GiveRadar vs NGO Explorer: an honest comparison
GiveRadar and NGO Explorer are both free, and both work with charity data, but they are built for different research questions. NGO Explorer is a specialized lens on England-and-Wales charities that work overseas. GiveRadar checks how any single charity discloses, anywhere in the world.
Primary sources
All NGO Explorer figures are from ngoexplorer.org and last reviewed July 2026 (site data updated 09 July 2026); volatile figures carry their date where stated. GiveRadar figures are live counts from this platform.
This page is written and maintained by GiveRadar. We make no claim to neutrality: we built GiveRadar and we believe in it, and we have tried to represent NGO Explorer fairly. NGO Explorer is an actively maintained, open-source tool with a genuinely useful lens on UK international development charities, and we recommend it without reservation for that job. The two tools are complementary. If you spot an inaccuracy, email info@giveradar.com and we will correct it.
Matt Timmermans
Founder of GiveRadar
GiveRadar
NGO ExplorerWhat are GiveRadar and NGO Explorer each for?
Both are free and both draw on official charity data, but one maps a sector and the other screens an organization. Name which job you have and the choice is clear.
Screen one charity, anywhere
"How much does this specific charity disclose, and how does it compare?"
This needs a per-organization disclosure score, red flags, officers, and monitoring, across countries and jurisdictions. GiveRadar answers it for 7.9 million+ nonprofits in 100+ countries, and NGO Explorer does not score charities at all.
Answered by GiveRadar
Map a sector of UK NGOs
"Which England-and-Wales charities work in this country or cause?"
This needs a curated, filterable slice of UK development NGOs, mapped by where they work, what they do, and who they serve, with IATI data alongside. NGO Explorer is built for exactly that, and GiveRadar has no equivalent sector-mapping filters.
Answered by NGO ExplorerWho each one is
GiveRadar
GiveRadar is a free charity intelligence platform covering 7.9 million+ nonprofits across 100+ countries, built from 50+ official government registries and tax authorities, plus vetted directories where no registry data exists.
Every charity gets a 0-100 integrity assessment that measures how much the organization discloses: registration, financial transparency, governance, contact availability, and data recency. It does not measure impact, and it cannot be bought.
Red flags mark high executive pay, stale filings, and bare-minimum disclosure. GiveRadar Analysis adds peer context, watchlists send change alerts, and a REST API and MCP server both have free tiers. Every data point shows where it came from.
NGO Explorer
NGO Explorer is a free, open-source research tool for exploring UK charities that work internationally. It lists 19,361 England-and-Wales registered NGOs working outside the UK (site data updated 09 July 2026), deliberately excluding UK-only charities and those that say they work in more than 50 countries; Scottish (OSCR) and Northern Irish (CCNI) charities are not covered.
Its data comes from Find that Charity, which draws on the Charity Commission for England and Wales register, plus IATI aid-transparency data via the OIPA API; CharityBase was its data supplier historically, from 2019 to 2024.
It was built by data scientist David Kane, with academic co-leads Dr Nicola Banks (Manchester) and Prof Dan Brockington (Sheffield). It has no rating, score, seal, or review system, and no public API of its own: it presents registry and IATI data with filters, and lets you upload your own list of charity numbers to explore a custom group.
NGO Explorer maps the sector, GiveRadar screens the charity
GiveRadar and NGO Explorer are built for different research questions, and both are free. NGO Explorer answers "which England-and-Wales charities work in this country or sector, and what does the registry say about them as a group": a deliberately scoped, academically grounded lens on UK development NGOs that GiveRadar does not replicate.
GiveRadar answers "how much does this specific charity disclose, anywhere in the world": an integrity assessment per organization, red flags, officer records, and monitoring across 100+ countries. If your work touches UK NGOs working overseas, the honest answer is that these two tools stack rather than compete.
How does NGO Explorer's scope differ from GiveRadar's?
The clearest difference is shape. NGO Explorer goes deep on one well-defined slice; GiveRadar goes wide across the whole registered sector. Neither is better, they are built for different questions.
GiveRadar: broad coverage
- 7.9 million+ nonprofits across 100+ countries, from official registries.
- A 0-100 integrity assessment on every charity, plus red flags and officer records.
- Includes what NGO Explorer scopes out: UK-only, Scottish and Northern Irish, and worldwide charities.
NGO Explorer: a specialized lens
- 19,361 England-and-Wales NGOs working overseas (site data updated 09 Jul 2026).
- Filters by country of operation, region, classification, and beneficiaries, with IATI data alongside.
- No score by design: it presents the data for you to interpret.
GiveRadar vs NGO Explorer: the full comparison table
Both are free; the table lines them up across the dimensions where each is meaningful. NGO Explorer figures last reviewed July 2026.
| Dimension | GiveRadar | NGO Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | 7.9 million+ nonprofits | 19,361 UK NGOs working internationally (site data updated 09 Jul 2026) |
| Geography | 100+ countries | England-and-Wales charities working outside the UK; UK-only and over-50-country charities excluded; Scotland (OSCR) and Northern Ireland (CCNI) not covered |
| What the score means | Integrity assessment, 0-100: measures public disclosure, never impact, cannot be bought | No score, rating, seal, or review by design: registry and IATI data presented with filters for you to interpret |
| Price | Free for everyone; charities cannot pay for placement or scores | Fully free; open source (github.com/drkane/ngo-explorer) |
| Data source | 50+ official government registries and tax authorities; provenance per data point | Find that Charity (Charity Commission for England and Wales register) plus IATI via the OIPA API; CharityBase was the supplier 2019-2024 |
| API | REST API and MCP server, both with free tiers | No public API of its own; its source Find that Charity (findthatcharity.uk) is the programmatic route |
| Monitoring | Watchlists with change alerts on filings, scores, and red flags | No monitoring or alerts; you can upload a list of E&W charity numbers to explore a custom group |
Scroll the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
When should you use NGO Explorer vs GiveRadar?
If your work touches UK NGOs working overseas, you will often want both, one after the other.
Use GiveRadar when
- You are vetting one specific charity: an integrity assessment with visible components, red flags, and peer context.
- The charity is outside England and Wales, including Scottish, Northern Irish, and UK-only charities NGO Explorer's scope excludes.
- You need officer records with compensation where disclosed, or financial history, with provenance per data point.
- You need programmatic access, or watchlists and change alerts to keep watching over time.
Use NGO Explorer when
- You are researching UK charities working internationally as a sector, filtered by country, region, classification, or beneficiaries.
- You want a curated slice rather than everything: it trims UK-only charities and those claiming over 50 countries.
- You have your own list of England-and-Wales charity numbers and want to explore them as a group.
- You want IATI aid-transparency data shown alongside Charity Commission data, in an open-source tool.
Use both when
You are a funder or researcher working on UK international development. Map the field on NGO Explorer: which England-and-Wales charities work in your country or cause, at what size. Then take your shortlist to GiveRadar for per-charity screening: integrity assessment, red flags, officers, and a watchlist so you hear about changes. The two steps answer different questions, and neither tool does the other's job.
Is GiveRadar a good NGO Explorer alternative?
First, the honest note: you may not need an alternative at all. NGO Explorer is alive and actively maintained, with site data last updated 09 July 2026, and it is free and open source. If it stopped answering your question, the more likely reason is scope, and that is where GiveRadar fits.
GiveRadar is an NGO Explorer alternative when your question is about a specific charity rather than a sector, or when the charity falls outside NGO Explorer's deliberate boundaries: UK-only charities, Scottish and Northern Irish organizations, charities operating in more than 50 countries, or nonprofits anywhere else in the world. GiveRadar covers 7.9 million+ nonprofits in 100+ countries with a 0-100 integrity assessment, red flags, officer records where disclosed, an API, and change alerts, free, with no pay-to-play.
GiveRadar is not the right alternative if what you value is NGO Explorer's sector-mapping lens: the development-focused filters, the curated international-NGO-only slice, and the IATI view are things GiveRadar does not replicate. And if you want NGO Explorer's underlying data programmatically, the accurate pointer is its current source, Find that Charity (findthatcharity.uk), not GiveRadar.
GiveRadar and NGO Explorer: common questions
Is GiveRadar an NGO Explorer alternative?
For screening individual charities, yes. GiveRadar covers 7.9 million+ nonprofits in 100+ countries with a 0-100 integrity assessment computed from official government registry data, free for everyone, and it includes the charities NGO Explorer scopes out: UK-only organizations, Scottish and Northern Irish charities, and nonprofits worldwide. It is not an alternative for NGO Explorer's core job, mapping England-and-Wales charities that work internationally with development-sector filters and IATI data; NGO Explorer remains the better tool for that, and it is free and actively maintained.
Is NGO Explorer or GiveRadar better?
They answer different questions, so neither is simply better. NGO Explorer is better for exploring UK international development charities as a field: filtering 19,361 E&W NGOs (site data updated 09 July 2026) by where they work, what they do, and who they serve. GiveRadar is better for judging one charity's disclosure: integrity assessment, red flags, officers, peer context, an API, and change alerts, across 100+ countries. The honest steer: map the sector with NGO Explorer, screen the shortlist with GiveRadar.
Is NGO Explorer still maintained?
Yes. As of July 2026 the site is live and states that its data was last updated on 09 July 2026. It runs on current sources: Find that Charity, which draws on the Charity Commission for England and Wales register, plus IATI data via the OIPA API. CharityBase, sometimes still cited as its data layer, supplied the data only from 2019 to 2024. The project began as academic work, funded by ESRC and Global Challenges Research Fund money awarded through UK Research and Innovation and unveiled at Bond in April 2019, and continues today as an open-source project; it was developed by data scientist David Kane and its data is refreshed via Find that Charity.
Does NGO Explorer have an API?
No, NGO Explorer has no public API of its own (as of July 2026). For programmatic access to the UK charity data behind it, its current source Find that Charity (findthatcharity.uk) is the accurate route. For programmatic access to charity data across 100+ countries, including integrity assessments, financials, officer records where disclosed, and red flags, GiveRadar offers a REST API and an MCP server, both with free tiers.
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Check any charity's disclosure record, free
Search 7.9M+ nonprofits in 100+ countries. Map the UK development sector on NGO Explorer, then screen your shortlist here.