vatnode vs Vatlayer

Vatlayer tells you valid or not and gives you a rate. vatnode returns everything your invoicing system needs — local tax name, abbreviation, all rate tiers, currency, monitoring, and webhooks.

Last updated: April 2026

What you get in one API call

Vatlayer's validation response returns valid, company name, address, and standard rate. That is all. vatnode returns the full picture your invoicing system needs:

{
  "valid": true,
  "vatId": "FI26364843",
  "countryCode": "FI",
  "countryName": "Finland",
  "companyName": "SUPERCELL OY",
  "companyAddress": "JÄTKÄSAARENLAITURI 2, 00180 HELSINKI",
  "companyRegistrationDate": "2010-05-06",
  "companyForm": "Oy",
  "industryDescription": "Publishing of computer games",
  "registryCode": "2336509",
  "registryCodeName": "Y-tunnus",
  "source": "VIES",
  "checkId": "019d2a8c-5f3a-7d12-a901-bc23de456f78",
  "verifiedAt": "2026-04-16T10:00:00.000Z",
  "consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAZ27qPadm",
  "countryVat": {
    "vatName": "Arvonlisävero",     // print on Finnish invoices
    "vatAbbr": "ALV",
    "currency": "EUR",
    "standardRate": 25.5,
    "reducedRates": [10, 14],
    "superReducedRate": null,
    "parkingRate": null,
    "vatNumberFormat": "FI + 8 digits",
    "vatNumberPattern": "^FI\d{8}$",
    "countryVatUpdatedAt": "2026-04-16"
  }
}

Feature Comparison

National registry integrations

When VIES is unavailable or returns no company data, vatnode automatically queries the national business registry. These countries are currently covered:

Vatlayer queries VIES only. When the VIES node for a country is down, you get an error. The source field in every vatnode response tells you which authority answered — VIES, BZST, PRH, SIREN, and so on.

Granular webhook events

Subscribe to any VAT number and get notified the moment something changes — so your customer records and invoice settings stay accurate without manual re-checking.

Actively maintained

Vatlayer's public codebase has not been updated since 2018. EU VAT rules change — Finland raised its standard rate from 24% to 25.5% in September 2024. vatnode syncs rates daily from the European Commission TEDB. You get the correct rate, automatically.

Built for compliance — not just validation

Every vatnode response includes a checkId (UUID) and a verifiedAt timestamp. These fields are designed to be stored alongside your invoice records — giving you a documented audit trail that links every invoice to the exact validation event that authorised it.

Vatlayer has not received a substantive update since 2018. It returns valid/invalid and a company name, but there is no audit metadata — no identifier to attach to an invoice, no timestamp proving when the check occurred, and no record of which authority responded. A product that has not tracked EU VAT changes for years is unlikely to be a reliable compliance foundation.

Tax authorities across the EU increasingly expect documented validation at the point of transaction — not retroactive checking. The checkId and verifiedAt fields, combined with vatnode's national registry fallback, mean you can demonstrate that you queried an authoritative source at the right moment — with a record to prove it.