Neither, consistently. The honest answer from the available data is that individual quotes swing by $500 to $1,500 in either direction, which means the only reliable strategy is to get both.
Get both offers. They are free, they take minutes, and the gap between them on your specific car is unpredictable.
People want a winner, and the honest reporting does not supply one. A 2026 guide reviewing the question notes that the last large head-to-head study dates from 2022, and that neither service consistently pays more today — individual quotes swing $500 to $1,500 in either direction depending on the car, the week and the market.
One 2026 tracking exercise covering 140 offers did find a pattern: for cars under five years old with clean titles, CarMax averaged about $780 more. That is a small sample and a narrow slice of the market, so treat it as a lean rather than a rule.
Both offers are typically valid for seven days, which means there is no cost to collecting both and no reason not to.
Both are a single buyer making a single offer. Whatever number comes back, it was not set by competing against anyone.
Both also price from what you type in, then verify later. The offer is conditional on the car matching your description, and the adjustment conversation happens at collection or at the store — which, as anyone who has been through it will tell you, is a bad moment to start renegotiating.
And both are buying for their own retail inventory. That sets a ceiling: they will pay what the car is worth to them, against their own reconditioning costs and their own sales forecast. A dealer who happens to need your exact car this week might pay more. Neither service has any way to surface that dealer.
You do not have to pick one buyer. You can have several bid.
That is what we do: your car goes to franchise dealers in our network who compete for it, and you see the best number that comes back. It takes longer than an instant offer — you send photographs, dealers bid, you get a firm written figure — and on a common car in a flat market the difference may be modest. On a car a particular dealer wants, it is not.
The sensible sequence, and we would say this even if you never use us: get the Carvana number, get the CarMax number, then see whether competing dealers beat them. Both instant offers hold for seven days, so collecting them first costs you nothing and gives you a floor to measure against. If nobody beats your best instant offer, take it.
Our estimate takes a VIN, a mileage reading and a ZIP, needs no email, and will tell you in about ten seconds roughly where your car sits.
We also compare ourselves directly against each of them, including where they beat us: Carvana instant offer review and CarMax instant offer review. If you are weighing up the other services too, see our reviews of the KBB Instant Cash Offer, GiveMeTheVIN and Peddle.
Neither consistently. Reporting in 2026 notes that the last large head-to-head study was from 2022 and that individual quotes swing $500 to $1,500 in either direction. One 2026 tracking exercise across 140 offers found CarMax averaged about $780 more on cars under five years old with clean titles, but that is a small sample. The reliable approach is to get both.
Often not. For vehicles over roughly ten years old, Carvana frequently declines to make an offer, while CarMax will still quote. If your car is older, CarMax is more likely to be the one that gives you a number.
Both are typically valid for seven days. That window is why getting both costs you nothing: you can collect two offers and still have time to look for a better one.
Yes, with both. Each prices from the description you enter and verifies the vehicle afterwards, either at collection or at a store. If the condition differs from what you described, the number can be adjusted at that point.
Almost always. The services price independently, both offers are free and valid for a week, and the spread between them on any given car is unpredictable. Collecting both takes about ten minutes and is the single highest-return thing a seller can do.
Having several dealers compete rather than taking one buyer's number. Both Carvana and CarMax are single buyers purchasing for their own inventory, which caps what they will pay at what the car is worth to them. A dealer with specific demand for your vehicle may pay more, and neither service can surface that dealer.