Best North Data Alternatives (2026)
North Data is the German researcher's favourite for Handelsregister, Bundesanzeiger and DACH filings. For buyers who need broader European coverage, structured API delivery or registry-sourced data outside the DACH region, modern alternatives deliver overlapping data with wider geography and more flexible commercial terms. Compare 36 alternatives across DACH-native, multi-country registry, credit and KYB providers. Find the option that matches your jurisdictional scope, workflow and budget.
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Top North Data Alternatives
Registry-first business data covering 385M+ records across 190+ countries, including the full German Handelsregister, Austrian Firmenbuch and Swiss Zefix in one feed. Official registry data, financial filings, UBO information and ownership structures, delivered via REST API, bulk dump or self-service platform. Flexible reseller and SaaS terms. No annual contract. Broader European and global coverage than North Data, with transparent pricing.
From $25/mo
The subject of this comparison. North Data publishes business information for Germany, Austria and Switzerland sourced from Handelsregister, Bundesanzeiger and official DACH registries. Free web search with alerts, paid plans for bulk downloads and an API. Depth on DACH filings is strong, geography is narrow. Best fit for German researchers, journalists, lawyers and BI teams working purely on DACH businesses.
Free tier + from ~€40/mo
The DACH credit specialist with 200+ regional offices across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Central Europe. Strong business credit scores, payment behaviour, filed accounts and ongoing monitoring on millions of German businesses. The credit-decisioning counterpart to North Data's research focus.
From ~€50/report
The official publisher of German business filings. Bundesanzeiger Verlag, together with the GENIOS information service, distributes filed accounts, register entries and statutory disclosures directly from the source. The most authoritative German registry channel, but the user experience is filing-by-filing rather than a structured directory.
Pay-per-document
Berlin-based B2B intelligence platform with structured data on 5M+ German businesses, signals on hiring, expansion and innovation, plus enrichment via API. A sales-and-marketing intelligence alternative to North Data's researcher-and-journalist positioning.
From ~€99/mo
Orbis by Moody's Analytics, built on the Bureau van Dijk legacy, covers 625M+ businesses with the world's deepest private business financials and cross-border ownership hierarchies. Excellent on German filed accounts and corporate group structure. Enterprise-only pricing, restrictive licensing.
Enterprise only
The legacy commercial information standard with 500M+ records, the D-U-N-S number system and the deepest US enterprise relationships. Solid global supply-chain risk intelligence and DACH coverage through its Bisnode acquisition. Expensive multi-year contracts and restrictive reseller terms.
Enterprise only
The largest open business registry on the public web, with 200M+ records across 200+ jurisdictions including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Free website search and a structured API for licensed users. Strong on official registry IDs and director records, weaker on filed financials than North Data.
Free tier + from $50/mo
The UK statutory registry, often used as a North Data equivalent for the UK. Free web search, free public API for basic firmographics and paid bulk products for filed accounts. UK-only by design. Useful comparison reference if your DACH research extends across the Channel.
Free + bulk products
Global credit bureau with strong European and emerging-market coverage. CRIF Bürgel is its German subsidiary, providing credit decisioning and business intelligence with DACH depth. Serves 10,000+ financial institutions with credit scores, business data and risk products.
Enterprise pricing
UK and Ireland KYB specialist built on Companies House data. Deep filed financials with 20-year history, UBO look-through and real-time event monitoring. Useful UK counterpart to North Data, but UK and Ireland only.
Enterprise only
What is North Data and why look for alternatives in 2026?
North Data is a Munich-based business information service founded in 2010 by Daniel Hagemeier. It publishes a structured directory of German, Austrian and Swiss businesses, indexed from official sources including the Handelsregister, Bundesanzeiger, Firmenbuch and Zefix. North Data sits between the raw statutory registers and downstream tools like CRMs and KYB platforms. A free web search and alerts attract journalists, lawyers, researchers and BI teams. Paid plans, bulk downloads and an API serve heavier users.
For DACH research, North Data is excellent. Coverage on Germany runs across roughly 5 million businesses, with deep linkage between Handelsregister entries, filed accounts and director records. Austria and Switzerland are covered through the Firmenbuch and Zefix respectively. The free tier is one of the most generous in European business information, and the alerts feature is useful for ongoing monitoring of named entities.
The reasons buyers look for alternatives are also consistent. Coverage is DACH-only. If your research crosses the Rhine into France, the Channel into the UK or the Atlantic into North America, North Data thins out fast. The API is functional but smaller in scope than registry-first providers like CompanyData.com or OpenCorporates. Bulk pricing and Pro tiers climb quickly for systematic API consumption. And for regulated KYB programmes that need structured UBO models, sanctions and PEP screening or live registry status, North Data is usually one input rather than the whole answer.
⚠️ Why buyers look for North Data alternatives: North Data is DACH-focused. Buyers who need pan-European or global business data, a registry-sourced REST API with broader jurisdictional scope, or structured KYB coverage outside Germany, Austria and Switzerland will hit limits quickly. Modern alternatives deliver overlapping DACH coverage plus the rest of Europe and the world in one feed.
North Data at a glance
North Data is the smallest, most focused provider in this comparison. The numbers tell the story of a DACH specialist that punches above its weight on filings depth, but cannot stretch beyond the German-speaking world.
For context, CompanyData.com covers 385M+ businesses across 190+ countries, including the same Handelsregister and Bundesanzeiger data that North Data indexes, plus German, Austrian and Swiss feeds in the same API. Moody's Orbis covers 625M+ businesses globally. The two product shapes are different: North Data is a DACH-focused research tool, CompanyData.com is a multi-country API and bulk feed.
DACH-only vs global, free tier vs paid: which North Data alternative do you need?
Before comparing providers, decide which type of North Data alternative actually fits your use case. The market splits along two axes, and the wrong category will waste budget regardless of which provider you pick inside it.
DACH-only vs global. If your work lives entirely inside German, Austrian and Swiss businesses, the relevant alternatives are Creditreform, Bundesanzeiger Verlag, Implisense and the official statutory registers (Unternehmensregister, Handelsregister.de, Firmenbuch, Zefix). North Data is already a strong answer here, and the question is what to combine it with. If your work crosses borders, the question shifts to who delivers DACH plus the rest of Europe in one feed. The clean answers there are CompanyData.com, OpenCorporates and at the high end Moody's Orbis.
Free tier vs paid product. North Data and OpenCorporates both offer a free public-facing search that journalists, lawyers and one-off researchers can use directly. National registers like Unternehmensregister, Companies House (UK) and Zefix are free by statute. Once you need systematic search, alerts at scale, filed-account downloads or an API, every provider on this page moves to paid. At that point the comparison is about price, terms, coverage and integration, not about availability.
North Data sits cleanly in the DACH-only, freemium quadrant. If you actually need global coverage or structured API delivery, the rest of this list is where the answer lives.
The 11 best North Data alternatives in 2026
This ranking matches the default scoring of the tool above and is built around real differentiators: DACH depth, broader geographic coverage, pricing transparency, API access and commercial terms. All pricing and coverage figures were verified against vendor sources as of 2026.
1. CompanyData.com
CompanyData.com is a registry-first business directory with 385M+ business records across 190+ countries. For DACH buyers, it includes the full German Handelsregister and Bundesanzeiger feed, the Austrian Firmenbuch and Swiss Zefix, alongside the rest of Europe, the UK and North America in one API. That makes it the clearest fit for buyers who want North Data's DACH depth plus pan-European coverage in a single feed.
Delivery is via REST API, bulk data dumps or a self-service platform, with transparent pricing from $25 per month and no annual contract. Reseller and SaaS terms are explicitly flexible. The platform exposes registry IDs, VAT numbers, directors, UBOs, registered addresses, financial filings and ownership structures in structured form. Best fit for: API integrations, multi-country research, KYB onboarding, financial data enrichment and B2B SaaS that needs to embed business data across the DACH region and beyond.
2. North Data
The subject of this comparison and the DACH research favourite. North Data covers around 5 million German businesses, plus Austria and Switzerland, with strong linkage between Handelsregister entries, Bundesanzeiger filings and director records. The free web search and alerts tier is unusually generous and is widely used by journalists, lawyers and academic researchers. Paid plans and an API serve heavier users.
The trade-offs are well known. Coverage is DACH-only. The API is smaller in scope than registry-first providers built for systematic consumption. For regulated KYB at scale, the structured UBO and global coverage layers are usually picked up from a second provider. Best fit for: DACH researchers, journalists, lawyers, BI teams and any workflow that lives entirely inside German-speaking registers.
3. Creditreform
Creditreform is the DACH credit specialist. It runs 200+ regional offices, with deep coverage of German, Austrian, Swiss and Central European businesses for credit scoring, payment behaviour, filed accounts and ongoing monitoring. It is the credit-decisioning counterpart to North Data's research positioning. Many DACH banks, insurers and trade-credit teams already buy Creditreform, and combining it with a registry-first feed like North Data or CompanyData.com is a common pairing.
Pricing is mid-market by DACH standards. Best fit for: German, Austrian and Swiss credit teams, finance and accounts-receivable functions and DACH-centric supply chain risk.
4. Bundesanzeiger Verlag / Genios
Bundesanzeiger Verlag is the official publisher of German business filings. Together with the GENIOS information service, it distributes filed accounts, register entries and statutory disclosures directly from the source. For audit-grade access, Bundesanzeiger Verlag sits upstream of every commercial DACH provider, including North Data.
The user experience is filing-by-filing rather than a structured directory, and pricing is pay-per-document plus subscription products. Best fit for: legal teams, audit functions and compliance workflows that need certified copies of statutory filings rather than indexed search.
5. Implisense
Implisense is a Berlin-based B2B intelligence platform with structured data on 5M+ German businesses, signals on hiring, expansion and innovation, and enrichment via API. Where North Data is positioned for researchers and journalists, Implisense is positioned for sales and marketing. Decent overlap on the underlying registry data, but a very different workflow on top.
Pricing starts around 99 euros per month. Best fit for: DACH B2B sales teams, ABM platforms and marketing operations that want German firmographics plus growth signals in one feed.
6. Moody's Analytics (Orbis)
Orbis by Moody's Analytics, built on the Bureau van Dijk legacy, covers 625M+ businesses globally with the deepest available private business financials and cross-border ownership hierarchies. German and DACH coverage is strong because Bureau van Dijk built its filed-accounts methodology on the same European registers North Data uses. The Orbis difference is depth on private business financials going back many years and cross-border group structures.
Pricing is enterprise-only, licensing is restrictive on data reuse. Best fit for: M&A due diligence, transfer pricing, forensic ownership analysis and institutional research. See the full Moody's alternatives comparison for a side-by-side ranking.
7. Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet covers 500M+ business records globally, including DACH coverage strengthened by the Bisnode acquisition. The D-U-N-S number system, mature credit and risk products and the deepest US enterprise relationships make it the default for global Fortune 500 procurement and supply-chain risk. For DACH-only research, it is heavier and pricier than North Data; for multi-region procurement, it is the default.
Best fit for: Fortune 500 procurement, multinational compliance and global supply chain risk. The standalone D&B alternatives comparison has the full breakdown.
8. OpenCorporates
OpenCorporates is the largest open business registry on the public web, with 200M+ records across 200+ jurisdictions including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Free website search and a structured API for licensed users. Strong on official registry IDs and director records, weaker on filed financials than North Data. The closest free-tier global counterpart to North Data's DACH-only free tier. See the full OpenCorporates alternatives comparison.
Best fit for: open-data research, journalists with global remit and developers who need a free public API to prototype against.
9. Companies House Direct (UK)
The UK statutory registry, often used as a North Data equivalent for the UK side of cross-Channel research. Free web search, a free public API for basic firmographics and paid bulk products for filed accounts and historical data. UK-only by design.
Best fit for: UK research counterpart to a DACH-only workflow. For structured UK and DACH data in one feed, CompanyData.com's UK feed sits over the same Companies House source plus the rest of Europe.
10. CRIF
CRIF is a global credit bureau with strong European and emerging-market coverage. Its German subsidiary, CRIF Bürgel, provides credit decisioning and business intelligence with DACH depth. Serves 10,000+ financial institutions with credit scores, business data and risk products. For credit-led DACH decisioning, it sits alongside Creditreform as a default choice.
Best fit for: DACH and CEE credit decisioning, B2B lenders and trade credit insurers.
11. FullCircl (DueDil)
FullCircl, formerly DueDil, is the UK and Ireland KYB specialist built on Companies House data. Deep filed financials with 20-year history, UBO look-through and real-time event monitoring. A useful UK counterpart to North Data for fintech onboarding, but UK and Ireland only.
Best fit for: UK fintech onboarding, UK and IE bank KYB teams and UK SME lenders.
North Data alternatives compared
Side-by-side on the dimensions that matter for most North Data buyers. Use this to shortlist three providers, then request samples from each.
| Provider | Best for | Geographic depth | Pricing model | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Data | DACH research, journalists, lawyers | Germany, Austria, Switzerland | Free + from ~€40/mo | Web search, alerts, API |
| CompanyData.com | API, multi-country research, KYB | 190+ countries incl. full DACH | From $25/mo, self-serve, PAYG | API, bulk, self-service platform |
| Creditreform | DACH credit decisioning | DACH + Central Europe | From ~€50/report | Portal, API |
| Bundesanzeiger Verlag | Official German filings | Germany only | Pay-per-document | Portal, document orders |
| Implisense | DACH sales intelligence | Germany strongest | From ~€99/mo | Portal, API |
| Moody's Orbis | Global financials, M&A | Global, deepest EU private | Enterprise only, premium | Desktop, bulk, API |
| Dun & Bradstreet | Global procurement, supply chain | Global, deepest US | Enterprise only, multi-year | Portal, bulk, API |
| OpenCorporates | Open-data research | 200+ jurisdictions | Free + from $50/mo | Web, API |
| Companies House Direct | UK statutory data | UK only | Free + bulk products | Portal, API |
| CRIF | DACH and EU credit | EU + emerging markets | Enterprise pricing | Portal, API |
| FullCircl (DueDil) | UK onboarding, fintech KYB | UK and Ireland only | Enterprise pricing | Portal, API |
DACH depth vs global breadth: when one is not enough
North Data is built around a single proposition. Index every German, Austrian and Swiss filing into a structured directory, give researchers free web search and alerts on the surface, and sell paid plans and an API to the heavy users underneath. For workflows that live entirely inside DACH, that is exactly the right shape, and North Data is hard to beat on price-per-DACH-record.
The trade-off shows up the moment work crosses the border. A French subsidiary of a German holding is no longer in scope. A UK acquisition target appears as a counterparty in a Handelsregister filing but has no record on the North Data side. A pan-European portfolio of 10,000 businesses spread across Germany, France, Italy and Spain needs four separate research workflows. Each of these is solvable by combining North Data with another provider, but at that point you are paying twice for overlapping DACH coverage, and the integration burden moves into your stack.
Multi-country providers like CompanyData.com, OpenCorporates and Moody's Orbis collapse that into one feed. The DACH depth is generally somewhat shallower than North Data's purpose-built indexing, especially on long-tail Bundesanzeiger filings. In exchange, you get the rest of Europe, the UK and North America in the same REST API, with one contract, one billing relationship and one structured data model. For most B2B SaaS, fintech and KYB teams operating across borders, the right answer is a multi-country spine plus selective use of North Data or Bundesanzeiger Verlag for DACH-specific deep dives.
For DACH-only teams the right answer is the opposite. Keep North Data as the front-line research and monitoring tool and layer Creditreform on top for credit decisioning. CompanyData.com's German business directory is then only relevant if and when you start onboarding businesses outside Germany.
North Data and EU data protection: where the bar sits
North Data is a German publisher operating under EU GDPR and the German Federal Data Protection Act. Registry information on businesses and their directors is by definition public statutory data, republished under the lawful basis of public interest and the legitimate interest of business information services. For DACH buyers, North Data is a low-friction option on legal review.
The same applies to other EU-headquartered providers in this list. CompanyData.com is based in the Netherlands and operates under EU data-protection regimes by default. Creditreform is the German DACH specialist. CRIF is Italian. Bundesanzeiger Verlag is the official German publisher. For most EU compliance and procurement teams, choosing an EU-headquartered provider for the registry and KYB layer removes a category of legal review that US-headquartered providers like Moody's Analytics or Dun & Bradstreet trigger every time.
If your AML or KYB programme operates across the DACH region and the rest of Europe, picking an EU-headquartered registry-first feed for the systematic spine, then layering Moody's or D&B selectively where global ownership depth is needed, is the cleanest commercial and legal pattern.
Is North Data data official?
Yes, with one nuance. The underlying filings North Data indexes are official. Handelsregister entries and Bundesanzeiger filings are statutory disclosures that businesses are legally required to publish in Germany. Firmenbuch and Zefix play the same role in Austria and Switzerland. North Data does not invent data. It indexes, parses and republishes filings that originate with the official source.
The nuance is that the contractual relationship for the data is with North Data, not with the official publisher. For audit-grade workflows that need a certified copy of a specific filing, you typically go back to Bundesanzeiger Verlag, Handelsregister.de or the equivalent. For research, monitoring and API consumption of registry-sourced fields, North Data, CompanyData.com and OpenCorporates all expose the same underlying data through their own contracts and SLAs. The choice between them is about scope, API quality, pricing and reseller terms, not data authenticity.
How to choose the right North Data alternative
Work backwards from the use case, not from the provider:
- DACH research and journalism? North Data's free tier remains the best starting point. Layer Bundesanzeiger Verlag for certified filings.
- DACH credit decisioning? Creditreform is the default. CRIF Bürgel is the international second opinion.
- Pan-European or global research? Look at CompanyData.com, OpenCorporates and Moody's Orbis.
- Registry-sourced KYB via API? CompanyData.com and OpenCorporates lead on developer experience and reseller terms.
- DACH sales and marketing intelligence? Implisense and Dealfront sit above the registry layer with sales-ready signals.
- Financial data for embedding in a product? CompanyData.com's API exposes Handelsregister and Bundesanzeiger financials alongside the rest of Europe in one feed.
- Looking up a single business? Try the free business lookup or business owner search tools.
- Cross-checking other alternatives pages? See the Moody's, D&B, Crunchbase and OpenCorporates comparisons.
Then request a free sample from your top three. Test it against 50 or 100 real DACH businesses you already know, plus a sample of non-DACH businesses if your work crosses borders. Coverage and freshness will separate the contenders fast.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best North Data alternative in 2026?
It depends on the scope of your work. For broader European and global coverage with registry-sourced data through a REST API, CompanyData.com is the leading choice. For DACH credit decisioning, Creditreform is the most direct counterpart. For the official German source, Bundesanzeiger Verlag and the Unternehmensregister sit upstream of every commercial provider. For German sales and marketing intelligence, Implisense and Dealfront are stronger than North Data.
Is North Data data official?
Yes. North Data sources its records from official German, Austrian and Swiss registries, including the Handelsregister, Bundesanzeiger, Firmenbuch and Zefix. The data is reprocessed and republished, but the underlying filings are statutory. For audit-grade workflows, most KYB and compliance teams want either a contractual link to the official publisher (Bundesanzeiger Verlag) or a provider that exposes the registry-sourced fields in a structured API such as CompanyData.com.
Is North Data free?
Partly. North Data offers a free web search with basic firmographics and alerts. Filed accounts, bulk downloads and API access require paid plans, typically starting around 40 euros per month and rising for Pro and bulk tiers. The free tier is excellent for ad-hoc lookups by journalists, researchers and lawyers. For systematic API consumption, the paid tiers compete directly with CompanyData.com and OpenCorporates on price and terms.
What countries does North Data cover?
North Data is focused on the DACH region. Coverage is strongest on Germany, with roughly 5 million businesses pulled from the Handelsregister and Bundesanzeiger. Austria is covered through the Firmenbuch and Switzerland through Zefix, with additional partial coverage of some EU jurisdictions. Outside DACH, coverage thins quickly. For pan-European or global business data, providers like CompanyData.com, Moody's Orbis and Dun & Bradstreet offer broader reach.
Does North Data have an API?
Yes. North Data offers an API on its paid tiers, with rate limits and pricing dependent on plan. For systematic integration into KYB onboarding, CRM enrichment or product-embedded workflows, the API is functional. CompanyData.com and OpenCorporates are typically faster to evaluate and integrate because they offer self-service signup, transparent pricing and reseller-friendly terms by default.
Is North Data GDPR compliant?
Yes. North Data is a German publisher operating under EU GDPR and the German Federal Data Protection Act. Registry information on businesses and their directors is by definition public statutory data. For personal data, North Data follows EU rules including data subject rights and lawful basis under public interest. EU buyers usually treat North Data, CompanyData.com and Creditreform as low-friction options for legal review compared to US-headquartered providers.
What is the difference between North Data and Handelsregister.de?
Handelsregister.de is the official statutory online register operated by the German states. It is authoritative but designed for filing-by-filing lookups and document orders, not structured search. North Data sits one layer above. It indexes Handelsregister and Bundesanzeiger filings, parses them into a structured business directory and adds web search, alerts and an API. For audit copies, you still go to Handelsregister.de. For research, monitoring and aggregated views, North Data, CompanyData.com or Creditreform are better suited.
Can I use North Data data for KYB?
Yes, within limits. The DACH coverage and registry sourcing make it credible for KYB on German, Austrian and Swiss businesses. For regulated KYB programmes that need structured UBO models, sanctions and PEP screening, real-time monitoring and global coverage, you usually need to combine North Data with a dedicated KYB provider. CompanyData.com's KYB API delivers registry-sourced KYB across 190+ countries in a single feed, including the DACH region.
Try the multi-country North Data alternative
CompanyData.com gives you Handelsregister, Bundesanzeiger, Firmenbuch and Zefix data alongside the rest of Europe, the UK and North America. 385M+ business records, financial data, UBOs and ownership structures in one REST API. Unlike most providers, we will build you a free CSV sample on your exact DACH and European criteria so you can check coverage before any commercial decision.