Common questions about government contract monitoring

ContractRadar (sometimes searched as Contract Radar) is a government contract monitoring tool built for small businesses. It monitors SAM.gov, the SBA subcontracting portal, and state and local procurement portals. Create a free account and start searching contracts immediately using semantic search — describe what you're looking for in plain language and find results even when the government uses different terminology. Upgrade to get matching contracts emailed to you daily with AI-powered scoring. No manual portal checking, no training needed.

ContractRadar pulls new contract postings from SAM.gov, the SBA subcontracting portal, and state and local procurement portals every day, then matches each one against your business profile using AI semantic search. Rather than filtering on the category an agency filed under, it reads the full text of every posting, turns it into an embedding that captures meaning, and ranks it by how closely it fits your profile, including the industry (NAICS) codes you select. That is what surfaces relevant work even when a contract is posted under the wrong code or described in unfamiliar language. The states you work in and your set-aside certifications act as eligibility gates, and every match gets a compatibility score so you can prioritize the best opportunities first. If you rate matches with a thumbs up or down, that feedback gently nudges similar contracts up or down in your future results. There is no keyword list to maintain, it works from your profile on day one, and matching contracts arrive by email with a link to the original posting so you can act right away. Read our complete guide to SAM.gov contract monitoring for small businesses.

Yes. ContractRadar is designed so that no training is required. Fill in your business profile in about five minutes — your industry codes, the states you work in, and your certifications — and that's it. You'll start receiving matching contract alerts by email the next day. There's nothing to configure after setup.

No. ContractRadar is built specifically for small businesses that are new to government contracting. You don’t need to understand procurement jargon or navigate complex government systems. Set up your profile in about five minutes — pick your NAICS codes by keyword, select the states you work in, and add your certifications — then receive matching contract opportunities by email and click through to the original posting when something looks promising. Our guide to SAM.gov contracting for small businesses covers the basics — no experience needed.

ContractRadar monitors every kind of government contract: goods, services, construction, IT, professional services, and anything else agencies buy. That spans federal contracts on SAM.gov, subcontracting opportunities on the SBA portal, and state and local government procurement postings. Each listing is matched against your business profile by meaning using AI semantic search and scored for fit, with the states you work in and your certifications determining what you are eligible to see, so you mostly see contracts that are a genuine fit rather than a raw feed.

Yes. In addition to prime federal contracts from SAM.gov, ContractRadar monitors subcontracting opportunities posted by prime contractors on the SBA subcontracting portal. Prime contractors are required by law to seek qualified small business subcontractors, and those opportunities are listed publicly on the SBA website. ContractRadar matches them against your business profile the same way it matches prime contracts, using AI semantic search over the posting text plus your states and certifications, and delivers them to your inbox alongside your contract alerts.

ContractRadar filters by all major federal set-aside types: Small Business (SBA), 8(a) Business Development, HUBZone, Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). Select your certifications in your profile and we'll filter to contracts you're eligible for.

ContractRadar has a free tier — create an account and get 5 semantic searches per day with full contract details, no credit card required. For unlimited search, daily email alerts, AI match scoring, and past award intelligence, it's $30 per month. Cancel any time from your profile page in two clicks.

A free ContractRadar account gives you 5 semantic searches per day across all federal, state, and local contract sources. You get full contract details, points of contact, and the same AI-powered search that paid subscribers use. The daily limit resets at midnight UTC. No credit card is required to sign up.

Create an account and fill in your business profile: your NAICS codes, the states you operate in, and any set-aside certifications. The whole setup takes less than five minutes. ContractRadar will start monitoring government procurement portals immediately and email you matching contracts when they post.

Federal contracts come from SAM.gov, the official U.S. government procurement database. Subcontracting opportunities come from the SBA subcontracting portal. State and local contracts come from public procurement portals operated by state and local governments. ContractRadar is an independent private service and is not affiliated with the government. We pull publicly available data from these sources daily and deliver matched results to your inbox. See our full coverage map.

Contract data on ContractRadar comes straight from government sources: SAM.gov and the SBA portal for federal opportunities, and state, county, and city procurement portals for everything else. Whatever the issuing agency published is what you see, so if a description is sparse, a deadline looks off, or a NAICS code or location is wrong or missing, it is almost always a data-entry artifact in the original system rather than something ContractRadar changed. State and local portals in particular often publish thin descriptions, no NAICS code at all, or a location that reflects the issuing jurisdiction rather than the actual place of work. We automatically detect and repair many of these issues, but some still slip through. Because matching works on the meaning of the full posting text rather than on any single field, a wrong or missing detail does not stop a relevant contract from reaching you, and you can always confirm the specifics by opening the original listing on the portal that hosts it.

No. ContractRadar works from day one using AI semantic search over your business profile, the states you work in, and your certifications. Ratings are optional, but if you do rate matches with a thumbs up or down, the system uses that feedback to gently nudge similar contracts up or down in your future results. It already works without any ratings; they just help it lean toward what you actually want.

Yes. Anyone with a free account can search all contract opportunities across federal, state, and local sources using semantic search — describe what you're looking for in plain language and ContractRadar finds relevant contracts even when the posting uses different words. Free accounts get 5 semantic searches per day; subscribers get unlimited.

Just the ones that match your business. ContractRadar ranks every posting by how well it fits your profile and only sends contracts that clear your match threshold, the states you work in, and your certifications, so your inbox isn't flooded with irrelevant opportunities. Every email you receive has already been scored for fit. You can also sort and filter your saved matches by compatibility score in your account.

No — we send an email alert as soon as we find a contract matching your business profile. ContractRadar checks every source every day, so you'll get at most one email a day, and only when something actually matches. No matches that day means no email.

No. You do not need to register anywhere to create a ContractRadar account, search, and receive alerts. Registration only matters once you decide to submit a bid, and then you register with whatever portal hosts that specific contract. Federal opportunities require a SAM.gov registration before you can submit, while state and local contracts use their own procurement portals, and some states also require a separate vendor registration. ContractRadar helps you find the opportunities and links you to the source; the registration and bidding happen there with the issuing agency.

Every match is saved to your account. Log in at any time to browse all your matched contracts, including ones from previous days. You can also turn email alerts off and check your account manually if you prefer — your matches will still be there.

Yes, cancel any time from your profile page in two clicks. Your subscription stays active until the end of the current billing period, so you keep access until then. There are no cancellation fees, no forms to fill out, and no customer service calls required.

For federal matches, ContractRadar automatically searches USASpending.gov for previously awarded contracts from the same agency with matching NAICS codes and set-asides — when comparable awards are available. You'll see who won similar contracts, how much they were awarded, and the performance period — so you can understand pricing, spot incumbents, and decide whether the opportunity is worth pursuing. USASpending.gov only tracks federal awards, so this context doesn't appear on state and local matches.

Yes. Authentication is handled by AWS Cognito — your password is never stored by ContractRadar. All data is transmitted over encrypted connections (TLS). We do not sell or share your business information with third parties. See our Privacy Policy for full details.