OpenSanctions
opensanctions.org
What it is
OpenSanctions provides a structured database of sanctions, politically exposed persons, and other public-interest information assembled from hundreds of sources. It deduplicates entities across sources and models links such as ownership, family ties, political roles, and sanctions designations. The hosted API supports entity matching, full-text search, and full-record retrieval. Its /match endpoint returns ranked candidates for screening details such as names, birth dates, nationality, or tax identifiers. Users can download the full dataset; commercial license customers can run the matching API on their own infrastructure, keeping customer personally identifiable information in their environment. OpenSanctions says data points are traceable to source material and its data pipeline is open source. API access is listed at €0.10 per query, with a 30-day trial; commercial screening and reseller licenses are quoted. The company says it holds ISO 27001:2022 certification and operates under a 99.8% uptime SLA. It supplies data and matching technology, not an end-user compliance application with alert review, case management, and approval workflows. Its data collection is licensed as a complete collection rather than selected parts.
Spec sheet
- What it does
- OpenSanctions provides a structured database and matching technology for sanctions, politically exposed persons, enforcement and related risk data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Intended users
- The company describes compliance platforms, fintechs, investigation tools, government agencies, research institutions, journalists, and researchers as users of its data.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Integrations
- Documented integration options include OpenRefine, Senzing exports, OpenAPI-generated clients and the Taktile platform partnership.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Privacy
- OpenSanctions says on-premise matching lets customers keep customer personally identifiable information within their own environment.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Support
- The licensing process says support staff help customers test and evaluate data before signing a license.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- License
- OpenSanctions data is Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0, while the yente, yente-client and FollowTheMoney software components are MIT licensed.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Headquarters
- Berlin, GermanyRead 28 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Founded
- 2023Read 28 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- API documentation
- Interactive endpoint documentation and an OpenAPI JSON specification are provided for client generation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Bulk data and self-hosting
- The full dataset is available for download, and commercial license customers can run the matching API on their own infrastructure.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Bulk formats
- Bulk exports are available as FollowTheMoney JSON, CSV, names-only text and Senzing entity data, with statement-level CSV for provenance.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Company history
- OpenSanctions says the project began in 2015, was rebuilt for commercial use with a 2021 BMBF Prototype Fund grant and incorporated as a GmbH in 2023.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Company profile
- LinkedIn lists OpenSanctions as a privately held IT services company founded in 2021, headquartered in Berlin, with 11–50 employees.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
- Continuous monitoring
- Documentation describes re-screening counterparties when watchlist data changes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Coverage
- The licensing page lists 30 entity types, more than 470 sources and over 47 million facts.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- CRM and ERP integrations
- OpenSanctions says it does not provide ready-made integrations for specific CRM or ERP products.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Data model
- OpenSanctions uses the FollowTheMoney model to represent entities, ownership, family, political and sanctions relationships.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Data provenance
- The company says every data point can be traced back to its source and that its data pipeline is open source.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Data updates
- The default collection is republished about every six hours, while source lists update every four to twelve hours or on slower schedules.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Entities API
- The /entities endpoint returns a complete record for one entity, including nested related records.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Entity categories
- The published collection includes people, organizations, securities, crypto addresses, vessels and aircraft, and enforcement notices.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Entity resolution
- OpenSanctions deduplicates entities across sources and models links such as ownership, family ties, political positions, and sanctions designations.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Explainability
- The API exposes auditable explanations for match scores and publishes its matching methodology.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Hosted API features
- The API provides entity matching, full-text search, and retrieval of complete entity records.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Independent package metadata
- PyPI describes the project as an open-source sanctions and PEP data codebase, with a Python API appliance and technical documentation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · pypi.org
- Independent repository
- The public GitHub repository describes parsing, cleaning, deduplication and export functions and is marked MIT licensed.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Independent repository activity
- GitHub displays 846 stars, 192 forks and more than 19,000 commits for the public repository.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Legal entity
- Companyhouse identifies the legal entity as OpenSanctions Datenbanken GmbH, registered in Berlin under HRB 251172, with €25,000 capital and registration on 29 March 2023.Read 15 Oct 2026 · companyhouse.de
- Licensing limit
- OpenSanctions licenses its data collection as a complete collection rather than licensing selected parts alone.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Limit: adverse media
- The coverage documentation says it does not provide a comprehensive archive of news reports, social posts or press releases.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Limit: integrations
- The commercial FAQ says customers must connect the API or bulk data to their own systems and that ready-made CRM or ERP integrations are not provided.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Limit: workflow scope
- OpenSanctions states that it does not provide alert review, case management or approval workflows.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Matching
- The /match endpoint returns ranked candidates and supports screening queries using details such as names, dates of birth, nationality, or tax identifiers.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Matching API
- The /match endpoint returns scored candidate entities for screening queries.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Matching capabilities
- Matching supports fuzzy multilingual names, dates of birth, nationalities and identifiers such as LEI, IMO, ISIN, BIC and wallet addresses.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- News: logic-v2
- OpenSanctions announced the logic-v2 screening matcher on 15 September 2025 as a more precise and explainable matching system.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- News: Taktile partnership
- On 15 December 2025, OpenSanctions announced a Taktile partnership giving platform users access to its data without separate integration work.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Not a complete screening application
- OpenSanctions provides database and matching technology, but does not provide an end-user compliance application with alert review, case management, and approval workflows.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- SDK and tooling
- The yente-client Python package provides a typed SDK, yente-cli and an MCP server.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Search API
- The /search endpoint provides full-text search intended for user-facing search interfaces.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Security and availability
- OpenSanctions says it holds ISO 27001:2022 certification and operates under a 99.8% uptime SLA.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
- Security and compliance
- The company states ISO 27001:2022 certification, GDPR controls and a 99.8% uptime SLA.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trust.opensanctions.org
- Self-hosting
- The yente API can run on customer infrastructure with Docker and Elasticsearch, allowing custom watchlists and no query limits.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- System requirements
- The on-premise guide suggests at least 8 GB RAM, one CPU core and 60 GB disk, with 16 GB RAM and SSD recommended for performance.Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
- What it provides
- OpenSanctions builds a structured, continuously updated database of sanctions, politically exposed persons, and other public-interest information from hundreds of sources.Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
Plans and prices
Non-commercial access Free Bulk data free for non-commercial use · free public-interest API keys Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening API €0.10, paid once €0.10 per query; search is €0.10 per request. The API page lists €0.10/query; API FAQ lists metered endpoint costs. New prepaid credit bundles are available, but bundle prices are shown during booking. 30 day API trial · /entities and /statements are free · matching and search API Read 30 Sep 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening API 500 credits €50, paid once prepaid 500 credits · €0.10 per query · credits valid one year Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening API 5,000 credits €400, paid once prepaid 5,000 credits · €0.08 per query · 20% saving · credits valid one year Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening API 30,000 credits €2,000, paid once prepaid 30,000 credits · €0.067 per query · 33% saving · credits valid one year Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening API 100,000 credits €5,000, paid once prepaid 100,000 credits · €0.05 per query · 50% saving · credits valid one year Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening API 500,000 credits €15,000, paid once prepaid 500,000 credits · €0.03 per query · 70% saving · credits valid one year Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Reseller license Priced on request quote Full dataset · redistribution inside products sold to customers Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Screening license Priced on request flat-rate quote Full dataset · internal organizational use · transaction monitoring Read 15 Oct 2026 · opensanctions.org
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Traceable records from hundreds of sources
- Hosted matching, search, and full-record retrieval
- Full dataset download and self-hosted API option
- 30-day API trial
Limits
- No built-in alert review or case management
- Data licensed as a complete collection
- No ready-made CRM or ERP integrations
Who it suits
It suits compliance platforms, fintechs, investigation tools, government agencies, research institutions, journalists, and researchers that need screening data or matching technology. Organisations needing built-in alert review, case management, and approval workflows will need a separate application.
Verdict
OpenSanctions offers data and matching components for teams building screening or research workflows. Its lack of end-user case-management features and whole-collection licensing are important constraints to assess.
Where Specifiction places it
- Sanctions Screening Software#1 of 248.9
- Web Data Providers Software#2 of 149.0
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