Fortellis

What Fortellis does

Fortellis is an open automotive commerce exchange platform that operates as a two-sided marketplace connecting automotive dealerships with software developers, OEMs, lenders, and data providers. Founded in 2018 and operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDK Global (a leading automotive retail technology provider with over $2 billion in revenue serving approximately 28,000 retail locations across more than 100 countries), Fortellis is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois and supports 82,000+ dealer integrations. The platform's core technical offering consists of a Developer Network exposing 135+ published APIs (with OAuth 2.0 authentication and structured certification workflows), an App Marketplace with 425+ certified applications, and a developer community forum with hackathon-style engagement events.

The platform monetizes primarily through marketplace transaction fees derived from API usage and app subscriptions, supplemented by fee-based Professional Services for integration consulting. Distribution occurs through self-service developer onboarding (PLG-style) for software vendors and embedded distribution via CDK Drive DMS for enterprise dealers. Supporting capabilities include the DevCare Portal (unified support), AIVA for Fortellis (an AI-powered documentation assistant), Field Filtering/Management for data governance, and notable sub-brands such as Hailer (a Lyft-powered ride-sharing solution for dealership service customers). Marketing and developer relations rely on content marketing, (dev)day hackathons, community forums, GitHub open-source contributions, and an annual NADA conference presence.

Fortellis employs 51-100 people and supports 35,000+ active dealer subscriptions and 6.7 billion+ annual API transactions. Recent platform enhancements (Guided Certification, Professional Services, AIVA, DevCare Portal, Field Filtering) ship on a roughly annual cadence tied to NADA and CDK CONNECT industry events. The company has no external equity funding, no reported M&A activity, and no leadership changes documented in the input, indicating stable strategic direction under the CDK Global umbrella.

Name

Fortellis

Legal name

CDK Global, LLC

Website

https://fortellis.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Fortellis is an automotive commerce exchange platform, owned by CDK Global, that connects dealerships, OEMs, software developers, lenders, and data providers through a marketplace of 425+ apps and 135+ APIs serving 35,000+ active dealer subscriptions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Automotive Commerce Platform

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

akta.pro primary industry

Payment Gateways & Orchestration (BPAMAFAA)

Keywords

• Automotive commerce platform
• API marketplace
• Developer network
• Dealership integrations
• Automotive retail solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Hoffman Estates

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Platform Fees: Fortellis operates as a platform/marketplace connecting app publishers (developers/ISVs) with consumers (dealers, OEMs). Revenue is derived from transaction fees on API usage and app subscriptions published through the marketplace, with over 425 apps and 6.7B+ annual API transactions indicating significant transaction volume.
2. Professional Services: Consulting services helping developers integrate with the Fortellis platform, including Discovery and Design, Integration Support, and Workflow Optimization. These are fee-based services providing personalized guidance from Fortellis experts.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fortellis is an open automotive commerce exchange platform that connects automotive dealers, OEMs, software developers (ISVs), lenders, and data providers through a standardized API infrastructure and app marketplace. The platform enables developers to build, certify, and publish APIs and apps once, then distribute them across CDK Global's network of 82,000+ dealer integrations, while dealerships subscribe to and integrate third-party solutions to reduce technology fragmentation in their operations.

Product overview

Fortellis is an open automotive commerce exchange platform that connects dealers, OEMs, software developers, lenders and data providers. The platform consists of three core components: the Developer Network (API Directory with 135+ published APIs and developer tools), the App Marketplace (425+ apps for automotive solutions), and the Developer Community (forum for collaboration). Supporting offerings include Professional Services (consulting for integration support), the DevCare Portal (unified support), AIVA for Fortellis (AI-powered knowledge retrieval), and Field Filtering/Management (data control). Notable sub-brands include Hailer (ride-sharing app integrated with CDK Drive via Lyft) and the Cartender Model Video API. The platform processes over 6.7 billion API transactions annually across 82,000+ dealer integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DevCare Portal: Developer support portal with ticketing system, knowledge base, and migration workflows.
• AIVA for Fortellis
• Hailer
• Fortellis Professional Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Published on Fortellis within 24 hours for new developers
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• LinkOnecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2025LinkOne joined Fortellis Marketplace as a first-party data ingestion and audience activation CDP. The platform connects to all major automotive CRMs and DMSs, leveraging dealer first-party data to drive audience engagement and faster campaign lift. LinkOne provides complete reporting and attribution of media dollars to units moved.
• AutoFicoreTechnology or Integration · 1 September 2018AutoFi agreed to consume digital retailing APIs from Fortellis platform. AutoFi brings a fully-automated Finance and Insurance (F&I) platform providing dealers with digital shopping experience powered by real-time lender connectivity and offers. Omni-channel integration enables dealers to offer lending options through websites, in-store tablets, and phone.
• Equifax Inc.coreTechnology or Integration · 1 September 2018Equifax is one of the inaugural publishers on Fortellis, contributing multiple APIs including credit profile APIs for personalized solutions, InstaTouch for consumer authentication and prefilling, and payment calculator APIs. Equifax published APIs in less than five business days.
• CDK GlobalflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Fortellis is founded and owned by CDK Global, a leading global provider of integrated information technology and digital marketing solutions to the automotive retail industry. CDK Global provides over $2 billion in revenues and serves approximately 28,000 retail locations in more than 100 countries. Fortellis operates as CDK's open platform for automotive commerce innovation.
• LyftcoreTechnology or IntegrationLyft partnership powers Hailer, a ridesharing app for car dealers available exclusively on Fortellis. Hailer integrates Lyft within CDK Drive Service, allowing dealers to arrange rides for service customers directly from repair orders. The partnership includes Lyft Lux for luxury dealer requirements.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• VinSolutions (Cox Automotive): VinSolutions is a leading automotive CRM and dealer engagement platform owned by Cox Automotive, competing with the Fortellis-connected dealer software stack on CRM, marketing, and integration.
• Dealertrack (Cox Automotive): Dealertrack provides dealer management, DMS, and lender connectivity, directly overlapping with Fortellis' core dealer integration and digital retailing API surface area.
• Tekion: Tekion is a cloud-native dealer management system and automotive retail platform that competes with CDK and Fortellis by offering a unified CRM, DMS, and integration ecosystem for dealerships.
• RapidAPI: RapidAPI is a general-purpose API marketplace where developers publish and consumers subscribe to APIs, sharing Fortellis' core marketplace business model though not its automotive specialization.
• Cox Automotive: Cox Automotive is a major automotive retail technology group (parent of Dealertrack, VinSolutions, Kelley Blue Book) that operates a competing integration platform serving dealers, OEMs, and lenders with overlapping API and marketplace capabilities to Fortellis.

Emerging players

• AutoFi: AutoFi is a digital retailing and F&I platform that consumes Fortellis APIs but also operates its own dealer and lender integrations, making it a partner-competitor in the same automotive commerce exchange space.
• Podium: Podium is a customer communication and messaging platform with a strong automotive dealer vertical, comparable to Fortellis marketplace apps focused on dealer-customer engagement and operations.

Others

• Stripe Connect: Stripe Connect provides marketplace and platform payment infrastructure, comparable in marketplace-orchestration pattern to Fortellis' transaction-fee platform model, though focused on payments.

Broad incumbents

• MuleSoft (Salesforce): MuleSoft is a leading API management and integration platform owned by Salesforce, comparable to the API infrastructure backbone of Fortellis, though it is horizontal rather than automotive-specific.
• Salesforce AppExchange: AppExchange is the enterprise app marketplace for the Salesforce platform, the closest analog to Fortellis' two-sided app marketplace model at much larger scale and across multiple verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fortellisace
• GitHubgithub.com/fortellis
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCk4etySO7-MJhYCPNDtox2A
• Facebookfacebook.com/FortellisACE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/showcase/fortellis-automotive-commerce-exchange

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fortellis