- SAM.gov is the main tool now: Contract Opportunities for open bids, Contract Awards for who won. FPDS.gov search was retired on February 24, 2026.
- USASpending.gov is the no-account option for award and spending data. SAM.gov Contract Awards needs a SAM.gov account.
- Only two notice types take proposals: Solicitation and Combined Synopsis/Solicitation. Sources Sought and Presolicitation are early signals.
- Save your search and turn on Notify so SAM.gov emails you on days with new matches.
- A good lookup answers four questions before you write anything: is it open, do you hold the set-aside, does your NAICS code fit, and does this buyer buy from firms your size.
Short version: you do not need to pay for a federal contracts lookup. The government publishes everything, and the part that trips people up is knowing which free tool answers which question. One of them changed this year, and a lot of older guides still send you to a site that no longer searches.
Which free tools do a federal contracts lookup?
| Tool | What it shows | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| SAM.gov, Contract Opportunities | Open bids, early notices, award notices | Finding work you can bid on now |
| SAM.gov, Contract Awards | Award records: who won, how much, contract details | Checking who the incumbent is and what the agency buys |
| USASpending.gov | Federal spending by agency, recipient and category | Seeing which agencies spend money in your lane, no account needed |
Old guides also list FPDS.gov. Skip it. GSA decommissioned the ezSearch function in FPDS.gov on February 24, 2026, and SAM.gov is now the place to search federal contract awards. The old FPDS ATOM data feed is being replaced by a SAM.gov Contract Awards API, which matters if you pull data into your own spreadsheet or tool.
How do you search SAM.gov for federal contracts you can bid on?
- Go to SAM.gov and pick Contract Opportunities from the dropdown next to the home page search bar.
- Type a keyword or your NAICS code and press Enter.
- Narrow the results with the filters in the left panel.
- Open any result and read the notice type before you read anything else.
Run two searches, one by keyword and one by NAICS code, and compare them. Keywords catch notices that use your trade's vocabulary. NAICS catches notices written in agency language that your keywords would miss. If you have not settled on codes yet, our NAICS code lookup is the place to start, and the SAM.gov search plan builder turns your codes into a search you can reuse.
For a deeper look at building a search routine, read our federal contract opportunity search workflow. If you want to pull notices into your own tools, the SAM.gov Opportunities API guide covers that.
Which notice types can you actually bid on?
Every SAM.gov notice carries a type, and most of them are not an invitation to send a proposal. The Opportunities API documentation lists the types:
| Notice type | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Solicitation | Bid or proposal is open. This is your target. |
| Combined Synopsis/Solicitation | Notice and solicitation in one. Also open for offers, and often used for commercial purchases. |
| Presolicitation | A solicitation is coming. Watch it and read any attachments. |
| Sources Sought | Market research. The agency is checking who is out there. Respond with a capability statement; do not write a proposal. |
| Special Notice | Announcements such as industry days. Read for dates and instructions. |
| Award Notice | Someone already won. Useful as history. |
| Justification | Records why an agency skipped competition. Shows where sole-source work goes. |
| Sale of Surplus Property | Government selling assets, not buying services. |
| Intent to Bundle Requirements (DoD-funded) | A notice that DoD plans to bundle requirements. Worth reading if you are a small business that could lose work to a bundle. |
A Sources Sought notice is the one small businesses underuse. It is cheap to answer, and your answer can shape the set-aside decision before the solicitation exists. Our sources sought strategy guide shows how to respond.
Which filters narrow results to bids you can win?
Four filters do most of the work: NAICS code, set-aside, place of performance and response deadline. The exact filter names in SAM.gov change from time to time, so look for the closest match in the left panel.
- NAICS code: start with your primary code, then add one or two neighbors you can back up with real work.
- Set-aside: if you hold SDVOSB, WOSB, 8(a) or HUBZone status, filter to notices reserved for it. A full-and-open competition against large primes is a harder fight for a new vendor.
- Place of performance: use it when the work has to happen on site.
- Response deadline: check it first, because it tells you how much time you have.
How do you save a SAM.gov search and get email alerts?
You have to be signed in to SAM.gov to save a search. Steps, as laid out in a GSA Federal Service Desk-based help article:
- Run your Contract Opportunities search and set your filters.
- Open the Actions menu at the top of the results and choose Save.
- Give it a name you will recognize in six months.
- Find it later under your profile, in Workspace, under Saved Searches.
- For emails, open the Actions menu on the saved search and choose Notify.
SAM.gov sends notifications daily, but only on days when there are new results, so a quiet inbox usually means a quiet day, not a broken alert. Menus move around, so if a label does not match, look for the nearest one.
SAM.gov alerts only cover what you built into the search. If you want alerts on top of your own NAICS and keyword list with a decision attached, our alerts page shows how GovScout does it.
How do you look up who won past federal contracts?
Start with SAM.gov Contract Awards. From the SAM.gov search dropdown, choose Contract Awards, then search by keyword, agency or legal business name. GSA says a SAM.gov user account is required for this search, and the account can be created through Login.gov. If you would rather not make an account, USASpending.gov carries award and spending data in public.
Once you have award records, look at a few things:
- Who won. If one company holds every recent award in your NAICS code at that agency, you are looking at an incumbent the buyer already trusts.
- How it was bought. Awards through a set-aside, a GSA schedule or another vehicle show where an agency is willing to buy from firms like yours.
- Contract type. Firm-fixed-price work is easier on a new company's cash flow than cost-reimbursement work, which usually asks for stronger accounting systems.
- Dollar size and spread. Many mid-size awards across several small firms is a better sign than one giant award to one prime.
- End dates. A contract near the end of its period of performance may recompete soon, which gives you time to get on the buyer's radar.
How do you check whether a company is excluded from federal contracts?
Use the SAM.gov exclusions search. One state government guide describes it this way: click Search, choose Entity Information as the domain, then Exclusions, and enter keywords or filters for the company. The same guide notes that you do not need to log in for this search. Check partners, subcontractors and teaming candidates before you sign anything with them.
When does a lookup justify a bid decision?
A lookup has done its job when you can answer four things without guessing:
- The notice is open for offers, not a Presolicitation or Sources Sought.
- The set-aside matches a certification you actually hold.
- The NAICS code and scope fit what you really deliver.
- The agency's award history shows it buys this kind of work from firms your size.
Four yeses, and you have a real candidate. Three and a hole means more research or a partner. Our go/no-go guide and bid/no-bid scorecard turn those answers into a decision, and the SAM.gov bid search guide covers the search side in more detail. If this is your first federal bid, read how to win your first federal contract first.
Do paid tools replace the free lookups?
No. SAM.gov is the source of truth. Paid tools make it faster to work. HigherGov lists a $500-a-year Starter plan and GovTribe lists $1,900 per seat per year. Both give you search, alerts and analytics layered over public data. GovSpend focuses on spend intelligence. If you need broad market research across many agencies, one of those does it better than we do.
GovScout Pro is narrower. It helps you decide whether a specific notice is worth your time. The Beginner plan is $29 a month and covers learning and setup: Marcus coaching, certification and NAICS help, and 10 saved searches. Live opportunity review, with a written verdict of GO, TEAM, HOLD or PASS plus risks and next actions, starts on the $79 Intermediate plan. See the pricing page for the full breakdown. There is also a free readiness assessment if you want to check your setup before you spend anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I bid on federal contracts for the first time?
Start with Combined Synopsis/Solicitations and set-asides you qualify for, and answer Sources Sought notices so contracting officers see your capability statement. Check the agency's award history to confirm it buys from firms your size, and consider subcontracting to build past performance before chasing a prime award.
Are there federal contracts set aside for minority-owned or women-owned businesses?
There is no set-aside for "minority-owned" as a category. The 8(a) program serves socially and economically disadvantaged owners, and there are set-asides for women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned, and HUBZone firms. SAM.gov lets you filter notices by set-aside type, so you only see the ones reserved for your status.
How do I check if a company is debarred from federal contracts?
Use the SAM.gov exclusions search under Entity Information, not the Contract Opportunities search. Look for an active exclusion record for the company, and check subcontractors and joint venture partners as well as primes.
What is the difference between FPDS and USASpending now?
FPDS.gov search no longer exists. GSA decommissioned ezSearch on February 24, 2026, and award searches moved to SAM.gov Contract Awards. USASpending.gov is separate and shows spending and awards by agency and recipient without needing a SAM.gov account.
Do I have to pay to look up federal contracts?
No. SAM.gov and USASpending.gov are free. You need a SAM.gov account to save searches and to use Contract Awards search. Paid tools like HigherGov or GovTribe save time on the same underlying public data, they do not unlock secret contracts.