What is the Cartroute API?

Updated September 23, 2026 · API version 2026-09-01 · This page as JSON

The Cartroute API searches 12 US retailers (Amazon, B&H Photo, Best Buy, Costco, Lowe's, Micro Center, Newegg, Sam's Club, Staples, Target, The Home Depot, Walmart) in one call and returns every matching product with each retailer's offer, shipping, the best usable coupon, the effective price you would actually pay, stock, delivery time and a 90-day price verdict, as normalized JSON. It is built for AI agents: REST with an OpenAPI 3.1 description, a remote MCP server, stable machine-readable errors and credit-based metering.

Base URL: https://cart-route.com/api/v1

What can I build with it?

Shopping assistants that answer "where is this cheapest right now?" with a sourced number instead of a guess.
Procurement agents that compare landed prices across Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Staples and B&H before buying hardware.
Deal and price-drop alerts built on the 180-day daily price history and the good_time_to_buy verdict.
Coupon checkers that only suggest codes with a measured success rate.

Where should I start?

1 minuteQuickstartGet a key and run your first search. AgentsMCP serverConnect Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client. ReferenceSearch endpointEvery parameter, with examples. GuideRecommending where to buyTurn a response into a sound recommendation.

What does it cost?

Each successful search, product, price-history or coupon call costs one credit. New accounts receive 100 credits at signup and 100 more after confirming their email, with no card. Paid plans start at $29 a month for 5,000 credits. Details: credits and pricing.

Which endpoints are there?

Endpoint	Purpose	Credits
GETPOST`/search`	Search all retailers	1
GET`/products/{id}`	One product, every offer, specs	1
GET`/products/{id}/price-history`	Daily prices, 7 to 180 days	1
GET`/coupons`	Active coupons and promotions	1
GET`/retailers`, `/categories`	Reference data	0
GET`/account`, `/usage`	Balance and ledger	0
POST`/accounts`	Create an account and key	0

Which conventions does every response follow?

Money is always a number in US dollars, and every money field ends in _usd.
Timestamps are ISO 8601 in UTC.
Every response carries request_id and data_source (live or sandbox; see sandbox data).
Errors are RFC 9457 application/problem+json with a stable code; see errors.
Metered responses report credits.charged and credits.remaining.