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Background: Assess the intake of carbohydrate quality and their association with cardiovascular risk factors among diabetes subtypes. Methods: Participants of the German Diabetes Study (GDS) (recent-onset diabetes (n = 487) and 5-years thereafter (n = 209)) were allocated into severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID, 35%), severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD, 3%), severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD, 5%), mild obesity-related diabetes (MOD, 28%), and mild age-related diabetes (MARD, 29%). Dietary glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL), and intake of higher- (≥ 55) and low-GI (< 55) foods, dietary fiber, and total sugar were derived from a validated food frequency questionnaire and cross-sectionally associated with cardiovascular risk factors (blood lipids, subclinical inflammation, blood pressure, fatty liver index) using multivariable linear regression analysis for subtypes with prevalences ≥ 10%. Results: Intake of carbohydrate quality parameters was broadly comparable between the subtypes. Among SAID higher total sugar intake was associated with lower HDL-cholesterol (ß (95% CI) relative change per 1 SD increment: − 3.4% (− 6.7; − 0.1)). No clear associations were seen among MOD. Among MARD, a higher dietary GL and higher-GI carbohydrate intake were associated with higher serum triglycerides (10.9% (2.4; 20.1), 12.4% (3.9; 21.5)) and fatty liver index (absolute change: 0.18 (0.06; 0.31), 0.17 (0.05; 0.28)) and lower HDL-cholesterol (− 4.1% (− 7.6; − 0.4), − 4.4% (− 7.8; − 0.8)), whilst higher intake of low-GI carbohydrates and dietary fiber were associated with lower high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (− 16.0% (− 25.7; − 5.1), − 13.9% (− 24.2; − 2.2)). Conclusions: Associations of carbohydrate quality parameters with blood lipids, subclinical inflammation, and fatty liver index differed between diabetes subtypes. However, evidence is too preliminary to derive subtype-specific recommendations. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01055093. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]