★ BEST INVESTING TOOLS COMPARISON ★
VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
Tool comparison edition
Tool Comparison
Find and update company information (Companies House) vs OpenCorporates
Pick Find and update company information (Companies House) if
Find and update company information (Companies House)
Free · Web · API
- Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
- You care about alerts and official sources, things OpenCorporates doesn't offer
Pick OpenCorporates if
OpenCorporates
Free • Contact for pricing · Web · API
- You care about other, something Find and update company information (Companies House) doesn't offer
Skip both if: Neither one clicks with how you research; there are strong third options.
See alternativesOutbound links may include affiliate or sponsor codes.
Our take
The bottom line
Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates cover a lot of the same ground (2 shared categories, regulatory filings monitoring and APIs & data feeds), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. The real difference is focus: only Find and update company information (Companies House) gives you alerts and official sources, and only OpenCorporates gives you other.
What readers say
Find and update company information (Companies House)
Vote once to reveal the community verdict.
OpenCorporates
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Key differences at a glance
- Real-time data
- Find and update company information (Companies House)
- Free plan
- Both
See for yourself
How they stack up
The side-by-side table: pricing, platforms, data, and coverage at a glance.ShowHide
How they stack up
The side-by-side table: pricing, platforms, data, and coverage at a glance.| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & plans | ||
Starting price | Free | Free • Contact for pricing |
Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Free trial | — | — |
Plan limits | Free: api rate limit: 600 requests per 5 minutes | 8 limits: Essentials (API): api calls per month: 500, Essentials (API): api calls per day: 200 +6 more |
| Platforms & access | ||
Web app | Yes | Yes |
Mobile app | No | No |
API access | Yes | Yes |
Broker sync | No | No |
Integrations | — | OpenRefine |
| Audience & fit | ||
Experience level | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced |
Best for | — | — |
Categories covered | 4 | 3 |
Regions | Europe | North America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, Middle East, Africa |
| Data & capabilities | ||
Data quality | 3 signals: Latency: Real-time and Streaming, Corporate actions: Current +1 more | Latency: End of Day and Granularity: EOD |
Security | — | Status page |
| Try it | Visit Find and update company information (Companies House) | Visit OpenCorporates |
Where each one shines
What Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates each do best.ShowHide
Where each one shines
What Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates each do best.What Find and update company information (Companies House) does best
- Search tools across the official UK register for active and dissolved companies, registered details, company status, filing history, officers, charges, insolvency records, and document images.
- Views for reviewing accounts, confirmation statements, incorporation documents, officer appointments, mortgage charges, and other filings from the company record.
- Persons with significant control when ownership or control context matters for diligence, supplier review, or private-company research.
- Monitoring companies and receive email alerts when new filings are accepted, with direct links back to the filing history.
- Advanced search filters for company status, dates, filing types, directors, and other register fields where available.
What OpenCorporates does best
- Search tools across a public legal-entity database advertised at 200M+ company records aggregated from official registries with provenance and source links.
- The versioned REST API with API-key authentication and JSON or XML output for company and officer data workflows.
- OpenRefine Reconciliation API to match company names to legal identifiers during entity-resolution work.
- Access to enterprise bulk data through SFTP-delivered CSV datasets for companies, officers, addresses, alternative names, identifiers, and relationships.
- Relationship data for subsidiaries, branches, control statements, shareholdings, and ownership-mapping workflows.
Every detail we compared
Every tracked attribute for Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates, side by side.ShowHide
Every detail we compared
Every tracked attribute for Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates, side by side.| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Coverage & fit | ||
Asset types | Other | Other |
Experience | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced |
Regions | Europe | North AmericaEuropeAPACLatAmMiddle EastAfrica |
Coverage details | Countries: GB | Not specified |
| Data | ||
Data freshness | Real-timeStreaming | End of Day |
Data granularity | Not specified | EOD |
| Access & integrations | ||
API protocols | REST | REST |
API auth & delivery | Auth: APIKey and OAuth2120 req/min | Auth: APIKey |
Integrations | Not specified | OpenRefine |
Export formats | PDFCSV | CSVJSON |
| Plans & trust | ||
Security & compliance | Not specified | Status page |
Vendor & support | Companies House (Executive agency of the UK Government)Country: United KingdomSupport: Email and Phone | OpenCorporates LtdCountry: United KingdomFounded 2010Support: Email |
Curation ratings | Methodology 5/5Reliability 5/5UX 4/5 | Not specified |
Green tags are exclusive to that tool in this comparison.
What you'll actually pay
Plans, billing, trials, and per-month pricing for both tools.ShowHide
What you'll actually pay
Plans, billing, trials, and per-month pricing for both tools.| Tier | ||
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Freeapi rate limit: 600 requests per 5 minutes | Free“Free (personal & public-benefit use)” |
| Entry paid plan | — | £225/mo“Essentials (API)”api calls per month: 500 · api calls per day: 200 |
| Tier 2 | — | £660/mo“Starter (API)”api calls per month: 2,500 · api calls per day: 500 · +1 more |
| Top plan | — | £1200/mo“Basic (API)”api calls per month: 5,000 · api calls per day: 1,000 · +1 more |
| Custom / enterprise | — | Contact sales“Enterprise Bulk (SFTP CSV datasets)” |
Questions we keep getting
What's the difference between Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates?
Find and update company information (Companies House) leans toward regulatory filings monitoring, alerts, and APIs & data feeds, while OpenCorporates puts more weight on APIs & data feeds, regulatory filings monitoring, and other. They overlap in 2 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.
How much do Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates cost?
Good news: both Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates have free plans, so you can run them side by side and only pay if you hit a wall.
Do Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates have APIs?
Yes, both offer API access, so developers and quants can pull data programmatically or wire up their own integrations.
Should I choose Find and update company information (Companies House) or OpenCorporates?
It depends on what you're after. Pick Find and update company information (Companies House) if alerts and official sources matter to you; go with OpenCorporates if you'd rather have other. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.
Does Find and update company information (Companies House) or OpenCorporates have real-time data?
Find and update company information (Companies House) offers real-time data, which matters if you trade actively. OpenCorporates runs on delayed or end-of-day data, which is perfectly fine for longer-term investors who don't live and die by the tick.
Can I export data from Find and update company information (Companies House) and OpenCorporates?
Yes, both export to spreadsheets (CSV), which is handy if you like running your own numbers.
Keep researching
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Curation & Accuracy
This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).
Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.