On 14 August 2026, FinCEN's final rule on beneficial ownership reporting took effect and made permanent the exemption US companies have had since March 2025. By the final rule's own count, about 27.5 million reporting companies have been relieved of reporting since then. For a firm onboarding a US business, the owners in its file now come from the customer, state records and its own checks.
That work is know your business, and this page compares ten tools that run it in one table rather than in head to head comparisons of one rival with complead. complead publishes this comparison and lists itself first.
What does KYB software do?
KYB software confirms that a business customer exists, finds the people who own and control it, and checks both against risk data at onboarding and afterwards. Tools sold under the name do one of three jobs, and a firm can need more than one.
- Data layer. Registry records, official documents and ownership data, delivered by API or portal for the firm to build on. Kyckr and Moody's sell this.
- Workflow layer. The form, document collection, screening, the case and the approve or reject step, run on registry data the vendor buys or connects to. ComplyCube, GBG, Ondato, Persona and Sumsub sell this.
- US specialist. State records, tax ID matching and owners for US entities. Middesk sells this and reaches other countries through the same API.
Trulioo spans the first two. complead works from the registry check onward: its KYB and UBO verification confirms the entity, traces the owners, screens every party and keeps watching the file.
KYB onboarding software is the workflow layer as the applicant meets it: the form, the upload and the status. The process behind it is the firm's own KYB onboarding process, its stages from intake to approval, and the checks on a single company are KYB verification.
What can a KYB tool pull from owner registers in 2026?
Table 1. What owner registers give a KYB tool in 2026 (sources read 10 November 2026)
| Where | Register or rule | What changes for a KYB tool | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | FinCEN beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting | Since the final rule took effect on 14 August 2026, US companies are exempt, and the only filers left are certain foreign companies registered to do business in the US. Owners of a US company come from the customer, state records and the firm's own checks | FinCEN |
| UK | Companies House register, including people with significant control (PSCs) | Identity verification is mandatory from 18 November 2025 for directors and PSCs, who link the verified identity to each role with a Companies House personal code | gov.uk |
| EU | Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), applying from 10 July 2027 | Article 20(1)(b): identify the beneficial owners and take reasonable measures to verify their identity, so that the firm knows who they are and understands the ownership and control structure. Article 20(1)(d): check whether persons under targeted financial sanctions control the entity or hold more than 50% of its proprietary rights | EUR-Lex |
Two official texts explain why a register is where KYB starts, not where it ends. Recital 54 of the EU Regulation says a central register "should not be the obliged entity's primary source for verification". Companies House says its own identity checks make impersonation "much more difficult for criminals", then adds "but not impossible".
So a tool that only reads a register returns what the company filed. The firm still verifies it. Ask every vendor which fields come straight from a register, which are calculated or researched, and which the customer typed in.
How do you choose KYB software?
Ask each vendor to run these seven checks on three of your own business customers, one of them with layered ownership.
- Coverage where you onboard. Ask for the registers by country, and which ones return owners as well as officers. A global country count hides that split.
- Source and date on every field. An examiner or auditor will ask where a director's name came from and on what day. A retrieval stamped with its time answers that.
- How owners are found. The route each tool takes in UBO verification: registry shareholder data, calculated ownership, manual research or the customer's declaration, and what the file shows when a layer cannot be resolved.
- Every owner screened. Each director and owner the tool finds should go through sanctions, PEP and adverse media screening on the same record, as in client screening and ongoing monitoring.
- After onboarding. Does the tool notice a new director, an ownership change or a status change, and screen the new party, or does it wait for the next review date?
- Who decides. If an AI agent researches a discrepancy or recommends an outcome, ask who approves the customer and where that decision is recorded.
- Delivery. An API into your own onboarding, a portal for analysts, or a no code form the applicant fills in. Some firms need two of the three.
Accuracy and speed are tests for the business verification service behind each tool as well. Before buying, running the free checks on whether a company is legitimate by hand on five customers shows where an analyst's time goes.
The 10 KYB software tools compared
After complead, the other nine follow A to Z, unranked. Each shows a KYB product on its own site. Kyckr and Ondato are in the set because four of the eight vendor written "best KYB" lists read for this page name each of them. Persona's site refused scripted reads, so its three pages were opened in a browser.
The cells hold what each vendor's KYB page said on 10 November 2026, quoted or closely summarized, and a cell reads "Not stated" when the page was silent on that column. Prices, review scores, vendor percentages and compliance suites that go beyond KYB stay off the table.
Table 2. 10 KYB software tools compared (vendor pages read 10 November 2026; Persona in a browser)
| Vendor | Layer | Coverage (as stated) | How owners are found | Owners screened | After onboarding | Delivery | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| complead | Verification and screening on one record | 3,500+ sanctions, PEP and watchlists from 220+ jurisdictions, refreshed every 15 minutes; entities checked against official registers and vetted sources | Followed upward until each owner is a natural person (no fixed depth cap); layers it cannot resolve are marked unresolved | Every party: sanctions, PEP, watchlists, adverse media | Shareholding, directors, status and filings watched continuously; a change screens the new party | API; monitoring started and stopped per name by API; cloud or on premise | Custom quote; no public price list | A firm that wants owners screened and watched on the same record |
| ComplyCube | Workflow | "KYB coverage across 220+ countries and territories" | Registries, credit bureaus and trusted data providers | Directors and UBOs: sanctions, PEP, adverse media | Monitoring for sanctions updates, ownership changes, adverse media | APIs, SDKs, hosted flows | Public pricing page | KYB, KYC and document checks from one vendor |
| GBG | Workflow | "600m+ company records and ownership registries" | Automated UBO discovery; manual entry allowed and flagged | PEPs, sanctions, adverse media | Monitoring "continues in the background" | Branded portal, case management, Salesforce app | Not published | Business onboarding run with a sales team |
| Kyckr | Data | "300+ registries, 100+ countries" | Shareholder data from official registries, traced across borders | Not stated on the pages read | Event driven notifications of new filings and director changes, by API | API or portal | Pay per call, no usage minimums | Teams building their own flow on official register data |
| Middesk | US specialist | All 50 states through Secretary of State records; other countries through the same API | Owners, officers and key principals identified, identity verified in the same flow | OFAC, global sanctions, PEP, adverse media | Ongoing monitoring (homepage) | API and dashboard | Not published | A US lender or fintech onboarding US entities |
| Moody's | Data | Registers and financial authorities in 200+ countries and jurisdictions | Registry data plus calculated ownership from several sources; active and historical links | Sanctions, PEP and adverse media event data | Supports perpetual KYC | Entity Verification API | Not published | A bank analyzing group structures and indirect control |
| Ondato | Workflow | 195 countries; shareholder information in 105 jurisdictions; representatives in 188 | Registry integrations map the ownership structure | Sanctions, PEP (over 16 million profiles), adverse media | Periodic monitoring of status, ownership and risk | Platform or API; KYB forms | Public KYB pricing page | A branded KYB form with remote checks on representatives |
| Persona | Workflow | Governmental and commercial registries in 150+ countries through one integration | Registry verification and corporate document retrieval; link analysis across owners | UBOs screened against watchlists and adverse media | Recurring screenings of individuals | One integration | Not published on the pages read | A marketplace verifying sellers |
| Sumsub | Workflow | "30K+ data sources across 220+ countries" | Registry check, then UBOs and directors in the same flow; manual document review | 11,000+ data sources; AI agents analyze hits | Periodic rechecks by risk level | Flow builder with triggers and conditions; API | Public pricing page | An online business running KYC and KYB in one flow |
| Trulioo | Data and workflow | "More than 500 BRN formats"; hundreds of registries and proprietary sources | Ownership mapped; UBO Discovery where registries fall short | Not stated on the page read | Reverification and perpetual monitoring | One connection | Not published | Global onboarding of small and medium businesses and sole proprietors |
Source line: vendor pages as linked in the first column, all opened on 10 November 2026 (Persona's KYB, business fraud and watchlist pages in a browser; Middesk's monitoring from its homepage; Kyckr's from its ongoing monitoring page). complead's row uses its own published product facts. Quoted text is each vendor's own wording.
KYB software providers, one by one
complead
complead's KYB and UBO verification starts with the entity: registration number, status, filing history and registered address, matched to official registers and vetted sources. From there it climbs through owners, parents and controlling entities until it reaches natural persons, with no fixed limit on depth, and a layer it cannot resolve is marked as unresolved. Screening then runs on every party found, across sanctions, PEP, watchlist and adverse media data, and effective holdings are added up per designated party for each regime. After onboarding, shareholding, directors, status and filings stay under watch; a change triggers screening of the new party and a fresh total. Whether a structure counts as blocked is left to the firm's compliance function and counsel. Candex, a US based fintech master vendor, takes on the verification and monitoring of every underlying seller for its enterprise buyers and screens those sellers on complead, with monitoring switched on and off by API. In a demo, open an unresolved layer and read what the file records.
ComplyCube
ComplyCube puts company registry checks, director screening and UBO identification on one platform, fed by global company registries, credit bureaus and trusted data providers. Its FAQ states "KYB coverage across 220+ countries and territories". Directors and owners pass through the same AML screening, and monitoring follows them for sanctions updates, ownership changes and adverse media. The same platform checks directors' identity documents, which suits a team that wants KYB, KYC and document checks from one vendor. The demo question: which registries return shareholders, country by country?
GBG
GBG's KYB product is GBG Detected, which runs from a branded sign up portal to case management. It searches "600m+ company records and ownership registries" for directors and UBOs, screens them for PEP, sanctions and adverse media, and checks their identity documents. When no automated owner data exists, an analyst may type it in, and the system tells the team it happened. Ask to see that flag. Monitoring "continues in the background" after onboarding. A native Salesforce app shows the sales team where each application stands, which makes GBG a fit for firms whose business onboarding runs through sales.
Kyckr
Kyckr sells registry data; the decision flow is the buyer's to build. It connects to "300+ registries, 100+ countries", drawing on registries it has a direct relationship with, and stamps each retrieval with the exact time and date. Official documents arrive in 15 minutes or less on average, by Kyckr's own figure. Owners are traced across borders from registry shareholder data. Billing is pay per call with no usage minimums, and the data already runs inside LexisNexis, Strise, Alloy and other platforms. Ask which registries return shareholders and which return only officers.
Middesk
Middesk starts in the US. It confirms legal name, DBA, entity type, formation date and good standing "across all 50 states with direct Secretary of State records" and matches the EIN against IRS records in real time. Owners, officers and key principals are identified and verified in the same flow, then screened with the business against OFAC, global sanctions, PEP lists and adverse media. Companies outside the US go through the same API. AI sub agents research discrepancies and return findings with evidence, and the homepage lists ongoing monitoring. For a US lender or fintech, the question to ask is which outcomes the agents propose and which a person signs.
Moody's
Moody's sells the registry business of kompany, which joined Moody's in March 2022, inside its entity verification solutions. The Entity Verification API reaches "commercial registers and financial authorities across 200+ countries and jurisdictions", returns original documents such as register extracts and articles of association with timestamps, and adds Moody's own company data. Ownership combines registry data with calculated ownership from several sources, historical links included, and the page names indirect, control and circular ownership patterns. Sanctions, PEP and adverse media event data can be added. A bank analyzing group structures gets the most from it, and the demo question is how a calculated stake is shown beside a filed one.
Ondato
Ondato builds the KYB journey around a form: conditional questions, the firm's branding and fields prefilled from registries. Its registry data spans "195 countries, including shareholder information in 105 jurisdictions and representative records from 188". Read that split closely. Representatives are verified remotely with document capture, liveness and biometric checks, and owners are found by mapping the structure. Screening covers sanctions, PEPs with over 16 million profiles and adverse media, with periodic monitoring of status, ownership and risk. The firm keeps the final decision, and a KYB pricing page is public. Ask what the form shows when a country returns no shareholders.
Persona
Persona sells KYB as "unified KYB and KYC" through "one integration that connects to governmental and commercial registries in 150+ countries". Its KYB products are business registry verification, corporate document retrieval, tax number verification and VAT verification, and website analysis returns industry codes that flag restricted business categories. Marketplaces get Know Your Seller flows for the "INFORM Act, DSA, and DAC7". That is its clearest fit. Its business fraud page links businesses, beneficial owners and devices to expose rings, and UBOs are screened against watchlists and adverse media, with recurring screenings to monitor people. Ask which registries return owners, not just the company.
Sumsub
Sumsub runs KYC and KYB in one flow: a registry check, then UBOs and directors verified in the same journey, with questionnaires and check sequences set by triggers and conditions. It counts "30K+ data sources across 220+ countries". When registries hold nothing, its own compliance team reviews corporate documents from 140+ countries, in 15 hours on average by its own figure. AI agents analyze screening hits, and rechecks run periodically by risk level. A pricing page is public. It suits an online business onboarding people and companies through one vendor. Ask who clears a hit after the AI agent has analyzed it.
Trulioo
Trulioo verifies businesses worldwide and connects them to their owners through one connection. It supports "more than 500 BRN formats" and reaches hundreds of government registries and proprietary sources, with AI and natural language processing normalizing documents in hundreds of languages. KYB and KYC run in one workflow, and for structures registries cannot explain, UBO Discovery "reconstructs ownership where registries fall short". Reverification and perpetual monitoring follow onboarding. The page read does not state screening of owners against sanctions or PEP lists. Its reach suits global onboarding of small and medium businesses and sole proprietors; ask whether owner screening is included or bought separately.
Which KYB software fits your situation?
Which KYB software fits a US lender or fintech?
Picture a lender approving 400 small business applications a month, all US entities, an illustrative case. It needs Secretary of State records, tax ID matching and owners verified in the same flow, which is Middesk's ground. Persona also names Secretary of State registries among its sources. Sumsub and Trulioo cover many countries in one flow. Whichever tool wins, every owner it finds still needs screening.
Which KYB solutions fit payment platforms and marketplaces?
Picture a payments firm onboarding merchants from 30 countries through an app. It needs a form the merchant completes, registry data from each country and representatives verified remotely. Ondato, Sumsub and ComplyCube sell that journey, Persona adds seller flows for marketplace rules, and Trulioo's reach suits many sole proprietors. Read coverage by country, not the total.
Which KYB vendor handles complex corporate structures?
Picture a bank whose corporate clients sit behind holding companies in three jurisdictions. Moody's shows indirect and historical ownership links, and Kyckr retrieves the official documents behind each layer. complead traces each owner to a natural person and screens every party, though hidden owners behind nominees and trusts sit where every register stops.
Which tools run KYC and KYB on one contract?
Picture a fintech that onboards consumers and the businesses they run. ComplyCube, Ondato, Persona, Sumsub and Trulioo run KYC and KYB in one flow. complead takes the verified identity from the customer's IDV provider into one customer risk assessment that rescores the customer whenever something changes.
What if you are building your own onboarding flow?
Picture a platform team that already runs its own case management and wants registry data by API. Kyckr and Moody's sell that, with timestamped documents. Kyckr bills per call. The team then owns the screening, the review of each change and the record of each decision.
When is complead not the right fit?
A shortlist that needs a published price before the first call should look elsewhere. complead prices by custom quote based on modules and volume and keeps no public price list, while Sumsub, ComplyCube and Ondato publish pricing pages and Kyckr bills per call.
What changed for KYB in 2026?
- 1 June 2026. Companies House updated its identity verification guidance and took someone who only files for a company, such as a company secretary, off the list of people who must verify. Directors and PSCs still verify, in most cases once, and connect each role to a Companies House personal code; current directors give the code in the company's next confirmation statement.
- 11 and 14 August 2026. FinCEN issued its final rule on 11 August, effective 14 August (91 FR 52508). US companies are exempt; only certain foreign companies registered in the US report, about 16,800 in the first year by FinCEN's estimate.
- Scheduled for 10 July 2027. The EU Regulation 2024/1624 applies, with owner verification and the sanctioned control check in article 20.
Back to the 27.5 million reporting companies FinCEN no longer hears from. A file on any one of them can still show who owns it, how that was found and when it was last checked. The registry or state record comes from a data tool or a US specialist, the owners and their screening from a workflow or verification tool, and the change alerts from monitoring. The shortlist decision is which vendor supplies each of those parts.
