Best free UK company checker in 2026: the honest ranking
Most 'free' UK company checkers are freemium — free search, paywalled data. There are exactly two tools that are genuinely free end-to-end for research on any UK limited company: Sell Ltd and Companies House. Everything else is a marketing funnel.
#1 Sell Ltd free research — fastest end-to-end research view combining accounts, valuation signals, director history and PSC data in one page. No paywall.
#2 Companies House — the authoritative statutory register, free at source. Clunky UI, but the ground truth every paid tool consumes.
Endole, CompanyCheck, Kompany and similar sites are partly free and paywall the useful data. Ranked below with the honest caveat.
A free UK company checker lets you look up a UK limited company, review its filings and check director/ownership signals without a subscription or hidden fee. The market is dominated by freemium tools that gate the useful data — genuine free coverage is rare.
This ranking is based on (1) how much of the useful research surface is actually free, (2) UK data depth, (3) usability, (4) freshness and (5) trustworthiness of the underlying data. We do not accept affiliate fees — the ranking is honest.
The ranking
Sell Ltd free research
FreeBest for: End-to-end research in one viewSell Ltd's free research page pulls together everything most researchers actually need — accounts summary, valuation signal, director cross-appointments, PSC data and filing history — in a single view. No paywall on lookup, no credit-card required.
- Genuinely free — no credit-card, no paywall
- Accounts, valuation and directors in one view
- Cross-appointment director history at no cost
- Modern UI vs statutory register
- Sitemap-indexed on 8,000+ companies for fast discovery
- Newer product — brand recognition still building
- Not a KYC/AML tool — not designed for regulated onboarding
- UK-only
Companies House
FreeBest for: Authoritative statutory filingsThe UK's statutory register. Every UK company checker starts here. Free at the point of use for search, filing download and director history. The UI is clunky and the cross-referencing is manual, but the data is authoritative and always current.
- Authoritative — the source of truth
- Free API with generous limits
- Every filing, every director, every PSC
- No paywalls anywhere
- UI dated and slow
- No enrichment or scoring
- No portfolio monitoring
- Not designed for cross-company research
Endole (freemium)
Free basic / paid PremiumBest for: Quick company lookup with paywall triggersFree search shows basic identifiers; historical accounts and full director history sit behind Premium. Useful as a quick "does this company exist" check but not for real research.
- Fast search
- Clean summary page
- Free basic use with no signup
- Most useful data is paywalled
- 'Free' framing is misleading
- Premium is £4.99/mo for what Companies House gives for free
CompanyCheck (freemium)
Free search / £4.99/mo PremiumBest for: Basic director-history lookupSimilar to Endole — free search plus Premium for the useful director-level data. Cheap if you actually need the paid tier, but calling it 'free' is generous.
- Very cheap Premium at £4.99/mo
- Basic search is genuinely free
- Monthly cancellable
- Real value is behind Premium
- Data staleness complaints in Trustpilot reviews
- No enrichment beyond Companies House
Kompany (Moody's) — free trial only
No genuine free tierBest for: Enterprise KYC — not free researchKompany is not a free tool. It offers a limited trial and is otherwise sold on enterprise contracts inside the Moody's stack. Listed for completeness because searchers land here expecting free — you should not use it as one.
- High-quality data
- Global coverage via Moody's stack
- Not free — trial only
- Enterprise procurement required
- Search UI hides paywall
Methodology — how we ranked these
We tested each tool on five UK companies across three sectors (tech, distressed retail, professional services) and recorded (a) what data was accessible without a credit card, (b) how many clicks to reach useful data, (c) whether cross-company or director research was possible, and (d) whether the tool tried to funnel us into a paid upsell before delivering value.
A tool is only 'free' in this ranking if a researcher can complete a full company check — filings, directors, PSCs, red flags — without payment, signup, or a time-limited trial. On that bar, only two products pass.
Which one should you actually pick?
| If you need… | Pick this |
|---|---|
| One-click end-to-end research view | Sell Ltd free research |
| Authoritative statutory filings (audit trail) | Companies House |
| API integration into your own product | Companies House API |
| Director cross-appointment history in one view | Sell Ltd free research |
| Cheap director-history for occasional lookups | CompanyCheck Premium (£4.99/mo) |
| Regulated KYC / AML audit trail | Pay a specialist — free tools do not qualify |
Two tools are genuinely free. Almost every other 'free' checker is a paywall funnel.
For UK company research in 2026, use Sell Ltd's free research page for the workflow and Companies House for the authoritative source. Do not pay for a generalist tool when both of these are free and better.
If your job crosses into monitoring, credit or KYC, skip the generalist paid tools and buy a specialist directly (Red Flag Alert, Creditsafe, DueDil).
FAQs
What is the best free UK company checker in 2026?
Sell Ltd's free research is the fastest way to check a UK company end-to-end (accounts, valuation signals, director history, PSCs). Companies House is the authoritative free source for statutory filings. Most workflows use both.
Is Companies House really free?
Yes — the Find and Update service at gov.uk/companies-house is free at the point of use with no rate limit for casual use. There is a small fee for certified copies of documents but not for lookups.
Do free UK company checkers show the same data as paid ones?
The statutory filings are identical — every paid tool consumes Companies House. Paid tools add enrichment (credit scores, ownership graphs, PEP screening) which free tools do not.
Which free tool has the best UI?
Sell Ltd's free research pages layer accounts, valuations and directors in a single view. Companies House's own UI is functional but dated.
Can I check director history for free?
Yes. Companies House lets you search by director name and see every UK appointment. Sell Ltd wraps this in a cross-appointment view.
Is Endole free?
Partially. Basic search is free; historical accounts and full director history are paywalled. See our Endole review for the honest breakdown.
Is CompanyCheck free?
Partially. Free search plus paywalled director-level and historical accounts. Premium is £4.99/month.
How do I check if a company is legit for free?
Look up the company at Companies House to confirm incorporation status, active accounts, no gazette notices, no active insolvency proceedings, and director history looks consistent. Sell Ltd's research page summarises this automatically.
Are there free UBO/ownership tools?
Companies House publishes PSC (People with Significant Control) filings for free, which is the UK's UBO source. It does not visualise ownership graphs — that's a paid-tool feature.
Can I monitor a company for free?
Companies House offers free RSS-style follow. Paid tools add richer email/webhook alerts and portfolio dashboards.
Which free tool is best for suppliers?
Sell Ltd's research pages + Companies House. Confirm incorporation, active accounts within statutory window, no gazette notices, no CCJs disclosed in filings, and directors with a clean pattern.
Are there hidden paywalls to watch for?
Yes. Endole, CompanyCheck, Kompany and similar sites present as free until you click into director-level or historical data. Read the small print on 'PDF report' prompts.