AIS data APIs compared

Compared on 9 November 2026

AIS data APIs differ most in what they hand you: positions to work on or answers to use. A credit buys different things at each company: compare what you would actually call.

Service	What you get	History	Trying it	Price, as listed on 9 November 2026
Gangway AIS	Port calls, waiting times, terminals, congestion and port events wherever we hear vessels. Positions, tracks and the live stream through the API come only in certain areas, which a free account shows: today Norway, parts of the Baltic and our own stations' areas. No satellite through the Data API. Strongest in Europe.	Free: data 24 hours behind. Plus: 90 days of history, Pro and Scale 12 months. Our record starts on 7 October 2026, with a year of Danish waters and US coastal waters from November 2025 from official archives.	A free account with no card: 1,000 credits a month with data 24 hours behind.	Free. Data API Plus €49 a month for 20,000 credits, Pro €129 for 80,000, Scale €249 for 250,000.
Datalastic	AIS positions, past data, vessel and port details, worldwide as they state it. No map or dashboard included. An MCP server.1 2 3 4	Historical data offered. Length not stated on the page read.1	A 14 day trial at a small first price.5	Starter €199, Growth €569, Developer Pro €679 a month for their Data Feed scope: 20,000, 80,000 and unlimited credits.5 6
ShipFinder	Positions, tracks, port calls and a congestion index for major container ports, from terrestrial, satellite and Beidou sources.7 8	A record back to 2003, as they state it.9	A free API key.10	Not published. Quoted after a consultation.11
Kpler AIS	Terrestrial, satellite and roaming positions. Events for port calls and more.12 13	Over 11 years.14	Not checked.	Not published.15

Service

What you get

History

Trying it

Price, as listed on 9 November 2026

Gangway AIS

Port calls, waiting times, terminals, congestion and port events wherever we hear vessels. Positions, tracks and the live stream through the API come only in certain areas, which a free account shows: today Norway, parts of the Baltic and our own stations' areas. No satellite through the Data API. Strongest in Europe.

Free: data 24 hours behind. Plus: 90 days of history, Pro and Scale 12 months. Our record starts on 7 October 2026, with a year of Danish waters and US coastal waters from November 2025 from official archives.

A free account with no card: 1,000 credits a month with data 24 hours behind.

Free. Data API Plus €49 a month for 20,000 credits, Pro €129 for 80,000, Scale €249 for 250,000.

Datalastic

AIS positions, past data, vessel and port details, worldwide as they state it. No map or dashboard included. An MCP server.1 2 3 4

Historical data offered. Length not stated on the page read.1

A 14 day trial at a small first price.5

Starter €199, Growth €569, Developer Pro €679 a month for their Data Feed scope: 20,000, 80,000 and unlimited credits.5 6

ShipFinder

Positions, tracks, port calls and a congestion index for major container ports, from terrestrial, satellite and Beidou sources.7 8

A record back to 2003, as they state it.9

A free API key.10

Not published. Quoted after a consultation.11

Kpler AIS

Terrestrial, satellite and roaming positions. Events for port calls and more.12 13

Over 11 years.14

Not checked.

Not published.15

Where they are stronger

Positions: Datalastic and Kpler AIS state worldwide reach and ShipFinder lists satellite sources. Ours come through the API only in certain areas.2 12 7
History: Kpler AIS states over 11 years and ShipFinder back to 2003. Our Plus has 90 days, Pro and Scale 12 months; our record starts on 7 October 2026, with a year of Danish waters and US coastal waters from November 2025 from official archives.14 9
AI tools: Datalastic lists an MCP server. Ours is open to paying accounts.4

Where Gangway AIS fits

Waiting times, terminals and a congestion index as answers you can call, by port and vessel type.
Each position names its source and each response carries the credit its licence asks for.
Each response says in its headers what it cost. A request that finds nothing or fails is not counted, except a sanctions check, where a clean result is the answer.
Live data at the first paid plan.

Free accounts and free API keys ask for no card.

Each line about a company comes from its own public page on the date above and can change. "Not read" means we did not read that detail, "not published" that the page read gives no amount. Names belong to their owners. If a line is out of date write to desk@gangwayais.com and we will check it.