Business data
or risk intelligence.
Two different disciplines.
Dun & Bradstreet and Sayari answer different questions about the same entities. D&B tells you who a company is and whether it can pay its bills. Sayari tells you who controls it, what it’s hiding, and whether it’s connected to sanctioned networks.
See Sayari in action
Request a live demo – we’ll run your entities through the world model.
Dun & Bradstreet has built the world’s most comprehensive business identity and credit data platform. DUNS numbers are the de facto standard for business identification. For credit risk, supplier qualification, and commercial data coverage, D&B’s breadth is unmatched – financial health data, payment behavior patterns, and broad commercial database across millions of entities.
Sayari is built for a different intelligence problem: adversarial risk – who ultimately owns and controls an entity, whether that entity connects to sanctioned networks, and what enforcement-relevant exposure exists beneath the surface of declared corporate structures. Where D&B maps creditworthiness, Sayari maps hidden ownership and regulatory exposure.
If your primary need is credit scores, financial health assessment, and commercial supplier qualification, D&B is the industry standard. If you need to resolve beneficial ownership chains, trace sanctions exposure through indirect structures, or build enforcement-grade evidence packages – Sayari serves that use case with intelligence-grade depth.
Quick Verdict
Detailed Comparison
| Capability | Sayari | D&B |
|---|---|---|
Entity Intelligence |
||
|
Entity Resolution
Core matching across sources
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Adversarial-grade resolution – matches entities across scripts, transliterations, known aliases against 450M+ records from primary corporate registries
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DUNS-based matching – strong on legal entity names and business identification; less focused on adversarial alias resolution and script variations
|
|
Beneficial Ownership
Ownership chain traversal
|
10+ degree traversal – follows ownership through shell companies, nominees, and trusts across 250+ jurisdictions; built from primary corporate registry data
|
Corporate family trees – declared ownership hierarchy typically 1-2 levels deep; focused on stated legal relationships, not ultimate beneficial owner resolution
|
|
Shell Company Detection
Corporate structure anomalies
|
Network clustering engine – surfaces entities sharing addresses, officers, registration agents; common shell indicators surfaced automatically
|
Not a primary capability – D&B’s focus is business verification and credit data, not shell company network detection
|
Sanctions & Regulatory |
||
|
Sanctions List Coverage
Multi-source SDN matching
|
40+ sanctions lists resolved – entity resolution applied before list matching; updates within 4 hours
|
Basic screening available – sanctions screening included in compliance products; not core platform focus
|
|
Beneficial Owner Sanctions
Ownership-level screening
|
Ownership-linked screening – traces sanctions exposure through beneficial ownership chains; reveals indirect connections to sanctioned parties
|
Entity-level only – screens direct entities against lists; does not traverse ownership chains for indirect exposure
|
|
Adverse Media
News & enforcement action
|
Structured adverse media – surfaced in context of ownership relationships; PEP and enforcement action flags integrated
|
Available – adverse media is part of the compliance data offering; not ownership-context driven
|
Credit & Financial |
||
|
Credit Scores & Ratings
Paydex and risk assessment
|
Not in scope – Sayari focuses on ownership and sanctions intelligence, not credit assessment
|
Core capability – Paydex scores, credit limits, financial health ratings; industry-standard credit assessment
|
|
Financial Statements
Income, balance sheet, ratios
|
Not in scope – focus is beneficial ownership and regulatory risk, not financial analysis
|
Comprehensive coverage – financial data and analysis across broad business populations; ratio analysis and trend data
|
|
Supplier Verification
Business qualification
|
Risk-focused verification – ownership verification and sanctions screening; less emphasis on financial health scores
|
Core strength – comprehensive business verification, financial health, compliance readiness; de facto standard for supplier qualification
|
Platform & Integration |
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API & Developer Access
Real-time integration
|
REST API with SDKs – Python and Node.js; MCP integration for AI agent workflows; designed for real-time compliance integration
|
D&B Direct+ API available – established platform with broad ecosystem integration; extensive commercial integrations
|
|
Government & Classified
Deployment
|
Deployed across 15+ U.S. government agencies – GovCloud, on-premise, and air-gapped options
|
Government contracts exist – serves government agencies; less emphasis on classified and air-gapped deployments
|
Sayari research · Based on publicly available product documentation and capability analysis. Last reviewed March 2025. D&B capabilities described based on publicly available information about the D&B platform.
When to Choose Each Platform
- You need to trace beneficial ownership through opaque structures to determine who ultimately controls entities in your supply chain
- Your compliance team requires sanctions screening with entity resolution that goes beyond list matching
- Government or defense requirements mandate GovCloud or classified deployment
- Enforcement referrals, SAR filings, or regulatory evidence chains are part of your workflow
- You need intelligence-grade entity data from primary corporate registries, not just credit and financial data
- Hidden ownership, shell companies, or adversarial entity exposure is a concern beyond credit assessment
- Credit risk and financial health assessment are your primary concerns
- You need commercial supplier qualification at scale with standardized business data
- DUNS-based identity and broad business database coverage suffice for your use case
- Financial statement analysis, ratio-based assessment, and payment behavior matter
- You need broad commercial data coverage across millions of entities for supplier screening
- Your workflow centers on credit decisions, solvency, and commercial relationship qualification
Note: Some organizations use Sayari and D&B together – commercial qualification and credit assessment with D&B, ownership intelligence and sanctions depth with Sayari.
How organizations add Sayari alongside D&B and other commercial platforms
Most Sayari deployments complement existing business data platforms – they add intelligence-grade ownership and sanctions capability that credit-focused platforms can’t provide.
Assessment Call
30 minutes to understand your current data stack, compliance use cases, and beneficial ownership intelligence gaps
Proof-of-Concept
Run queries against your actual supplier data to see what ownership relationships and hidden structures Sayari surfaces that credit data alone misses
Integration Scoping
Map API integration points and determine how Sayari fits into your existing compliance workflow alongside D&B and other data sources
Deployment & Onboarding
4-6 weeks to full deployment with your team trained on beneficial ownership queries, sanctions screening, and integration workflows
4-6 weeks
From assessment call to full deployment and team onboarding on ownership intelligence and risk screening workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
Bring a real supplier. We’ll map the ownership.
Upload a supplier list or provide a company name. We’ll show you the beneficial ownership chains, sanctions exposure, and hidden relationships Sayari surfaces that business data platforms miss.