If you learned federal research a few years ago, you learned to use FPDS.gov — which no longer exists. Here is what replaced it, and how to choose between SAM.gov and USAspending.gov for award data today.
FPDS.gov retired in February 2026 and its public contract-award search was consolidated into SAM.gov, now the authoritative source for individual award records (free account required). USAspending.gov remains a separate, account-free source for government-wide spending trends. Use USAspending to explore who buys what, and SAM.gov for authoritative detail on a specific award or incumbent.
What happened to FPDS
For most of the last two decades, detailed federal contract-award data lived in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS.gov). That changed in early 2026. FPDS.gov was retired in February 2026, and its public contract-award search was consolidated into SAM.gov. If you have bookmarks, spreadsheets, or guides that send you to FPDS, they are now out of date — the data did not disappear, it moved.
FPDS.gov is gone. For authoritative, record-level contract-award data, use SAM.gov (free account required). For government-wide spending trends, use USAspending.gov (no account needed).
Where award data lives now
Post-FPDS, two federal sources cover the ground, and they serve different jobs:
| SAM.gov (award search) | USAspending.gov | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Individual contract-award records; the authoritative source | Government-wide spending trends and analysis |
| Account needed | Free account required to view detailed award search | No account required |
| Data granularity | Detailed, record-level award data | Aggregated and record-level spending data |
| Also does | Opportunities, entity registration, exclusions | Grants, loans, and other assistance — not just contracts |
| Use it when | You need the authoritative detail on a specific award or incumbent | You want to see who spends what across agencies and vendors |
Think of it this way: SAM.gov is where you go for the authoritative detail on a specific award or incumbent, and USAspending.gov is where you go to see the big picture of who spends what across the government. Most serious discovery work uses both.
Which one should you use?
Start with USAspending.gov when you are exploring — it is open, fast, and ideal for spotting which agencies buy your NAICS and which vendors dominate a space. Our step-by-step USAspending research guide walks through exactly how. Move to SAM.gov when you need the authoritative record on a particular contract — the precise award, its value, its period of performance, and the incumbent you would be up against.
Whenever the government consolidates systems, there is always a stretch where half the advice online still points to the old one. FPDS is a textbook case. The skill that matters is not memorizing which URL is current — it is knowing what question you are asking. ‘Who won this specific contract?’ and ‘How much does this agency spend on my service overall?’ are different questions, and they always will be, whatever the systems are called.
What about old FPDS links and reports?
Legacy FPDS report links no longer work as they did, and any tutorial built around the FPDS interface is obsolete. If you relied on saved FPDS searches or standard reports, rebuild them using SAM.gov's award search and USAspending's advanced search. The underlying procurement data is the same government record — only the front door has changed. Once you are comfortable pulling award data, use it to identify incumbents and build a target agency list.
Confused about which federal data source to use?
We help you navigate SAM.gov and USAspending.gov to pull the award data that matters for your market. Book a free strategy call.
Book a Free Strategy Call →Frequently Asked Questions