If you're building any kind of verification or screening workflow -- vendor onboarding, provider credentialing, compliance checks -- you probably know that commercial data providers charge per query.
What most people don't realize is that the underlying data comes from government databases that are free to query. You just need to know which APIs exist and how to call them.
Here are 6 public record APIs I've integrated into automated pipelines.
1. NPPES NPI Registry (Healthcare Provider Verification)
Every healthcare provider in the US has a National Provider Identifier. The NPPES API lets you search by name, NPI number, specialty, or location.
Use case: Credentialing automation. Verify that a provider is who they claim to be, check their specialty, and confirm their practice address.
API: Free, no key required. Returns JSON. Rate-limited but generous.
If you need bulk lookups or want clean pagination, this wrapper handles it.
2. SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search (Public Company Verification)
EDGAR's EFTS API lets you search the full text of every SEC filing. Find any public company by name, CIK, or ticker -- and pull their filings programmatically.
Use case: Verify a company is publicly traded. Pull latest financials. Check for material disclosures or restatements.
API: Free, no key required. The full-text search is fast but the response format is unusual. Clean wrapper here.
3. FDIC BankFind (Financial Institution Verification)
Verify any FDIC-insured institution. Get insurance status, total assets, branch count, and holding company information.
Use case: Wire fraud prevention. Verify the receiving bank actually exists and is FDIC-insured before sending funds. Also useful for banking-as-a-service compliance.
API: Free REST API. Automated search tool.
4. Secretary of State Business Entity Search
Verify a business is registered and in good standing with the state. Get formation date, registered agent, and officer names.
Use case: Vendor onboarding. Before signing a contract, verify the entity is legally active. Cross-reference officer names with the person you're dealing with.
The catch: Every state has a separate portal with different interfaces. No national API exists. I built scrapers for the top states to solve this.
5. ClinicalTrials.gov (Drug/Treatment Verification)
The v2 API is well-designed and returns structured JSON. Search by condition, intervention, sponsor, or location.
Use case: Pharmaceutical due diligence. Verify a biotech's pipeline claims against actual registered trials. Check enrollment numbers, completion status, and whether trials were terminated early.
API: Free, no key. The v2 API is genuinely good. Simplified search tool.
6. Federal Register (Regulatory Action Search)
Every proposed and final rule, executive order, and agency notice is published in the Federal Register. The API lets you search by keyword, agency, or date range.
Use case: Regulatory risk screening. If you're vetting a company in a regulated industry, search for enforcement actions, proposed rules that could affect them, or public comments they've filed.
API: Free, well-documented REST API. Search tool.
Putting It Together
The pattern is always the same: government maintains authoritative data, publishes it through a free API (or a clunky website), and commercial providers repackage it at markup.
For one-off lookups, use the websites directly. For anything recurring or at scale -- onboarding flows, compliance monitoring, periodic re-screening -- hit the APIs directly or use the tools I've built to normalize the output.
All of these are free at the source. The only question is whether you want to build the integrations yourself or use something off the shelf.
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