# Government tender data APIs and MCP servers

> Four official portals publish a free API: TED (EU), SAM.gov (US), Find a Tender (UK) and PNCP (Brazil). Each covers one jurisdiction and has its own format. Commercial APIs join many sources: Sell to State, OpenOpps, HigherGov, GovSpend, BidPrime and others. On 4 November 2026, 7 services listed an MCP server for AI agents.

*Source: [https://www.selltostate.com/compare/tender-data-apis/](https://www.selltostate.com/compare/tender-data-apis/)*

## Free official APIs

Free to use. One jurisdiction each, and one format each. TED search needs no key; SAM.gov needs an API key; Find a Tender returns OCDS JSON.

| Source | Coverage | API | MCP server | Price from |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [SAM.gov](/compare/#sam-gov) | US federal | Yes (API key) | Not stated | Free |
| [TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)](/compare/#ted) | EU and EEA notices | Yes (no key to search) | Not stated | Free |
| [Find a Tender](/compare/#find-a-tender) | UK | Yes (OCDS) | Not stated | Free |
| [PNCP](/compare/#pncp) | Brazil, all levels | Yes (query API) | Not stated | Free |

## Commercial APIs

One API over many sources. The table shows what each vendor's public pages state.

- Sell to State: 73 live markets, 120 more in the backlog. REST API (120 requests a minute per key). MCP server: https://app.selltostate.com/api/mcp.

| Source | Coverage | API | MCP server | Price from |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [HigherGov](/compare/highergov-alternatives/) | US federal, SLED, grants | Yes | Yes | $500/yr |
| [GovTribe](/compare/govtribe-alternatives/) | US federal, SLED | Not stated | Yes | $1,900/seat/yr |
| [GovSpend](/compare/govspend-alternatives/) | US SLED + federal spend | Yes | Yes | Quote |
| [BidPrime](/compare/bidprime-alternatives/) | US + Canada SLED, federal | Yes (module) | Yes (module) | Quote by geography |
| [GovDash](/compare/govdash-alternatives/) | US federal, SLED | Not stated | Yes | Not published |
| [SamSearch](/compare/#samsearch) | US federal, SLED, Canada, grants | Yes (on request) | Not stated | Quote |
| [OpenOpps](/compare/openopps-alternatives/) | 180+ countries, 1,050+ sources | Yes (prepaid) | Not stated | $160/user/month |
| [TendersInfo](/compare/tendersinfo-alternatives/) | 100+ countries | By demo | Not stated | Not published |
| [Stotles](/compare/stotles-alternatives/) | UK public sector | Not stated | Yes (Basic plan and up) | Free; Basic from £99/month |
| [Tussell](/compare/tussell-alternatives/) | UK public sector | Add-on | Not stated | Quote (annual) |

## Questions

### Which government tender APIs are free?

TED (EU), SAM.gov (US, API key), Find a Tender (UK, OCDS) and PNCP (Brazil). Each covers one jurisdiction.

### Which tender data services have an MCP server?

Sell to State, HigherGov, GovTribe, GovSpend, BidPrime, GovDash and Stotles, on 4 November 2026. BidPrime sells it in its Integrations Module.

### Is there one API for tenders in many countries?

Yes. Sell to State (73 live markets: tenders, awards, buyers, suppliers) and OpenOpps (180+ countries, open tenders, prepaid from £100).

### How do I connect the Sell to State MCP server?

Point the MCP client at https://app.selltostate.com/api/mcp. Clients with a browser (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) sign in with OAuth; other clients send an API key.