Buyer's guide · KYB

Multi-country KYB & company-data APIs compared (2026)

A fair, honest comparison of the main KYB and company-data APIs for European Union and UK coverage — Prometiam, Kyckr, Sumsub, Global Database, OpenCorporates, Creditsafe and ComplyAdvantage. Each wins at something different. This guide says where, including our own gaps.

Updated 5 November 2026

How to read this

KYB ("Know Your Business") data is not one market — it's four overlapping ones: registry data (does this company exist, who runs it), beneficial ownership (who ultimately controls it), screening (sanctions, PEP, adverse-media), and financials (credit scores, accounts). No single API is best at all four, so the honest question is "best for what?"

We built Prometiam for the developer who wants multi-country registry verification plus sanctions and US export-control screening (beta) behind one REST key, with public pricing and a 14-day free trial. Where a competitor is genuinely stronger — Creditsafe on financials, ComplyAdvantage on PEP/adverse-media, Kyckr on global registry retrieval, Sumsub on identity KYC — we say so.

At a glance

Compiled July 2026 from each provider's public site. Competitor pricing is often quote-based and not publicly listed — where we say "no public pricing," treat it as "contact sales," not "expensive." Verify current terms with each vendor.

Rows for Topograph, Veridion, Sayari and enin.ai read on each vendor's own home page on 5 Nov 2026 (Topograph, Veridion, Sayari, enin.ai). "Not stated" means the page does not say; it is not a claim that the feature is missing. Other vendors that AI answers cite (OpenRegister, handelsregister.ai, Cobalt Intelligence) are not in the table because their sites could not be read on that day. Where a vendor covers a country or a data type that Prometiam does not, the vendor is the better choice for that need.

Provider by provider

Where Prometiam wins — and where it doesn't

The edge. Official registries across Europe (Spain BORME, France BODACC, UK Companies House with PSC beneficial owners, Ireland CRO, Poland KRS, Norway Brønnøysundregistrene, Finland PRH/YTJ, Sweden Bolagsverket, Belgium KBO/BCE, Croatia Sudski registar, Denmark CVR, Estonia e-Business Register, Slovakia and the United States RPO) plus sanctions (beta) and US export-control screening across seven sources — behind one REST key, with a public price list, a 14-day free trial with a card required and nothing charged for 14 days, and an MCP server so AI agents can call it natively. You can build today without a sales call, and data is hosted in the EU (Frankfurt), GDPR-aligned. The lookup itself is one call per identifier, shown on the company lookup API page.

The honest gaps. Prometiam’s PEP screening is beta and Spain-only, derived from Wikidata occupation data with no relatives or close associates, so it does not on its own satisfy a FATF PEP obligation. It does not provide adverse-media or natural-person identity/document verification. Beneficial ownership is UK PSC only — for Spain, France, Ireland and Poland the statutory UBO registers are access-restricted, so we don't claim UBO there. Ireland, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Latvia, Cyprus, Romania, Lithuania, Canada, Australia, Japan, Israel, Singapore, Colombia, Taiwan, Germany, Ukraine, Serbia, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina and the United States are company-level only (no directors/UBO). We do not sell credit scores. Company financial statements (annual accounts as filed) are served for GB, FR, DK, SE, NO and SEC filers in the United States from the Scale plan, for Finland (statements filed digitally with PRH, about one filer in twenty, and listed groups) and for listed companies only in ES, PL, HR and BE (their ESEF annual financial reports); France excludes companies that declare their accounts confidential, and elsewhere only digitally filed accounts are served. The corporate-event timeline is live for Spain, France and the UK; Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Latvia, Cyprus, Romania, Lithuania, Canada, Australia, Japan, Israel, Singapore, Colombia, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Germany, Ukraine, Serbia, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Brazil and the United States return register-change events (dated when first seen in the register data, none before 2026-09-30); Ireland, Poland and Norway return no corporate events.

If those gaps matter to your use case, the right answer is a stack: pair Prometiam's registry + sanctions layer with ComplyAdvantage for PEP/adverse-media, Sumsub or Veriff for identity KYC, or Creditsafe for financials.

Related jobs. Who directs several companies? Director network analysis · Is this company a shell? The registry signals to check · Which companies were registered this week? A new incorporations feed.

Choosing quickly

• "Multi-country registry + sanctions, code-first, want to start today" → Prometiam.
• "Global registry document retrieval beyond the EU" → Kyckr.
• "KYB + identity KYC + screening in one workflow" → Sumsub.
• "Company financials and credit risk" → Creditsafe.
• "Deepest sanctions, PEP and adverse-media" → ComplyAdvantage.
• "Open, well-sourced registry data as a source of record" → OpenCorporates.
• "Broad global firmographics + contacts" → Global Database.

FAQ

What's the best KYB API for multi-country?
For registry data plus sanctions behind one key with public pricing and a 14-day free trial, Prometiam. For financials use Creditsafe; for PEP/adverse-media use ComplyAdvantage; for identity KYC use Sumsub; for global registry retrieval use Kyckr.

Which providers publish pricing and a free trial?
Prometiam has fully public tiers (a 14-day free trial of 500 credits, then €9.99–€99.99). Sumsub publishes some per-verification pricing. The rest are largely quote-based.

Who has real beneficial-ownership data?
UK PSC is the reliable public source; Prometiam exposes it (UK only). ES/FR/IE/PL UBO registers are access-restricted, so most providers don't offer verified UBO there.

What are Prometiam's limits?
PEP is beta and Spain-only (no relatives or close associates); no adverse-media, no identity KYC; financial statements only for GB, FR, DK, SE, NO and SEC filers in the United States, for Finland (statements filed digitally with PRH, about one filer in twenty, and listed groups) and for listed companies in ES, PL, HR and BE (Scale plan and above); UBO is UK-only; IE, PL, FI, SE, BE, HR, DK, EE, SK, CH, LV, CY, RO, LT, CA, AU, JP, IL, SG, CO, TW, BR, CZ, DE, UA, RS, EC, CL, NL, MX and US are company-level.

Do I need more than one KYB API?
Often yes — a registry + sanctions layer, an identity-KYC vendor, and (if required) a PEP/adverse-media provider.

Is KYB legally required in the EU and UK?
Yes for regulated firms. Obliged entities such as banks, payment institutions, crypto-asset service providers, accountants and lawyers must identify and verify business customers under the EU AML rules, and under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 in the UK. The what-is-KYB guide has the detail.

How do OpenCorporates, Kyckr and Creditsafe compare for KYB?
OpenCorporates is the largest open registry aggregator with strong provenance, no sanctions and quote-based bulk access. Kyckr retrieves official documents in real time from 300+ registries in 120+ countries, pay-per-call with no public price list. Creditsafe is strongest on financials and credit scores, on annual contracts with no free tier.

What does a UK KYB API cost and what does it return?
Prometiam returns UK companies, officers and PSC beneficial owners, with sanctions screening (beta) on the same key. Pricing is public, from EUR 9.99 a month after a 14-day free trial (500 credits, card required, nothing charged during the trial).

Related

• KYB API — Prometiam’s KYB check, call by call, with coverage by country
• What is KYB? — the concepts behind this comparison
• Creditsafe alternative
• ComplyAdvantage alternative
• OpenCorporates alternative
• Kyckr alternative
• EU fintech onboarding checklist