Sanctions screening - checking names against government watchlists - is an established but fragmented industry. This page explains how the market typically works, what it normally costs, and how Sanctions Checklist fits in.
Most sanctions screening providers sell their products in one of three ways:
1. Enterprise contracts. Companies like Refinitiv (World-Check) and Dow Jones sell annual licences, typically starting at $15,000/year and averaging around $113,000/year.[1] These are designed for banks and large financial institutions. You speak to a sales team, negotiate a contract, and commit for at least a year.
2. API-based services. Providers like sanctions.io[2] and OpenSanctions[3] sell access to their data through an API - a technical interface that developers use to build software. OpenSanctions charges €0.10 per commercial API call.[3] While OpenSanctions does offer a free search on their website, their terms of service restrict commercial use of the free tier[8] - meaning you can look up a name personally, but your organisation can't rely on it for business purposes without a paid licence.
3. Subscription platforms. Providers such as ComplyAdvantage offer web-based screening platforms starting from $119/month for 100 monitored entities, where both ongoing monitoring and one-off screens count toward monthly usage.[4] Some providers like Sanction Scanner[5] don't publish pricing at all - you have to book a sales call to get a quote.
If you're a university risk team, exporter, law firm, or consultant who simply needs to check a list of names against sanctions lists, the options above often don't fit well. Enterprise contracts are excessive, APIs require developers, and subscription platforms require ongoing payments even if you only screen names occasionally.
There hasn't been a simple, self-serve option for teams who just need to search some names, get a report, and move on.
Sanctions Checklist was built to fill that gap. Here's what makes it different:
Document “no match” as compliance evidence. Most screening products are built around finding a hit. In practice, most checks return no results, and that outcome is just as important to prove. Regulators do not only ask whether you screened; they ask for evidence. Under OFAC enforcement practice, undocumented screening provides no mitigation. When a search finds nothing, Sanctions Checklist lets you add that no-list-match search to your checklist in one click: the name searched, the lists checked, and a timestamp, all included when you export your PDF report. Risk-score tools may show “low risk,” but they do not give you the same structured audit trail for a no-match search.
Self-serve plans with monitoring included. Standard ($59/mo) includes 150 searches, unlimited Checklist Reports, and monitoring for up to 150 entities. Professional ($220/mo) increases capacity for heavier screening workloads. Both plans include email alerts when a monitored entity's listed status changes. The closest published equivalent is ComplyAdvantage at $119/month for 100 entities, where monitoring and one-off screens both count toward monthly usage.[4]
No sales call. No annual contract. You sign up, search, and pay - all from your browser. Cancel any subscription anytime. Most providers in this space either don't publish pricing at all or require you to speak to a salesperson before you can get started.[5][2]
No developer required. Some providers sell an API - a way for software engineers to connect to their system programmatically. That's useful for large companies building automated compliance pipelines, but it's not useful if you just need to check a list of names. Sanctions Checklist is a web application you use in your browser.
Sanctions Checklist is offered as self-serve monthly plans. Checklist Reports and monitoring are included — not sold as separate add-ons.
| Feature | Standard ($59/mo) | Professional ($220/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Named users | 1 | 1 |
| Searches per month | 150 | 1,000 |
| Checklist Reports | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Include no-match search outcomes in the report | Yes | Yes |
| Monitoring slots | 150 entities | 500 entities |
| Daily monitoring + email alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Create / join an organisation | Yes | Yes |
| Contract | No — cancel anytime | |
An Institutional plan is also available for institutions that need organisation-wide access and custom allowances. Contact us for details. See current pricing.
For reference, here is what other providers charge based on their publicly available pricing pages. Where pricing is not publicly disclosed, this is noted.
| Provider | Published Starting Price | How It's Sold | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanctions Checklist | $59/mo Standard · $220/mo Professional | Self-serve, no contract | Our pricing |
| ComplyAdvantage | $119/mo for 100 entities (monitoring + searches combined) | Self-serve (starter) or sales call (enterprise). No separation of usage types: "One-off screens count toward your monthly volume."[9] | [4] |
| OpenSanctions | €0.10 per commercial API call | Free search available, but commercial use requires paid licence | [3] |
| NameScan | From A$280 / 100 scans (A$2.80/scan) | Prepaid packages (12-month expiry) or PAYG single scans | [7] |
| sanctions.io | Estimated via pricing calculator; requires custom proposal | Annual contracts (1–3 years) | [2] |
| Sanction Scanner | Not publicly disclosed | Sales call required | [5] |
| Refinitiv World-Check | Avg ~$113,000/yr (range: $15k–$1.5M) | Annual enterprise contracts | [1] |
Most screening providers - including us - check names against the same core government sanctions lists: OFAC (US), the United Nations, the European Union, HM Treasury (UK), and DFAT (Australia), among others. The underlying data is published by governments and is publicly available. The difference between providers is how that data is presented, how often it's updated, and what tools surround the search process.
Sanctions Checklist aggregates multiple official sources with daily automated updates, including OFAC SDN, OFAC Consolidated, UNSC Consolidated, EU Consolidated, UK OFSI, DFAT Consolidated, BIS Entity List, BIS Denied Persons, Swiss SECO, and Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) data. This list is actively expanding - see our About page for the current count.
To be transparent about where we sit in the market: Sanctions Checklist is focused specifically on sanctions screening and monitoring. We don't currently offer:
Adverse media screening - scanning news articles for negative coverage about a person or company.
Transaction monitoring - flagging suspicious financial transactions in real time.
Identity verification / KYC - verifying someone's identity using documents like passports.
If you need those capabilities, providers like ComplyAdvantage[4] or Refinitiv[1] offer broader compliance suites. Our focus is on doing sanctions screening well, making it accessible, and keeping it affordable.