OpenSanctions review
A flexible, developer-focused screening data platform with usage-based commercial API pricing.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
OpenSanctions provides structured data for sanctions, politically exposed persons, enforcement watchlists, and related risks. It is designed for developers, data teams, compliance workflows, investigative products, and research use cases that need entity matching, search, retrieval, or reconciliation. The platform supports hosted API access, bulk data downloads, and on-premise matching API deployment. Its open-source model and selectable datasets make it a practical fit for organizations that want control over how screening data is accessed and deployed.
Pricing is divided by use case. Non-commercial users can access the service for free. The API pay-as-you-go plan costs €0.10 per query and includes matching and search, with no contract lock-in; volume discounts start at 20,000 requests per month. A 30-day trial is available separately from free non-commercial access. The in-house screening license adds the full dataset for internal organizational use, transaction monitoring, and a flat-rate license, while in-house and redistribution licenses require a quote. This structure suits teams starting with limited usage or evaluating an integration before committing to a broader deployment.
The strongest technical fit is for teams building screening into their own systems. Features include full-text entity search, entity and relationship retrieval, dataset and collection scoping, politically exposed persons data, batch matching of up to 100 queries per request, and support for continuous monitoring as watchlists change. OpenRefine is an available integration, alongside web, API, and self-hosted access. Organizations seeking a focused data and matching layer should consider OpenSanctions; teams needing more extensive workflow capabilities or a packaged operational screening environment may prefer a different approach.
OpenSanctions pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free non-commercial access and €0.10-per-query API pricing
- Batch matching, selectable datasets, and continuous monitoring support
- Bulk downloads and self-hosted matching API deployment
- Where it doesn't
- Workflow features are less extensive than the core data and API tools
- In-house screening and redistribution licenses require a quote
- Commercial API costs increase with query volume
OpenSanctions fact sheet, pricing and score →
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