Free Public Websites Worth Knowing: Official Sources for Data, Records and Services

Governments and international bodies run free websites where you can find data, records and public services yourself. This page lists a set of them, with each site’s own address and one line on what you can do there. The starting list is from the United States; a second part covers official sources for other countries and for the world.

It ranks nothing, and a site being here is not a recommendation. We earn nothing from these links.

01Before you start: how to spot an official site

An official address is the first thing to check. On US government sites, a banner explains that a .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Other countries use their own endings, such as gov.uk, gc.ca or gov.au, and international bodies have their own domains.

For example, if a search result offers a tax form on a site you don’t know, go to the agency’s own address and get the form there.

Try this: bookmark the official sites you use most, so you never have to search for them again.

02Government services and help (United States)

These sites are the front doors for everyday dealings with the US federal government.

USA.gov

usa.gov is a general guide to federal services. USA.gov helps you locate and understand government benefits, programs, and information. It is a good first stop when you don’t know which agency handles something.

IRS.gov

irs.gov is the site of the Internal Revenue Service, the US tax agency. Its menus cover refunds, payments and tax records, and you can find forms there or access your tax information with an IRS account.

SBA.gov

sba.gov is the US Small Business Administration. The SBA describes itself as dedicated to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs. Its business guide walks you through starting and growing a small business.

USAJOBS

usajobs.gov is the federal government’s official employment site. It connects job seekers with federal jobs across the United States and around the world.

Grants.gov

grants.gov is where you can search federal grant opportunities. Its own reminder says federal agencies do not publish personal financial assistance opportunities on Grants.gov. The grants there are for organisations that run government-funded programmes; for help as an individual, it points you to USA.gov.

Try this: next time you need something from a US agency, start at USA.gov and follow its links rather than a search ad.

Not sure which agency handles itStart at USA.gov and follow its links.

Help as an individualGrants.gov is for organisations; for help as an individual, it points you to USA.gov.

A public company's own reportsSEC EDGAR, such as its annual report on Form 10-K.

A statistic in the newsFind the agency that publishes it and the original table.

Weather on a past dayHistorical weather and climate data at ncei.noaa.gov.

A second-hand cot, car seat or applianceSearch the CPSC recalls for its name.

An unfamiliar shopLook up when its domain was registered, with ICANN Lookup.

Your own country's numbersSearch your country's name plus "national statistics office".

Drawn from the page's own lines; a starting point, not a ranking.

03Companies, patents and trade (United States)

These sites hold the public filings and registers behind businesses and inventions.

SEC EDGAR

EDGAR, from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, is the SEC’s database of company filings. The SEC says the EDGAR database provides free public access to corporate information. You can read a public company’s own reports, such as its annual report on Form 10-K. Our page on tracking disclosed trades shows how to search it step by step.

USPTO

uspto.gov is the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You can search its patent database and its trademark database. It suggests searching the trademark database before filing, to find similar trademarks that could affect your application.

Trade.gov (and Export.gov)

trade.gov is the International Trade Administration, which calls itself a US government resource for competing in the global marketplace. It has export guides, research by country and industry, and trade data. When we tried the older address export.gov in November 2026, it did not load; the ITA’s export help is on trade.gov.

Try this: pick a company whose products you use and open its latest annual report on EDGAR.

04Data and statistics (United States)

These are the agencies that count people, prices, jobs and crime, and publish the numbers for free.

Census.gov

census.gov is the US Census Bureau. Its mission is to be the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. You can explore census data with visualizations and tutorials, and it has a section on census records and genealogy.

Data.gov

data.gov is the home of the US government’s open data. It offers data, tools and resources for research, apps and data visualizations.

BLS.gov

bls.gov is the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which calls itself the principal fact-finding agency in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. It measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes and productivity in the US economy.

FRED

FRED is the economic data service of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Its tools help you find and use economic data, and it offers an add-in for Excel and an API.

FBI Crime Data Explorer

The Crime Data Explorer is the FBI’s site for crime statistics reported by US law enforcement agencies. The FBI says you can use it to discover data through visualizations and downloads in .csv format.

Try this: when you see a statistic in the news, look for the agency that publishes it and find the original table.

05Weather, science and the planet

These sites share the data behind forecasts, climate records and satellite images.

NOAA and the National Weather Service

noaa.gov is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Its work runs from daily weather forecasts and severe storm warnings to climate monitoring and fisheries management. Forecasts for US locations are at weather.gov, and historical weather and climate data at ncei.noaa.gov.

NASA Earthdata

earthdata.nasa.gov is where NASA shares its Earth science data. NASA says it acquires, archives and distributes data from instruments on satellites and aircraft, field campaigns and other sources.

Try this: look up the weather records for the day and place you were born.

06History, records and libraries

Two institutions in Washington hold much of America’s written record, and a lot of it is online.

Library of Congress

loc.gov is the Library of Congress. It describes itself as the largest library in the world, with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections.

National Archives

archives.gov is the National Archives and Records Administration, which calls itself the nation’s record keeper. It says only 1%-3% of federal government records are kept forever, for legal or historical reasons. You can search them through the National Archives Catalog, including veterans’ service records.

Try this: search the Library of Congress for old newspapers or maps of your town.

07Product safety, food and medicines

Two US agencies publish recalls and safety warnings anyone can check.

CPSC.gov

cpsc.gov is the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It is a federal regulatory agency formed in 1972 to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury or death from consumer products. Its recalls page lists product recalls and safety warnings.

FDA.gov

fda.gov is the Food and Drug Administration. It is responsible for protecting public health. It does this by ensuring the safety, efficacy and security of drugs, biological products and medical devices, and the safety of the food supply and cosmetics, among other things. It publishes recalls, news and product approvals.

Try this: before you buy a second-hand cot, car seat or appliance, search the CPSC recalls for its name.

08The internet

You can look up who registered a domain name, within limits.

ICANN Lookup

lookup.icann.org is run by ICANN, which coordinates the unique names and numbers computers use to find each other. Its tool lets you look up the current registration data for domain names and internet number resources. It uses a newer protocol called RDAP, created as a replacement for WHOIS. Some registration data is not public. ICANN suggests trying the lookup first, and points people with a legitimate interest, such as law enforcement, to a separate request service.

Try this: before you buy from an unfamiliar shop, look up when its domain was registered.

09Money in politics

One of these is an official government source and the other is an independent nonprofit.

FEC.gov

fec.gov is the Federal Election Commission, the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance law. You can explore campaign finance data and look up contributions from specific individuals.

OpenSecrets

opensecrets.org is not a government site. It describes itself as nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, and says it provides data, analysis and tools on money in American politics. It collects and cleans data on money in politics, and publishes analysis, reports and tools.

Try this: compare what a candidate’s FEC filing shows with how OpenSecrets presents the same money.

FEC.gov	Official: the Federal Election Commission, the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance law.
OpenSecrets	Not a government site. It describes itself as nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit.

10Official sources outside the United States

For other countries and the world, these are the official equivalents.

World data

• data.worldbank.org: World Bank Open Data, which offers free and open access to global development data. The World Bank says the site is expanding to Data360, a new collection of data, analytics and tools.
• data.imf.org: the International Monetary Fund’s economic and financial data.
• oecd.org/en/data: OECD statistics, searchable through the OECD Data Explorer.
• data.un.org: since September 2026 this hosts the UN System Data Commons, which brings together public data and statistics from across the UN system.
• data.who.int: World Health Organization data, including its annual World Health Statistics report.

Europe

• Eurostat: the statistical office of the European Union, with a database you can explore by theme.
• data.europa.eu: the official portal for European data.
• gov.uk: the United Kingdom’s site for government services and information.
• ons.gov.uk: the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s national statistical institute.
• destatis.de: the Federal Statistical Office of Germany.

National statistics offices elsewhere

• statcan.gc.ca: Statistics Canada, Canada’s national statistical office.
• abs.gov.au: the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s national statistical agency.
• stat.go.jp: the Statistics Bureau of Japan.
• esankhyiki.mospi.gov.in: eSankhyiki, a data platform from India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which calls it a one-stop platform for official statistics in India.

Most countries have a national statistics office of their own. The UN Statistics Division supports countries’ efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems. Searching your country’s name plus “national statistics office” is a quick way to find yours.

Try this: find your own country’s statistics office and look up one number you care about, such as average rent or population.

11Where to learn more

• Our guide to checking something online before you share it gives a quick method for judging any site, official or not.
• Our page on how to read a study without a science degree helps with the numbers these sites publish.
• USA.gov’s A–Z list of agencies leads to every US federal agency’s own site.

12Quick answers

13Use this

14Quick quiz

How we checked this · Last checked November 2026

• We opened every site on 3 November 2026 and took each description from the site's own pages.
• A few sites block scripts, so we read them in a browser. OpenSecrets was behind a bot check, so we read the Internet Archive copy of its About page from January 2026.
• Export.gov did not load when we tried it, so the page says so and points to trade.gov.
• We left out sites we could not open, including some national statistics offices behind bot checks.
• Listing a site is not a recommendation, and we earn nothing from these links.

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