Cars.comvs
Carfax
Carfax: Vehicle history reports and information
Cars.com
Your trusted automotive marketplace
As of 30 August 2026, Cars.com starts at $299/month. Cars. Softwr lists it under Automotive. Cars.com is made by Cars.com Inc., launched in 1998, available on Web, iOS, Android.
Overview
What Cars.com does
Cars.com is one of the largest and most-visited automotive marketplaces in the US, connecting car buyers with millions of vehicles from dealerships and private sellers.
What people use it for
- Dealership Management
- Service Scheduling
- Inventory Management
- Sales Operations
- Customer Relationship
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Cars.com.
- Cars.com charges shoppers nothing; it is a free listings site monetised via dealer advertising, per the 31 Dec 2020 archive capture
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Cars.com
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- Cars.comvsCDK Global
CDK Global: Drive your dealership forward
- Cars.comvsEdmunds
Edmunds: Car research, reviews, and pricing
- Cars.comvsAutoCheck
AutoCheck: Vehicle history reports and auction information
Pricing
What Cars.com costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Basic
$299 /mo
- Vehicle listings
- Marketplace visibility
- Basic lead management
- Photo upload
- Monthly reports
Standard
$699 /mo
- Everything in Basic
- Advanced lead tools
- CRM integration
- Video and 360 views
- Enhanced profile
Premium
$1,199 /mo
- Everything in Standard
- Priority placement
- Marketing support
- Dedicated account manager
- API access
Capabilities
Features
Vehicle listing
Marketplace access
Lead generation
Dealer profile
Performance tracking
Mobile responsive
Photo and video gallery
Consumer research tools
CRM systems
Integration with CRM systems
DMS platforms
Integration with DMS platforms
Email marketing
Integration with Email marketing
Lead scoring
Integration with Lead scoring
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is Cars.com free to use?
Yes. Cars.com is a free platform for shopping, researching, and comparing vehicles. Access to new, used, and certified pre-owned listings, expert reviews, safety recall information, and car payment calculators requires no subscription.
SourceCan I sell my car on Cars.com for free?
Yes. Cars.com offers free listings for private sellers. The platform also provides tools to obtain instant cash offers for vehicles at no cost.
SourceDoes Cars.com charge dealers for listings?
The homepage mentions free listing options but does not specify dealer pricing. For dealer advertising rates and premium listing options, you would need to visit the dealer section or contact Cars.com directly.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Cars.com
- Company
- Cars.com Inc.
- Based in
- Chicago, IL
Keep looking
Where to go from Cars.com
- Cars.com alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Cars.com pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Cars.com badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Automotive softwareThe full category
- Best Automotive softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Automotive software for
Compare Cars.com with
- Carfax
- CDK Global
- Edmunds
- AutoCheck
- J.D. Power
- AutoTrader
- CarGurus
- TrueCar
- Carvana
- Vroom
- Cox Automotive
- Digital Air Strike
- VinAudit
- Mitchell
- Reynolds and Reynolds
- Tekion
- Audatex
- Vroom
Other Automotive software
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Cars.com, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Cars.com
Cars.com alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Cars.com pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Cars.com
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Cars.com badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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