You can download the full, live dataset of OpenSanctions from our website without a password or API key. We think that this creates a unique level of transparency and simplicity. It also makes it very easy for potential users to assess and adopt the product. Of course, this raises a question: why should you still pay for a license to use the data? Here’s some answers:
- You’re getting a great product. We make a really nice database, and with every new paying customer, we’re able to improve our service further. If you don’t think OpenSanctions is worth a subscription fee, then you definitely should not be using it in your business.
- You’re buying the legal right to use our data. The data published on our website is licensed under CC-BY-NC. This makes the commercial use of OpenSanctions data without a license a form of product piracy. Most commercial uses of sanctions data exist in order to comply with the law - and basing such use on a crime is paradoxical. (If your compliance process itself is illegal - why bother doing any screening? No regulator will give you “points” for this.)
- You get an enterprise-grade service. The commercial licensing agreement for the OpenSanctions database includes guarantees around product delivery and quality, service level commitments, and support. In many ways, these services define our product as much as the JSON file you can download.
- Our pricing is appropriate and flexible. Our license cost is designed as a fair contribution to the sustainability of the database. It’s much less than what you’d pay to hire a single engineer and build even a part of the database we’ve assembled. We also hear that it’s competitive within the industry.
So: talk to our sales team and become a customer. Or, you can explore our product in perfect detail first - and then sign up.
