Alternatives
openFDA vs Drug Database — US-only, or worldwide — CH, EU and US.
openFDA is the U.S. FDA’s free, authoritative open API for US drug data. Drug Database aggregates FDA NDC/DailyMed among 30+ public sources and adds Swiss/EU coverage, an SLA, interaction checks, FHIR and a change feed. Here is the honest side-by-side.
At a glance
Side-by-side, on the dimensions buyers actually compare.
For US-only, authoritative FDA data, openFDA is excellent and free. We compete where you need Swiss/EU coverage, a freshness guarantee, an SLA, managed interaction checks and FHIR — not on replacing the FDA as the US source of record.
Drug Database aggregates public sources including FDA NDC and DailyMed. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the FDA. openFDA is the authoritative US source; for US-only needs it may be all you require.
When to pick each
Honest scenarios — no winner-takes-all.
Pick openFDA when…
- Your needs are US-only and you want the FDA’s authoritative open data.
- You are fine with best-effort availability and no SLA.
- You can work from periodic bulk refreshes rather than a per-row change feed.
Pick Drug Database when…
- You need CH and EU coverage alongside US data, in one schema.
- You need an SLA, managed interaction checks, FHIR output and a diff change feed.
- You want one identifier lookup that resolves Pharmacode, GTIN and NDC alike.
Use them together
- Treat the FDA as the US source of record; we already ingest NDC/DailyMed.
- Use Drug Database for the cross-jurisdiction join and the Swiss/EU data openFDA lacks.
- Subscribe to the change feed so your US + CH + EU copy stays current.
FAQ
Questions buyers ask before they switch.
Is Drug Database a replacement for openFDA?
For US-only, authoritative FDA data, openFDA is excellent and free, and it remains the US source of record — we ingest FDA NDC and DailyMed from it. Drug Database adds what openFDA does not: CH and EU coverage, an SLA, managed N-way interaction checks, FHIR R4 output and a per-row diff change feed, all in one schema.
Does Drug Database cover US drugs?
Yes. US data (FDA NDC, DailyMed, RxNorm) is part of the 13-jurisdiction catalog, and NDC resolves through the same lookup endpoint as Pharmacode and GTIN.
Why not just use openFDA for free?
If you only need US data and can live without an SLA, you can. You would pay us for Swiss/EU coverage, a freshness guarantee (schema-validated ingest, stale-data freeze), managed interaction checks, FHIR output and a change feed — and for support and a DPA in production.
Are you affiliated with the FDA?
No. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the FDA. We aggregate publicly available FDA data (NDC, DailyMed) among 30+ sources and label where it comes from.
Try the data before you commit to a contract.
The free tier gives you 100 requests a day with no card. Point it at your real use case and see whether the coverage and freshness hold up.