Last checked September 2026. AutoTrader’s packages, prices and terms change, usually each April, so check the current details with AutoTrader before you sign or renew.
For most dealers who use it, AutoTrader is one of the biggest monthly marketing costs, yet it does not publish a price list for dealers. That makes it hard to know whether you are on the right package, or what you should be asking for at renewal. This guide explains how AutoTrader charges dealers, what each package gives you, the extras worth asking about, and how to get more from what you spend. Everything here comes from AutoTrader’s own public pages, which are linked throughout.
How much does AutoTrader cost for dealers?
AutoTrader does not publish dealer prices. You pay a monthly amount based on how many adverts you contract for (a minimum of 5 cars) and which of five packages you choose, from Starter to Ultra, which decides how prominent your adverts are in search. Dealers selling fewer than 5 cars a month can pay as they go instead. Autotrader Group's results show average revenue per retailer of £2,995 a month in the year to March 2026, but that is an average across every dealer, not a quote.
How AutoTrader charges dealers
AutoTrader’s package terms set out how the monthly price is built:
- Your contracted stock level. This is the number of adverts you agree to pay for. At sign-up your forecourt stock must be at least your contracted level, and the minimum is 5 cars.
- Your price band. Your stock level puts you in a price band. For a group, the band is based on the combined stock of all its sites, and groups get volume discounts on the total.
- Your package level. You can choose any package whatever your stock level, and move up at any time.
- Extra products. Stand-alone products can be added on request through your account manager.
Prices are reviewed each year. Autotrader Group’s results for the year to 31 March 2026 describe an annual 1 April “pricing and product event” that combines a like-for-like price increase with new products added to packages. The package terms also say that stock on special offers goes up in line with the annual rate review from 1 April.
To downgrade your package, reduce your contracted stock level or cancel, you need to give 30 days’ written notice. Groups and franchise dealers have extra rules about keeping overall group spend the same.
The five AutoTrader packages
AutoTrader’s packages page lists five levels. AutoTrader says the package you choose “determines the level of prominence your adverts get on our platform”.
| Package | How AutoTrader describes it |
|---|---|
| Starter | The most basic package. Your vehicles appear behind dealers on other packages. |
| Standard | Puts your adverts in the top tier of search, above Starter on all devices. |
| Enhanced | Gets you ahead in search with AutoTrader's Search Advantage. |
| Super | Your vehicles are shown in Promoted positions in search. |
| Ultra | The best performance, with the greatest Search Advantage of any package. |
AutoTrader does not publish how much more each step costs, or how much extra visibility it buys. When you are quoted, ask to see how your adverts perform on your current package compared with the next one up, for cars like yours in your area.
What every package includes
According to AutoTrader, all packages include:
- Advertising and promotion: a Retailer Store page for your brand, stock, awards and reviews, the option to show your own or partner finance offers, and a basic vehicle check on each advert, with an upgrade to a full check available.
- Enquiries: adverts created and managed in AutoTrader’s Portal, AutoTrader text, chat and calls, leads by email or through an API integration, part-exchange leads and finance leads.
- Stock tools: performance analytics, market insight, AutoTrader valuations for cars and vans, and home delivery and click and collect.
- Support: a dedicated account team, training sessions and market briefings.
AutoTrader’s results also say that Co-Driver, its AI tool that writes descriptions and highlights and tags and orders photos, was added to dealer packages in April 2025.
Extra adverts and flexibility
The package terms describe several ways to advertise more cars than your contracted level:
- Tactical Stock Adverts: extra adverts you can add at any time if your stock goes above your contracted level. They can be removed without 30 days’ notice.
- Economy Stock Adverts: for independent dealers outside Northern Ireland, extra adverts for cars priced between £2,500 and £7,000 including any VAT (for vans, up to £7,000 plus VAT). They are capped at 50% of your contracted stock level.
- Bonus Adverts (independents) and Flex Adverts (franchise dealers): free adverts on top of your contracted amount, depending on your stock level. AutoTrader can withdraw them at its discretion.
If your stock goes up and down with the seasons, ask about these before you raise your contracted stock level, which needs 30 days’ notice to bring back down.
AutoTrader pay as you go
If you sell fewer than 5 vehicles a month and do not want a monthly contract, AutoTrader’s pay as you go lets you place adverts one at a time. You enter the registration, AutoTrader fills in the vehicle details, you add the price, description and photos, and then choose a package for that advert. AutoTrader aims it at home traders, MOT stations and garages that get stock on an ad hoc basis. AutoTrader does not publish pay as you go prices on that page, so check the cost when you place your first advert.
Other AutoTrader products to ask about
Some AutoTrader products are part of your package, and others cost extra. Check which is which for your account:
- Deal Builder. Lets buyers add a part exchange, share their finance preferences and reserve a car online. The full reservation uses a fully refundable £99 fee paid by the buyer, and AutoTrader has added a Reservation Request option for dealers who would rather agree next steps with the buyer first. See Deal Builder and our post on the Deal Builder integration.
- Autotrader Connect. AutoTrader’s API platform connects your dealer software to AutoTrader, so you can create and manage adverts and see valuations and retail metrics from one system. AutoTrader says your technology partner will usually manage the integration for you.
- Retail Check. Valuations, retail rating, competitor view and a calculator to work out what to pay for a car. See our guide to AutoTrader valuations for dealers.
- Vehicle Moves and Dealer Auction. AutoTrader says Vehicle Moves is paid per move and Dealer Auction has extra charges.
- Full vehicle check and your own finance figures, both upgrades on the standard package.
What to ask your account manager
AutoTrader’s dealer team is on 0330 303 9024, according to its packages page. Before you sign or renew, ask:
- What is my price band, and how much would it change with 5 more or 5 fewer cars?
- What does each package level cost for my stock, and what performance difference do similar dealers see?
- Which products in my quote are included, and which are extras?
- Am I eligible for Tactical, Economy or Bonus Adverts, and how do I add and remove them?
- When is the next price review, and what notice will I get?
- Which Autotrader Connect features can my dealer software use with my package?
How to get more from your AutoTrader spend
You pay for each advert whether it sells in a week or sits for three months, so the quickest way to get better value is to make every advert work harder.
Photos and descriptions
Upload a full set of good-quality photos as soon as a car is ready, in a sensible order, starting with a clear front three-quarter shot. Write a description that says what is special about this car, not just the model. If you use Co-Driver, check what it writes before it goes live.
Record the full specification
AutoTrader’s valuation includes the value of optional extras, but only the ones you record. Missing spec can make a well-priced car look expensive and can stop it getting a price indicator at all.
Price to the market
Check each car against its AutoTrader valuation and similar cars for sale, and review older stock regularly. From 29 September 2026, AutoTrader is adding key selling points and price commentary so you can explain why a car is worth its price. Set up your price commentary templates now.
Respond fast, including out of hours
AutoTrader says 50% of Deal Builder enquiries arrive outside normal business hours. Make sure someone picks up those enquiries first thing, and reply to every lead the same day. A lead you pay for and do not answer is wasted spend.
Keep your Retailer Store and reviews up to date
Buyers compare dealers as well as cars. Keep your Retailer Store photos current and ask happy customers for a review.
Take sold cars off straight away
A sold car still on your advert is a lead you cannot convert and a slot another car could use.
Other channels alongside AutoTrader
Most dealers get the best results by using AutoTrader alongside their own channels, not instead of them. Your own website gives you enquiries you do not pay a marketplace for, and Google Vehicle Ads put your stock in Google search results and send buyers straight to your website. Read the benefits of Google Vehicle Ads for more. Haswent can also send your used stock to Carwow in a feed built from your stock records: see our Carwow data feed for dealers.
How Haswent helps
When your AutoTrader account is connected through Haswent, your AutoTrader adverts are created and updated from your stock records, so you edit the price, photos or description once and your advert is updated. Sold cars come off AutoTrader, and you can see AutoTrader valuations, price indicator ratings and advert views on each car. Deals from Deal Builder come into your deals list too. Find out more about stock management in Haswent or contact us.
Sources
- Autotrader: Our advertising packages
- Autotrader: Autotrader Packages terms and conditions
- Autotrader: Pay as you go advertising
- Autotrader: Deal Builder
- Autotrader Group: Autotrader refines Deal Builder with new reservation request
- Autotrader: Autotrader Connect
- Autotrader Group: Full year results for the year ended 31 March 2026
- Autotrader Insight: We're evolving Price Indicator
Frequently asked questions
How much does AutoTrader cost for dealers?
AutoTrader does not publish its dealer prices. What you pay depends on how many adverts you contract for and which of its five packages you choose, from Starter to Ultra, plus any extra products. For context, Autotrader Group reported that average revenue per retailer was £2,995 a month in the year to 31 March 2026, but that is an average across all dealers, including large franchise groups, not a price. Ask an AutoTrader account manager for a quote.
What are the AutoTrader packages for dealers?
AutoTrader lists five advertising packages: Starter, Standard, Enhanced, Super and Ultra. They all include the same core tools, and the package decides how prominent your adverts are in search. Standard puts your adverts in the top tier of search, Enhanced gets you ahead in search with Search Advantage, Super shows your vehicles in Promoted positions and Ultra gives the greatest Search Advantage.
Is there a minimum number of cars to advertise on AutoTrader?
AutoTrader's package terms set a minimum stock level of 5 cars for a monthly package. If you sell fewer than 5 vehicles a month and do not want a monthly contract, AutoTrader offers pay as you go advertising instead.
Can I change or cancel my AutoTrader package?
Under AutoTrader's package terms you can move up a package at any time on request. Downgrading your package or contracted stock level, or cancelling, needs 30 days' written notice. Tactical and Economy Stock Adverts can be removed without the 30 days' notice, although it may take 24 hours.
How does AutoTrader pay as you go work?
Pay as you go is for dealers and traders who sell fewer than 5 vehicles a month and do not want a monthly contract. You enter the registration, AutoTrader brings back the vehicle details, you add the price, description and photos, then choose a package for that advert.