NPPES vs Open Food Facts
Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.
NPPES vs Open Food Facts: common questions
Which is more reliable, NPPES or Open Food Facts?
On our scheduled checks, NPPES leads on measured uptime — NPPES at 100% versus Open Food Facts at 39.2% 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, NPPES or Open Food Facts?
NPPES has the lower median latency in our checks — NPPES responds in 910 ms versus Open Food Facts at 1556 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 NPPES and Open Food Facts need an API key?
Neither needs a paid key — NPPES is callable with no signup, and Open Food Facts is callable with no signup. Both are quick to prototype with; rate limits still apply.
Can I call NPPES and Open Food Facts from the browser?
Neither sends browser-friendly CORS headers reliably, so call NPPES and Open Food Facts from a server or proxy rather than client-side. The CORS and HTTPS rows above show exactly what we detected for each.
Are NPPES and Open Food Facts free for commercial use?
NPPES allows commercial use on its free tier, and Open Food Facts has unclear commercial terms. 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.