Which Subscription Should I Choose?
Explore Your Subscription Options
Carmen® Cloud currently offers two main types of subscriptions: metered and concurrency-limited.
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Carmen® Recognition Service (Metered subscription): Depending on your package, you receive a fixed number of lookups per month. If you exceed this limit, you will be charged an overuse fee for each additional lookup. These APIs can be called from virtually any system capable of sending HTTP/S requests.
- This subscription grants access to our Vehicle and Transportation & Cargo REST APIs - in this case recognition runs entirely in the cloud.
- It also allows you to use the Carmen® Worker self-hosted container image - in this case, recognition happens locally, and the container only connects to our cloud-based License Service to acquire license locks.
- Carmen® Mobile, our Android application for continuous video stream processing, also requires this subscription.
Standard monthly lookup packages range from small test and production deployments to larger operational workloads:
Package Included lookups Micro 25,000 / month Starter 100,000 / month Growth 250,000 / month Professional 500,000 / month Larger custom plans are available for high-volume use cases. Please contact sales if you need a custom package.
If you are not ready for a monthly Vehicle API subscription, you can also buy prepaid Vehicle API credits. One credit unit contains 1,000 lookups, and you can purchase 10-999 units in one transaction. Credits remain available until they are used. If a workspace has an active subscription, subscription and overage billing are primary; credits are consumed only when no active subscription covers the request.
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Carmen® License Service (Concurrency-limited subscription): If you choose to run our software or install our hardware products locally (e.g., the Carmen® FreeFlow SDK, Carmen® Video SDK, Carmen® GO), you can choose from three licensing options: a hardware key (USB or PCIe), a self-hosted License Server capable of serving multiple clients (which also requires a local hardware key), or a cloud-based license service subscription. With the cloud-based option, there is no limit on the number of calls your system can make. However, the number of parallel processes (locks) is determined by the number of subscriptions you purchase.
- Carmen® FreeFlow: This option provides ANPR, MMR, and OCR licenses for our FreeFlow SDK. Concurrency is limited by the number of FreeFlow subscriptions in your account (except for MMR; see below).
- Carmen® GO for video processing: This option is designed for our video processing solutions, such as the Video SDK or the self-hosted Carmen GO. It provides Carmen GO ANPR and Stream licenses. Concurrency is limited by the number of Carmen® GO subscriptions in your account (except for MMR; see below).
- MMR locks: MMR locking functions differently than the other licenses. The maximum number of parallel locks is determined by the total number of FreeFlow and GO subscriptions in your account.
If you are utilizing our Carmen® GO product, you have the option to select from two different subscription types. Should you already possess a subscription for Carmen® FreeFlow licenses, it is not required to obtain an additional subscription for Carmen® GO, provided that concurrency does not present an issue. In such cases, your existing subscription is sufficient for this purpose.
If you do not currently hold any subscription, you may opt for the more economical GO subscription. Please note, however, that this subscription can only be utilized with the Carmen GO product or the Video SDK, and is not compatible with the FreeFlow SDK.
Quick Overview
Products and Subscription Options
| Product / System | Description | Carmen® Recognition Service | Carmen® License Service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmen® FreeFlow | Carmen® GO | |||
| Vehicle API Transportation & Cargo API | Cloud REST APIs | ✅ | ||
| Carmen® Worker | On-Premise REST APIs | ✅ | ||
| Carmen® Mobile | Android ANPR camera | ✅ | ||
| Carmen® FreeFlow SDK | SDK for local image recognition | ✅ | ||
| Carmen® Video SDK | SDK for local video processing | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Carmen® GO | Local video stream processing & recognition | ✅ | ✅ | |
Comparison of Subscriptions
| Carmen® Recognition Service | Carmen® License Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmen® FreeFlow | Carmen® GO | ||
| Hosting Model (Where does recognition run?) | REST APIs provided by us: Cloud-based Carmen® Worker: Self-hosted | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Pricing Model | Fixed number of lookups1 / month + overuse, or prepaid Vehicle API credits when there is no active subscription | Unlimited locks2 | Unlimited locks2 |
| Concurrency | Unlimited (rate limits apply) | Limited by number of licenses | Limited by number of licenses |
| Services / Licenses | Vehicle API (ANPR, MMR), Transportation & Cargo API (OCR) | ANPR, MMR, OCR | Carmen® GO ANPR, Carmen® GO Stream, MMR |
1 A 'lookup' is defined as a single vehicle / code searching and analyzing process applied to an image submitted to an API, culminating in the receipt of a response with a status code in the 2XX or 4XX range. It is important to note that responses with status codes outside of these ranges do not deplete your subscription. During one lookup, multiple engines may perform searches on an image.
2 A license is locked while an engine is performing a search on an image.