Parking with SimplePark costs the parking rate of the zone you are in, plus a small fee for using the app. There is no subscription and there are no hidden costs. What you pay is always shown in the app before you start.
How the price is built up
| Part | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Parking rate | Set by the municipality | Per unit of time set by the municipality |
| Service fee | € 0.29 | Per parking session |
| Transaction fee | € 0.29 | Per top-up or direct debit |
The parking rate goes entirely to the municipality. SimplePark has no influence on it; the municipality sets the rate, the paid hours, any maximum parking duration and the unit you are charged in per zone. In the centre of a large city you soon pay € 5 to € 8 per hour, in a smaller municipality often € 1 to € 2.
The unit you pay in differs per zone. Sometimes it is per minute, often per quarter of an hour and sometimes per hour; a unit you start counts in full. Where that unit applies all day, the app states it under that day's rates: "*You pay per 15 minutes". It does not apply in a day-pass zone: there you pay a fixed daily rate as soon as you start.
The service fee of € 0.29 is our fee per parking session. If you park for free, for example outside paid hours, we charge no service fee.
The transaction fee of € 0.29 is charged per successful payment: every time you top up credit with iDEAL, or per direct debit if that is enabled for your account.
A worked example
You park 47 minutes in a zone at € 3.00 per hour that charges per quarter of an hour. That is four started quarters of € 0.75, so € 3.00 in parking rate. With the € 0.29 service fee, the session costs € 3.29. If that same zone charged per minute, you would pay € 2.35 plus the service fee, € 2.64 together. If you topped up that afternoon, a one-off € 0.29 transaction fee comes on top, regardless of how many sessions you park on that credit.
Why you often pay less than at the machine
At a ticket machine you estimate in advance how long you will be away and pay a bit extra to be safe. Stay shorter and you get nothing back. With SimplePark your session runs until the moment you stop it, and you pay only for the units you started up to then. Time outside the paid hours does not count.
What you pay nothing for
There is no subscription and no sign-up fee. Adding a vehicle is free, and the text messages carrying a verification code, when signing up, changing your phone number or resetting your password, cost you nothing. Messages about your session arrive as push notifications and by email; there are no text-message alerts about a running session, so nothing is charged for them either. Stop before the end time you set and the price is recalculated, with the difference staying on your credit.
The full overview is on the rates page. How the costs break down exactly is in What makes up the cost of a parking session.