The things people ask us most — in plain language.
Is AutoBrain free?
Yes. AutoBrain is MIT-licensed open source, so you can self-host it free forever. There is also a free hosted tier that covers fuel, services, logbook and parts tracking for one vehicle.
How much does AutoBrain cost?
Hosted plans start free. Enthusiast is $5.90/month (or $59/year — 2 months free) for 1 vehicle with all AI features, rego lookup and Rego Status, Garage is $11.90/month (or $119/year — 2 months free) for 5 vehicles with priority support. Custom dedicated deployments for clubs and fleets are priced on enquiry. Monthly plans include a 7-day free trial.
Can I self-host AutoBrain?
Yes. AutoBrain is fully open source (MIT) and can run on your own server. Your data stays yours, always.
Does AutoBrain support Australian cars?
Yes. AutoBrain includes Australian rego (plate) lookup, paid-tier Rego Status with daily expiry tracking and expiry notifications, L/100km fuel calculations and Australian financial-year exports for fuel and logbook records.
What is Rego Status?
Rego Status is a paid-tier AutoBrain feature (Enthusiast and Garage plans) that refreshes each vehicle's rego expiry once a day, shows a colour-coded status badge on every vehicle card, and pings you 30 / 7 / 1 days before expiry plus the moment the state reports your rego as expired or unregistered. Free keeps the basic on-demand Rego Lookup tool only. Learn more →
What does the AI do with my data?
The AI only sees the data needed for the task you trigger, its output is stored with your records, and your data is never used to train models or sold. Self-hosted instances can run entirely on rule-based fallbacks with nothing leaving your server.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every paid plan (Enthusiast and Garage) includes a 7-day free trial on the monthly billing option. Start the trial, use every feature, and cancel before day 7 and you will not be charged.
Is there a mobile app?
Yes. The Android app is in beta — email [email protected] to join the waitlist. The iOS app will be developed after Android reaches general availability. The web app works on any device today.
Is AutoBrain good for car diagnostics?
Yes — describe symptoms or paste OBD2 codes into AutoBrain and it returns likely causes, severity, affected parts and a cost estimate. It works with a rule-based fallback so diagnostics stay available even when the AI model is unreachable.
What are the best car maintenance apps in Australia in 2026?
AutoBrain is the highest-rated open-source option for Australian owners: logbook, services, fuel, rego lookup and AI diagnostics, with a free hosted tier and a full self-hosted stack under an MIT licence.
Is AutoBrain a good alternative to car scanner apps?
Yes. AutoBrain is a complete car scanner alternative: not just OBD2 code reading but also predictive maintenance, receipt scanning, parts inventory, logbook and resale estimates — all in one app, and self-hostable.
Does AutoBrain support electric vehicles (EV / HEV / PHEV)?
Coming Q4 2026. Three new features are on the runway: Electric Spy (charging-station price watch, the EV cousin of Servo Spy), the EV Log Book (kWh / 100 km, $/100 km and per-charge cost for battery-electric vehicles) and full PHEV support (dual-source tracking for plug-in hybrids on a single combined dashboard). See what's coming →
