So… you want real company data—industry, size, or full financials—but every site wants $99/month and your soul?
Here’s how to get it all for free, legally, and without selling your kidneys on the dark web.
This is the biggest, cleanest, most complete list of working tools and sites to fetch U.S. company info like a data ninja.
What’s Inside?
Find a company ➜ Pick a method ➜ Grab info ➜ Use for reports, analysis, stalking your ex-CEO (kidding)
Public Company Financials (Income, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow)
These are your go-to sources for full 10-K/10-Q style data:
1. SEC EDGAR Search 
- Official U.S. government site
- 100% free: annual reports (10-K), quarterly (10-Q), all filings
- Raw data, XBRL files, real-time updates
2. SEC API & Bulk JSON 
- For coders: Get filings in clean JSON
- Endpoint:
/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK.json - No API key needed, just CIK number
3. SimFin 
- Download full datasets or use their free API
- Up to 10 years of financials from real companies
- Great if you hate raw SEC formats
4. Yahoo Finance
- Easy way to peek at income, balance sheet, cash flow
- No login, no mess—just can’t download directly
- Pair with YFinance Python for automation
5. Morningstar & MarketWatch
- Quick financial summaries & ratios
- No API, but great for snapshots
- Pair it with screen-capturing your sanity
6. Google Finance
- Basic numbers + cool charts
- Also works inside Google Sheets via
GOOGLEFINANCE() - Not deep, but good for overviews
7. Alpha Vantage 
- Free API with income, balance sheet, earnings
- Needs free API key
- JSON/CSV format, clean for scripts
8. Financial Modeling Prep
- One of the cleanest APIs for fundamentals
- Pull 10-K/10-Q in one line of code
- Free tier supports basics
9. Finnhub
- Real-time data, earnings, even transcripts
- Free API token, global market coverage
- JSON-based; plays well with code
10. IEX Cloud
- U.S. stocks, fundamentals, earnings
- Free plan has usage limits
- Still useful if you’re not hitting it like a day trader
11. EDGAR Tools (Python)
- For Python peeps—automates SEC scraping
- Pulls financials into structured data
- No browser-fighting required
Private Company Data (No Financials, but Lots of Details)
Full financials? Nope. But these tell you what a private company is, does, sells, and how big it might be.
12. OpenCorporates
- Biggest free business database
- Company name, status, address, type
- Search by state, country, or use the API
13. BigPicture Open Company Dataset
- CSV download: 15M+ companies
- Industry, size range, location
- Simple, solid, and stupidly useful
14. EFAST 5500 Search
- Companies that offer employee retirement plans
- Shows size, location, and status
- Works for both public and private firms
15. Data Axle (formerly ReferenceUSA)
- Huge U.S. business database
- Employee counts, estimated revenue
- Free via many U.S. public libraries (ask yours)
16. [Mergent Intellect / Online]
- Lists millions of private and public companies
- Shows profiles, industry, ownership, and maybe revenue
- Free with university or city library access
U.S. Government Datasets (Statistical but Gold)
17. U.S. Census – SUSB
- Yearly stats by industry & firm size
- Not for single companies—use it to understand sectors
- Good for “how many companies in this niche?” type Qs
18. Census Business Dynamics
- Tracks startup vs closure, firm age, job creation
- No firm names—pure stats, super useful
- Good for market research
19. IRS Corporate Source Book
- IRS tax return stats by company asset size & industry
- Great for understanding profit levels by sector
- Boring tables, powerful insights
20. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
- Job gain/loss stats by company size
- Shows how big businesses are hiring/firing
- Helpful for macro views
Nonprofit Company Financials
21. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
- 1.8M+ U.S. nonprofit filings (Form 990)
- View revenue, expenses, salaries, etc.
- Download PDF filings or use API
Access Tricks (They Won’t Tell You)
-
Library Access = Goldmine
Don’t ignore public/university libraries. They have Data Axle, Mergent, Morningstar, and more—free with a card. -
Google smarter:
Search “company name + investor relations” ➜ They often publish all financials as PDFs. -
Python = cheat code:
Use tools like YFinance, EdgarTools, or Alpha Vantage APIs. One line of code = full data. -
CIK Codes:
These are company IDs used on SEC. Use them in APIs likehttps://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIKxxxxxx.json
Warning: Stuff to Avoid
Any Telegram dude offering “90 million USA database”- Sites charging $$$ for SEC data (it’s all free)
- Sites asking for your credit card just to “look”
Summary Table (Quick Pick Guide)
| Need | Tool(s) |
|---|---|
| Full public company reports | SEC EDGAR, SimFin, FMP, Alpha Vantage |
| Financials via code | YFinance, EdgarTools, Finnhub |
| Private company info | EFAST 5500, OpenCorporates, BigPicture |
| Library-based tools | Mergent, Data Axle, Morningstar (via lib) |
| Industry stats | U.S. Census, IRS, BLS |
| Nonprofit financials | ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer |
| Free trial tools | Alpha Vantage, Finnhub, FMP |
Final Tip
You don’t need 100 tools.
Use SEC EDGAR + Yahoo + OpenCorporates + Library access—and you’ll out-research 90% of LinkedIn analysts.
Data is free. You just have to out-Google the paywalls. 
!