Same Companies House data at the core. Enriched with scoring, cross-referencing, and signals you'd otherwise build yourself.
The Companies House API is free and open — anyone can query it. But it returns raw data across multiple endpoints: one call for the company profile, another for officers, another for filing history, another for charges. There's no scoring, no risk assessment, no cross-referencing with the FCA Register or The Gazette, and no batch processing beyond sequential calls. UKDataAPI wraps Companies House data with FCA regulatory status, Gazette insolvency notices, Contracts Finder procurement data, and a proprietary Corporate Distress Score — all in a single call. If you're building a credit check, supplier vetting, or compliance workflow, UKDataAPI saves you from stitching together five APIs and building your own scoring layer.
| Feature | UKDataAPI | Companies House API |
|---|---|---|
| Company profile (name, status, SIC, address) | Included | Included |
| Officers & directors | ✓Included in single call | Separate /officers endpoint |
| Persons of Significant Control | ✓Included in single call | Separate /persons-with-significant-control endpoint |
| Filing history | ✓Included in single call | Separate /filing-history endpoint |
| Charges register | ✓Included in single call | Separate /charges endpoint |
| FCA regulatory status | ✓Cross-referenced automatically | Not available — separate FCA API needed |
| Gazette notices (insolvency) | ✓Included — real-time from The Gazette | Not available — separate Gazette API needed |
| Government contracts | ✓Included from Contracts Finder | Not available |
| Risk / distress scoring | ✓Corporate Distress Score (0-100) with factor breakdown | No scoring — raw data only |
| Output format | ✓Single enriched JSON response | Multiple separate JSON endpoints |
| Rate limits | ✓Up to 500 req/min (paid tiers) | 600 req/5 min (shared, no SLA) |
| Cost | From £0.002/call (200 free credits/month) | ✓Free (rate-limited, no SLA) |
UKDataAPI
From £0.002/call (summary) to £0.03/call (full). 200 free credits/month. Paid tiers from £15/month.
Companies House API
Free. No payment required. Rate-limited to 600 requests per 5 minutes. No SLA or uptime guarantee.
# Companies House: 5 calls to get company + officers + PSCs + filings + charges curl "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00445790" curl "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00445790/officers" curl "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00445790/persons-with-significant-control" curl "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00445790/filing-history" curl "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00445790/charges" # UKDataAPI: 1 call — all of the above + FCA + Gazette + Distress Score curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ "https://www.ukdatapi.com/api/v1/entity/00445790?depth=full"
200 free credits. No contract. No credit card.