Tool Comparison
OpenCorporates vs USAspending
- Paid from
- On request
- Free plan
- Yes
- Platforms
- Web, API
Best if
- You want regulatory filings monitoring.
- Paid from
- —
- Free plan
- Yes
- Platforms
- Web, API
Best if
- You want data visualizations, videos, and official sources.
Pick OpenCorporates if
OpenCorporates
Free • Contact for pricing · Web · API
- You want regulatory filings monitoring.
Pick USAspending if
USAspending
Free · Web · API
- You want data visualizations, videos, and official sources.
Skip both if: Neither one clicks with how you research; there are strong third options.
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Our take
The bottom line
OpenCorporates and USAspending cover a lot of the same ground (2 shared categories, APIs & data feeds and other), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. OpenCorporates includes regulatory filings monitoring, and USAspending includes data visualizations and videos.
What readers say
OpenCorporates
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Key differences at a glance
- Global coverage
- OpenCorporates
- Free plan
- Both
What OpenCorporates does best
- Search more than 200 million company records collected from official sources, with provenance and source links.
- Use a versioned REST API with API-key authentication and JSON or XML output for company and officer data.
- Match company names to legal identifiers with the OpenRefine Reconciliation API.
- Receive bulk CSV datasets through SFTP for companies, officers, addresses, alternative names, identifiers, and relationships.
- Map subsidiaries, branches, control statements, and shareholdings with the relationships dataset.
What USAspending does best
- Search federal awards, recipients, agencies, accounts, contracts, grants, loans, direct payments, insurance, and other assistance records.
- Advanced Search filters such as award type, date, place of performance, NAICS, PSC, Assistance Listing, agency, recipient, and disaster-emergency funding codes.
- Explore spending through Spending Explorer, agency profiles, and federal-account profiles before opening awards and recipients.
- The public REST API V2 with JSON responses for award and account workflows; current endpoint docs say authorization is not required.
- Download award archives, filtered awards, account data, search results, award profiles, and database files.
Side by side
Pricing comparison
See for yourself
Side by side
Price, platforms, data, and market coverage.ShowHide
Side by side
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & plans | ||
Starting price | Free • Contact for pricing | Free |
Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Free trial | — | — |
Plan limits | 9 limits: Essentials (API): api calls per month: 500, Essentials (API): api calls per day: 200 +7 more | — |
| Platforms & access | ||
Web app | Yes | Yes |
Mobile app | No | No |
API access | Yes | Yes |
Broker sync | No | — |
Integrations | OpenRefine | — |
| Audience & fit | ||
Experience level | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced |
Best for | — | — |
Categories covered | 3 | 5 |
Regions | North America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, Middle East, Africa | North America |
| Data & capabilities | ||
Data quality | Latency: End of Day and Granularity: EOD | Latency: End of Day and Granularity: EOD |
Security | Status page | — |
| Try it | Visit OpenCorporates | Visit USAspending |
Standout features
The best features of OpenCorporates and USAspending.ShowHide
Standout features
What OpenCorporates does best
- Search more than 200 million company records collected from official sources, with provenance and source links.
- Use a versioned REST API with API-key authentication and JSON or XML output for company and officer data.
- Match company names to legal identifiers with the OpenRefine Reconciliation API.
- Receive bulk CSV datasets through SFTP for companies, officers, addresses, alternative names, identifiers, and relationships.
- Map subsidiaries, branches, control statements, and shareholdings with the relationships dataset.
What USAspending does best
- Search federal awards, recipients, agencies, accounts, contracts, grants, loans, direct payments, insurance, and other assistance records.
- Advanced Search filters such as award type, date, place of performance, NAICS, PSC, Assistance Listing, agency, recipient, and disaster-emergency funding codes.
- Explore spending through Spending Explorer, agency profiles, and federal-account profiles before opening awards and recipients.
- The public REST API V2 with JSON responses for award and account workflows; current endpoint docs say authorization is not required.
- Download award archives, filtered awards, account data, search results, award profiles, and database files.
All details
Every attribute we track for OpenCorporates and USAspending.ShowHide
All details
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Coverage & fit | ||
Asset types | Other | Other |
Experience | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced |
Regions | North AmericaEuropeAPACLatAmMiddle EastAfrica | North America |
Coverage details | Not specified | Countries: US |
| Data | ||
Data freshness | End of Day | End of Day |
Data granularity | EOD | EOD |
| Access & integrations | ||
API protocols | REST | REST |
API auth & delivery | Auth: APIKey | Auth: None |
Integrations | OpenRefine | Not specified |
Export formats | CSVJSON | CSVJSON |
| Plans & trust | ||
Security & compliance | Status page | Not specified |
Vendor & support | OpenCorporates LtdCountry: United KingdomFounded 2010Support: Email | U.S. Department of the Treasury - Bureau of the Fiscal ServiceCountry: USSupport: Email |
Curation ratings | Not specified | Methodology 5/5Reliability 5/5UX 4/5 |
Green tags are exclusive to that tool in this comparison.
Pricing
Plans, billing, free trials, and monthly prices.ShowHide
Pricing
| Tier | ||
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free“Free (personal & public-benefit use)” | Free |
| Entry paid plan | £225/mo“Essentials (API)”api calls per month: 500 · api calls per day: 200 · +1 more | — |
| 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 OpenCorporates and USAspending?
OpenCorporates leans toward APIs & data feeds, regulatory filings monitoring, and other, while USAspending puts more weight on APIs & data feeds, data visualizations, and videos. They overlap in 2 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.
How much do OpenCorporates and USAspending cost?
Good news: both OpenCorporates and USAspending have free plans, so you can run them side by side and only pay if you hit a wall.
Do OpenCorporates and USAspending have APIs?
Yes, both offer API access, so developers and quants can pull data programmatically or wire up their own integrations.
Should I choose OpenCorporates or USAspending?
It depends on what you're after. Pick OpenCorporates if regulatory filings monitoring matter to you; go with USAspending if you'd rather have data visualizations and videos. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.
Which covers international markets: OpenCorporates or USAspending?
OpenCorporates has documented international coverage (North America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, and more), so it's the safer bet if you hold non-US stocks. USAspending is more region-specific, mainly North America.
Can I export data from OpenCorporates and USAspending?
Yes, both export to spreadsheets (CSV), which is handy if you like running your own numbers.
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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.