Dataforge

Free plan Self-hosted

What Dataforge is

Dataforge, also known as FORGE, enriches business databases using free data sources and optional local AI. It can add email addresses, technology stacks, SSL status, site speed, industry classifications, health scores, and pain points to records. Its email extraction combines six methods, including mailto links, pattern matching, JSON-LD, decoding obfuscated addresses, and crawling contact pages. SMTP checks use RCPT TO to verify candidate addresses without sending messages. The project says its technology detector covers more than 30 technologies, including WordPress, Shopify, React, Stripe, and Intercom. Importers cover FCC ULS, the NPI Registry, and SAM.gov records. Optional local AI uses Ollama for summaries and several enrichment fields. Setup requires PostgreSQL and a businesses table; a documented MCP server can discover, enrich, search, and export records and inspect database statistics. FORGE says it writes only into NULL fields and checkpoints each batch, with rollback and resume support. It is self-hosted, free, and MIT licensed.

Who it suits

FORGE suits users who can provide a PostgreSQL database and want to enrich business records with free sources. Its optional local AI features are for users who can run Ollama.

What it does well

Enriches records across several business data fields.
Checks candidate emails without sending messages.
Includes importers for three government data sources.
Free software under the MIT license.

What to know first

Setup requires PostgreSQL and a businesses table.
Optional AI enrichment requires Ollama.
Self-hosted deployment is required.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
FORGE	Free open-source software · runs on your machine · no API keys, accounts, or credit cards	Free

As github.com lists them, read 4 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Visit the FORGE repository on GitHub.
Set up a PostgreSQL database and a businesses table.
Run FORGE on your machine.
Optionally use Ollama for local AI enrichment.
Use the documented MCP server to discover, enrich, search, or export records.

Verdict

FORGE offers a wide range of business-record enrichment and controls for database updates. It requires a PostgreSQL setup, and local AI is optional rather than built into the service.

Questions

How much does FORGE cost?

The listed plan is free. It runs on your machine without API keys, accounts, or credit cards.

Is FORGE open source?

Yes. The repository states that FORGE is MIT licensed.

What does FORGE need to run?

Setup instructions require a PostgreSQL database and a businesses table. The listed platform is self-hosted.

Can FORGE use AI?

Optional local AI enrichment uses Ollama for summaries, industry classification, health scores, and pain points.

What records can FORGE import?

Importers cover FCC ULS, the NPI Registry, and SAM.gov records.

Who made FORGE?

The repository says FORGE was built by Nuclear Marmalade. Nuclear Marmalade's site identifies Glen Healy as founder and engineer.

Facts from Dataforge's own pages

Database: Setup instructions require a PostgreSQL database and a businesses table. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Data handling: The project says writes only fill NULL fields and checkpoint after every batch. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Email extraction: Email extraction uses six layers, including mailto links, regex, JSON-LD, obfuscation decoding, and contact page crawling. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Email verification: SMTP verification checks candidate addresses via RCPT TO without sending mail. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Enrichment: It can fill in emails, technology stacks, SSL status, site speed, industry classification, health scores, and pain points. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Government data: Importers cover FCC ULS, the NPI Registry, and SAM.gov records. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Integrations: The documented MCP server provides tools to discover, enrich, search, and export business records, and inspect database statistics. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
License: The repository states that FORGE is MIT licensed. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Local AI: Optional local AI enrichment uses Ollama for summaries, industry classification, health scores, and pain points. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Maker: The repository says FORGE was built by Nuclear Marmalade, whose site identifies Glen Healy as founder and engineer. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Performance: The README estimates about 16,000 records per hour for web scraping with four workers and 7,000–20,000 AI records per day depending on hardware. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Purpose: FORGE enriches business databases using free data sources and local AI. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Reliability features: It lists rollback support, checkpoint-based resume, graceful degradation when individual layers fail, and process monitoring with auto-restart. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Technology detection: The project says it detects more than 30 technologies, including WordPress, Shopify, React, Stripe, and Intercom. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026

Where Dataforge stands on Freedom251

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