What it means
The two terms describe the same system: plate detection, character reading and a database lookup. Product sheets and research papers from the United States tend to say ALPR, so a buyer who compares documents from different regions will see both names for the same function.
Whatever the name, ask the same questions. What is the read rate by condition? How fast can a vehicle travel past the camera? Does the system work at night without visible flash? How are reads stored, and for how long?
How it applies in India
Indian tenders, NHAI documents and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways use the term ANPR. When a specification asks for ANPR, an ALPR product meets the wording only if it is tested on Indian plate formats, including two-line plates, Bharat series plates and two-wheeler plates. A model trained on single-line plates from one country often struggles with Indian layouts. See ANPR for the Indian context.