Creditsafe alternative — free UK company checker

Endole at £29.95 per pay-as-you-go report or £29–£99/month for unlimited access. CompanyCheck at £24.99/month is even cheaper on the entry tier. Both give you a UK credit score without a bureau contract or minimum spend. You lose Creditsafe's global coverage and API, but you keep the underlying UK company data.

Dun & Bradstreet is the direct global-bureau peer — same enterprise model, similar coverage, US-first heritage vs Creditsafe's UK/Europe strength. Bureau van Dijk (Moody's Orbis) is another peer with academic and enterprise depth. All three are contract-only; none are cheap.

For UK-only trade credit, often yes. Red Flag Alert's Begbies-informed insolvency signal is sharper than Creditsafe's generic rating on UK-specific distress. For global exposure or ERP-embedded credit decisioning, no — Red Flag Alert is UK-first with a lighter API story than Creditsafe Connect.

For raw UK company data, yes — Companies House Service is the free source and covers every filing, PSC, director and charge. For a credit score, no fully free UK service exists. You can construct filing-pattern signals yourself (late accounts, changed auditor) but no free tool produces a defensible score.

For UK credit decisioning inside a bureau-grade stack, yes — Experian's Business Delphi score is another accepted rating for trade credit insurance and lender underwriting. Pricing is similarly contract-only. Many mid-market firms actually take Creditsafe and Experian together for cross-verification on high-value credit limits.

ComplyAdvantage or Refinitiv World-Check are compliance-first alternatives that skip the credit-scoring layer. If your Creditsafe seat is used mostly for sanctions/PEP screening, a dedicated compliance tool can be cheaper and better. Bureau vs compliance tools solve different jobs — audit your usage before switching.

Contracts run annually with an auto-renew clause; cancellation is by written notice a specified number of days before renewal (typically 30–90 days). Read the contract before signing — no month-to-month exit exists. If Creditsafe was over-bought during a growth phase, plan the switch a full year ahead.

Kompany (now Moody's) is specialist on original commercial-register documents from ~200 jurisdictions — the raw filing artefacts. Creditsafe is broader on credit ratings and trade payment data. For KYC teams needing certified original filings, Kompany wins. For credit decisioning, Creditsafe wins. Many stacks use both.

Partly. Insolvencies are free at The Gazette (thegazette.co.uk) and the Insolvency Service register. CCJs are at Registry Trust (trustonline.org.uk) at £6 per search — not free but cheap. Between them you'll catch most UK distress signals without paying a bureau. You'll miss trade payment data and cross-border coverage.

Only for buyer-side research, not for credit decisioning. Sell Ltd's free checker gives you Companies House data, an AI business summary and a watchlist. It does not produce a credit rating, trade-payment data or the compliance modules Creditsafe sells. Use us alongside a proper credit tool, not instead of one.

Global trade credit, ERP-integrated: keep Creditsafe (or add D&B). UK-only trade credit, 50+ customers: Red Flag Alert. UK SME with a handful of credit customers: Endole £29.95/report or CompanyCheck £24.99/mo. One-off research: Companies House Service + Sell Ltd checker, free. Match the tool to the actual job.