Coffee vs NPPES
Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.
Coffee vs NPPES: common questions
Which is more reliable, Coffee or NPPES?
On our scheduled checks, NPPES leads on measured uptime — Coffee at 99.02% versus NPPES at 100% over 90 days. These are our own probe results, not provider claims; the uptime bars above show the day-by-day record for both.
Which is faster, Coffee or NPPES?
Coffee has the lower median latency in our checks — Coffee responds in 698 ms versus NPPES at 910 ms (P50). Tail latency (P95) is in the table above; for most workloads the median is the number that shapes how the API feels.
Do Coffee and NPPES need an API key?
Neither needs a paid key — Coffee is callable with no signup, and NPPES is callable with no signup. Both are quick to prototype with; rate limits still apply.
Can I call Coffee and NPPES from the browser?
Neither sends browser-friendly CORS headers reliably, so call Coffee and NPPES from a server or proxy rather than client-side. The CORS and HTTPS rows above show exactly what we detected for each.
Are Coffee and NPPES free for commercial use?
Coffee has unclear commercial terms, and NPPES allows commercial use on its free tier. We track service terms and the data license as separate fields — see the Commercial use and Data license rows above, and confirm both before shipping either in a paid product.