Brand & Design
What is a DUNS number?
A nine-digit business identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet, used globally for credit reporting, government contracting, and supply chain verification.
Also known as: DUNS, D-U-N-S Number
The DUNS Number (Data Universal Numbering System) is Dun & Bradstreet's global business ID. Unlike the EIN (US-only, IRS-issued), DUNS covers every country and is structured to identify legal entities and their corporate hierarchies (parent, subsidiary, branch). It is free to register, even if D&B's upsells make it feel otherwise.
DUNS is a hard requirement in two big areas. The US federal government uses it for contractor registration in SAM.gov (officially replaced by UEI in 2022, but DUNS is still widely referenced). Apple requires a DUNS to publish a paid app to the App Store under a company name. Many supply-chain compliance systems and credit-reporting services key off DUNS.
For brand-data work, DUNS is the most useful identifier when you need to tie a global counterparty to financial information (D&B credit scores, hierarchy data, payment behavior). Brand.dev surfaces DUNS where available alongside EIN, NAICS, and address as part of company enrichment.
In the wild
- →A US government contractor registering for a SAM.gov account using a DUNS number
- →A supplier-onboarding workflow looking up a vendor's DUNS to pull D&B's credit risk score
- →An app developer registering a company DUNS so their iOS app can publish under "Acme Inc." rather than a personal name
How Brand.dev uses duns number
Endpoints in the Brand.dev API where this concept comes up directly.
FAQ
DUNS vs UEI?
In 2022, the US federal government replaced DUNS with the Unique Entity ID (UEI) for SAM.gov. DUNS is still in wide use globally and in private-sector workflows; UEI is now the federal standard. Many systems carry both.
Is a DUNS number free?
Yes. D&B has to issue one for free if you ask via the proper portal. They will offer paid expedited issuance and credit-monitoring upsells; the basic number itself does not cost.
Do I need a DUNS to do business in the US?
Only if you sell to the federal government, distribute through certain enterprise procurement systems, or publish under specific platforms (notably Apple). Most private-sector US business uses EIN.
Related terms
Employer Identification Number, a nine-digit federal tax ID assigned by the IRS to businesses, nonprofits, and other entities operating in the United States.
A six-digit industry classification used by US, Canadian, and Mexican government agencies to categorize every business in North America.
The Standard Industrial Classification, a four-digit industry taxonomy used by the SEC and a long tail of legacy systems, predecessor to NAICS.
A short alphabetic code used to uniquely identify a publicly traded security on a stock exchange (e.g., AAPL for Apple, MSFT for Microsoft).