# SAM.gov vs USAspending SAM.gov holds who can be paid (registrations, CAGE and UEI, exclusions), what is being bought (opportunities) and wage determinations. USAspending holds what was paid (contract and assistance awards, subawards, obligations). Most questions about a contractor need both, joined by UEI. The official SAM.gov APIs on api.sam.gov cover entity registrations, opportunities, exclusions, contract awards, extracts, the federal hierarchy and subawards.Checked on 2026-11-12.Official source: [open.gsa.gov](https://open.gsa.gov/api/entity-api/) | SAM.gov API (official) | Free | | --- | --- | | USAspending API (official) | Free | | SAM Gov API | Free $0, Developer $49/mo, Pro $149/mo, Scale $499/mo | ## SAM.gov or USAspending: which do you need? SAM.gov holds who can be paid (registrations, CAGE and UEI, exclusions), what is being bought (opportunities) and wage determinations. USAspending holds what was paid (contract and assistance awards, subawards, obligations). Most questions about a contractor need both, joined by UEI. ## Side by side | Option | Price (checked 12 Nov 2026) | API access | Public pages | Best for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | SAM.gov API (official) | Free | 10 requests a day without a role; 1,000 with a role or system account | SAM.gov search (single-page app) | Low-volume checks and anyone who needs the official record itself | | USAspending API (official) | Free | No key; no published rate limit | USAspending.gov search and profiles | Award and spending analysis without entity registration data | | SAM Gov API | Free $0, Developer $49/mo, Pro $149/mo, Scale $499/mo | REST and MCP on every plan; 100 free credits a month | Free lookup tools plus NAICS, glossary and comparison reference pages | Developers, AI agents and small contractors who want the public data as an API | ## About SAM.gov API (official) The official SAM.gov APIs on api.sam.gov cover entity registrations, opportunities, exclusions, contract awards, extracts, the federal hierarchy and subawards. Entity search returns 10 records per page and only the first 10,000 are reachable; the Opportunities API needs postedFrom and postedTo dates within one year; keys and system account passwords must be rotated every 90 days, and system accounts only accept calls from allowlisted IP addresses. ## About USAspending API (official) USAspending.gov is the Treasury's official spending site. Its API needs no key and covers prime awards, subawards, recipient profiles and bulk award downloads, with contract data back to FY2001. Recipient profile IDs are hashes rather than UEIs, data lags the source systems by days, and DoD contract actions appear 90 days after signing. ## How we compared Prices, limits and page counts are as published by each vendor or measured from their public sitemaps on 2026-11-12. We do not use private quotes. Where a number is reported by a third party, it says so. Corrections: support@samgovapi.io. ## Related - [Comparisons](https://samgovapi.io/compare) - [Pricing](https://samgovapi.io/pricing) - [SAM.gov API](https://samgovapi.io/sam-gov-api)Updated 2026-11-12. Sources checked 2026-11-12.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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