How do I look up a Swiss company by UID from an API?

Call GET /companies/search?company_number=CHE-103.867.266&country=CH. Dots, hyphens and a MWST, TVA or IVA suffix are optional, and the check digit is enforced; a UID that is malformed or fails the check is a 400 validation error rather than an empty list.

Can I look up a Swiss company by VAT number?

Yes. The Swiss VAT number is the UID followed by MWST, TVA or IVA, for example CHE-103.867.266 MWST. Pass it as vat with country=CH and it resolves to the same company as the UID. Switzerland is not in VIES, so whether a number is registered is a question for the Swiss tax authorities.

Is the UID check digit enforced?

Yes. The ninth digit is a mod-11 check digit with the weights 5, 4, 3, 2, 7, 6, 5, 4, and a UID that fails it is rejected with a 400. Validate in your form first so a typo is caught before it costs a call.

Does the Swiss record include officers, company events or insolvency notices?

Company events and insolvency notices yes; officers no. Switzerland is company-level: legal name, legal form, status, registered address with the canton and business purpose. There are no officers, no registry-compliance signal and no activity code. Register-change events (name, status, legal form and registered address, dated when the change first appears in the register data, none before 2026-09-30) and monitoring are available. Insolvency notices (SHAB) are linked to the company by UID where the notice names the debtor's UID; a notice without one stays unlinked.

Can I call the API from the browser?

You can, but a key in the browser is public. Proxy the search through your server, as in the sample above. Rate limits are per key.

Is there a way to try it before signing up?

Yes: the free UID lookup runs the same call with a shared key.

Switzerland company data API: look up and validate a UID

A customer types a Swiss UID, a Swiss VAT number or the first letters of a name; your form fills in the legal name, legal form, status and registered address from Zefix, the Swiss central business name index. One key and one response shape, the same as every other country the API covers.

Company records from Zefix, the Swiss central business name index: legal name, legal form, status (including liquidation), registered address with the canton and business purpose; with register-change events and monitoring, but no officers, no registry-compliance signal and no activity code. Legal entities and branches only; sole proprietorships (Einzelunternehmen) and other natural persons are never served. Corporate insolvency notices (SHAB) are linked to the company by UID where the notice names the debtor's UID. The UID with its MWST, TVA or IVA suffix is searchable with vat.

What the Swiss record gives your product

Exact match on the UID: company_number=CHE-103.867.266 with country=CH. Dots, hyphens and a MWST, TVA or IVA suffix are optional, and the check digit is enforced: a wrong UID is a 400 validation error.
VAT alias: the Swiss VAT number is the UID followed by MWST, TVA or IVA, searchable with vat= and country=CH.
Autocomplete by name: a normalised, partial match ranked by a match score, one call per keystroke.
The fields a form needs: legal name, legal form, status (including liquidation), registered address with the canton, the UID and the CH-ID, and the business purpose.

What Switzerland does not carry

No officers or shareholders, no activity code (the register publishes no NOGA code) and no registry-compliance signal. Register-change events, monitoring and insolvency notices linked by UID are available. Sole proprietorships and other natural persons are never served.

Pricing

Free — 14-day trial. 500 credits in total, 10 requests/minute, card required, nothing charged for 14 days. Subscribing keeps the same key working. Then Starter at €9.99/month, Professional at €29.99/month and Scale at €99.99/month, monthly or annual.

Read the full page · Get a free API key

Source: Zefix, Federal Office of Justice, Federal Commercial Registry Office (open use, source required); restructured by Prometiam, not a certified register extract

What the Swiss record gives your product

Field	What it holds for Switzerland
`company_number`	The UID, CHE and nine digits: `CHE103867266`.
`company_name`	The name as registered.
`legal_form`, `local_legal_form`, `local_legal_form_name`	The standard abbreviation in `legal_form` where the form is mapped, the register's legal-form code in `local_legal_form` (such as 0106 for the AG or 0107 for the GmbH) and its label in `local_legal_form_name`.
`status`, `stage`	The standard reading of the register's state: active, in liquidation or dissolved.
`address`, `postal_code`, `city`, `region`	The registered address; `region` holds the canton (two letters).
`business_purpose`	The purpose clause (Zweck), in the language of the cantonal entry.
`identifiers`, `registry_details`	The UID and the CH-ID; `registry_details` carries `ch_id` and `legal_seat`.

Frequently asked questions

How do I look up a Swiss company by UID from an API?: Call GET /companies/search?company_number=CHE-103.867.266&country=CH. Dots, hyphens and a MWST, TVA or IVA suffix are optional, and the check digit is enforced; a UID that is malformed or fails the check is a 400 validation error rather than an empty list.
Can I look up a Swiss company by VAT number?: Yes. The Swiss VAT number is the UID followed by MWST, TVA or IVA, for example CHE-103.867.266 MWST. Pass it as vat with country=CH and it resolves to the same company as the UID. Switzerland is not in VIES, so whether a number is registered is a question for the Swiss tax authorities.
Is the UID check digit enforced?: Yes. The ninth digit is a mod-11 check digit with the weights 5, 4, 3, 2, 7, 6, 5, 4, and a UID that fails it is rejected with a 400. Validate in your form first so a typo is caught before it costs a call.
Does the Swiss record include officers, company events or insolvency notices?: Company events and insolvency notices yes; officers no. Switzerland is company-level: legal name, legal form, status, registered address with the canton and business purpose. There are no officers, no registry-compliance signal and no activity code. Register-change events (name, status, legal form and registered address, dated when the change first appears in the register data, none before 2026-09-30) and monitoring are available. Insolvency notices (SHAB) are linked to the company by UID where the notice names the debtor's UID; a notice without one stays unlinked.
Which Swiss entities does it cover?: Legal entities and branches entered in the commercial register. Sole proprietorships (Einzelunternehmen) and other natural persons are never served, so a lookup of one returns nothing even though it exists.
Can I call the API from the browser?: You can, but a key in the browser is public. Proxy the search through your server, as in the sample above. Rate limits are per key.
Is there a way to try it before signing up?: Yes: the free UID lookup runs the same call with a shared key.