Published paid entry plans start at $19/month for TCGGraph and JustTCG, and $29/month for Scrydex. Their credits, requests and scan allowances measure different operations, so the headline price alone does not establish the lowest cost.
Which options should you evaluate?
| Option | What to evaluate | Decision detail |
|---|---|---|
| TCGGraph Starter | $19/month · 25,000 data credits | 1 credit for a card lookup; 2 for a search; 3 for history. |
| JustTCG Starter | $19/month · 10,000 requests | Up to 100 cards per request on the published Starter plan. |
| Scrydex Starter | $29/month · 5,000 credits | Most requests use 1 credit; history 3; Vision 5. |
Provider facts come from the linked documentation. Examples and workflow recommendations are this guide’s analysis.
Write down the request mix
Count metadata lookups, searches, history calls, image delivery and recognition separately. Then apply each service’s documented billing rules. Check both the monthly allowance and burst or daily limits. A plan can fit your monthly total while still throttling a nightly job.
For a batch workload, count HTTP requests after batching, not only the number of cards. For a recognition workload, count the provider’s billing unit rather than treating every image as one card.
A concrete batch example
Suppose a supported batch endpoint returns 100 price records per request. Refreshing 5,000 unique records requires 50 requests, before retries and any additional pagination. Once per day for 30 days is 1,500 requests. This example describes the arithmetic; it does not assume every provider exposes an equivalent operation.
Measure your real batch size and include failed or retried work according to the provider’s policy. Deduplicate the same printing before refreshing it, subject to the provider’s caching and licensing terms.
Keep scan costs visible
TCGGraph publishes a separate recognition allowance. Scrydex prices Vision through its API credit model. Compare the full scan-to-result workflow, including any extra data calls, instead of blending the allowances into one larger number.
Published prices can change and taxes may apply. Review the source pricing pages before purchase and check the response headers or dashboard during a controlled trial.
Compare three limits before choosing a plan
A useful workload estimate has a monthly total, a maximum day and a peak minute. A card store can fit the monthly allowance while exceeding a burst limit during a nightly job. Spread the schedule or choose a plan that supports the peak without blocking the rest of the application.
Keep a record of the assumptions: number of unique printings, supported batch size, refresh frequency and operation costs. Add retries as an observed allowance from a trial rather than an arbitrary promise that every request succeeds. The caching and rate-limit guide explains the scheduling side.
Monthly and annual API billing are separate choices
TCGGraph’s current pricing page includes monthly and annual options and describes two months free on annual billing. Compare the actual total at checkout and how allowances reset before committing. A discount is useful only if the service continues to fit the expected workload.
Recognition remains a separate budget. A collection app may use catalog access without scans; a scanner may need both. Do not combine those allowances into an inflated request count. Use the recognition comparison for the units relevant to a camera-based product.
Frequently asked questions
Which TCG API is cheapest?
There is no universal lowest-cost provider for every workload. Compare equivalent searches, lookups, batches, history requests and recognition results, plus the daily and per-minute limits.
Do GraphQL requests cost the same as REST requests?
The provider’s metering rules decide. TCGGraph bills the underlying root-field operations separately, so one GraphQL request containing several searches can consume several search charges.
Can caching reduce my TCG API costs?
Yes, if it removes redundant requests and follows the provider’s terms. Conditional responses may also have favorable billing; TCGGraph documents zero-credit 304 responses.
Sources and further reading
Your next step with TCGGraph
Inspect the documented fields, then test the cards and workload your application needs.