercial use only. |
| Rate limit | 200 requests per 10 seconds for each API key on standard lookups and 1,000 requests a minute for each key on number type, HLR and MNP, and each account can make up to 1,000 requests a minute in total across all its keys; higher limits are available on request | Not listed |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | No contractual SLA was read. The FAQ says uptime is around 99.9% and that no public statistics are offered at the current stage. |
| Support | Starter: Email Support; Growth: Priority Email & Chat Support; Professional: Chat + Live Meeting; Enterprise: Dedicated CSM | No support on the Free plan; standard support on paid plans. Platinum Support (dedicated account team, priority email support) is a separate annual fee. |
vatlayer fine print worth reading twice
Published terms that change what vatlayer costs or what you can do with it. Each one links to the vatlayer page it was read on, because a claim about somebody else’s contract should be checkable in one click.
Platinum Support is an optional annual fee that the FAQ says is checked automatically when you select a plan; the box can be unchecked.
Read it on vatlayer’s sitePayments are by credit card only (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diner's Club), and cancellations and downgrades go through the customer service team, with a downgrade taking effect at the end of the billing period.
Read it on vatlayer’s site
1Lookup
vatlayer
Where 1Lookup wins
- A check costs about $0.010 on Starter, and a number that is not valid, a mistyped one or a country that is down costs nothing
- No overage fee: credits roll over for 3 months, and a repeat check of the same number inside 7 days comes from your saved result at no charge
- A CSV with a vat_number column checks a whole list for the same price per valid number as the API
- The same key and balance also cover phone, email and IP validation, so one form can validate the customer next to the VAT number
Where vatlayer wins
- Enterprise holds 20,000 requests for $99.99 a month and Professional holds 4,000 for $29.99.
- VAT rates for the EU member states, rates by country or IP address and VAT-compliant price calculation come on the same key as validation.
- It is part of the APILayer suite, which the home page describes as one account, one API key, one dashboard and one bill across a growing library of APIs.
- A plan keeps running past its quota: usage alerts go out at 75%, 90% and 100%, and then per-call overage fees apply instead of a stop.
vatlayer pricing and product facts verified against vatlayer.com as of October 2026. Prices change; always confirm on the vendor’s site. 1Lookup numbers come from the live rate card.
Who this is for
A quick, honest read on which tool fits your use case.
Choose 1Lookup if: you want to pay for a VAT number only when it comes back valid, with a repeat check inside 7 days free and a CSV option, on the same balance as your other lookups.
Consider vatlayer instead if: you also need EU VAT rates by country or IP address and VAT-compliant price calculation on the same key: vatlayer sells them with validation from $9.99 a month, inside an APILayer account that covers other APIs.
Frequently asked questions
What is vatlayer used for?
Checking EU VAT numbers and working out VAT on a price. The validate endpoint returns whether a number is valid with the company name and address, and the same key returns the VAT rates of the EU member states by country or IP address and VAT-compliant price calculations. vatlayer is one of several APIs sold under one APILayer account.
How does vatlayer pricing work?
Monthly or yearly plans by requests. Free is 100 requests for non-commercial use with no support, Basic is $9.99 a month for 1,000, Professional is $29.99 for 4,000 and Enterprise is $99.99 for 20,000. Past the quota an overage applies per call: $0.03996 on Basic, $0.02999 on Professional and $0.019998 on Enterprise. Yearly billing takes up to 15% off.
How much does 1Lookup charge for the same check?
2 credits per valid number, free when the number is not valid or the country does not answer. On the Starter plan ($99 a month for 20,000 credits) a check is about $0.010, which covers 10,000 valid numbers a month and is $9.90 per 1,000. At the Enterprise end of the rate card it is about $0.004.
Is vatlayer or 1Lookup cheaper?
vatlayer, for a small or middle month. Its Basic plan holds 1,000 requests for $9.99 a month and its Professional plan holds 4,000 for $29.99, where the smallest 1Lookup plan, Starter, is $99. At 10,000 checks a month the two bills are close: vatlayer's Enterprise plan is $99.99 and holds 20,000 requests, twice as many as the 10,000 checks Starter holds. 1Lookup is built for a team that wants one balance for every lookup, or that wants to pay only for numbers that come back valid, and not for the lowest price on VAT checks alone.
Does vatlayer charge for a number that is not valid?
Its FAQ defines a request as any access to the EU VAT data with a valid key and one of the four main endpoints, and it names no exception for a number that is not valid or a registry that is down. 1Lookup charges nothing for a number that is not valid, a mistyped number or a country that is down, in the API, the dashboard and bulk jobs.
What happens when a plan runs past its quota?
On vatlayer the service keeps running and an overage fee applies to every call past 100% of the allowance, with alerts at 75%, 90% and 100%. For 10,000 extra calls the FAQ's own example is $399.60 on Basic, $299.90 on Professional and $199.98 on Enterprise. 1Lookup has no overage fee: you buy more credits or the next plan.
What is the best vatlayer alternative?
If you want to pay only for numbers that are valid and keep one balance for every lookup, 1Lookup's EU VAT Check bills 2 credits when the number is valid, serves a repeat check of the same number inside 7 days from your saved result at no charge, takes a CSV with a vat_number column, and lets unused credits roll over for 3 months. If you need EU VAT rates or price calculation on the same key, those stay with vatlayer.
Where does vatlayer beat 1Lookup?
On price for a small or middle month and on scope. vatlayer's entry plans cost far less than the smallest 1Lookup plan, its Enterprise plan holds twice as many requests as Starter holds checks for about the same bill, and the same key returns VAT rates by country or IP address and VAT-compliant price calculations, which 1Lookup does not sell. A vatlayer account also works across the other APILayer APIs.
Is vatlayer worth it in 2026?
If you validate EU numbers and also calculate VAT on prices, yes: the entry plans are small and the free plan needs no card. If you check numbers alongside other lookups, or many of the numbers you send are not valid, compare the per-valid-number price on one balance.