Best Free Import Export Data Tools 2026

World merchandise exports hit a record US$26.26 trillion in 2025, up 7% year-on-year (WTO). Every dollar of that flow leaves a data trail — and a surprising amount of it is readable for free. The catch is knowing which free source answers your actual question, because they are not interchangeable: some give you country-level totals, and only a few give you the shipment-level buyer and supplier names that win deals.

This is an honest roundup of the best free import export data sources in 2026 — genuinely free tools, freemium tiers, and the public government and inter-governmental datasets that cost nothing but a registration. We will be clear about what each gives you free versus behind a paywall, and where the line falls between aggregate free trade data and the company-level detail you usually need a tool for. No invented prices, no disparagement — just what works.

Free import export data: aggregate vs shipment-level

Before the list, the one distinction that determines everything. Trade data comes in two flavours. Aggregate data tells you that, say, the US imported a certain dollar value of a commodity from a country in a given month — totals, no names. Shipment-level data, drawn from bills of lading and customs filings, names the actual importer and exporter on each consignment, the product, and the volume. The first sizes a market; the second hands you a sales lead.

Here is the rule that governs the free options: the public government and inter-governmental sources are almost all aggregate, while the shipment-level buyer and supplier detail almost always sits inside a tool — free, freemium, or paid. Understanding that split is the difference between research and revenue, and it is the heart of what import-export trade data actually is.

Free government data tells you how big the market is. Shipment-level data tells you who to call. You need both — but only one of them is sitting in a public CSV.

The best free and freemium trade-data tools

1. ImportYeti — free US bill-of-lading search

ImportYeti is the standout free tool. It lets you search roughly 70 million US sea import shipment records — bills of lading filed with US Customs since January 2015 — at no charge, and find which suppliers a company buys from or which buyers a supplier ships to. Search is genuinely free; you only hit a login wall after about 25 company views per IP, and the heavier features like bulk CSV export and Power Query access are paid. Because US import data is legally public, the records are rich and specific. The one limit: it covers US ocean imports only — no air, no exports, no other countries.

2. Volza — a sample-sized free tier

Volza aggregates trade data across a claimed 203 countries and 2 billion+ shipment records, with dashboards for top buyers, suppliers, and trending products. Its free tier, though, is a taster: roughly 10 buyers, 10 suppliers, and 50 shipment records per search, and the free data is frozen at a fixed snapshot rather than live. It is a reasonable way to confirm the platform has your market before you buy, but the sample is too thin to build an outreach list from. Full access is subscription-based.

3. Panjiva and ImportGenius — paid, no free tier

Two names you will meet quickly, neither of which is free. Panjiva, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, holds 2 billion+ shipment records across 9 million companies and covers an estimated 35% of global trade — but it publishes no pricing and works on a request-a-demo, enterprise basis. ImportGenius is more transparent, with USA Essentials plans from US$229/month and coverage of 25+ countries, but there is no free trial — you pay to get in. Both are powerful; neither belongs in a "free" workflow. If you are comparing them, see our ImportYeti alternatives roundup.

Free government and open data sources

These cost nothing and are authoritative — but remember the aggregate rule. They tell you the size and direction of trade flows, not the names on the shipments.

United States — USA Trade Online and trade.gov

The US Census Bureau runs USA Trade Online, a free portal (registration required) with monthly US import and export statistics by HS commodity and partner country — the official source, updated monthly, but aggregate: no importer or exporter names. The International Trade Administration's trade.gov adds free market-intelligence tools, country commercial guides, and data visualizations on top of the same kind of country-level numbers.

UN Comtrade, WTO and Eurostat

For global coverage, UN Comtrade is the giant: free bilateral merchandise trade statistics for most economies, by HS code, going back decades, with a free API — but strictly aggregate country-to-country values, never shipment-level. The WTO Stats portal offers free merchandise and services trade indicators and tariff data, and Eurostat's Comext database covers EU member-state trade by partner and product for free. All three are superb for sizing markets and tracking trends; none of them will give you a buyer to email.

India and other national sources

Most countries publish their own official trade statistics, and India is a useful example of the pattern. India's official figures — published through DGCIS and the commerce ministry's Tradestat portal — are aggregate only: country and commodity totals, monthly and annual, with no company-level or shipment-level detail in the public release. The lesson generalises: national portals are reliable for totals and trends, but the granular who-ships-to-whom layer is not something you pull from a government website. For exporters, mirrored licensed trade data fills that gap — more in our India providers guide.

Free trade-data sources compared

Which free source should you use?

Match the source to the question. If you need to size a market or track a trend — how much of a product flows where, and whether it is growing — start with the free government data: UN Comtrade for global, USA Trade Online for US specifics, Eurostat for Europe. They are free, official, and more than enough for desk research.

If you need to find actual buyers or suppliers — names you can contact — the government data runs out, and you move to a tool. For US ocean imports, ImportYeti is the best free starting point. For a quick look at a wider footprint, Volza's sample shows you the shape of the data. And when you need ranked, contactable buyer and supplier lists across many markets — not just US sea freight — a free trial on a full platform gets you there fastest, which is the core of using customs data to find buyers.

How ShipScout helps you start free

ShipScout indexes 11 billion+ shipment records across 240+ countries and turns them into verified buyer and supplier lists ranked by volume, with contact intelligence where available. The free trial is built to get you shipment-level detail at no cost to begin:

• Shipment-level buyer lists, free to start. Run your first searches on the free trial and see named importers ranked by real volume — not a country-level total. Browse the company directory to see the depth.
• Beyond US ocean freight. Where ImportYeti stops at US sea imports, ShipScout spans markets worldwide — US, China, Mexico, Vietnam and more.
• Contacts where available. Turn a company name into a route to the decision-maker, so outreach starts the same day.
• For exporters, including from India. Mirrored licensed trade data helps you find buyers abroad and grow exports with data-backed targeting — the playbook in finding buyers with customs data.

The honest takeaway: free government data is unbeatable for sizing a market, free tools like ImportYeti are excellent for US shipments, and freemium samples are fine for a first look — but for ranked, contactable buyer and supplier lists across the world, a tool is the shortcut. Start a free trial and pull your first buyer list before lunch.