Overview
Cloverly offers an API-first platform designed to integrate carbon emissions calculation and offsetting capabilities into various applications and business processes. Founded in 2019, the service addresses the growing demand for corporate and consumer-level sustainability initiatives by providing programmatic access to carbon footprint data and verified offset projects. The platform is primarily suited for businesses in e-commerce, logistics, and software development that aim to incorporate environmental considerations directly into their operations or product offerings.
The core functionality of Cloverly revolves around its Carbon Emissions API and Carbon Offsetting API. The Emissions API allows developers to calculate the carbon footprint associated with specific activities, such as package shipping, ride-sharing, or product manufacturing, based on provided parameters like distance, weight, or energy consumption. This data can then be used to inform users, generate reports, or trigger offsetting actions. The Offsetting API, in turn, enables the purchase of carbon credits from a curated portfolio of projects, which may include reforestation, renewable energy, and waste management initiatives. These projects are typically verified by third-party standards bodies, ensuring their environmental integrity.
Cloverly's approach is designed for developers, offering a RESTful API with clear documentation and SDKs for popular languages like Node.js, Python, and PHP. This facilitates the integration of sustainability features into existing platforms, such as e-commerce checkout flows where customers can opt to neutralize the carbon impact of their purchases, or logistics systems that automatically offset emissions from deliveries. The platform supports a range of use cases, from real-time offsetting for individual transactions to bulk offsetting for aggregated emissions data. For instance, a logistics company could use the API to automatically calculate and offset the emissions for every shipment processed through its system, providing a verifiable sustainability claim to its customers.
The service is particularly beneficial for companies seeking to automate their carbon accounting and offsetting processes without building proprietary solutions from scratch. By abstracting the complexities of carbon measurement and project selection, Cloverly enables businesses to focus on their core competencies while addressing environmental responsibilities. The availability of a Developer Plan with up to 1,000 free API calls per month allows for initial exploration and integration testing before committing to a paid plan.
Key features
- Carbon Emissions API: Calculates the carbon footprint for various activities, including shipping, flights, electricity consumption, and e-commerce transactions, based on input parameters.
- Carbon Offsetting API: Facilitates the purchase of carbon credits from a diversified portfolio of verified projects, enabling real-time or bulk offsetting of calculated emissions.
- Sustainability Integrations: Designed for seamless integration into existing applications, e-commerce platforms, and logistics systems using RESTful API endpoints and SDKs.
- Verified Project Portfolio: Provides access to a range of carbon offset projects that adhere to established verification standards, ensuring the credibility of offsetting efforts.
- Developer-Friendly Tools: Offers SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, and .NET, along with comprehensive API reference documentation and code examples.
- Real-time and Batch Processing: Supports both immediate carbon calculations and offsetting for individual actions, as well as batch processing for aggregated data.
- GDPR Compliance: Adheres to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards for data privacy and security.
Pricing
Cloverly offers a tiered pricing model with a free developer plan and paid options based on API call volume and offset purchases. Pricing details are current as of 2026-05-28.
| Plan Name | Monthly Cost | API Calls Included | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer Plan | Free | Up to 1,000 | Access to Emissions and Offsetting APIs, sandbox environment. |
| Startup Plan | $49 | Up to 5,000 | All Developer Plan features, increased API calls, standard support. |
| Growth Plan | Custom | Volume-based | Advanced features, dedicated support, custom offset project access. |
Additional costs apply for carbon offset purchases, which are calculated based on the volume and type of offsets selected. For detailed information and custom pricing, refer to the Cloverly pricing page.
Common integrations
- E-commerce Platforms: Integrate into checkout flows to offer carbon-neutral shipping or product purchases.
- Logistics and Shipping Systems: Automate carbon emissions calculation and offsetting for freight, last-mile delivery, and supply chain operations.
- Financial Services: Embed carbon footprint estimates for consumer spending or investment portfolios.
- Travel and Hospitality Platforms: Offer carbon offsetting options for flights, hotel stays, and ground transportation.
- SaaS Applications: Incorporate sustainability reporting or offsetting features directly into enterprise software.
Alternatives
- Patch: Offers an API for carbon removal and offsetting, focusing on a diverse portfolio of climate projects.
- Watershed: Provides a platform for measuring, reducing, and reporting carbon emissions, often used by larger enterprises for comprehensive climate programs.
- Pachama: Specializes in nature-based carbon credits, using AI and remote sensing to monitor and verify forest carbon projects.
Getting started
To begin using the Cloverly API, you will need an API key, which can be obtained by signing up for a Developer Plan on the Cloverly website. The following Node.js example demonstrates how to calculate the carbon emissions for a hypothetical shipping event and then retrieve available offset options.
const axios = require('axios');
const API_KEY = 'YOUR_CLOVERLY_API_KEY'; // Replace with your actual API key
async function getShippingEmissionsAndOffsets() {
try {
// Step 1: Calculate emissions for a shipping event
const emissionsResponse = await axios.post(
'https://api.cloverly.com/2022-09-alpha/estimates/shipping',
{
origin: {
lat: 34.0522,
lng: -118.2437,
},
destination: {
lat: 40.7128,
lng: -74.0060,
},
weight: {
value: 5,
units: 'lb',
},
item_quantity: 1,
},
{
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${API_KEY}`,
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
},
}
);
console.log('Emissions Estimate:', emissionsResponse.data.carbon_kg);
const carbonKg = emissionsResponse.data.carbon_kg;
// Step 2: Get available carbon offset options for the calculated emissions
const offsetsResponse = await axios.get(
`https://api.cloverly.com/2022-09-alpha/offsets?carbon_kg=${carbonKg}`,
{
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${API_KEY}`,
},
}
);
console.log('Available Offset Options:', offsetsResponse.data.data);
// Example: To purchase an offset, you would typically select an option
// from offsetsResponse.data.data and make a POST request to /offsets/purchase
// with the project ID and amount.
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error:', error.response ? error.response.data : error.message);
}
}
getShippingEmissionsAndOffsets();
This code snippet first sends a POST request to the /estimates/shipping endpoint to calculate the carbon emissions for a package traveling from Los Angeles to New York. It then uses the returned carbon amount to query the /offsets endpoint, retrieving a list of available projects that can offset that specific quantity of carbon. Further steps would involve selecting a project and making a purchase request to complete the offsetting process, as detailed in the Cloverly API documentation.