Comparison guide

OpenCorporates vs Companies House vs SEC EDGAR for Company Due Diligence

Compared set

3 tools checked for scenario fit, access model, and verification caveats.

Fit signal

No universal winner here. Pick by workflow, evidence type, and how much verification friction you can tolerate.

Read first

OpenCorporates is the broad entity-grounding layer. Companies House is primary for UK company filings. SEC EDGAR is primary for U.S. securities disclosures. Use jurisdiction before choosing the tool.

OpenCorporates

Company registry search for legal-entity grounding

Best for: First-pass company verification, jurisdiction lookup, company-number checks, officer/director pivots, and public-register source discovery.

Pricing: Freemium

Access: Browser-Based

Workflow: Verification

Strengths: Helps prevent one of the biggest due-diligence mistakes: researching the wrong company or collapsing several entities into one.

Limits: Not a universal beneficial-ownership, sanctions, litigation, financial, or asset-tracing database.

Editorial

Open profile

Companies House

Primary UK company registry and filing search

Best for: Primary UK company identity, company-number, officer, filing, status, charge, and document checks.

Pricing: Free

Access: Browser-Based

Workflow: Verification

Strengths: Official source for UK company records and a strong anchor before broader due-diligence research.

Limits: Does not prove beneficial ownership, operational control, solvency, fraud, wrongdoing, or complete risk context by itself.

Editorial

Open profile

SEC EDGAR

Primary U.S. securities filings and company disclosures

Best for: Primary U.S. public-company, fund, executive, ownership, and securities filing evidence.

Pricing: Free

Access: Browser-Based

Workflow: Verification

Strengths: Official filing source with strong value for due diligence, journalism, finance-adjacent research, and company verification.

Limits: Does not cover all companies, does not prove future performance, and does not replace legal, investment, or compliance analysis.

Editorial

Open profile

Decision notes

This comparison is for journalists, analysts, founders, and due-diligence researchers who need to establish company identity before mapping risk, ownership clues, litigation, or web footprint.

Decision rule

Choose OpenCorporates for cross-jurisdiction entity grounding and registry leads. Choose Companies House when a UK company, officer, status, or filing needs primary registry evidence. Choose SEC EDGAR when a U.S. public company, issuer, fund, executive, or securities filing needs primary source review.

Where each wins

  • OpenCorporates helps prevent identity mistakes when the company name is not enough.
  • Companies House is the anchor source for official UK company records and filings.
  • SEC EDGAR is the anchor source for many U.S. securities filings and public-company disclosures.

What not to infer

Registry records do not prove beneficial ownership, operational control, solvency, fraud, or wrongdoing. Filings are evidence layers, not verdicts. Confirm exact identity, record dates, and keep legal or investment conclusions separate from OSINT research.

For the wider route, use company due diligence OSINT tools and OSINT for Due Diligence.

Editorial fit signal

No single tool leads every scenario here. Choose by workflow fit, access model, and the caveats outlined above.

OpenCorporates is the broad entity-grounding layer. Companies House is primary for UK company filings. SEC EDGAR is primary for U.S. securities disclosures. Use jurisdiction before choosing the tool.

How to read this comparison

This comparison weighs jurisdiction fit, source primacy, identifier clarity, and how much interpretation is needed before due-diligence conclusions.

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