GiveRadar vs ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: an honest comparison
Two free nonprofit research tools that answer different questions. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is the reference tool for US 990 lookup: the actual tax filings, in depth. GiveRadar assesses disclosure across 100+ countries. Here is where each one wins.
Primary sources
All ProPublica figures are sourced from ProPublica's own site and API documentation, last reviewed July 2026; volatile figures carry their date where stated. GiveRadar figures are live counts from this platform.
This page is written and maintained by GiveRadar. We make no claim to neutrality: we built GiveRadar and we believe in it, and we have tried to represent ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer fairly. It is the deepest free US 990 archive and the best free keyless option for light US-only lookups, and we recommend it without reservation for that. The two answer different questions and combine well. If you spot an inaccuracy, email info@giveradar.com and we will correct it.
Matt Timmermans
Founder of GiveRadar
GiveRadar
ProPublicaWhat are GiveRadar and ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer each for?
Both are free, and both are excellent, but they answer different questions. ProPublica gives you the raw US filing; GiveRadar gives you a global disclosure score. Name the task and the choice is clear.
Check disclosure, globally
"How transparently is this charity run, in any country?"
This needs a summarized signal from official records: a 0-100 integrity assessment, computed red flags on every charity, and change monitoring. GiveRadar answers it across 100+ countries, where ProPublica is US-only by design.
Answered by GiveRadar
Read the raw US 990 filings
"I need the actual tax filings for a US nonprofit, in depth."
This needs the documents themselves: Form 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF back as far as 2001, full-text search across filings, and people search. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is the best free tool for that, and GiveRadar does not replicate it.
Answered by ProPublica Nonprofit ExplorerWho each one is
GiveRadar
GiveRadar is a free charity intelligence platform covering 7.9 million+ nonprofits across 100+ countries, built from 50+ official government registries and tax authorities, plus vetted directories where no registry data exists.
Every charity gets a 0-100 integrity assessment that measures disclosure, not impact, and cannot be bought: charities cannot pay for placement or scores.
On top of the raw records, GiveRadar computes three red flags (high executive pay, stale filings, bare-minimum disclosure), adds GiveRadar Analysis peer context and officer compensation where disclosed, offers watchlists with change alerts, and exposes everything through a REST API and MCP server with free tiers. Every data point shows its provenance.
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is a free, US-only research database of IRS filings by tax-exempt organizations, run by ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative newsroom (itself a 501(c)(3), with nine Pulitzer Prizes as of 2026).
It lets anyone browse millions of annual returns (Form 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF; 990-N e-Postcard filers are excluded) with summary financials, executive compensation, people search, full-text search, and more than 14 million filing documents going back as far as 2001 (site description, July 2026).
It is completely free with no accounts and no scoring, star, or seal system, offers a keyless JSON API, and since December 2024 also surfaces auditor-reported financial red flags from Federal Audit Clearinghouse data. It is actively maintained: site data was last updated June 22, 2026.
ProPublica for US 990 documents, GiveRadar for global disclosure
There is no single winner here, because the two tools answer different questions. For US 990 lookup, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is the best free tool available: it holds the actual filing documents, full-text search across them, and a people search, none of which GiveRadar replicates.
GiveRadar answers a different question: how transparently is this charity run, in any of 100+ countries, summarized in a disclosure-only integrity assessment with computed red flags and change monitoring. If your research is US-only and document-deep, start with ProPublica. If it is global, comparative, or ongoing, start with GiveRadar.
Raw 990 filings or a disclosure score?
This is the heart of the difference. ProPublica hands you the underlying documents to read yourself; GiveRadar hands you a summarized, comparable signal computed from official records. Neither measures impact.
GiveRadar: a disclosure score
- A 0-100 integrity assessment on every charity, from official records.
- Computed red flags on every charity, not only the federally audited subset.
- Watchlists and change alerts to monitor charities over time.
- Coverage across 100+ countries, not the US alone.
ProPublica: the raw filings
- The actual Form 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF documents, back as far as 2001.
- Full-text search across filings, plus people search across organizations.
- A keyless, free JSON API for light US-only lookups by EIN.
- Auditor-reported red flags for the federally audited subset (about 33,400 at the feature's December 2024 launch).
ProPublica gives you the documents to read; GiveRadar gives you a summarized signal to compare and monitor. Reading both together is stronger than either alone, and both are free.
GiveRadar vs ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: the full comparison
These tools answer different questions; the table lines them up across the dimensions where each is meaningful. ProPublica figures last reviewed July 2026.
| Dimension | GiveRadar | ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | 7.9 million+ nonprofits | Millions of annual returns; more than 14 million filing documents going back as far as 2001. Third-party sources put the organization count at roughly 1.8 to 1.9 million |
| Geography | 100+ countries | United States only: filers of Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF; 990-N-only filers excluded |
| What the score means | Integrity assessment, 0-100: disclosure and governance signals, not impact, cannot be bought. Computed red flags on every charity | No scoring, stars, or seals by design. Since December 2024, surfaces auditor-reported red flags for organizations with federal audits, plus a theft/diversion search |
| Price | Free for everyone; no pay-to-play. API has free and paid tiers | Entirely free: no accounts, no paid tiers |
| Data source | 50+ official government registries and tax authorities, plus vetted directories where no registry exists; provenance per data point | IRS filing and summary data, Form 990 PDFs and XML e-files, and Federal Audit Clearinghouse audit PDFs |
| API | REST API plus MCP server, free tiers included; paid tiers for higher volume | Free keyless JSON API: search and per-EIN endpoints, 25 results per page; rate-limited PDF links; Data Terms of Use apply |
| Monitoring | Watchlists and change alerts on any charity | No monitoring or alert features; data itself is refreshed regularly (last updated June 22, 2026) |
Scroll the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
When should you use ProPublica vs GiveRadar?
Documents and US depth point one way, global coverage and monitoring the other, and serious vetting often uses both.
Use GiveRadar when
- The charity is outside the United States: GiveRadar covers 100+ countries from official registries and vetted directories.
- You want a summarized signal, not a stack of documents: the 0-100 integrity assessment condenses disclosure and governance signals.
- You want computed red flags on every charity, not only the federally audited subset.
- You want to monitor charities over time, or need peer context via GiveRadar Analysis.
Use ProPublica when
- You need the actual filings: Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF documents for a US organization, including PDFs back as far as 2001.
- You want full-text search across nonprofit tax records, or people search across filings.
- You are researching auditor-reported red flags from federal audits.
- You want a free, keyless API for light, non-commercial US-only lookups by EIN.
Use both when
You are vetting a US charity seriously. Check its integrity assessment, red flags, and peer context on GiveRadar, then read the underlying 990s on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. The two together are stronger than either alone, and both are free. Journalists and researchers pair them the same way: GiveRadar for the cross-country picture and monitoring, ProPublica for the document trail and full-text filing search.
Is GiveRadar a good ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer alternative?
Whether GiveRadar is the right ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer alternative depends on which of two things you are looking for.
For readers and donors. If you need non-US charities, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer cannot help by design: it is US-only. GiveRadar covers 7.9 million+ nonprofits in 100+ countries and adds what ProPublica deliberately does not build: a disclosure-only integrity assessment, computed red flags, and change alerts. But be honest about the task: if you want to read a US organization's actual 990, search the full text of filings, or trace a person across organizations, ProPublica is the better tool and GiveRadar is not a substitute for it. You can start with the charity checker for a quick global lookup.
For developers. The ProPublica nonprofit API is free and keyless, which is hard to beat for light US-only lookups. Developers typically look for an alternative for three reasons, all grounded in ProPublica's own documentation (as of July 2026): its Data Terms of Use prohibit reselling or sub-licensing the data, republishing the raw data in its entirety, and charging people to view it; bulk download is not offered through Nonprofit Explorer (the API docs point to the IRS for bulk Form 990 files); and coverage stops at the US border. GiveRadar's REST API and MCP server offer a free tier plus paid tiers with a consistent schema across 100+ countries. For bulk raw US Form 990 data specifically, the honest answer is that the IRS's own bulk files are the right alternative, not GiveRadar.
GiveRadar and ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: common questions
Is GiveRadar a ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer alternative?
For global charity research, yes: GiveRadar covers 7.9 million+ nonprofits across 100+ countries with an integrity assessment, red flags, and monitoring, while ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is US-only by design. For reading actual US 990 documents, full-text filing search, or people search, no: ProPublica is the stronger tool for those tasks and GiveRadar does not replicate them. Many researchers use both.
Is ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer or GiveRadar better?
Neither is better overall: they are different tools for different questions. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is the best free source for US 990 lookup, with more than 14 million filing documents going back as far as 2001 (as of July 2026). GiveRadar is better when you need charities outside the US, a summarized disclosure score, computed red flags, or change alerts. The honest one-line steer: documents and US depth, ProPublica; global coverage and assessment, GiveRadar.
Does ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer score or rate charities?
No. Nonprofit Explorer has no rating, star, or seal system and does not rank organizations. Since December 2024 it does let users filter by auditor-reported red flags (going-concern warnings, material weakness, material noncompliance, significant deficiency) from federal audits, covering about 33,400 organizations at the feature's December 2024 launch, and search for organizations reporting significant diversion or theft of assets. That is different from GiveRadar's approach: a 0-100 integrity assessment plus computed red flags on every charity, which measures disclosure, not impact.
Can I use the ProPublica nonprofit API in a commercial product?
Read the Data Terms of Use before building. As of July 2026, ProPublica's API documentation states that usage constitutes agreement to terms that require citing ProPublica when data is used for publication and prohibit republishing the raw data in its entirety, reselling or sub-licensing it, and charging people to view it. The API is keyless and free, with 25 search results per page and rate-limited PDF download links. If your product needs commercial terms or cross-country data, GiveRadar's API tiers are one alternative; for bulk US Form 990 files, ProPublica's own docs direct you to the IRS.
Other US nonprofit data tools compared
Check any charity's disclosure record, free
Search 7.9M+ nonprofits in 100+ countries. Then read the raw US 990s on ProPublica too; serious vetting uses both.