specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Instacart
providerId: instacart
created: '2026-05-04'
modified: '2026-08-27'
generated: '2026-08-27'
method: searched
reconciled: true
source: >-
  https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/get_started/overview,
  https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/get_started/api-keys,
  https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/guide/concepts/launch_activities/conversions_and_payments,
  https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/guide/concepts/launch_activities/approval_process,
  https://docs.instacart.com/connect,
  https://docs.instacart.com/connect/api/permissions_scopes
plan_count: 3
tags:
  - Grocery
  - E-Commerce
  - Marketplace
  - Logistics
  - Same-Day Delivery
description: >-
  Instacart publishes no per-call price list for any of its APIs, and this is a deliberate model rather
  than a documentation gap. The Developer Platform inverts the usual arrangement: it costs the
  developer nothing, and Instacart pays the developer, through an affiliate programme run on Impact
  that commissions orders attributed to the integration. The Connect APIs, Catalog API and Carrot Ads
  are enterprise surfaces bundled into a retailer or brand partner agreement, priced on marketplace
  economics — take rate, retail technology subscription, ad spend — not on API consumption. The
  material gate on the Developer Platform is not money, it is a human review: a Production API key
  triggers a review of the integrated app or website, and access is granted by email.
notes: >-
  Re-read from the live documentation 2026-08-27. No pricing page, no plan table, no metering, no
  quota tiers are published anywhere on docs.instacart.com. The prior version of this file was written
  by a bulk sweep and marked generated; the substance is confirmed and the affiliate direction of
  payment is now recorded, which the earlier version missed.
sources:
  - https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/get_started/overview
  - https://docs.instacart.com/developer_platform_api/guide/concepts/launch_activities/conversions_and_payments
  - https://docs.instacart.com/connect
plans:
  - id: instacart-developer-platform
    name: Instacart Developer Platform
    type: free
    price: '0'
    currency: USD
    billing_period: none
    description: >-
      Self-serve-ish access for app and website developers to the two shoppable-page endpoints
      (createRecipePage, createShoppingListPage), the nearby-retailers lookup and the remote MCP
      server. Development keys are created in the Instacart Developer Dashboard. A Production key
      requires passing Instacart's pre-launch checklist and a human approval review, with the result
      emailed back.
    included_quota: not published
    overage: not published
    limits:
      - per-second request threshold, numeric value not published; HTTP 429 on exhaustion
      - a single API key may be scoped to only one of /products/products_link or /products/recipe
    entries:
      - label: API access
        name: developer_platform_access
        type: subscription
        metric: contract
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: US/CA
        domains:
          - https://connect.instacart.com/idp/v1
          - https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp
        unit: 1
        price: '0'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Developer Dashboard API keys (read-only / read-write / admin)
      - name: Development and production environments
      - name: Remote MCP server
      - name: Production key approval review
  - id: instacart-idp-affiliate
    name: Developer Platform affiliate programme (Impact)
    type: revenue-share
    description: >-
      Instacart pays partners commission on orders attributed to their integration, tracked through
      Impact. Commission rates and programme terms are not published; sign-up links and terms are
      emailed to active partners. Attribution parameters are appended automatically to every
      generated URL and must not be hardcoded. Allow 24-48 hours after Impact account creation for
      parameters to populate.
    price: commission, rate not published
    direction: instacart-pays-partner
    entries:
      - label: Order attribution commission
        name: affiliate_commission
        type: metered
        metric: attributed_order
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US/CA
        unit: 1
        price: not published
        userMultiplied: false
  - id: instacart-connect-partner
    name: Instacart Connect / Enterprise partner agreement
    type: enterprise
    description: >-
      Partner-only access to the Connect Fulfillment, Post-checkout, Transaction and Sandbox APIs, the
      Catalog API, Carrot Ads, Storefront and the Enterprise MCP server. OAuth 2.0 credentials are
      issued by Instacart on enrollment, with development and production environments provisioned.
      Onboarding, access provisioning, rate limits and monitoring all run through an assigned Instacart
      representative. APIs are bundled into the agreement; economics are the marketplace take rate,
      retail technology subscriptions and advertising spend.
    price: contact partner team
    entries:
      - label: Partner program access
        description: API access bundled into the Instacart partner agreement; not separately metered
        name: partner_access
        type: subscription
        metric: contract
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: US/CA
        domains:
          - https://connect.instacart.com/v2
        unit: 1
        price: contact partner team
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: OAuth 2.0 client credentials
      - name: Development + production environments
      - name: Connect Sandbox API
      - name: Six-month minimum deprecation notice
      - name: Enterprise status page access (on request)
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com