yente

Yente is an open-source screening API for teams that need to search and match people, companies and other entities against watchlists inside their own environment. It is strongest for organizations able to run search infrastructure and manage data feeds; teams seeking a hosted, turnkey service should look elsewhere. The software costs nothing, but commercial use of its default OpenSanctions data has a separate licensing cost.

Overview

Yente provides API operations for searching, retrieving and matching FollowTheMoney entities. OpenSanctions is the default source, while company registries and custom watchlists can also be indexed. This makes the same service suitable for sanctions and PEP screening, ongoing monitoring and organization-specific lists rather than a single fixed database.

On-premises deployment keeps customer query data within the deployment context, an important advantage for organizations with strict data-residency or internal-control requirements. Yente is released under the MIT License, so the application itself is free and open source. That does not grant commercial rights to OpenSanctions: commercial users need a data-license subscription, while non-commercial and exempt users can use the civic manifest.

Key features

Search, matching and data control

The API supports individual lookups and batch screening, with custom list management and matching against selected datasets. A manifest can restrict which OpenSanctions data is indexed and define custom scopes, giving compliance teams control over relevance and index size. Custom sources must be line-based JSON feeds of FollowTheMoney entities, so organizations with differently structured records will need a conversion step.

Updates and operations

By default, Yente checks for new OpenSanctions builds hourly and reindexes when one is available. That schedule suits programs that need recurring list refreshes without manual imports. Health endpoints at /healthz and /readyz, together with OpenTelemetry metrics and traces, provide useful hooks for production monitoring.

Elasticsearch and OpenSearch are supported backends. Pre-built Docker containers plus example Docker Compose and Kubernetes configurations simplify deployment, but they do not remove the operational burden: documentation estimates 800 MB of memory per Python service, and 4–16 GB of memory plus 10–30 GB of disk for the Elasticsearch index. The defaults also cap each match batch at 100 entities and each match query at 500 returned results; high-volume workflows must design around those ceilings.

Pricing

Yente has a free, open-source pricing model and no paid software plans or seat charges. The meaningful commercial cost is data licensing: commercial use of OpenSanctions requires a license subscription. Non-commercial and exempt users can access the data through the civic manifest. Organizations should therefore separate the zero-cost MIT-licensed application from the rights and terms for the data they intend to screen.

Platforms

Yente is delivered as an API for Linux and web-connected deployments, with self-hosting as a central operating model. Docker images and sample Compose and Kubernetes setups support containerized installations. Elasticsearch or OpenSearch must be provided as the search backend, along with the memory and storage resources needed for the chosen index.

Who it's for

Yente fits compliance, fintech and other engineering-led teams that need PEP, sanctions and ongoing screening while retaining query data on premises. It is also a good match when one service must combine OpenSanctions with registries or proprietary watchlists and when manifest-level dataset selection matters.

It is a weaker fit for small organizations without Linux, container and search-platform administration skills, or for buyers who want vendor-operated infrastructure, packaged support and predictable hosted pricing. The JSON feed requirement and batch-result limits add integration and throughput work for large or heterogeneous programs.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Open-source and MIT licensed: the screening application can be deployed without software subscription fees.
• On-premises control: query data can remain within the deployment context.
• Flexible datasets: OpenSanctions, registries and custom watchlists can be combined, narrowed and scoped through a manifest.
• Operational visibility: health checks and OpenTelemetry support make it easier to connect the service to monitoring.
• Deployment options: Docker, Compose and Kubernetes examples reduce setup friction for infrastructure teams.

Cons

• Commercial data licensing: commercial OpenSanctions use requires a separate subscription, so the free software is not a free commercial data solution.
• Infrastructure overhead: teams must operate Linux containers and Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, with substantial memory and disk requirements.
• Integration constraints: custom data must be line-based FollowTheMoney JSON.
• Fixed defaults: 100 entities per match batch and 500 returned results per query can constrain high-volume screening unless workflows are partitioned.

Alternatives

FinCrimeRadar is a free web option, better suited to readers who prefer a browser service rather than self-hosted infrastructure. Choose OFACScreen when a freemium web/API product with a 14-day trial, 25 searches, three users and five monitored names is a better starting point. SanctionsScreening.io offers a hosted API and web model with a Pro plan at $29 a month.

ScreeningHub is the more suitable alternative when a hosted or self-hosted product with a free tier of 100 screens per month and a 79.00 EUR-per-month Starter plan matches your volume. Choose Eastnets SafeWatch AML when a paid web deployment is preferred. NICE Actimize, Enlighta Sanctions Screening and FinScan are paid alternatives for buyers prepared to request pricing; FinScan also supports API, self-hosted and web deployment.

For a broader comparison, see Sanctions Screening Software.

Verdict

Choose Yente if you need a controllable, on-premises screening API and have the engineering capacity to run its search stack and shape its datasets. Its combination of open software, custom sources and deployment privacy is the main reason to choose it. Look elsewhere if you need hosted simplicity, built-in operational responsibility or commercial watchlist data without arranging a separate OpenSanctions license.