Terms of Service

The terms for using GovCon API: what you may build with it, what is not permitted, how billing works, and who is responsible for what.

Effective date: January 30, 2026. Last updated: September 19, 2026.

1. The service

GovCon API gives you access to public U.S. federal procurement data through a REST API and an MCP server: the federal record as government sources publish it, and what we build on it.

Your plan decides what you can call. Current prices and limits, and which plan includes which data and workflows, are on Pricing. What each dataset and workflow is, and the endpoints that serve it, are on Capabilities. The sources we carry, and how current each one is, are on Data. These terms link to those pages instead of repeating their values.

GovCon Contacts, the web application at contacts.govconapi.com, has its own terms.

These terms are an agreement between you and GovCon API. By requesting a key, subscribing or using the service, you agree to them.

2. Your account and API key

An account is an email address. Your API key is sent to that address.

Your key is a credential. Keep it out of public repositories, browser-side code, screenshots and shared documents.

If a key is exposed, request a key again with the same email address from the sign-up form. The new key arrives by email and every earlier key for that address stops working at once. You can also email [email protected].

You are responsible for activity on your keys until you tell us a key has been compromised.

3. What you may do

Within these terms and your plan, you may use GovCon API to:

• build internal tools, and commercial software and services
• run market research and analysis
• bring federal procurement data into your own applications and workflows
• use it from AI assistants and coding tools through the MCP server
• publish work that analyzes, summarizes or adds to the results

The free trial is for evaluating GovCon API. Using it in production, or in a product or service you sell, requires a paid plan.

4. What is not permitted

You may not:

• resell or redistribute the data as a competing data service
• share one API key between different organizations
• page or script through the endpoints to copy, mirror or reconstruct all or a substantial part of the dataset
• bypass, or try to bypass, rate limits, plan restrictions or other access controls
• use the service in a way that degrades it for other customers

The search endpoints are built for filtered, targeted queries, not for downloading the database. We monitor usage for bulk extraction.

If we reasonably conclude that an account is copying the dataset, sharing a key between organizations or circumventing limits, we may throttle, suspend or revoke its keys. We usually contact the account holder first.

If your use needs more than the published limits, email [email protected] before you build it.

5. Usage limits

Every plan has request limits and a maximum page size. The free trial also has a search window. The current values are on Pricing. How limits behave, including the per-minute burst cap and the rate-limit headers, is in the API guide.

A request over a request limit returns HTTP 429.

We may apply other technical controls to keep the service stable for every customer, including limits per IP address.

6. Public government data

The records come from public U.S. government sources. We collect, structure and join them, and we compute results from them, but we do not control the systems that publish them. The sources we carry are listed on Data.

Government data contains errors, omissions, reporting delays, inconsistent identifiers and later corrections, and the systems that publish it change their formats and availability.

Results we compute, such as price benchmarks, vendor risk signals and resolved contacts, are our analysis, not government records.

Before you act on a notice, award, registration, eligibility status, wage determination, exclusion or protest, confirm it at the official government source.

GovCon API is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by any U.S. government agency.

7. Billing

Paid plans are monthly subscriptions, billed in advance through Stripe. Prices are on Pricing.

Free trial. Starting a trial takes no payment method. When the trial ends the key stops working and nothing is charged. Subscribe with the same email address while the trial is still running and that key carries on under the paid plan. Once a trial has ended, the same email address cannot start another.

Cancellation. Cancel in the billing portal or by emailing [email protected]. Access continues to the end of the period you have paid for, and then your key stops working.

Plan changes. To switch between Developer and Pro, subscribe to the other plan with the same email address. Your subscription changes plan at once, and Stripe adds the prorated difference to your next invoice.

Failed payments. If a payment fails, we email you and Stripe retries the charge. Paid access continues while it retries, and ends if the subscription is cancelled for non-payment.

Refunds. We consider refund requests case by case.

Price changes. We email subscribers at least 30 days before a price change applies to them.

8. Privacy

How we collect, use and keep account, usage, billing and support information is in the Privacy Policy.

9. Service availability

GovCon API is provided "as is" and "as available". We work to keep it reliable, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted operation, or that any government source will stay available or unchanged. Source outages and delays, format changes, network failures and maintenance can all affect the service.

10. No professional advice

GovCon API is an information and data service. It does not give legal, procurement, compliance, accounting, investment or other professional advice. Workflows and signals built from public records are tools for research and analysis, and you are responsible for the decisions you make with the data.

11. Disclaimer of warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, GovCon API disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, completeness and uninterrupted availability.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, GovCon API and its operator are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the service, including lost profits, lost contracts, missed bidding opportunities, loss of business, loss of data and the cost of substitute services, whatever the theory of liability.

Our total liability for all claims relating to the service will not exceed the fees you paid to GovCon API in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GovCon API, its operator and affiliates from claims, damages, losses, liabilities and reasonable expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from your unlawful use of the service or your breach of these terms.

14. Disputes

If a problem arises, email [email protected] first, and we will try to resolve it informally. If it is not resolved within 30 days, either party may pursue binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. Any litigation not subject to arbitration will be brought in the federal or state courts located in Delaware.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Before a material change takes effect, we email account holders. Continuing to use the service after it takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected]