Sign Scanner — Can I Park Here?
Built and maintained by
Daniel Battaglia, Founder & CEO, Parksy
Point your camera at any parking sign and Parksy translates it to English and decodes the time limits against the current time — so you know whether you can park right now, for how long, and when the rule next changes.
Point at the sign, or upload a photo. Works in any language.
What the Sign Scanner does
Parking signs stack days, hours and time limits that often contradict each other. A plate might read “2P 8:30AM–6PM Mon–Fri” over a “Permit Holders Excepted” strip with an arrow pointing one way. The Sign Scanner reads the whole cluster, works out which rule applies to you right now, and answers in one line: yes, no, yes-with-a-limit, pay required, or permit only.
It reads stacked signs in a single photo, uses the arrow direction to ignore the signs that don’t apply to your side of the street, and translates signs written in any language into plain English.
Top 5 alternatives to the Parksy Sign Scanner
A researched comparison, last checked 21 September 2026. Every point below is verifiable on each tool’s own site.
Park Here
AI sign scanner with iOS Lock Screen integration
Photograph a sign and it tells you whether you can park and for how long, with reminders before your time expires.
- Pro: Lock Screen and Dynamic Island integration keeps your remaining time visible without opening the app.
- Con: States support for 8 languages, narrower than tools that translate any language.
Parky.AI
Sign scanner that publishes its accuracy figures
Upload a photo of a parking sign and get a plain-English reading of the restrictions.
- Pro: One of the few to publish accuracy benchmarks and an explicit photo-privacy statement.
- Con: Requires uploading your photo to their service before you see any answer.
ParkUsher
Real-time colour-coded street map, 7 cities
Combines AI sign scanning with a live map showing where you may park right now.
- Pro: Adds a real-time regulation map and route planning on top of sign scanning.
- Con: Requires creating an account before you can use the map or the scanner.
Can I Park Here
Minimal, no-frills sign checker
A stripped-back tool that reads a parking sign photo and answers the question.
- Pro: Loads fast, with no account and no clutter.
- Con: Very little supporting information — no FAQ or help content if the answer is unclear.
Parking Sign Scanner AI
iOS App Store app
A native iPhone app that decodes parking signs from a photo.
- Pro: Native camera integration on iPhone.
- Con: iOS only, and you must install it before you can try it.
Parksy’s Sign Scanner runs in your browser — nothing to install, no account needed — and uses the arrow direction on a sign to ignore the plates that apply to the other side of the street.
What people ask about parking signs
Can I park here?
That depends on which plate on the pole applies to you, at this time, on this side of the street. Read the signs from the top down: the topmost plate sets the general rule and the ones beneath it carve out exceptions. Check the arrows first — they tell you which stretch of kerb each plate governs. Scan the pole above and Parksy will work it out for the current time.
How do you read a parking sign?
Work through four things in order: the arrow (which direction the rule covers), the days it applies, the hours within those days, and the time limit once you are parked. A plate reading “2P 8:30AM–6PM Mon–Fri” means a two-hour limit during those hours on weekdays only — outside those hours and at weekends, the restriction usually lifts unless another plate says otherwise.
Why do parking signs contradict each other?
They usually don’t, once you read them as a stack rather than as separate signs. Each plate narrows the one above it. A “Permit Holders Excepted” strip under a two-hour limit is not a contradiction — it means the limit applies to you unless you hold the permit named on the sign.
What does a no stopping sign mean?
A no stopping sign means you may not stop at all in that stretch, even briefly and even with someone in the car. It is stricter than a no parking sign, which generally allows you to stop briefly to drop off or pick up a passenger. The exact wording and penalties vary by country and council.
Do parking rules change from city to city?
Yes. Signage conventions, time-limit notation, permit schemes and penalties are set locally, which is why the same symbol can mean different things in different places. Parksy has local parking guides for thousands of cities — find parking near you to see the rules and available spaces where you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if I can park here?
Take a photo of the parking sign. Parksy reads it, translates it to English if needed, and checks the time limits against the current time to tell you whether you can park right now and for how long.
What does this parking sign mean?
Parking signs combine days, hours and time limits that often contradict each other. Parksy decodes the whole stack into one plain-English answer and tells you when the rule next changes.
Can it read parking signs in other languages?
Yes. Point your camera at a sign in any language and Parksy translates it to English and decodes the rules — handy when you are driving abroad.
Does it work out the time limits automatically?
Yes. Parksy reads limits like 1P, 2P or pay-and-display windows and tells you how long you can stay from right now, plus the next time the restriction changes.
Is the Sign Scanner free to use?
Yes, it is completely free. Snap a photo of any parking sign and get a plain-English answer — free, with no app to install. It runs right in your phone browser.
Can it read several stacked signs on one pole at once?
Yes. When a pole has multiple signs with different arrows, Parksy reads them all and lets you pick which way your car is facing, so you only see the rule that actually applies to your side of the street.
Is the answer a legal guarantee?
No. Parksy decodes the sign against the current time to give you a fast, plain-English read, but it is not legal advice. Always double-check the sign yourself before you leave the car — especially if the photo was blurry or the sign was partly hidden.
Is my sign photo stored?
Yes. Sign photos and their decoded rules are stored securely and privately on our servers — every scan helps Parksy build better parking-rule data for drivers everywhere. Photos are never published or shared. Signed-in members can also save signs to their account to re-check the rules any time; contact us to have your data deleted.
The Sign Scanner helps you read parking rules, but it isn’t a legal guarantee. Always check the sign yourself before you leave the car.