Use SAM.gov Contract Opportunities to find federal award notices and, after signing in, save searches or follow relevant opportunities. However, SAM.gov’s public guidance confirms those features—not that an email or other alert is sent specifically when an award notice is posted or changed. Check current SAM.gov help for the notification behavior before relying on it.
Set up a SAM.gov search for award notices
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Open SAM.gov Contract Opportunities. The service covers procurement notices, including award notices, as well as presolicitations, solicitations, and sole-source notices.
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Search using relevant terms, an agency, or a notice identifier. Narrow the search to the opportunities and award notices relevant to your work.
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Search without signing in if you only need to browse. To save a search or follow an opportunity, create a SAM.gov account and sign in.
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Before treating a saved search or follow as an alert, consult SAM.gov’s current help instructions. The service page documents saving and following, but does not establish the notification channel, delivery frequency, or whether changes to award notices trigger a notification.
Search contract award records in SAM.gov
For award-record research rather than monitoring notices, use SAM.gov’s Contract Awards search. It replaced FPDS ezSearch, which was decommissioned on February 24, 2026, according to SAM.gov’s transition guidance. The search supports filters including keyword, agency, and legal business name. The guidance says you must sign in to view results.
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These are useful records for checking an award, but searching the records is not the same as receiving an alert when an award is posted or updated. Confirm any notification feature in the current service help before building a monitoring process around it.
Use USAspending.gov to analyze awards
USAspending.gov is useful when the goal is to explore award data by recipient, agency, time period, NAICS, award type, description, or amount. Its cited page provides email release notes; that is not evidence of individual-award alerts. Use it for research and filtering, not as a confirmed substitute for a SAM.gov award-notice alert.
Which government site should you use?
| Need | Use | What it supports | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find or monitor award notices | SAM.gov Contract Opportunities | Award notices, saved searches, and following opportunities | Exact notification channel and award-change trigger are not confirmed on the cited service page. |
| Search federal contract award records | SAM.gov Contract Awards | Keyword, agency, and legal business name filters; successor to FPDS ezSearch | Sign-in is required to view results. |
| Analyze award data and spending | USAspending.gov | Filters for recipient, award, time period, agency, NAICS, award type, description, and amount | The cited page does not establish alerts for individual awards. |
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo can capture a website with one GET request. It is a screenshot API and MCP server for developers; it does not replace SAM.gov’s award search or establish award-alert delivery. For documenting a page or its search results, for example:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://sam.gov/content/opportunities -o shot.webp
See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation. Before capture, it accepts consent banners like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, failed loads, timeouts, and cache hits are not billed. Its MCP server gives AI agents tools to take screenshots, get page information, and capture PDFs. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for ScreenshotNeo to start with the free plan.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Frequently Asked Questions
Can I browse SAM.gov Contract Opportunities without an account?
Yes. Public users can search without signing in; an account is needed to save searches or follow opportunities.
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The cited USAspending.gov page confirms email release notes, not notifications for individual awards.
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