Documentation · Commercial use

Free and non-commercial use

Much of what we publish is free. Anyone can search the data, read a record in full and download the free files. A licence is needed only when the data is used commercially, for example to screen customers as part of running a business.

What is free for everyone

  • Search across all collections, with no sign-up: search the data.
  • Record views: the full record with its source, programme and dates, not just a hit or no-hit.
  • Downloads of registers cleared for direct download, credited to their publisher: downloads.
  • The public API, read-only and with no key, for individual and non-systematic use: API reference.

The bulk files are free for non-commercial use

Our data licence allows anyone to download, store and use the free files for non-commercial use, as long as they credit both the source publisher and Crown Intelligence. Non-commercial use means use that brings no revenue, cost saving or other business advantage, and does not involve screening customers, counterparties, staff, tenants or applicants as part of a business. Examples:

  • due diligence on a single matter by an individual;
  • academic research and teaching;
  • journalism.

The bulk-file guide explains the file layout and the update files. A publisher's own terms always come first where they are stricter: see licence positions.

How to credit the data

Wherever you reproduce the data, name the source publisher shown on the record and Crown Intelligence as the compiler, with the "as of" date, and remind readers to check the publisher's own record before relying on it. The exact wording is in section 5 of the data licence.

Public-interest users

Our terms name journalism and academic research as free uses, and the public API needs no key, so most reporters, researchers and non-profit investigators can work with the data today without asking us.

To be provided: whether a formal free-access programme will be offered if API keys are introduced: which groups qualify (for example journalists, non-profits, academic researchers, public institutions), what evidence is asked for (outlet or byline, charity registration, institutional email) and how to apply.

What free access does not cover

Free access does not extend to commercial use. Under the data licence, that includes:

  • screening customers, counterparties, employees, tenants or applicants in the ordinary course of a business or regulated activity;
  • building the data into a compliance programme, at any scale;
  • resale, or use in a product or service you offer to others;
  • use by or for a business, financial institution, government contractor or professional services firm in its operations or client work.

Automated or systematic use of the free services may also be rate-limited or refused under the terms of use. For commercial use, see data licensing or the screening API.

To be provided: whether a free trial of commercial access is offered, and on what terms.

Non-profits with compliance obligations

Charities and non-profits that must screen donors, grantees or partners are using the data commercially in the sense of the licence, because the screening is part of a regulated activity. Talk to sales about your situation.

To be provided: whether discounted terms are offered to non-profits, and on what basis. No discount is stated until approved.

The terms, data licence and licence summary referred to here are drafts pending review by counsel.

Last updated 2026-10-03