3.7
ParkAppsHub score
BestParking
ParkWhiz, Inc. (Arrive / Flash)
Parking finder · Free
Best for: Drivers in big North American downtowns (NYC, Chicago, San Francisco) who want to compare garage rates up front and prebook discounted daily, airport or event parking
4.4
Google Play · 11K
4.8
App Store
1M+
Downloads
2
Countries
North America
AndroidiOSWeb
100+ cities and ~115 airports across the U.S. and Canada (thousands of bookable garages and lots)
About this app
BestParking started in New York as a garage rate calculator and still leads with that DNA: type a destination, and the map fills with price tags for thousands of garages and lots so you can see the cheapest option before leaving home. ParkWhiz acquired the company in 2016, and both brands now run on Arrive's shared inventory under FlashParking, meaning BestParking sells the same prepaid reservations as ParkWhiz at discounts of up to roughly 50% off drive-up rates. Coverage concentrates on major North American cities — New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Dallas and Toronto among them — plus airport parking at hubs like LAX, ORD, JFK, EWR, DFW and YYZ. The app is free; you pay per booking, with fees folded into the quoted price. After reserving, a digital pass gets you through the gate, and the app hands off to your navigation app for directions. Monthly parking and hourly bookings are both supported. What sets it apart from SpotHero and its sibling ParkWhiz is the emphasis on comparing posted rates across facilities — including many garages you can't book through the app — rather than pushing straight to checkout.
- Color-coded map comparing garage and lot rates around any destination
- Prepaid reservations up to ~50% cheaper than drive-up prices
- Airport parking bookings at major hubs (LAX, ORD, JFK, EWR, DFW, YYZ)
- Monthly parking search and booking for commuters
- Digital parking pass for scan-in gate entry
- Rate and amenity info for thousands of non-bookable drive-up facilities
- Handoff to Google Maps, Waze or Apple Maps for turn-by-turn directions
Pricing & fees
Free · service fees built into prepaid bookings
- App is free and there is no subscription; the prepaid price shown at checkout is the total charged ("No-Surprise Pricing") — service fees are baked into the quoted rate, not added on top
- BestParking advertises savings of up to 50% off standard drive-up rates when you prebook, with the biggest gaps in Manhattan and other dense downtowns
- Early Bird rates cut the daily price further but require arrival before a fixed cutoff (typically 9-10 AM) with zero grace period — arrive late and the discount is forfeited
- Cancellation is free with a full refund any time before the start time on the pass, except passes marked "No Cancellation" and event/season parking packages, which are non-refundable
- Facilities can collect extra fees on site: oversize-vehicle surcharges, shuttle fees and overstay charges for exceeding your booked window
- Monthly parking in NYC and Chicago bills as a recurring monthly card charge rather than a long-term contract at most locations
Accepted payment methods
VisaMastercardAmerican ExpressDiscoverPayPalApple PayGoogle PaySome prepaid cards (not all compatible)
Ratings & scores
Editorial score set by the ParkAppsHub team using our five-criteria grid — see how we rate. Store ratings shown for reference.
What users say
▲ Most praised
- Real savings versus drive-up rates at downtown garages, especially in Manhattan — long-time users say it routinely halves the cost of a day's parking
- Free cancellation right up to the pass start time, which reviewers call out as more flexible than garage operators' own apps
- Fast, simple booking flow with a mobile pass (QR/plate-based) that usually gets you in and out without touching a machine
- Handy price-comparison maps that show rates even at garages you can't prebook, useful for planning airport and event trips
▼ Common complaints
- Reservations not always honored: garages occasionally turn up full or refuse the prepaid pass, forcing users to pay full price elsewhere
- Slow, hard-to-reach customer support — refunds for failed reservations or double charges can take weeks to months to resolve
- Surprise on-site charges (oversize-vehicle fees, overstay fees, being made to pay again when a scanner fails) that users must dispute after the fact
- Outdated drive-up rate estimates on the map and app bugs (broken search, passes failing to add to Apple Wallet) in recent versions
Summarised from recent user reviews on Google Play, the App Store and consumer platforms. Themes, not verbatim quotes.
Pros & cons
What we like
- Up-front price comparison across facilities is genuinely useful for planning, not just booking
- Prepaid rates are often significantly below posted drive-up prices
- Rides on Arrive's large ParkWhiz inventory network, so availability in core cities is deep
- No subscription — free to browse, pay only when you reserve
- Covers both hourly city parking and airport/monthly use cases in one app
What could improve
- Users report arriving to find garages full despite a paid reservation, with facilities not synced to the app
- Recurring refund and duplicate-charge disputes, with slow customer support cited on Trustpilot and PissedConsumer
- Digital passes sometimes fail to appear or scan at the gate, forcing drivers to pay twice on the spot
- Posted drive-up rates for non-bookable garages can be outdated, undermining the comparison feature
How to use BestParking
- Download BestParking and enter your destination by address, landmark or neighborhood, plus your arrival and exit times.
- Scan the map's price tags to compare garages and lots nearby; filter for covered, valet or oversized-vehicle options.
- Pick a facility and either note its drive-up rate or book a prepaid spot at the discounted price.
- Pay in-app; your digital parking pass appears under your reservations.
- Tap for directions — the app hands off to your preferred navigation app.
- At the garage, scan or show your pass at entry and exit; no cash needed.
Editor’s tips
- BestParking and ParkWhiz are the same company selling the same inventory — check both apps before booking, as promos and discount codes differ, and codes can be entered in the discount-code field at checkout
- Only book an Early Bird rate if you are certain to arrive before the cutoff (usually 9-10 AM): there is explicitly no forgiveness for arriving even minutes late, so book a standard rate if your schedule is loose
- If a lot is full, your pass won't scan, or you are charged again on site, pay if you must, keep the receipt, and file the form at go.parkwhiz.com/refund within 14 days of the reservation end — that 14-day window is a hard deadline
- Event passes front-load the time window (e.g. entry hours before, only "+2 hours after event" to exit) — check the exact in/out times before buying, because overstay fees are charged on site at full rate
- Enter your license plate correctly in the app before arriving: many unattended lots validate purely by plate, and season/event parking packages are non-refundable once purchased, so never buy them speculatively
Editor’s verdict
BestParking is the planner's parking app. Where SpotHero and sibling brand ParkWhiz rush toward checkout, BestParking's map of price-tagged garages answers the question drivers actually ask first: what does parking around here cost? That comparison layer — covering many facilities you can't even book — remains its clearest edge, and the prepaid discounts, drawn from Arrive's shared inventory, are real money-savers in expensive markets like Manhattan and Chicago. The catch is execution at the gate. A persistent stream of complaints describes full garages that still showed availability, passes that never materialized, and refund fights that dragged on, which stings more when you have already paid. Coverage is solidly North American but city-centric; suburban and mid-market options thin out fast, and there is no street parking at all. For airport trips and downtown visits in its core cities, BestParking earns a place alongside a backup plan. Frequent bookers who value smoother support may still prefer SpotHero, but as a free rate-scouting tool it is hard to beat.
— The ParkAppsHub editorial team · 2026-08-06
How it compares
vs SpotHero
SpotHero is the most direct rival, with a similar prepaid-garage marketplace, often larger inventory in the same US cities and a slicker app. Pick BestParking when its quote for the same garage is lower or a promo code applies; several reviewers who hit full-lot problems on BestParking say they switched to SpotHero for reliability.
vs ParkWhiz
ParkWhiz is the sister app on the exact same Flash platform and inventory, so prices are near-identical. There is no wrong choice — keep both installed and book through whichever shows the better rate or an active discount code for your dates.
vs ParkMobile
ParkMobile is built around on-street, metered and municipal zone parking, which BestParking does not handle at all. Use ParkMobile to feed street meters and pay-by-zone lots, and BestParking to prebook guaranteed off-street garage, airport and event spots at a discount.
Frequently asked questions
Is BestParking free to use?
Yes. Browsing rates and comparing garages costs nothing. You only pay when you reserve a spot, and service fees are folded into the quoted booking price rather than charged as a separate subscription.
What is the difference between BestParking and ParkWhiz?
Both are consumer brands of Arrive, owned by FlashParking, and sell the same reservation inventory. BestParking leans into rate comparison — showing prices even for garages you can't book — while ParkWhiz is a more booking-first experience.
Where does BestParking work?
In major US cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta and Dallas, plus Toronto in Canada, and at major airports including LAX, ORD, JFK, EWR, DFW and YYZ.
Does BestParking handle street parking?
No. It covers off-street garages, lots and airport parking only. For metered street parking you need a municipal app like ParkMobile or PayByPhone.
Can I cancel a reservation?
Most hourly reservations can be cancelled through the app before the scheduled start time for a refund, though users report that disputed or late refunds can take persistence with support to resolve.
The garage was full or refused my prepaid pass — how do I get my money back?
Pay on site if you have no alternative, keep the receipt, and submit the reimbursement form at go.parkwhiz.com/refund within 14 days of your reservation's end time, including your pass number and the amount charged. Support is also reachable 6 am-11 pm at (888) 472-7594 or help@parkwhiz.com, and the team says it follows up with the facility operator.
Can I still be charged extra on site even though I prepaid?
Yes. Facilities themselves collect surcharges the pass doesn't cover: oversize-vehicle fees (SUVs/trucks at some garages), shuttle service fees, and overstay charges if you exceed the booked window. Check the pass's vehicle-size notes and exact in/out times; wrongful charges can be disputed via the 14-day refund form.
Does monthly parking lock me into a contract?
Monthly spots booked through BestParking generally run month-to-month as a recurring charge on your card (your statement will show it as 'recurring'), not an annual contract. Cancel through your account or support before the next billing cycle; terms can vary by facility, so read the listing's fine print.
What happens with my license plate and personal data?
Your plate is stored on the pass because many partner garages validate entry by automatic license-plate recognition (ALPR); the company publishes a dedicated ALPR Policy alongside its privacy policy. US users can exercise opt-outs via the 'Your Privacy Choices' link on bestparking.com. Some reviewers suspect booking data leaks feed parking-violation scam texts, so treat unsolicited 'parking fine' SMS as phishing.
About the developer
BestParking started around 2007 as a New York garage rate-comparison site founded by Ben Sann. Chicago-based ParkWhiz — founded in 2006 by Aashish Dalal and Jon Thornton — acquired it in January 2016 alongside a $24 million Series C. ParkWhiz rebranded its corporate umbrella as Arrive in 2018, and in 2021 Arrive merged with Austin-based FlashParking to form Flash, backed by Vista Equity Partners ($250M in 2022) and L Catterton. Flash now runs BestParking and ParkWhiz as consumer front-ends to a demand network reaching 250M+ drivers through Google Maps, Waze, Ticketmaster and other channels.
Additional information
Developer
ParkWhiz, Inc. (Arrive / Flash)
Founded
2007
Headquarters
Chicago, IL, USA (parent company Flash: Austin, TX)
Ownership
Flash (FlashParking) — via ParkWhiz / Arrive
Category
Parking finder
Price
Free
Coverage
100+ cities and ~115 airports across the U.S. and Canada (thousands of bookable garages and lots)
Downloads
1M+
Languages
English
Reviewed
2026-08-06
Where it works
100+ cities and ~115 airports across the U.S. and Canada (thousands of bookable garages and lots) — including New York City (Manhattan), Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Toronto.
United States
Canada
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Independent review. ParkAppsHub is not affiliated with ParkWhiz, Inc. (Arrive / Flash). App name, logo and screenshots belong to their owners and are shown for identification and review purposes. Coverage, prices and features change — verify current conditions with the publisher. Last reviewed 2026-08-06.