OpenSanctions

Overview

OpenSanctions is best suited to teams building compliance products, screening services, or research workflows around public-interest data. It combines a broad, traceable dataset with matching technology, but leaves the customer to build the operational layer around screening results.

The dataset brings together sanctions, politically exposed persons, and other public-interest records from hundreds of sources. Entity resolution connects duplicate records and models relationships such as ownership, family ties, political positions, and sanctions designations. OpenSanctions was founded in 2023 and is headquartered in Berlin.

Key features

Screening and data access

The hosted API supports full-text search, complete entity-record retrieval, and entity matching. Its /match endpoint ranks potential candidates using query details such as names, dates of birth, nationality, or tax identifiers. That makes it useful as a screening component, while the quality of the final decision and the surrounding workflow remain the customer's responsibility.

OpenSanctions supports PEP, transaction, ongoing, and batch screening, with selectable list management. Customers can download the full dataset; commercial license customers can also run the matching API on their own infrastructure. OpenSanctions says on-premise matching keeps customer personally identifiable information within the customer's environment, an important option for organizations with strict data-handling requirements.

Integration, provenance, and operations

The Python yente-client includes a typed SDK, command-line tool, and MCP server, and OpenSanctions documents an OpenRefine Reconciliation API. Its open-source data pipeline and source traceability help users inspect where records come from. OpenSanctions also says it holds ISO 27001:2022 certification and operates under a 99.8% uptime SLA.

The trade-off is substantial for teams seeking a ready-made screening desk: OpenSanctions does not provide alert review, case management, or approval workflows, nor does it offer ready-made integrations for specific CRM or ERP products. Its support team helps customers evaluate and integrate the data before a license is signed, but the implementation work still belongs to the buyer.

Pricing

The freemium offer combines a free plan with a 30-day API trial. The Screening API is metered at €0.10 per query; search costs €0.10 per request. The /entities and /statements endpoints are free, while matching and search are chargeable. Prepaid credit bundles are available, with prices shown during booking. This is a relatively direct way to test or adopt API screening without committing to a full license, but usage-based charges make query volume a cost to manage.

The Screening license has custom pricing, quoted during an initial conversation, with flat-rate pricing for the full dataset, in-house screening, transaction monitoring, and internal use only. It suits organizations that need a locally operated screening service or broad internal use, but the complete-collection licensing rule means buyers cannot license only selected parts of the dataset.

The Reseller license also has custom pricing, quoted during the first conversation. It provides a wholesale license to redistribute data inside products a customer sells, with a reseller API. This is the relevant route for product builders embedding OpenSanctions data commercially; it is not the internal-use option. No seat limits are stated for these plans.

Platforms

OpenSanctions is available through API, self-hosted deployment, and web access. The API is the natural fit for product teams integrating screening into software, while self-hosting is aimed at commercial license customers needing to run matching on their own infrastructure. Web access offers a way to work with the service without building solely around an API.

Who it's for

OpenSanctions is a strong fit for compliance platforms, fintechs, investigation tools, government agencies, research institutions, journalists, and researchers that can make use of a structured, continuously updated dataset. Product teams can choose between metered hosted access, in-house screening under a license, or redistribution under a reseller license.

It is a weaker fit for organizations that need a finished compliance application or turnkey CRM and ERP connections. Such buyers would need to provide their own alert handling, casework, approvals, and product integrations.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Broad coverage of sanctions, PEPs, and other public-interest records, with source traceability and modeled entity relationships, gives teams a richer basis for matching than an unlinked list.
• Pros: The free endpoints, 30-day API trial, and €0.10-per-query matching make it possible to begin with API screening before considering a larger license.
• Pros: Full-data downloads and commercial self-hosting support internal deployments, while the reseller license supports redistribution in products.
• Cons: It is data and matching technology, not a complete screening application, so alert review and case management must come from elsewhere or be built in-house.
• Cons: Licensing the complete collection rather than selected portions can be a poor fit for buyers seeking only a narrow subset.
• Cons: No ready-made CRM or ERP integrations means additional integration work for organizations relying on those systems.

Alternatives

For a category-wide comparison, browse Sanctions Screening Software.

• SanctionsScreening.io is worth comparing for teams seeking a freemium API and web option; its Pro plan is $29 a month, and it is built and operated by Arventra, a technology studio focused on regulatory, compliance, and data-intensive products.
• Eastnets SafeWatch AML is a paid web-based alternative.
• FinCrimeRadar is a free web-based alternative.
• LSEG Corporate Treasury Risk is a paid web-based alternative with pricing available by contacting sales.
• OFACScreen is a freemium web-based alternative.
• ScreeningHub is a freemium web-based alternative.
• FinScan is a paid alternative across API, self-hosted, and web platforms; pricing is provided on request and a demo is required.
• ThetaRay RAY Platform is a paid API and web alternative; pricing requires a discovery call.

Verdict

Choose OpenSanctions if you need a traceable, relationship-aware sanctions and PEP dataset plus matching technology that you can integrate or host yourself. Its central advantage is the combination of broad data access and deployment options; its central drawback is that you must supply the case-management application and integrations around it. Teams seeking a turnkey compliance workflow should look elsewhere.