Free tools to search state and local government contracts
No single free tool covers every state, county and city bid. What to combine: SpendQuery's free state and local search, each state's official portal, the bid platforms cities use, and checkbooks for past winners.
The answer in one paragraph
No free tool covers every state and local bid: there are tens of thousands of buying governments and many post only on their own sites. Combine three things: a search across the governments that publish open data (SpendQuery's state and local page: about two dozen state, county, city and school sources in one place, free, no sign-up, every row linked to the government's own record), your state's official procurement portal, and the bid platforms your cities and counties use.
What SpendQuery covers
- Open bids: Los Angeles (the City, LA County, LADWP, LAUSD, airports, port, Metro), New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, Baton Rouge, Montgomery County MD, Delaware, Texas DOT, California state departments, SUNY construction, and E-Rate and rural-clinic postings nationwide.
- Awarded contracts and purchase orders: Chicago, Cook County, Austin, Detroit, Richmond, Sacramento, Virginia's eVA and others.
- Contracts before city councils (Austin, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Oakland, Cook County), weeks before signing.
- What 20+ states, counties and cities paid each vendor, from their checkbooks: the past winners.
- Free weekly e-mail alerts of new bids near your ZIP code.
Official state portals (free to search)
| State | Portal |
|---|---|
| California | Cal eProcure (caleprocure.ca.gov) |
| Texas | Electronic State Business Daily (txsmartbuy.gov/esbd) |
| New York | NYS Contract Reporter (nyscr.ny.gov) |
| Virginia | eVA (eva.virginia.gov) |
| Florida | Vendor Bid System (vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com) |
| Pennsylvania | PA eMarketplace (emarketplace.state.pa.us) |
| Illinois | BidBuy (bidbuy.illinois.gov) |
| Ohio | OhioBuys (ohiobuys.ohio.gov) |
| Georgia | Georgia Procurement Registry (ssl.doas.state.ga.us/gpr) |
| North Carolina | eVP (evp.nc.gov) |
| Washington | WEBS (pr-webs-vendor.des.wa.gov) |
These cover each state's own agencies; cities, counties and school districts usually post separately.
Cities, counties and school districts
Many local governments post through a bid platform such as BidNet Direct, PlanetBids, OpenGov Procurement, Bonfire or DemandStar. Registering as a vendor with the government is usually free; some platforms charge for alerts across many agencies. Check the purchasing page of each city, county and school district you want to sell to and register where it posts.
Limits
- SpendQuery covers only governments that publish procurement as open data or allow automated access; some publish no amounts or only monthly or yearly totals.
- A state portal covers state agencies, not its cities and counties.
On SpendQuery
Official sources
Questions people ask
I need state and local government contracts, not just federal ones. Any good free search tools?
Combine SpendQuery's free state and local search (about two dozen state, county, city and school sources, no sign-up), your state's official procurement portal (Cal eProcure, Texas ESBD, NYS Contract Reporter, eVA and so on) and the bid platforms your cities use. No single free tool covers every government.
Where can I see who won past state and local contracts?
In the government's checkbook (what it paid each vendor) and its awarded-contract records. SpendQuery searches 20+ state, county and city checkbooks and the awarded contracts that governments publish as open data.
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- How to understand the FAR without reading all of it
Updated 2026-10-21. General information, not legal advice; the solicitation and the FAR govern each purchase.