Comparison

Argos Sourcing compared with other company databases

Seven tools, seven different jobs. This page says what each one does better than us, and when we are the right choice. Prices are those published by each vendor, read on 19 September 2026.

25 countries, one taxonomy

A sector compares across countries without translating NAF, SIC or ATECO codes. The harmonisation work is the difference, not raw volume.

The accounts, not just identity

Balance sheet assets and liabilities and income statement as filed, up to eight fiscal years, including for unlisted SMEs, from the free plan.

A stated price, not credits

A subscription with stated caps, nothing beyond. You know what a file costs before pulling it, and a reached quota does not open an invoice.

The differences that do not depend on price

A price list changes; a database's coverage and the way it classifies activities do not. Those are the criteria to look at first.

Comparison of structural criteria
Criterion	Argos Sourcing	The others, at the date of reading
Geographic coverage	25 European countries in one database, one query	France only for Pappers and Societeinfo; worldwide but mostly identity for OpenCorporates; worldwide for Orbis
Sector classification	One taxonomy of 84 sectors and their sub-sectors, identical across the 25 countries	National codes (NAF, SIC, ATECO...) you have to map yourself from one country to the next
Filed financial statements	Balance sheet assets and liabilities, income statement and notes, up to eight fiscal years, from the free plan	Accounts available at Pappers (France) and Orbis; absent or reduced to a few aggregates elsewhere
Billing model	Subscription with stated quotas, nothing beyond: a reached cap waits for next month	Pay-per-action credits at Pappers and Societeinfo; per seat at Crunchbase and Apollo; negotiated contract at Orbis
Trial without a card	Yes: search open without an account, permanent free plan with export and an API key	Free lookup at Pappers; 25 credits a month at Societeinfo; no export on Crunchbase free; no self-serve free tier at OpenCorporates and Orbis
Agent access (MCP)	Public MCP server, eight tools, usable from Claude, ChatGPT or any compatible client	No official MCP server published by these vendors at the date of this reading

Tool by tool, with what it does better

None of these tools is a bad product: they answer different questions. The wrong choice is paying for coverage or depth you have no use for.

Pappers

Vendor site

Open French registry: company records, officers, filed documents and accounts, with a credit-based API.

Its strength: The reference for France: downloadable official documents (Kbis, articles, filings), daily freshness, documented API. Free record-by-record lookup.
Public price: Credit-based API (1 credit a record, 2 credits the accounts, 3 credits a document), 100 free credits on sign-up. Exports billed per row, first 10 free. Phones and emails on quote. source

Choose Pappers if: You work on France only and need official filings or the Kbis.

Choose Argos Sourcing if: Your target goes beyond France, or you want a sector list comparable across countries without juggling national classifications.

Societeinfo

Vendor site

Enriched French prospecting database (websites, headcount, signals), billed in credits.

Its strength: Enrichment: contact data, technologies, activity signals beyond the registry. Built for French sales teams.
Public price: From EUR 69 per month for 1,000 credits; an export costs 5 credits per row, i.e. about 200 rows a month on that plan. 25 free credits a month. source

Choose Societeinfo if: You prospect France and want enriched signals and contacts, beyond what the registry publishes.

Choose Argos Sourcing if: You think in volume and in Europe, and cost per row becomes your main constraint.

OpenCorporates

Vendor site

Legal identity of companies across 100+ jurisdictions, via an API.

Its strength: Worldwide coverage of legal identity and traceability back to the registry. Free access granted to investigative journalists, NGOs and universities.
Public price: Essentials GBP 2,250 a year (500 API calls a month), Starter GBP 6,600 a year (2,500 calls), Basic GBP 12,000 a year (5,000 calls). No self-serve free tier. source

Choose OpenCorporates if: You need legal identity outside Europe, or a worldwide redistribution licence.

Choose Argos Sourcing if: You are after figures (revenue, headcount, filed accounts) and not only identity, and you stay in Europe.

Crunchbase

Vendor site

Global database centred on funded companies: rounds, investors, acquisitions.

Its strength: Funding: rounds, investors, deals. Irreplaceable to follow the startup ecosystem.
Public price: Pro USD 49 a month billed yearly (USD 99 monthly), 2,000 exportable rows a month; Business USD 199 a month yearly, 5,000 rows. Free tier without export. source

Choose Crunchbase if: You track funding rounds, investors or venture deals.

Choose Argos Sourcing if: You are after the real economy: unfunded SMEs and mid-caps, which never raised and are not listed there.

Orbis (Moody's)

Vendor site

The reference database of global companies, with standardised accounts and ownership links.

Its strength: Depth: hundreds of millions of companies, group structures, beneficial owners, long histories, scoring modules. The standard in trading floors and large firms.
Public price: No public price: negotiated annual contract, per seat, typically tens of thousands of euros. source

Choose Orbis (Moody's) if: You need ownership links, beneficial owners or coverage outside Europe, with the matching budget.

Choose Argos Sourcing if: You want a European sector list with the accounts, right now, without a tender or a yearly commitment.

Kompass

Vendor site

European trade directory with product classification and sales contacts.

Its strength: Very fine product and service classification, and sales contacts collected by survey rather than statutory filing.
Public price: EasyBusiness from EUR 1,490 excl. VAT a year online; on-premise plans from EUR 16,000 to 30,000 excl. VAT a year. source

Choose Kompass if: You target by manufactured product or service delivered, more finely than an activity code allows.

Choose Argos Sourcing if: You want figures from statutory filings rather than survey-collected declarations.

Plainly

When Argos Sourcing is not the right tool

You work outside Europe: the database stops at 25 European countries, and we do not claim to cover the rest.
You need ownership links, shareholders or beneficial owners: that is not in the database today.
You are after named officer contacts with direct emails: we serve what registries publish, not purchased contact data.
You track funding rounds and investors: a database dedicated to funding will be richer.
You need an official certified document (Kbis, articles, filing): we link to the registry, we do not issue it.
You want real-time data to the second: the database is built in vintages, with its date displayed.

In every other case the question becomes simple: how many countries, which sectors, and do you need the accounts? If the answer is a European list with figures, that is exactly what we do.

On our side

What you get, and for how much

Discovery

Free

5 records per search, 2 exports of 25 rows a month, 3 sets of accounts per export, 50 API calls a day.

Starter

39 EUR / month

50 records per search, 10 exports of 500 rows a month, 25 sets of accounts per export, 200 API calls a day.

Business

119 EUR / month

200 records per search, 40 exports of 2,500 rows a month, 100 sets of accounts per export, 1,000 API calls a day.

Integration

349 EUR / month

1,000 records per search, 100 exports of 10,000 rows a month, 250 sets of accounts per export, 5,000 API calls a day.

Try without an account See the plans in detail Connect an agent (MCP)

Frequently asked

The questions people ask before choosing

What is the best alternative to Pappers outside France?

Pappers covers France. For a European scope you need a database that harmonises registries: Argos Sourcing covers 25 countries with a single sector taxonomy and the filed accounts, starting from a free account with no card. For France alone, with a need for official filings, Pappers remains the better choice.

Can Argos Sourcing replace Orbis?

Not for every use. Orbis brings ownership links, beneficial owners, long histories and worldwide coverage, under a negotiated annual contract. Argos Sourcing answers another need: quickly building a European sector list with key figures and filed accounts, without a tender, from EUR 39 excl. VAT a month. Many teams use both.

Where does the data come from and how often is it refreshed?

From each country's official registries (company registers, filed annual accounts), harmonised by Argos. Every record carries the link to its registry source. The database is rebuilt in vintages; the build date is shown on the search page and returned by the API. Nothing is estimated: a value the registry does not publish stays empty.

How much does a file of 1,000 companies with their accounts cost?

It is included in the subscription, not billed per row. The Starter plan (EUR 39 excl. VAT a month) includes 10 workbooks a month of 500 companies, 25 of them with full balance sheet and income statement. The Business plan raises the workbook to 2,500 companies and 100 sets of accounts.

Can the database be queried from Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes. Argos Sourcing publishes a public MCP server at https://sourcing.argos-finance.fr/api/mcp: an agent finds eight tools there (search, company record, financial statements, taxonomy, volumetry, export link) and can answer without human intervention. Without a key it answers in preview; a free key opens the detailed statements.

Are contact details included?

Those the registries publish (declared website, email, phone) are served from the Starter plan. Coverage varies widely by country, and we say so plainly: we neither buy nor guess named contacts. For enriched contact data, a dedicated prospecting tool is a better fit.

Other vendors' prices and features were read on 19 September 2026 from their public pages or the cited sources, and are indicative: check them with the vendor before deciding. Trademarks belong to their respective owners. Spotted an error on this page? Write to contact@argos-finance.fr and we will correct it.