OpenCorporates
London-based open legal-entity database drawing directly on official company registers in 140+ jurisdictions, with self-serve API plans from £2,250 per year
Quick Overview
| Company | OpenCorporates Ltd |
|---|---|
| Category | Business credit and company data providers |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Founded | Not stated |
| EU Presence | Yes - United Kingdom (outside the EU, adequacy decision) |
| Data Location | Not stated on the pages reviewed |
| Open Source | No |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | No |
| Main Features | Legal-entity search, API, bulk data delivery by SFTP, data dictionaries, jurisdiction selection, free access for public-benefit projects |
| Pricing | API plans: Essentials £2,250 per year, Starter £6,600, Basic £12,000; Enterprise bulk delivery on request |
| Best For | Compliance and data teams that need verified legal-entity records to feed onboarding, KYC or analytics systems |
| Replaces | Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S matching, Bureau van Dijk Orbis |
Detailed Review
OpenCorporates positions itself on provenance: records come from official primary sources, and its Legal-Entity Data Principles page sets out how it treats them. That puts it nearer to a register aggregator than to a credit bureau.
The terms of use state that OpenCorporates is published by OpenCorporates Ltd, registered in England under company number 07444723, with its registered office at Aston House, Cornwall Avenue, London N3 1LF. English law governs the terms.
Self-Serve API Tiers
Three API-only plans are priced openly. Essentials costs £2,250 per year (£225 per month) for up to 500 calls per month and 200 per day. Starter is £6,600 per year for 2,500 monthly calls, and Basic is £12,000 per year for 5,000. Each allows internal and external use.
Anything beyond that goes to Enterprise, which adds bulk data delivery, a bespoke API and an enterprise support plan.
Bulk Data And Coverage
Bulk customers choose jurisdictions and a delivery frequency, and receive files by SFTP. The homepage claims data from official sources across more than 140 jurisdictions, with Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel and Luxembourg among the countries listed.
Use cases on the site range from customer onboarding and third-party risk to investigations and sales intelligence.
Public-Benefit Access
Journalists, NGOs, universities and anti-corruption researchers can ask for free at-scale access, which matters for organisations that cannot fund £2,250 or more.
Limitations to Consider
The review rests on the vendor's public pages, not a hands-on test. Plans are API-only with modest call quotas, there are no credit scores or payment behaviour, and the legal pages mention US federal registration identifiers, so confirm the contracting entity on your order form. The UK is outside the EU.
Who Should Use OpenCorporates
Developers and compliance teams who want structured legal-entity data inside their own systems, more than a screen to browse.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- API plan prices are public
- Records tied to official register sources
- Bulk delivery with jurisdiction selection
- Free access route for public-benefit projects
- English company number and registered office stated in the terms
Cons
- Smallest paid plan is £2,250 per year
- API quotas are small (500 calls per month on Essentials)
- No credit ratings or payment data
- Prices in pounds, not euros
Alternatives to OpenCorporates
Other European business credit and company data providers worth comparing before you decide:
Creditsafe
United Kingdom · Company credit reports, monitoring and AML checks from Cardiff
KSV1870
Austria · Austrian creditor association selling company reports with listed prices
North Data
Germany · Hamburg search engine over European registers and annual accounts
Moneyhouse
Switzerland · Swiss commercial register data plus credit and payment reports
See all European business credit and company data providers or compare them directly against Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S matching on our alternatives page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The pricing page lists Essentials at £2,250 per year, Starter at £6,600 and Basic at £12,000. Enterprise bulk delivery is quoted individually.
The pricing page offers free at-scale access to investigative journalists, NGOs, universities and anti-corruption research groups on request.
No. The pages describe legal-entity records, not credit scoring or payment behaviour.