How to Pay for Parking in Copenhagen (2026–2027)

Copenhagen no longer hands out tickets for the windscreen. Whichever way you pay, the payment is registered against your number plate, and that is what parking enforcement checks. So the whole job comes down to registering the right plate, in the right zone, for long enough, before you walk away.

The ways to pay, as kk.dk lists them

1. A parking app

kk.dk lists eight apps you can use to pay for street parking in Copenhagen: APCOA FLOW, EasyPark, FreeSpot, Legal Parking, OK-appen, ParkMan, ParkOne and PARKPARK (the list in Danish, the list in English). You pay from your phone, without walking to a machine. The apps add their own fees on top of the City's rate, and kk.dk notes that these fees can differ from app to app.

2. A pay station (p-automat)

The paid zones have pay stations on the street, and kk.dk has a map of where they are. The City's English page says you pay by card and must enter your licence plate. The payment is registered digitally, so there is no ticket to put behind the windscreen.

3. By phone: 33 66 18 18

You can also call 33 66 18 18 and pay for your parking over the phone. kk.dk says the line is open around the clock.

4. A period card, for longer stays

If you need to park for more than 5 weekdays, kk.dk points you to a period card (periodekort), bought on parkering.kk.dk. The City's English page says it is valid for at least 5 weekdays, or at least 1 day for business use.

Residents and businesses with an address in the paid zone or in a time-restricted area can apply for a residential or commercial parking licence on parkering.kk.dk instead. Disability badge: kk.dk says drivers with a valid disability parking card can park for free on public parking spaces in Copenhagen, but the badge does not let you park where stopping is prohibited (kk.dk on disability parking).

What it costs: the 2026 zone prices, and the 2027 prices kk.dk has published

Københavns Kommune sets the hourly rate by zone and time of day. In 2026:

kk.dk has already published its 2027 prices. By day, Red and Green go up to 47 kr and Blue to 27 kr an hour. Yellow, evening and night prices stay the same:

Not sure which zone a street is in? kk.dk's price page has an indicative zone map, and our guide to Copenhagen's parking zones and prices explains the colours. Whatever a map says, the signs and markings where you park apply.

When you have to pay, and the free hour you still have to register

kk.dk says you have to pay for parking every day of the week in the city's four paid zones. There is one exception, and it catches people out:

• Saturday 17:00 to Monday 08:00: the first hour of the first registered parking is free.
• Public holidays: the same free first hour, on the holiday itself and until 08:00 the next day.
• 5 June (Constitution Day) and 24 December: the same free first hour, even though kk.dk notes that these two days are not public holidays.

The free hour only counts if you register it. kk.dk says you must register your parking in an app, at a pay station or by phone, even if you park for less than an hour. In Legal Parking that hour is registered at 0 kr, with no service fee. If your parking starts inside the free window and you stay longer, the first hour is free and only the rest is charged, at the normal rate plus our service fee.

Time-limited zones work differently. In Copenhagen's time-limited zones, parking is free for a limited time: the sign tells you how long, and you have to set your parking disc (p-skive). The 3-hour limit does not apply at weekends or on public holidays, but on 5 June and 24 December you still need the disc if the day is a weekday. More in our guide to free parking in Copenhagen.

The Medieval City has its own rule. In Middelalderbyen, the oldest part of Indre By, kk.dk says you may only park inside marked bays, and many of them are reserved for special purposes such as commercial parking (kk.dk on parking in the Medieval City).

Paying with Legal Parking, step by step

Legal Parking, a parking app on Københavns Kommune's list, takes you from finding the zone to a registered parking in a few taps. This is the flow on iPhone and Android:

1. Install and open the app. It is free to download, and there is no account to create: no email and no password.
2. Find your zone. The map shows Copenhagen's zones in colour. Tap a zone to see its name, its restrictions and its price. If the sign where you park says something different, follow the sign.
3. Add your car. Type in the number plate. The app looks up the make and model from the plate, which helps you spot a typo before you pay.
4. Choose how long. The minimum is 15 minutes.
5. Check the price. Before you confirm, the app shows the parking fee, the service fee (15%, minimum 4 kr) and the total.
6. Confirm and pay. Confirm the zone, the vehicle and the total, then pay with MobilePay, Apple Pay (iPhone), Google Pay (Android) or a card.
7. Your parking is registered. The app registers your parking in the City's Parking Rights Service (PRS), the system parking enforcement checks. You get a receipt with a reference, which you can share as a PDF.
8. Get reminded. With notifications on, you get a reminder 15 and 5 minutes before your time runs out, and again when it does. On iPhone the time left shows as a Live Activity; on Android it shows as a countdown notification.
9. Extend if you need to. Add time from your phone. Each extension is a separate payment, with its own service fee (minimum 4 kr).
10. Leaving early? Stop the parking. The unused part of the parking fee is refunded automatically. Nothing is refunded if less than 5 minutes are left or the refund would be under 5 kr, and the service fee is kept.

Parking during the free hour works the same way: choose the duration as usual, and the app registers the free hour at 0 kr.

What the apps charge on top of the City's rate

The hourly rate is set by Københavns Kommune. Each app adds its own fee on top, and kk.dk notes that these fees can differ. Legal Parking's service fee is 15% of the parking fee, with a minimum of 4 kr per payment, and 0 kr when the parking fee is 0 kr. There is no subscription, no maximum fee and no in-app purchase. Some examples at 2026 prices:

At kk.dk's 2027 prices, one hour in the Red zone by day would be 47 + 7.05 = 54.05 kr.

We are not the cheapest app on the list. OK advertises 0 kr in parking fees (ok.dk, checked 9 November 2026), and several other listed apps charge a lower percentage than we do. Our comparison of Copenhagen's parking apps sets out each app's fee and features with sources, so you can choose for yourself.

Visiting Copenhagen, or driving a rental car?

You don't need to create an account to pay with Legal Parking: there is no email or password to set up. The app's screens are available in 19 languages, and you can pay with MobilePay, Apple Pay (iPhone), Google Pay (Android) or a card.

Register the plate of the car you are actually driving. With a rental car, read the plate off the car itself, and if you switch cars, add the new one before you pay. If you would rather not install an app, the City's English page on public parking in Copenhagen explains the pay stations and the other options.

Frederiksberg is a different municipality

Frederiksberg sits in the middle of Copenhagen but is its own municipality, and kk.dk's English page notes that different parking rules and prices apply there. Legal Parking takes no payments in Frederiksberg. The app shows Frederiksberg's street rules on the map, but to pay there you need one of the options Frederiksberg Kommune lists on frederiksberg.dk's parking page. Check the signs when you cross the boundary.

Got a parking fine (p-afgift)?

Parking fines on Copenhagen's streets are handled by Københavns Kommune, not by the app you paid with. kk.dk describes this route:

• Check and pay it on parkering.kk.dk, using the licence plate and the fine's serial number. You can see the parking attendant's photos and explanation there.
• Challenge it on the same site with MitID or, if you don't have MitID, through the City's online form. Both are linked from kk.dk's page on parking fines.

If you paid with Legal Parking and think the fine is wrong, open the receipt for that parking in the app, share it as a PDF with its reference, and include it in your complaint. You can also write to us at support@innovaapps.ai. For the mistakes that most often lead to a fine, see how to avoid parking fines in Copenhagen.

Sources

• Københavns Kommune, Priser og parkeringszoner: 2026 and 2027 prices, the free first hour, ways to pay, time-limited zones. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Københavns Kommune, Parkeringsapps and Parking apps: the list of app providers. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Københavns Kommune, Her finder du p-automaterne: pay stations and paying by phone. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Københavns Kommune, Public parking in Copenhagen: how to pay, period cards, licences, disability badges, Frederiksberg. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Københavns Kommune, If you have received a parking fine in Copenhagen. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Københavns Kommune, Parkering i Middelalderbyen. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Frederiksberg Kommune, Parking. Checked 9 November 2026.
• OK, 0 kr. i parkeringsgebyr med OK-appen. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Legal Parking's fees and features: Legal Parking pricing.