Every U.S. company that exports goods, provides services, or conducts financial transactions must screen business partners against federal restricted party lists including OFAC's SDN list and BIS Entity List. Violations carry fines up to $1 million per occurrence. Here's how the top screening tools compare in 2026.
| Feature | NormSuite Screening | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Self-serve | Yes | Descartes: No / Zonos: Part of platform / OFAC Search: Yes |
| OFAC SDN | Yes | Descartes: Yes / Zonos: Yes / OFAC Search: Yes |
| BIS Entity List | Yes | Descartes: Yes / Zonos: Yes / OFAC Search: No (OFAC only) |
| Fuzzy matching | Yes | Descartes: Advanced AI / Zonos: Yes / OFAC Search: Exact match only |
| Continuous monitoring | No | Descartes: Yes / Zonos: No / OFAC Search: No |
| Free tier | 5/day | Descartes: No / Zonos: No / OFAC Search: Unlimited (manual) |
| Best for | SMBs | Descartes: Enterprise / Zonos: Ecommerce / OFAC Search: One-off checks |
| Price | $0–149/mo | Descartes: $10K+/yr / Zonos: $500+/mo / OFAC Search: Free |
For enterprises with high-volume screening needs, Descartes Visual Compliance is the market leader. For small businesses that need affordable, reliable screening, NormSuite Denied Party Screening offers OFAC SDN and BIS Entity List screening starting free. For ecommerce businesses, Zonos includes screening in its cross-border compliance platform. For one-off manual checks, OFAC's free search tool works but lacks fuzzy matching.
OFAC's free search tool at sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov only checks the SDN list (not BIS Entity List or other restricted lists) and uses exact name matching. Misspellings, aliases, and transliteration variants will not match. NormSuite uses fuzzy matching (Levenshtein distance + token-based) to catch near-matches that exact search would miss.
At minimum, U.S. companies must screen against OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list and the BIS Entity List. Comprehensive screening also includes the Denied Persons List, Unverified List, Military End-User List, and Non-SDN lists. NormSuite screens against OFAC SDN and BIS Entity List. Descartes covers the broadest set of global restricted party lists.
NormSuite: Free (5/day), $49–149/month. Descartes Visual Compliance: $10,000+/year (enterprise). Zonos: $500+/month (full platform). OFAC free search: $0 (manual, SDN only, no fuzzy matching).
Screen names against OFAC SDN and BIS Entity lists instantly. Free to start, no credit card required.