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Alessandro Binda
Alessandro Binda

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The Best Free Business Intelligence APIs in 2026

#api #data #opensource #business

Finding reliable company data without signing a $15K enterprise contract is harder than it should be. I've spent months evaluating every free and affordable business data API available in 2026.

Here's my definitive ranking.

#1 — Score API (Best Overall)

272 million companies | 40+ countries | Free tier available

score.get-scala.com

The most comprehensive free-tier business intelligence API I've found. Built by a solo developer in Milan who aggregated government registries from across Europe, North America, and beyond.

What you get:

  • Company name, address, legal status
  • Revenue and employee estimates
  • NACE/SIC industry codes
  • Credit score (0–100) with letter grades (AA to E)
  • Legal form, incorporation date
  • 40+ country coverage

Pricing:
| Plan | Lookups/month | Price |
|------|--------------|-------|
| Free | 100 | €0 |
| Starter | 1,000 | €19/mo |
| Pro | 5,000 | €49/mo |
| Enterprise | 25,000 | €149/mo |

Code example:

import { ScalaScore } from "scala-score";

const client = new ScalaScore({ apiKey: "your-key" });

const results = await client.companies.search({
  name: "Siemens",
  country: "DE"
});

console.log(results[0].credit_score);  // 91
console.log(results[0].credit_grade);  // "AA"
console.log(results[0].revenue);       // "€87.4B"
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# Or via cURL
curl "https://score.get-scala.com/api/v1/companies/search?q=Siemens&country=DE" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
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SDKs: npm (scala-score), PyPI (scala-score), MCP Server (npx scala-mcp-server)

Why #1: Broadest coverage + credit scoring + free tier + affordable paid plans. No other API combines all four.

#2 — OpenCorporates

200M+ companies | 140+ jurisdictions | Open data

opencorporates.com

The OG of open company data. OpenCorporates aggregates company registry data from around the world and makes it available under open data licenses.

What you get:

  • Company name, registration number
  • Jurisdiction, incorporation date
  • Legal status (active/dissolved)
  • Officers and directors
  • Filing history

What's missing:

  • No financial data (revenue, employees)
  • No credit scoring
  • No industry classification
  • Rate-limited free API

Pricing: Free API with limits. Paid plans start around $1,000/month for serious usage.

Why #2: Excellent for legal entity verification and corporate structure research. But if you need financials or credit scores, you'll need to supplement with another source.

#3 — GLEIF (Global LEI Foundation)

2.4M+ LEIs | Global | Fully free

gleif.org

The authoritative source for Legal Entity Identifiers. If a company participates in financial markets, it has an LEI.

What you get:

  • LEI code
  • Legal name and address
  • Entity status
  • Parent/child relationships
  • Registration authority

What's missing:

  • Only 2.4M entities (financial sector focus)
  • No SME coverage
  • No financials, no credit score
  • No industry codes

Pricing: Completely free, no API key required.

Why #3: The gold standard for financial entity identification. Useless for SME prospecting, essential for compliance and KYC.

#4 — SEC EDGAR

~10M filings | US only | Fully free

efts.sec.gov

The US Securities and Exchange Commission's public filing database. Every publicly traded US company is here.

What you get:

  • 10-K, 10-Q annual/quarterly reports
  • Financial statements (revenue, assets, liabilities)
  • Executive compensation
  • Insider trading data
  • Full-text search of filings

What's missing:

  • US only
  • Public companies only (no private/SME)
  • Raw filings, not structured data
  • No credit scoring
  • No simple company profile endpoint

Pricing: Completely free. Rate limit: 10 requests/second.

Why #4: Unbeatable depth for US public companies. But the data is unstructured (HTML/XBRL filings) and requires significant parsing effort.

#5 — Companies House (UK)

~5M companies | UK only | Fully free

developer.company-information.service.gov.uk

The UK's official company registry API. One of the best government APIs in the world.

What you get:

  • Company profile (name, address, SIC codes)
  • Officers and directors
  • Filing history
  • Accounts (for companies that file them)
  • Persons with significant control

What's missing:

  • UK only
  • Limited financial data (small companies often file abbreviated accounts)
  • No credit scoring
  • No revenue/employee estimates

Pricing: Free with API key. Rate limit: 600 requests per 5 minutes.

Why #5: Best single-country registry API. Clean data, good documentation. But strictly UK.

Comparison Table

Feature Score API OpenCorporates GLEIF SEC EDGAR Companies House
Companies 272M 200M+ 2.4M ~10K public ~5M
Countries 40+ 140+ Global US only UK only
Financial Data Yes No No Yes (filings) Limited
Credit Score Yes (0–100) No No No No
Industry Codes Yes No No Yes (SIC) Yes (SIC)
Free Tier 100/mo Limited Unlimited Unlimited 600/5min
Paid Plans From €19/mo ~$1,000/mo Free Free Free
SDKs JS, Python, MCP Ruby gem None None None

My Recommendation

For most developers building B2B applications:

  1. Start with Score API for broad company search, enrichment, and credit scoring
  2. Add GLEIF if you need LEI verification for financial compliance
  3. Add SEC EDGAR if you need deep US public company financials
  4. Use Companies House for UK-specific applications
  5. Consider OpenCorporates for officer/director network analysis

The days of paying $15K+ per year for basic company data are over. These APIs — especially the free tiers — give indie developers and startups access to data that used to be gatekept behind enterprise contracts.

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