BODACC.io vs Pappers: An Honest Comparison (2026)

What is the real difference between Pappers and BODACC.io?

The honest difference lies in how the data is processed. Pappers is a data aggregator: it collects information, stores it and redistributes it. BODACC.io is a data stream analyzer: we do not simply display it, we turn it into a useful signal for decision-making. The first is accessible to everyone and can be reproduced for free in a few clicks. The second requires expertise in data exploitation. A simple example. When a person is subject to a management ban, Pappers displays the raw notice. BODACC.io calculates the duration of that ban and displays it as a key data point: this is precisely the information that changes a decision, whether you are a creditor, a partner or a competitor. The aggregator shows, the analyzer explains. That is the confrontation between the two models. Pappers embodies the old structure for making data available: a warehouse that you consult. BODACC.io embodies the future of open data: a stream that you analyze, that you connect and that you turn into decisions. Both have their place. But if you are looking for the information that decides, you know where to find it.

Pappers was created in July 2020, driven by the gradual opening of the trade and companies register, an opening made possible by the laws that promoted open data in France. BODACC.io was created in August 2026, after a year of testing and programming, with a precise objective: to offer the best possible decision-making compromise based on that same public data. Six years apart, two approaches to data. And those six years are not insignificant: we are experiencing a structural change of era in the way our systems work, where information ceases to be a document that you consult and becomes a continuous stream that feeds decisions. Let us start from an important point: we rely on strictly the same base. Pappers and BODACC.io draw from the same official sources (the DILA's BODACC, the trade register, court registry data) and display the same essential information: identity, legal form, activity, address, managers, legal notices, publications, detailed company records. With a few differences, which we detail later in this article, we have the same resources.

Choose Pappers if you are looking for an aggregator that collects, stores and redistributes official information. Choose BODACC.io if you want an analyzer that turns that same information into a decision: notices as soon as they are published, calculated ban durations, relationship graph, all for free and in 20 languages.

Our rating methodology

To compare Pappers and BODACC.io honestly and reproducibly, we use a single evaluation grid with 5 categories: data source, content, statistics, connectivity, offer and pricing. Each category is rated on specific criteria, with three possible states per item: ✅ (offered), ❌ (not offered), ◌ (to be verified, neutral state until we have checked the competitor's site). No hidden weighting: a category's score is a simple average of its criteria. Our full grid is described in our rating documentation (criteria, scale, transparency rules).

Data source

The first question is the simplest and most fundamental: which data source is each site actually connected to? No value judgment here, just a factual overview: which official databases and which open sources feed each platform.

And the honest answer is that we are plugged into the same foundation. BODACC.io and Pappers are both connected to the BODACC from DILA, the JAL from the court registries, the RCS from INPI, INSEE, BOAMP and the API Entreprise. That is normal: these are French public sources, open to everyone. On the source category, there is no race ahead: the real difference is not in quantity, it is in what each one does with those sources.

This is where the difference between the two models becomes fully meaningful. Pappers reads the data: it collects it, stores it and redistributes it, faithfully and cleanly. BODACC.io analyzes the data: we turn it into useful signal for decision-making, we link it (a notice, a company, a person, a director), we contextualize it (timeline, calculated management bans, graphs). The first shows, the second explains. Both are connected to the same sources; the difference is in the processing, not in the access.

Transparency works both ways: each cell is verifiable on both sides, and the cells still marked ◌ (Pappers' access to Google, LinkedIn or Facebook) will be confirmed during our next verification. The grid judges us as it judges others: you can also contact us to report inaccurate or missing information.

Data source score: BODACC.io 12 · Pappers 7 (the ◌ neither count for nor against, pending verification). With equal sources on the official foundation, the difference comes down to processing: reading for one, analysis for the other.

Our honest limitations

We do not replace Pappers on everything:

• Complete company profiles: we display official data and announcements, but not detailed financial statements or downloadable articles of association.
• API: our API documentation is in progress; Pappers offers a proven public API.
• Ecosystem: Pappers Justice, Pappers Pro, Pappers Immobilier have no equivalent with us.

If these use cases are your priority, Pappers is the right choice, and we tell you so frankly.

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