OFAC Screening Software

Automated software that checks counterparties against OFAC's SDN list. Ranges from free APIs to enterprise platforms costing $50,000+/year.

TL;DR

TL;DR: Screening software automates checking counterparties against the SDN List and other lists. Options range from free developer APIs to enterprise platforms, and the right fit depends on volume and integration needs.

What screening software does

Screening software takes a counterparty, such as a name, account, or wallet address, and compares it against sanctions lists. It returns a match or no-match result, often with a similarity score for fuzzy name matching. The goal is to catch a listed party before a transaction happens, rather than after the funds have moved.

The range of options

• Free developer APIs with daily limits, suited to testing and low volume.
• Paid developer tiers with monthly check quotas for production use.
• Enterprise platforms with heavier compliance features and higher price tags.

The right choice depends on check volume, the number of lists needed, and how deeply the tool must integrate into existing systems.

For agent payments specifically

Agents need screening that is fast, cheap enough to run on every transaction, and easy to embed. sanctionsai.dev is built for this: a single HTTP call in under 100 ms, a free tier of 5 checks per day with no signup and no key, a Dev plan at $19 per month for 10,000 checks, and a Pro plan at $99 per month for 100,000 checks, with $0.05 per check via x402. It screens 19,218 SDN names and 947 OFAC-listed crypto wallets across 16 jurisdictions, and it is MIT-licensed and self-hostable.

Bottom line

Screening software turns a manual, error-prone task into a mechanical check that runs before every payment.