Carista is generally the better choice for drivers who value flexible subscription options, multi-vehicle use, straightforward customizations, maintenance functions and broader scanner compatibility. Carly may be preferable when guided repair information or its dedicated Used Car Check is the main priority.

Carly requires a subscription — you pay annually, and the license is tied to a single car brand, so multi-brand owners buy multiple licenses. Carista is more flexible. You can subscribe monthly, quarterly, yearly, or buy it once as a lifetime plan. You can also skip the subscription entirely for diagnostics: buying the Carista EVO adapter permanently unlocks diagnostic scanning, and there's a one-time in-app purchase option too. Coding and customizations still sit behind a paid plan, but you're not forced into a recurring bill just to read fault codes.

Carista: yes. One active subscription works across multiple supported vehicles — move the scanner to another car and the app detects it automatically. Available functions still vary by each car's make, model, year and installed equipment. Carly: the Carly Universal Scanner works across brands, but you need the matching licence — either single-brand or all-brand. Functions remain vehicle-specific either way.

If you own a BMW, MINI, VW, Audi, Škoda, SEAT, Porsche, or Mercedes-Benz and you want to go really deep — every last hidden menu, every one-off tweak — Carly tends to have the edge. Their whole product is built around going wide on those specific brands.
For pretty much everything else — Ford, Lincoln, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Acura, GM, Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram, Nissan, Renault — Carista is the stronger pick, both in brand coverage and in features per brand. Carista is also the only OBD2 app that currently supports SFD2, which is the security layer you have to get past to code newer Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

Carista has one price that covers every supported brand, and you choose the term: monthly or yearly. Buy the EVO adapter with basic diagnostics are yours forever with no plan attached.
Carly is annual-only, and each brand is a separate license. Two cars from different manufacturers means two subscriptions, renewed every year. For a single BMW in year one, Carly can look competitive. For anything longer-term or multi-brand, Carista's math usually wins.

Carly is locked. Their adapter uses a proprietary protocol, third-party apps won't talk to it, and the Carly app won't accept anyone else's adapter. Carista is more open. The standard Carista adapter is a proper ELM327, so it works fine with third-party OBD2 apps like Torque, OBD Fusion, or Car Scanner, and generic ELM327 adapters work inside the Carista app. The Carista EVO is a different story — it's a proprietary layer, and features like the SFD2 security unlock require the EVO paired with the Carista app.

Yes — both. Both apps handle battery registration (the reset your car needs after a battery swap so the charging system doesn't cook the new one) and the electronic parking brake service mode (opens the caliper so you can change rear pads without a dealer visit), on the brands each app supports. Neither is limited to reading codes.