Is there a cheap alternative to Panjiva (S&P Global)?

Yes. Panjiva (S&P Global)'s underlying data is public: CBP AMS vessel manifest data (public by statute (19 CFR 103.31)). Incumbent $12k+/yr. Per-shipment-history lookups at $0.25–1.00 serve diligence and sourcing use cases without the subscription.

Is it legal to rebuild Panjiva (S&P Global) from public data?

Facts and public-domain government data are not copyrightable, but there are real traps here: IMPORTS ONLY: AES export records are NOT public — do not promise export data Shippers can request confidentiality — some records are legitimately masked This is research, not legal advice.

← All decompositions · PulseNetwork

Panjiva (S&P Global): what you're actually paying for

Q: What data does Panjiva (S&P Global) actually use?

Entity resolution and search over US import bills of lading that are public by statute — 19 CFR 103.31 makes vessel manifest data publicly available. Key sources: CBP AMS vessel manifest data — public by statute (19 CFR 103.31).

Yes — rebuildable from free public data

Panjiva (S&P Global) typically costs $1,000+/mo. Its core dataset is not proprietary: it is built on CBP AMS vessel manifest data — public sources you can access directly for free. What the subscription actually adds is entity resolution and search over US import bills of lading that are public by statute — 19 CFR 103.31 makes vessel manifest data publicly available.

The free public data underneath

Source	License	Access
CBP AMS vessel manifest data	public by statute (19 CFR 103.31)	CBP FTP/DVD distribution — heavier ingestion than an API

Rebuild recipe

Ingest CBP AMS manifest releases (bulk; plan real ETL)
Entity-resolve consignees/shippers (the true value-add — messy names)
Index by company, product description, ports; serve per-lookup
Proof of feasibility: ImportYeti serves this data free with a ~12-person team

DIY difficulty: high — bulk ingestion + entity resolution; the data is free but not turnkey

The price math

Incumbent $12k+/yr. Per-shipment-history lookups at $0.25–1.00 serve diligence and sourcing use cases without the subscription.

Licensing and legal traps

IMPORTS ONLY: AES export records are NOT public — do not promise export data
Shippers can request confidentiality — some records are legitimately masked

The pay-per-call alternative, live today:

https://tradepulse.theaslangroupllc.com (tariff/compliance intel live today)

TradePulse (enhancement planned — bills-of-lading ingestion is a heavier build) — no subscription, no seat license, USDC per call via x402. Agents can pay programmatically.

Decompose any data product programmatically: GET https://pulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/unbundle?product=Panjiva — $1.00 per call via x402. 22 products decomposed; honest misses for everything else.

Research as of 2026-07-06 by The Aslan Group LLC (info@theaslangroupllc.com). Product names are used nominatively to identify the products analyzed; all trademarks belong to their owners. Pricing is as publicly reported or contract-disclosed at research time and may change. This is research for build-vs-buy evaluation, not legal advice — verify licenses against the primary source before building.