SniffCat vs UK Police

Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.

Uptime · 30d
Uptime · 90d83.3%100%
Uptime · 30d83.3%100%
P50 · ms290787
P95 · ms5982547
AuthapiKeynone
CORSnoyes
HTTPSyesyes
Card requirednono
Commercial useyesyes
Data licenseOpen Government Licence v3.0
Free tierFree — no key required
Rate limitRetry-After: 24sUnpublished
In directory since2026-08-192026-07-05
operationalpartialdownno data

SniffCat vs UK Police: common questions

Which is more reliable, SniffCat or UK Police?

On our scheduled checks, UK Police leads on measured uptime — SniffCat at 83.3% versus UK Police 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, SniffCat or UK Police?

SniffCat has the lower median latency in our checks — SniffCat responds in 290 ms versus UK Police at 787 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 SniffCat and UK Police need an API key?

UK Police needs no key, while SniffCat requires a free API key. If you want to start calling without signup, reach for UK Police first.

Can I call SniffCat and UK Police from the browser?

Only UK Police is browser-friendly — it returns CORS headers over HTTPS. SniffCat needs a server-side call or proxy, so factor that into which one fits a front-end project.

Are SniffCat and UK Police free for commercial use?

SniffCat allows commercial use on its free tier, and UK Police 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.