# Which API has the longest federal contract award history? USAspending has the longest free history: contract awards back to FY2001, keyless. Among paid APIs, GovCon API serves 12.27 million contracts from FY2025. samgovapi.io is far shorter today: 114,954 prime awards with action dates from 1 Oct 2026, fiscal year 2027, so for anything older use USAspending. History depth decides whether you can do past-performance research, incumbent analysis over a full contract cycle or market sizing over five years.Checked on 2026-11-15.Official source: [USAspending API](https://api.usaspending.gov/docs/endpoints) | USAspending | From FY2001 | | --- | --- | | GovCon API contracts | 12,265,150 from FY2025 | | samgovapi.io awards | 114,954 from 1 Oct 2026 | | Checked | 15 Nov 2026 | ## The answer in detail History depth decides whether you can do past-performance research, incumbent analysis over a full contract cycle or market sizing over five years. A five-year view needs FY2022 onward at least, which today means USAspending, SAM.gov's Contract Awards API or a provider that loaded them.Contract vehicle data goes further back: GovCon API lists 2.24 million vehicle records back to 1982. HigherGov and GovTribe hold long award histories in their search products but cap or price API access separately.This is the weakest area of samgovapi.io today. The nightly USAspending load started with FY2027 and grows every night; the entity, opportunity and exclusion data are complete current sets. ## How the options compare | Option | Price | Access and limits | Coverage and history | Best for | Checked | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [USAspending API (official)](https://api.usaspending.gov/docs/endpoints) | Free, no key | No key and no published daily cap | Prime awards and subawards back to FY2001; no SAM.gov registration status or expiry | Award and spending history | 2026-11-12 | | [SAM.gov APIs (official)](https://open.gsa.gov/api/entity-api/) | Free | 10 requests a day with no SAM.gov role, 1,000 with a role or a non-federal system account; keys expire every 90 days | The live, authoritative record: entities, opportunities, exclusions, contract awards, hierarchy, subawards | Anyone who needs the official record itself, at low volume | 2026-11-12 | | [GovCon API (govconapi.com)](https://govconapi.com/pricing) | Developer $19/mo, Pro $39/mo; 14-day trial | 1,000 requests an hour (50 a minute burst); trial 50 a day | 12,265,150 contracts and 758,552 opportunities from FY2025; 904,090 entities, monthly | Developers who want the lowest entry price and FY2025+ history | 2026-11-15 | | [HigherGov](https://www.highergov.com/pricing/) | Starter $500/yr, Standard $2,500/yr, Enterprise custom | API on paid plans; 10,000 records a month as its API page stated on 12 Nov 2026 | Opportunities, awards, awardees, IDVs and forecasts in a search UI with exports | Small BD teams who want a polished search UI | 2026-11-15 | | [samgovapi.io](https://samgovapi.io/pricing) | Free (100 credits a month, no card); Developer $49/mo, Pro $149/mo, Scale $499/mo | 20 to 180 requests a minute by plan, no daily cap; REST, MCP and keyless MCP search | 881,370 entities (1 Nov 2026 extract), 74,420 notices, 169,191 exclusions, 114,954 awards since 1 Oct 2026 | Developers and AI agents who want entities, bids and exclusions joined in one API | 2026-11-15 | ## Where samgovapi.io is the weaker choice - Award history is short: 114,954 prime awards with action dates from 1 Oct 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 (fiscal year 2027 so far). USAspending goes back to FY2001 and GovCon API serves 12.27 million contracts from FY2025. - No contract vehicle history: GovCon API lists 2.24 million vehicle records back to 1982. ## Try it USAspending needs no key, so the free route to older awards is a direct call; the API here covers FY2027. ``` curl -s https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/search/spending_by_award/ \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"filters":{"award_type_codes":["A","B","C","D"],"time_period":[{"start_date":"2021-10-01","end_date":"2022-09-30"}],"recipient_search_text":["UAVDK5WWYDZ5"]},"fields":["Award ID","Recipient Name","Award Amount"],"limit":10}' curl "https://samgovapi.io/api/v1/awards?recipient_uei=UAVDK5WWYDZ5&fiscal_year=2027" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SAMGOVAPI_API_KEY" ``` ## Questions Will older awards be added here?The loader starts from FY2027 and runs nightly; any backfill will be stated on the datasets status endpoint with its new date range.Is USAspending's API rate-limited?It publishes no daily cap and needs no key; very heavy use should go to its bulk downloads. ## Related - [USAspending API](https://samgovapi.io/usaspending-api) - [SAM.gov Contract Awards API](https://samgovapi.io/sam-gov-contract-awards-api) - [API docs](https://samgovapi.io/docs) - [Pricing](https://samgovapi.io/pricing) - [Answers](https://samgovapi.io/answers)Updated 2026-11-15. Sources checked 2026-11-15.Independent. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by GSA, SAM.gov or any U.S. government agency. Registering in SAM.gov is free at sam.gov.

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