The short answer
There is no official REST API for the Belgian company register. FPS Economy offers three ways to reuse KBO/CBE data: the free Open Data files (CSV, active companies only, no directors), the Public Search web service (SOAP, 50 euros per 2,000 requests, includes directors) and the complete file (XML, full history, free for non-commercial use and 30,000 euros a year for commercial use). Filed annual accounts come from a separate, free REST API at the National Bank. The Official Gazette has no API at all. Everything else, from cbeapi.be (free up to 2,500 requests a day) to CompanyBelgium, Kruispuntdatabank, CompanyData and North Data, is a private company repackaging those sources. Scraping the free KBO Public Search website is explicitly prohibited.
Every price below comes from the provider's own page, read on 30 September 2026. Bizzy has its own API too; we list it with the others, so read our entry on it with that in mind.
The official options
Option | Type | What is in it | Freshness | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
KBO Open Data (FPS Economy) | Bulk CSV in a ZIP, portal or SFTP | Active entities and establishment units: number, names, address, contact data, legal form, status, NACE codes. No directors, no history, no stopped companies | Full and update files, kept 31 days | Free |
KBO Public Search web service (FPS Economy) | SOAP XML | Active data plus stopped entities, directors and other functions, capital, authorisations, links between entities | Next day | 50 euros per package of 2,000 requests; free test account |
KBO complete file (FPS Economy) | XML full file and daily change files via secure FTP | Everything above plus full history, bank accounts and foreign register IDs | Full file monthly, change file daily | Free for non-commercial use; 30,000 euros a year commercial |
NBB Central Balance Sheet Office web services | REST, API key | Annual accounts: filing references since 1978, PDF since 1999, XBRL since 2007, JSON since 4 April 2022 | Daily datasets available the next day | Free; "Improved Data" 3,300 euros a year |
Belgian Official Gazette | Web search and PDF only | Publications of legal entities since 1 July 2003: appointments, statutes, dissolutions | Daily | Free to consult; no API or bulk feed |
VIES (European Commission) | REST and SOAP | Whether a VAT number is valid; for Belgium also name and address | Real time | No price stated, no key needed |
Sources: FPS Economy reuse pages (dated November 2025), NBB web services pages and general terms, European Commission VIES technical page.
KBO Open Data: free, but thinner than people expect
The Open Data files are the starting point for almost every commercial KBO API. You register on the KBO Open Data portal, accept the licence and download a ZIP of CSV files: enterprises, establishments, names, addresses, contact data, activities and branches. Update files contain a delete and an insert file per table.
What is missing matters more than what is there. The files hold only active data of active entities: no history, no stopped companies, no registered-seat address for sole traders, and no functions, so no directors. There is no capital, annual meeting date or financial data either. The licence adds two conditions that trip teams up: personal data may not be used for direct marketing, and every entity run by a natural person counts as personal data. You must also cite the source and the update date.
One inconsistency to know about: the FPS Economy page says the full and update files are published daily, while the official comparison table still says the full file is monthly. Build for daily updates and check the snapshot date in meta.csv.
The Public Search web service: the only official API, and it is SOAP
If you need directors or stopped companies from the official source, this is it. You register, test for free, then buy packages of 2,000 requests for 50 euros each, paid by bank transfer; packages are activated within seven working days. Each search or retrieval costs one request, a search returns at most 200 entities, and the remaining balance comes back in every reply.
It is a SOAP service with WS-Security authentication, not a REST API, so budget some developer time. Data is available the next day. The same licence conditions as Open Data apply, including the ban on direct marketing with personal data.
The complete file: 30,000 euros a year for commercial use
The complete file adds what the other two lack: full history with start and end dates, stopped entities, directors with their end dates and reasons, bank accounts and foreign register numbers. You apply with a reuse form, the KBO management service approves it, and you sign a licence. It is free for non-commercial reuse and costs 30,000 euros a year for commercial reuse. This is the product data resellers build on.
Annual accounts: the National Bank's free REST API
Financial data does not sit in the KBO at all. The National Bank's Central Balance Sheet Office runs REST web services with an API key per product. Authentic Data Query and the daily extracts are free, with a free test environment. You get filing references since 1978, PDFs since 1999, XBRL since 2007 and structured JSON since 4 April 2022. The paid Improved Data product (3,300 euros a year) adds corrected, euro-converted JSON for older filings. The NBB's terms let customers use downloaded annual accounts data free of charge and without limitation, unless the law says otherwise.
Remember that most small Belgian companies file abbreviated accounts in which turnover is optional, so an API cannot return revenue that was never filed. Why revenue is often missing explains what to use instead.
The Official Gazette: no API
Appointments, resignations, statutes and dissolutions are published in the annexes of the Belgian Official Gazette. There is no API, RSS feed or bulk download; data.gov.be lists the annex, but the access link is the ordinary search page. In software, publications reach you only through commercial aggregators or your own scraper of the ejustice site, whose terms allow reuse unless stated otherwise. How to search the Official Gazette covers the manual route.
Can you scrape KBO Public Search?
No. FPS Economy states that reuse of data from the Public Search website is prohibited and that systematic downloading is not allowed. Under the Code of Economic Law, abuse can lead to a criminal fine of 26 to 50,000 euros, or 6% of annual turnover if that is higher. Use the free Open Data files or the paid web service instead.
Commercial KBO APIs
Provider | Built on | Adds | Price as published |
|---|---|---|---|
cbeapi.be | KBO Open Data | A simple REST layer; same gaps as Open Data (no directors, financials or publications) | Free up to 2,500 requests a day (monthly data); 9, 39 or 129 euros a month excl. VAT for daily data and higher limits |
CompanyBelgium | KBO data, updated every business day | REST search, profiles, establishments, address search, Peppol check | Free up to 100 requests a month; 49 or 99 euros a month billed yearly, excl. VAT |
Kruispuntdatabank (kruispuntdatabank.be) | KBO data; run by FaimMedia B.V., a Dutch company | Functions, capital and annual meeting, stopped entities, webhooks | From 8.99 a month billed yearly (14.50 monthly) up to 92.00 (110.00); currency and VAT not shown |
CompanyData | Several sources | Employees, revenue, officers (beta), ownership | 34 to 479 euros a month billed yearly, credit-based; 150 free calls in week one |
Data.be | Several sources | Financial statements, legal representatives, publications, VAT check | API only on the Enterprise plan, on request |
North Data | European registers | Persons, networks, financials; OpenAPI, JSON or XML | From 500 euros a month excl. VAT, 12-month minimum |
openthebox | Several sources | Annual accounts, directors, group structure, ownership | No public price; no free tier, proof of concept instead |
Companyweb, Creditsafe, Altares D&B | Own credit databases | Credit scores, limits, alerts, KYC | On request |
Bizzy Public API | Belgian registers (KBO, NBB, Official Gazette) plus contacts, vacancies and signals; other countries through Creditsafe data | REST search, company and legal entity endpoints, lists, exports, enrichments and agents | Included in the SCALE plan; key via your account manager |
Two of these providers call themselves "official". Neither is run by FPS Economy. Check who operates a service, which source it rebuilds and what licence it passes on before you put it in production.
Which to choose
You need company identity and NACE codes and can live with monthly data: KBO Open Data yourself, or cbeapi.be's free plan if you would rather call an API.
You need directors from the official source: the Public Search web service, at 50 euros per 2,000 requests, or the complete file if you resell.
You need financials: the NBB web services, free, next to one of the above.
You need it all joined up, with contacts and signals, without building the pipeline: a commercial API such as Data.be, CompanyData, North Data or Bizzy.
You only need to validate VAT numbers: VIES, free.
For the free manual routes to the same data, see the Belgian company register guide and which source gives you what; for the providers compared on data and price, see the best B2B data providers in Belgium.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official KBO API? Only one: the KBO Public Search web service from FPS Economy, a SOAP service at 50 euros per 2,000 requests. There is no official REST API. For bulk data there are the free Open Data files and the complete file (30,000 euros a year for commercial use).
Is KBO data free? The Open Data files are free, but they hold only active companies, without directors, history or financials. The Public Search website is free to consult, but reusing its data is prohibited.
Where do I get directors of a Belgian company by API? From the Public Search web service or the complete file, or from a commercial provider that holds functions. The free Open Data files do not include them.
How do I get Belgian annual accounts by API? Through the National Bank's Central Balance Sheet Office web services: REST, free, with structured JSON since April 2022 and XBRL since 2007.
Can I use KBO Open Data for direct marketing? Not with personal data. The licence forbids using personal data for direct marketing, and all data on companies run by a natural person counts as personal data.
Photo: the Martelarenplein in front of Leuven railway station, Michielverbeek, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons