★ BEST INVESTING TOOLS COMPARISON ★
VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
Source check: USAspending checked August 4, 2026
Tool Comparison
OpenCorporates vs USAspending
Pick OpenCorporates if
OpenCorporates
Free • Contact for pricing · Web · API
- You care about regulatory filings monitoring, something USAspending doesn't offer
Pick USAspending if
USAspending
Free · Web · API
- You care about data visualizations, videos, and official sources, things OpenCorporates 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
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. The real difference is focus: only OpenCorporates gives you regulatory filings monitoring, and only USAspending gives you data visualizations and videos.
What readers say
OpenCorporates
Vote once to reveal the community verdict.
USAspending
Vote once to reveal the community verdict.
Key differences at a glance
- Global coverage
- OpenCorporates
- 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 • Contact for pricing | Free |
Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Free trial | — | — |
Plan limits | 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 | — |
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 | Data residency: US |
| Try it | Visit OpenCorporates | Visit USAspending |
Where each one shines
What OpenCorporates and USAspending each do best.ShowHide
Where each one shines
What OpenCorporates and USAspending each do best.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.
What USAspending does best
- Search tools across federal awards, recipients, agencies, federal 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.
- Tools for exploring top-down spending through Spending Explorer, agency profiles, and federal-account profiles before drilling into 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 support for data through award archives, custom award downloads, custom account downloads, Advanced Search exports, award profile downloads, and the full database download.
Every detail we compared
Every tracked attribute for OpenCorporates and USAspending, side by side.ShowHide
Every detail we compared
Every tracked attribute for OpenCorporates and USAspending, side by side.| 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 | Data residency: US |
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.
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 | Free“Free (personal & public-benefit use)” | Free |
| 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 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.
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.