# Global Company Register Search > Search any supported official company register by name or number and see the entity behind it. Canonical: https://corpoapi.com/country-search/company-search Type a company name or a register number, pick the register, and the check returns the matched companies with their number, status and registered address. You get 5 free checks a day, with no account, and it is the same search the API runs. ## What the check reads - **The query** At least two characters. Two is the point where a name search stops returning half the register, and it is the same minimum the API enforces. - **Name matching** Accents are folded, punctuation is dropped and case is ignored, then candidates are ranked. A company number passed in as a name is matched as an identifier first. - **The register** A lowercase code, two letters for a country or a country plus a state. The search only looks in the register you name. - **Result size** This page asks for five candidates. The API returns between one and a hundred per page and hands you a cursor for the next page. - **What is not included** Officers and directors. Not every register publishes them, and where one does not the officers endpoint returns officers_not_available rather than an empty list. ## Where the data comes from - [Companies House, find and update service](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/): The UK register. Every company number the GB search returns resolves here. - [Bolagsverket](https://bolagsverket.se/): The Swedish register. Every organisationsnummer the SE search returns is filed here. ## Worked examples ### A name resolves to one entity in the German register Input: `Adidas AG, de` - **Legal name**: Adidas AG - **Register**: DE, the German Handelsregister - **Company number**: HRB 3868 (illustrative) - **Status**: active - **Registered address**: Adi-Dassler-Strasse 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach Illustrative search result for the global company search page. Confirm the live register number on the official Handelsregister before you rely on it. ### A register number resolves exactly Input: `00445790, gb` - **Legal name**: TESCO PLC - **Register**: GB, the UK company register - **Company number**: 00445790 - **Next request**: GET /v1/companies/gb/00445790 Leading zeros matter. The UK company register numbers are eight characters wide, and a number typed as 445790 will not resolve. ## A name, or a number, against one register A company number resolves exactly, because it is unique inside its register. A name is matched fuzzily, with accents folded and punctuation ignored, and the closest candidates come back ranked. Both routes return the register's own identifier, which is the thing every other lookup needs. - Exact resolution from a register number - Fuzzy name matching that tolerates messy input - Up to five candidates per search on this page ## One register at a time, on purpose Company numbers only mean something inside the register that issued them. A 5560295197 is a Swedish organisationsnummer, and the same eight digits could be an unrelated number somewhere else. Searches are therefore scoped to one register, which is also why the tool asks for the register before it searches. - A register code, for example gb or se - US states use the country plus the state, for example us-de - The coverage page lists every register we hold ## The number the profile call needs Each candidate carries the legal name, the register's number, the normalised status and the registered address where the register publishes one. The number is what you pass to the company profile endpoint, which returns the full record with identifiers, activity codes and provenance on every field. - Legal name, number, status and address - The exact profile request, ready to paste - Search is free and never billed ## FAQ ### Is the company search free? Yes. On the API, search is free and is never billed on any plan. Here it is one of the 5 free checks a day every visitor gets, which is our way of keeping the page from being used as an unlimited endpoint. ### Can I search every register at once? No. Company numbers are issued per register, so a search is always scoped to one or a small set. The API accepts several register codes in one call, and loops are cheap because search is free. ### Why did I get several candidates? A name search returns the closest matches, ranked. Common names produce several plausible answers, so the result set tells you to pick one by number rather than guessing. The empty and ambiguous answers are free. ### What is a register code? A lowercase code for the register: a two-letter country code such as gb, se, fr, de or be, or a country plus a state for the United States, such as us-de for Delaware. The coverage page lists every register we serve. ### Can I search by VAT number or another identifier? Yes, where the register publishes that identifier. Identifier lookups are matched exactly against an index rather than through fuzzy name search, so a known VAT number resolves to the company that owns it when we hold the link. ### Does the search return directors? No. The result is company level. Officers are a separate endpoint, and many registers publish none, in which case that endpoint answers with officers_not_available.