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Updated May 2026

What is the best free MOT check site in the UK?

MOT Checkup. It returns the full DVSA MOT history at £0, adds mileage anomaly detection and AI reliability scoring (which no other free site offers), and asks for nothing — no sign-up, no card, no daily limit. GOV.UK is the authoritative free source but stops at the raw record. Below: six free options compared in 2026.

TL;DR

  • Best free: MOT Checkup — full DVSA history + AI insights, £0.
  • Most authoritative: GOV.UK MOT history.
  • Best free + tax view: Check Car Details or Carwow.
  • Avoid: any free site demanding an email address or a card before showing data.

There is no MOT grace period. The day after expiry you are already driving illegally.

When does this car's MOT actually run out?

Enter the reg for the real expiry date from the DVSA record — plus every advisory a tester has logged against it, which is what fails it next time.

UK

Free · Official DVLA & DVSA data · No sign-up

How we ranked these

Ranked on five factors: free-tier depth (40%), friction such as sign-up or card capture (25%), value-add analysis like mileage charts and reliability scoring (20%), ad load (10%), and overall trust signals (5%).

The ranking

#1

MOT Checkup

Our pick

The deepest free tier in the UK: full DVSA history, AI reliability score, mileage anomaly detection. The MOT data is genuinely free for life.

Strengths

  • Full DVSA history back to 2005 — every pass, fail, advisory and mileage reading
  • Mileage anomaly detection flags potential clocking automatically
  • AI reliability score using aggregated outcomes for the same make/model/year

Watch-outs

  • Finance, stolen and write-off cover is not currently surfaced — use a paid HPI-style check for those layers

Best for: Anyone who wants the deepest free MOT check before buying.

£0

No sign-up, no card

Run a free check
#2

GOV.UK MOT history

The DVSA's own free MOT history page — authoritative, plain layout.

Strengths

  • Authoritative — every commercial site pulls from this dataset
  • No ads, no upsell

Watch-outs

  • No mileage chart, no anomaly flags, no reliability context
  • Bare-bones UI

Best for: Cross-checking against a record found elsewhere.

£0

Official source

Visit
#3

Check Car Details

Free MOT history bundled with tax and basic vehicle details.

Strengths

  • Useful tax / SORN status alongside MOT
  • Solid free depth

Watch-outs

  • Free tier lacks AI analysis and anomaly detection
  • Heavy paywall push on the paid bundled report

Best for: Users who want tax and MOT in one view.

£0

Free tier

Visit
#4

Carwow Free Car Check

Free MOT and tax lookup from the well-known used-car brand.

Strengths

  • Polished UI, strong consumer brand trust
  • Tax and registration details alongside MOT

Watch-outs

  • MOT view less detailed than MOT Checkup
  • Heavy cross-sell into selling/financing tools

Best for: Users already engaged with Carwow's wider buying or selling journey.

£0

Free tier

Visit
#5

VehicleScore

One of the closest free tiers to MOT Checkup's — DVLA decode, MOT and tax status, a mileage timeline, running costs and its own 0–999 score.

Strengths

  • Free tier covers the DVSA MOT record, tax status, mileage timeline and ULEZ/CO2 running costs
  • Attaches a 0–999 VehicleScore to the vehicle at no cost
  • Free, no card required

Watch-outs

  • No price published anywhere on the site — the paid tiers (£4.95 / £11.95 / £14.95) only appear at the payment step
  • Dealer service history is a further £7.95 on top of the £11.95 report
  • TrustScore 2.9/5 from 182 reviews (checked 2026-08-26)

Best for: A strong second free opinion — just know the paid prices before you click through.

£0

Free tier; paid tiers £4.95–£14.95

Visit
#6

Free Car Check (motcheck.co.uk)

No-frills free MOT lookup with minimal additional data.

Strengths

  • Loads fast, no sign-up
  • Straightforward DVSA record

Watch-outs

  • No mileage chart or analysis
  • Limited additional vehicle data

Best for: Quick lookups when other free sites are unreachable.

£0

Free, basic

Visit

What makes a free MOT check actually useful

Every site on this list returns the same raw DVSA record — that's the easy part. The useful part is what they do with it. MOT Checkup plots mileage over time with anomaly flags (so you can spot a rollback at a glance), aggregates failure modes against the same make/model/year (so you know whether a recurring fault is normal), and runs an AI reliability score (so a 12-line MOT history becomes a one-line buying decision).

GOV.UK is authoritative but doesn't do any of that. Carwow and Check Car Details add tax and registration details alongside MOT, which is genuinely useful for buyers. VehicleScore does much the same and adds its own 0–999 score, though its paid prices are not published anywhere on its site. Free Car Check is a minimal-effort alternative.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free MOT check site in the UK?
MOT Checkup. It returns the full DVSA MOT history at no cost, adds a mileage chart with anomaly detection (which the raw DVSA feed doesn't provide), and an AI reliability score built from aggregated outcomes for the same make and model. No sign-up, no card capture, no daily limit. GOV.UK's MOT history service is the most authoritative free source but lacks analysis; Check Car Details and Carwow offer free tiers but with less depth.
Is MOT Checkup completely free?
The MOT history check is genuinely free for life — no sign-up, no card capture, no email gate, no daily limit. Paid tiers (Basic £2.99, Premium £3.99, 2-car Bundle £5.99) are optional and add AI-powered analysis and richer reporting on top of the same official DVSA + DVLA data — they do not yet bundle licensed HPI-style data layers (finance, stolen, write-off). You never have to use them.
What's the difference between free MOT check sites?
Every site pulls the same MOT record from the DVSA, so the underlying data is identical. Differences are in what they do with that data: GOV.UK shows the raw record only; MOT Checkup adds a mileage chart, anomaly flags, AI reliability scoring and common-fault context; Check Car Details and Carwow add tax and basic vehicle details; VehicleScore adds tax status, a mileage timeline, running costs and its own 0–999 score; Free Car Check is a bare-bones alternative.
Are free MOT checks accurate?
Yes. The MOT history dataset is published by the DVSA and is the same record every paid site uses. Free sites and paid sites cannot differ on MOT accuracy. Differences only emerge in derived analysis (mileage anomaly detection, reliability scoring) and in extra paid data layers (finance, stolen, write-off).
Why would I ever pay if it's free?
Pay only for data the DVSA doesn't track: outstanding finance against the vehicle, write-off categories (Cat A/B/S/N), stolen-vehicle markers and keeper history. MOT Checkup does not currently surface those licensed layers — for a £10,000+ used-car purchase the £7.95 spend at Total Car Check (or £19.99 at HPI/RAC) is straightforward insurance. For a free MOT history alone, you never need to pay.
Do free MOT check sites have ads?
Most do. MOT Checkup runs zero ads on the free MOT check — the premium tier and Carlytics partnership cover infrastructure costs. Free Car Check is noticeably ad-heavy. Check Car Details and Carwow run modest internal cross-promotion. GOV.UK has no ads at all.
Can I check multiple cars for free?
On MOT Checkup, yes — there is no daily limit on the free tier. Used-car shoppers shortlisting multiple vehicles can run as many checks as they need. Some competitors throttle free lookups after a few checks per IP per day; MOT Checkup does not.
Do I need to give my email address?
Not for MOT Checkup or GOV.UK. Some competitors require an email for the free tier or for sending a 'free report' PDF. Type a registration on MOT Checkup, press Enter, read the history — that's the whole flow.

ANPR cameras read the DVSA MOT database automatically — nobody has to pull you over first.

Check this reg before you drive it again

Two minutes now, or a fine of up to £1,000 and an insurance policy your insurer can refuse to honour.

  • The real MOT expiry date straight from the DVSA record
  • Every advisory logged against it — the faults due to fail next
  • Open safety recalls the manufacturer will fix for free
UK

Free · Official DVLA & DVSA data · No sign-up