PSA API Guide (2026): Cert Verification, Pop Data & Grade Prediction

Published June 12, 2026 · What PSA's public API actually does, what has no API at all, and how developers fill the gaps.

The short version: PSA's official public API does one job: certificate verification - look up a graded slab by its cert number and get back the card and grade. There is no public PSA API for population reports, price guide data, grading submissions, or "what grade would this card get." For those, developers use a mix of third-party price APIs (PriceCharting for graded-slab comps) and AI grade-prediction APIs like CardGrader.AI (disclosure: that's us), which predicts a PSA-style grade from photos before you ever submit.

What the official PSA API offers

PSA publishes a free public API (registration on psacard.com gets you a token) centered on cert verification: pass a certificate number, get back what PSA graded - the card's description, the grade, and label details. If you're building a marketplace, an authentication checker, or a collection tracker that ingests slabs, this is the official source of truth for "is this cert real and what is it?"

Practical notes: it's rate-limited on the free tier, it answers only by cert number (you can't search it like a catalog), and the terms govern how you may store and display the data - read them before caching aggressively.

What has NO public PSA API

What developers want	Official API?	What people actually do
Cert verification (slab lookup by number)	Yes - the public cert API	Use it; it's free and authoritative
Population reports (how many PSA 10s exist)	No	Manual lookups on psacard.com; some third-party aggregators track pop data across graders
Graded-card prices (what a PSA 10 sells for)	No	Sold-listing price APIs (e.g. PriceCharting) or value APIs like CardGrader.AI's `market` module
Submitting cards for grading	No	There is no programmatic submission; it's a physical mail-in process
"What grade would this card get?"	No - PSA grades physical cards only	AI grade-prediction APIs that work from photos (this is what CardGrader.AI does)

Status accurate to the best of our knowledge as of June 2026; check psacard.com for current API terms.

Grade prediction: the part we built

The most-asked PSA question has never had an API: "is this card worth grading?" Answering it means predicting the grade before you pay the fee and wait out the turnaround (see our PSA backlog tracker). Full disclosure: this is our product's home turf, so weigh this section accordingly.

The CardGrader.AI API predicts a professional-style grade from front and back photos: an overall PSA-scale grade plus centering, corners, edges, and surface sub-grades with a written justification. Pair it with the market module and you get the full grading-ROI picture in one call - the card's raw value, its value at each grade, and whether the spread justifies a submission:

# Register once (free trial credits, no signup form)
curl -X POST https://cardgrader.ai/v1/agents \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "name": "grading-prescreen", "contactEmail": "you@example.com" }'

# Grade + value in one scan
curl -X POST https://cardgrader.ai/v1/scans \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer cgk_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "frontImageUrl": "https://example.com/front.jpg",
        "backImageUrl": "https://example.com/back.jpg",
        "modules": ["grade", "market"] }'

# Result includes: predicted grade + sub-grades, raw value,
# and a per-grade value spread (the ROI math for submitting)

Honest constraints, stated plainly: an AI prediction is a pre-screen, not a guarantee - PSA's human graders make the only call that ends up on a label. Scans are queue-backed (30-120 seconds, submit and poll), both sides are required, and scans cost credits after the free trial (pay-as-you-go packs from $5; live pricing at GET /v1/pricing). It also works for sports cards and other TCGs, not just Pokemon - see the Pokemon card API guide for the wider landscape.

Putting it together: a developer's PSA stack

Verifying slabs users add to a collection: PSA's official cert API.
Pricing those slabs: PriceCharting (sold comps by grade) or CardGrader.AI market.
Pre-screening raw cards before submission: CardGrader.AI grade + market.
Pop-report context: no API - link users to psacard.com or use an aggregator and keep an eye on their terms.
AI agents doing any of the above autonomously: the MCP server at cardgrader.ai/mcp - agents self-register and pay per scan.

Want grade predictions in your app? Register for a CardGrader.AI API key in one curl call and grade your first card with free trial credits.

Read the API docs →

Curious how the grading works first? See what it takes to earn a PSA 10.

Frequently asked questions

Does PSA have a public API?

Yes, but it only covers certificate verification - looking up an already-graded slab by cert number. Registration is free on psacard.com, with rate limits on the free tier.

Is there a PSA population report API?

No official one. Pop data is on psacard.com's website; some third-party services aggregate population data across grading companies, each with their own terms.

Can I submit cards to PSA through an API?

No. Grading is a physical process - cards are mailed in and graded by humans. The closest programmatic step is pre-screening with an AI grade prediction so you only submit cards worth the fee.

Is there an API that predicts PSA grades?

CardGrader.AI's grade module predicts a PSA-style grade with sub-grades from card photos. It's a prediction for triage, not a promise of what PSA assigns - and we say that on the label.

How do I get graded card prices via API?

PriceCharting offers sold-comp prices by grade. CardGrader.AI's market module estimates raw and per-grade values from real sold sales for the card in your photo.

A note on fairness: CardGrader.AI is our product, and grade prediction is our category - we've tried to be plain about what's official (PSA's cert API), what doesn't exist, and where third parties fill in. Details current as of June 12, 2026.