Public Insights searches 50M+ UK public records, including planning, company and landlord data, for investigators. Plans start at £29/mo with a free trial.
Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated October 26, 2026
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Public Insights is a UK-owned platform that gathers scattered public records into one searchable system for investigators. Its core product, Cradle, searches more than 50 million records covering people, companies, property, legal proceedings, risk indicators, public roles and community sources. The company states that the platform is owned and hosted in the UK.
The problem it targets is fragmentation. Electoral roll data, Companies House filings, planning portals, rental registers and insolvency notices sit in different places, each with its own search rules and blind spots. Public Insights connects them so a single enquiry can surface addresses, assets, appointments and associations without moving between portals.
The platform is built around investigative work such as tracing, due diligence, fraud and security research, rather than generic contact enrichment. Results stay linked to the original records so users can explain where each finding came from.
The workflow has three steps. A user starts with a name, company, address or question, and the platform scans connected UK datasets. It then shows how people, properties and assets are linked, and the investigator uses those records to support a case and decide on next steps.
Beyond search, the platform covers the wider investigative process. Canvas lets users build and explore networks of people, businesses, properties and records. Monitoring tracks saved subjects and networks for meaningful changes across relevant public sources.
For teams that want to use the data elsewhere, the API brings Public Insights records into internal tools and workflows. Results can also be viewed as maps, tables and link charts inside the platform, according to customer feedback on the site.
The dataset list is the main feature. It includes 16 million open electoral roll records, 3 million phone directory entries, 8 million company directors, 6 million persons of significant control and 2 million minority company shareholdings. Risk data covers court records, crime records, sanctions and PEPs, and political donations. Volumes are rounded and may change as sources are added.
Property coverage stands out for investigators. The platform lists 12 million planning applications, 23,000 planning comments and 110,000 HMO and selective licensing records. Public role data includes charity trustees, school governors and professional registers, and community data includes running, cycling, swimming and football club records.
Analysis tools sit on top of the data: Canvas for relationship mapping, Dossier for AI-assisted due diligence, an AI Assistant for intelligence collection, and Background Checks for structured screening.
Public Insights is a UK-owned platform for searching and connecting UK public records. Its main product, Cradle, searches more than 50 million records covering people, companies, property, planning, legal proceedings and risk indicators. It is built for investigators and research teams.
Basic costs £29 per month (£348 per year) and Professional costs £49 per month (£588 per year), though Professional is marked as coming soon. Enterprise pricing is custom. Team plans are separate and their prices are not shown on the site.
The site offers a free trial on the Basic plan through a Start your free trial button. It does not state the length of the trial or any limits during it.
Yes. The platform includes about 12 million planning applications and 23,000 planning comments. Planning data searches are listed as uncapped on every plan.
It lists more than 20 integrated datasets and 1,500 public data sources. These include the open electoral roll, phone directory, company directors, persons of significant control, insolvencies, court and crime records, sanctions and PEPs, HMO licensing, charity trustees and professional registers.
It suits professional investigators working with UK records, including private investigators, police and government teams, law firms, journalists, insurers and security teams. Solo practitioners can use individual plans, and larger groups can use team plans.
Yes. The API is listed as a product for integrating UK public-record data into internal tools, products and investigative workflows. The sources do not give API pricing or technical details.
The company states that the platform is UK owned and hosted. It is built for teams working with UK public records.