Top 5 Equifax Alternatives for 2026: Credit & Verification Platforms
A global credit bureau like Equifax is widely used for providing credit reports and risk scores. And for many organizations, it remains an important data source. But in today’s environment, credit data alone is not enough to support confident onboarding and ongoing risk decisions.
Verification volumes are growing, onboarding is going digital and online, and regulations are becoming more stringent as threats evolve. There is a need for a unified KYB, KYC, sanctions, and tax ID checks in a single documented workflow.
Many organizations are rethinking their approach and building broader verification stacks where multiple checks run in parallel and share context.
In this guide, we’ve reviewed the five leading Equifax Alternatives. We looked at each tool to outline their strengths and limitations.
The Best Equifax Alternatives for 2026
1. Compliancely
Powered by Zenwork, Compliancely is a real-time verification platform that offers KYC, KYB, TIN matching, sanctions and watchlist screening in a single workflow. The platform not only assesses tax and credit risk signals, but it also helps organizations automate KYC and KYB checks.
The platform is best suited for banks, fintechs, marketplaces, and enterprises that need a centralized verification engine rather than using multiple solutions.
Key Features
- Unified real-time KYC, KYB, and TIN verification using data from authoritative sources.
- Provides sanction and watchlist screening against OFAC, FATCA, DMF, and other lists.
- High-volume onboarding via API workflows along with bulk TIN matching.
- Offers exportable, detailed decision logs and audit trails for compliance.
- Part of Zenwork’s broader tax and compliance product suite.
Pros
- Combines identity and business verification, sanctions and tax checks in a single platform.
- Helps streamline onboarding customers, suppliers, vendors, and partners.
- Reduces manual compliance work with configurable rules.
Cons
- May be more feature-rich than needed for very small or low-risk programs.
Pricing
Contact the Compliancely team for a custom quote.
2. Experian
Experian is a major global data and technology company that collects and analyzes consumer and business credit data to produce credit reports, FICO® scores, and risk insights. Beyond traditional credit scoring and monitoring, their data and analytics support identity and fraud risk assessment, providing tools for credit risk reporting, dispute management, and protection against identity theft.
It’s best suited for deep credit data in underwriting including financial services, direct-to-consumer, retail, telecommunications, automotive and more.
Key Features
- Provides credit reporting and scoring to help lenders and organizations assess their financial risk.
- Offers identity verification, fraud prevention, and decisioning tools specifically for lending and onboarding processes.
- Maintains one of the industry’s largest consumer and business credit databases with detailed credit scores, public records, and risk attributes.
- Offers customer lifecycle and perpetual monitoring features that help firms automate ongoing KYC and AML compliance.
Pros
- Deep, globally recognized credit data coverage that covers multiple markets.
- Good fit for lenders and financial institutions that want well-established credit bureau data in their underwriting models.
Cons
- Enterprise-heavy product and licensing complexity can slow down the procurement process.
- Requires custom engineering for integration rather than simple plug-and-play setup.
Pricing
Experian offers custom pricing depending on your stack, volume and region.
3. TransUnion
TransUnion is a leading credit bureau that provides consumer and commercial credit reporting, identity verification, and fraud prevention solutions for financial services, telecom, and digital businesses. They offer tools that help organizations conduct more informed KYC checks and reduce exposure to credit and compliance risks.
Best for those who want credit along with identity checks and fraud signals in one place.
Key Features
- Verify identities and prevent fraud using proprietary consumer data and predictive analytics.
- Detect potential fraud using fraud risk signals and analytics that use device and behavioral data.
- Get access to a large global credit database covering over one billion consumers across more than 30 countries.
- Make configurable decision rules by combining credit data with fraud and identity signals.
- Flexible integration options including API, automated batch processing via SFTP, and hosted web pages to connect TransUnion data and tools into their systems.
Pros
- Combines credit reporting and data analytics with identity verification and fraud prevention.
- Helpful for reducing fraud and improving risk decisions during onboarding.
- Widely used in lending and financial services for assessing credit and identity risk.
Cons
- Might need to supplement with other tools for business verification and tax ID checks for some jurisdictions.
- Setup and integration may require engineering effort, especially when using multiple TransUnion products.
- Might extend implementation timelines as each product needs separate evaluation, pricing negotiations, and contracts.
Pricing
Custom quotes based on volumes, use cases, and geographic scope.
4. LexisNexis Risk Solutions
LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a global data and analytics company that helps companies enhance their KYC, KYB, AML, and broader financial crime compliance programs. It offers identity verification, fraud prevention, AML compliance, and credit risk assessment to better understand customer and supplier risk, meet regulatory requirements, and detect any suspicious activity.
Best suited for large businesses with complicated risk management processes.
Key Features
- Helps organizations understand complex ownership structures to support KYB, due diligence, and risk assessments.
- Real-time screening against sanctions and watchlists, PEP, and adverse media coverage along with ongoing monitoring.
- Provides case management tools to manage alerts, investigations, and reviews with customizable review processes.
Pros
- Comprehensive data coverage is well-suited for complex, high-risk sectors where deep risk analysis and global coverage are required.
- Strong choice for large financial institutions, multinational corporations, and regulated enterprises.
- Capable of supporting enterprise-wide risk and compliance frameworks.
Cons
- Can be resource-intensive to deploy and maintain.
- Might need additional tools for tax ID checks and address validation checks.
- May feel heavy for those focused on streamlined digital-first onboarding.
Pricing
Custom pricing based on use case, volume, and features.
5. Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet is a global company known for business verification and risk intelligence. It helps organizations by providing commercial credit reports, firmographic data, and risk analytics for B2B onboarding, underwriting, and supplier management. It’s powered by its Data Cloud of over 500 million business records worldwide.
Key Features
- Assigns and maintains the globally recognized D-U-N-S Number, which uniquely identifies and verifies businesses.
- Provides a range of detailed, configurable risk scores on business and financial health.
- Offers ongoing monitoring and real-time alerts for changes in risk profiles and business status.
Pros
- Maintains a massive database of business records worldwide, including financials, compliance status, and diversity classifications, along with frequent updates.
- Well-suited for B2B onboarding, vendor risk monitoring, and commercial credit decisions.
- D-U-N-S Number is a globally recognized business ID that provides a reliable way to identify and match businesses consistently.
Cons
- Has limited depth for individual KYC verification.
- Increases operational headache and total cost of ownership if you want a unified risk workflow.
- Integration is complex and demands dedicated technical resources.
Pricing
Dun & Bradstreet offers custom pricing plans depending on your business needs.
How to Choose a Unified Verification Platform Vs Credit Bureau Stack
The process of selecting Equifax alternatives usually starts by carefully looking at what needs to be evaluated. Pay attention to these factors before you commit to anything.
First, start by identifying areas where verification is needed — KYC, KYB, tax IDs, sanctions, credit, and address checks, along with clarity on jurisdictional coverage.
Plan your platform and integration strategy to decide between a unified platform like Compliancely or multiple point solutions.
Next, look at volume and speed capabilities. During high-volume verification and onboarding, API performance and low manual review rates matter. Estimate your daily and peak volumes and how long reviews typically take.
Run pilot tests with real customers and data before committing — that way, you can track false positives, speed, manual review time, and missed risk indicators.
Don’t forget to figure out total cost of ownership, including licensing fees, setup and maintenance effort, and the cost of inconsistent data across systems.
FAQs
1. What are the top Equifax alternatives for B2B onboarding verification?
Compliancely, Experian, TransUnion, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and Dun & Bradstreet are commonly used Equifax alternatives for B2B onboarding verification.
2. What’s the use of credit bureaus if I choose a unified verification platform?
Most organizations use a unified verification platform as the orchestration layer and selectively incorporate bureau data where it adds value, such as credit risk or historical payment behavior.
3. How does unified verification reduce risk compared to a bureau-only stack?
A unified verification reduces risks by combining KYC, KYB, sanctions, addresses, and tax ID verification into one governed workflow with audit-ready logs and event-driven monitoring.
4. Can we phase in a unified verification workflow without disrupting underwriting models?
Yes, you can. Most organizations often start by piloting unified identity, KYB, and tax checks alongside existing bureau-based underwriting models. The results are then monitored and compared before scaling gradually.
Are you ready to see how Compliancely works as a unified verification tool?
