Orbis
Company data on a global scale — hundreds of millions of firms, public and private.
At a Glance
- Publisher
- Moody's (Bureau van Dijk)
- Coverage
Standardized financials, ownership, and corporate structures for 400M+ companies worldwide, most of them private (verify current counts).
- Access
Institutional subscription.
- Free alternative
- National business registries, OpenCorporates (basic).
- Regional
Exceptionally global, including deep private-company coverage outside the US.
Our Take
Orbis is the largest cross-border company database — its value is scale and standardization: financials and ownership for hundreds of millions of firms, harmonised so you can compare and trace corporate structures across jurisdictions. For ownership research, beneficial-ownership tracing, and academic studies needing firm-level panels, it’s the reference. The trade-offs are cost and the fact that private-company data quality varies a lot by country. Use it for global company panels and ownership tracing; verify individual firm figures against local registries.
Power Tips
- Use the standardized financials to build cross-country firm-level panels for research.
- Trace ownership and corporate-structure links for beneficial-ownership work.
- Check private-company data against the national registry — coverage quality varies by country.
Alternatives & Complements
S&P Capital IQ, OpenCorporates, PitchBook, FactSet
Figures last verified: June 15, 2026