SBA API - Small Business Size Standards & Eligibility

Look up SBA small business size standards by NAICS code, check whether a business is small for one code or many, search NAICS industries, and get summaries of SBA set-aside, contracting, and loan programs. Built for government contractors and small business certification work.

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Where the data comes from (updated 2026-10-22)

SBA size standards are federal regulation: the table in 13 CFR 121.201. Every live run reads that section from the eCFR API (ecfr.gov, published by the Office of the Federal Register and updated daily), so you always get the table currently in force: about 990 NAICS rows with their exceptions and footnotes. No key is needed.

Each result includes a source block with the regulation, a link to the section, the eCFR "up to date as of" date, and the date the table was last amended. As of this update, the table was last amended on 2023-03-17.

The program tasks (get_set_aside_types, get_contracting_programs, get_loan_programs) have no SBA API behind them. They return a static summary checked against sba.gov on 2026-10-22, labeled dataType: "reference" and isLiveData: false, with a source link on every item. Each of these tasks is charged once per successful run (see Pricing).

Demo Mode is off by default. Turn it on only to preview the output shape: it returns a small built-in sample table labeled isSample: true, which is not the current SBA table, and it is never charged.

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Quick Start

The prefilled input looks up the size standard for NAICS 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services):

{
  "task": "get_size_standard",
  "naicsCode": "541512"
}

Check one code:

{
  "task": "check_eligibility",
  "naicsCode": "238160",
  "annualRevenue": 12000000
}

Check several codes at once:

{
  "task": "batch_check_eligibility",
  "naicsCodes": "541511, 541512, 236220",
  "annualRevenue": 30000000,
  "employeeCount": 120
}

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Tasks

Task	What it returns	Needs
get_size_standard	The standard for one NAICS code, plus any exceptions and footnote text	naicsCode
check_eligibility	Whether your figure is at or below the standard, percent of the threshold, and headroom	naicsCode plus the matching figure
batch_check_eligibility	The same check for a list of codes	naicsCodes plus annualRevenue and/or employeeCount
search_naics	Codes whose title matches a keyword, or that start with a code prefix such as 5413	naicsKeyword
get_naics_details	The standard, exceptions, sector notes, footnotes, and other codes in the same subsector	naicsCode
list_size_standards	The full table (about 990 rows), optionally filtered by metric	optional sizeStandardType
get_set_aside_types	Set-aside and certification types with eligibility basics (reference)	nothing
get_contracting_programs	8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB program benefits (reference)	nothing
get_loan_programs	7(a), 504, microloan, and disaster loan basics (reference)	nothing

The figure a code needs depends on how its standard is measured: annualRevenue (average annual receipts over the latest 5 completed fiscal years), employeeCount (average over the latest 24 months), or averageAssets (banks and credit unions). All include affiliates. A business is small when its figure is at or below the table maximum. The result is a screening check, not an SBA size determination.

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Required	Description
task	string	"get_size_standard"	Yes	Operation to perform
naicsCode	string	- (prefilled 541512)	For single-code tasks	6-digit NAICS code (2022 NAICS)
naicsKeyword	string	-	For search_naics	Title keyword or NAICS code prefix
annualRevenue	number	-	For receipts-based codes	Average annual receipts in US dollars
employeeCount	integer	-	For employee-based codes	Average number of employees
averageAssets	number	-	For asset-based codes	Average total assets in US dollars
naicsCodes	string	-	For batch_check_eligibility	Comma-separated 6-digit NAICS codes
sizeStandardType	string	-	No	list_size_standards filter: revenue, employees, or assets
webhookUrl	string	-	No	URL to send results to (Zapier, Make, n8n, etc.)
demoMode	boolean	false	No	Return labeled sample rows instead of the live table

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Pricing

Pay per event, plus the standard Actor start fee ($0.10 per GB of memory, minimum one) and $0.00001 per dataset row. Each run returns one row.

Event	When it is charged	Price
Actor start	Once when the run starts, one event per GB of memory (minimum one). At the default 1 GB of memory that is $0.10 per run	$0.10 per GB
Size Standard Lookup	Get size standard for NAICS code	$0.005
Eligibility Check	Check if business qualifies as small	$0.01
NAICS Search	Search NAICS codes by keyword	$0.005
NAICS Details	Get full NAICS code details	$0.005
List Size Standards	List all size standards	$0.005
Set-Aside Types	Get federal set-aside program types	$0.005
Loan Programs	Get SBA loan program information	$0.005
Contracting Programs	Get SBA contracting program details	$0.005
Batch Eligibility Check	Check eligibility for multiple NAICS codes (per code)	$0.008
Result	Each item written to the default dataset	$0.00001

No task event is charged for Demo Mode runs, error rows (for example a missing or unknown NAICS code, or a missing figure), searches with no matches, or codes in a batch that were not found or could not be evaluated.

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Troubleshooting

"naicsCode required" or "not in the SBA size standards table"

Use a 6-digit 2022 NAICS code. Codes from older NAICS editions (for example 511210, now 513210 Software Publishers) are not in the current table. search_naics helps find the right code. Error rows are not charged.

"This standard is measured in ... provide ..."

The code's standard uses a different figure than the one you gave. Manufacturing and wholesale codes use employeeCount; most service codes use annualRevenue; banks use averageAssets.

"eCFR API ..." errors

The eCFR service was unreachable after retries. Nothing is charged; run again later.

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal