Zefix Scraper - Swiss Company Registry Data

Extract structured company data from Zefix (Zentraler Firmenindex), Switzerland's official central business name index operated by the Federal Office of Justice. Searches all 26 cantonal commercial registers in one query. No cookies, no login required.

How to scrape Zefix data

This actor queries the official Swiss government Linked Data service (LINDAS) to extract company information from the Zefix central business name index. The data is updated daily and covers all active legal entities registered in Switzerland's commercial register system.

Search by company name

Enter a company name or keyword in the Search Query field. The actor searches across all registered company names in Switzerland. Minimum 3 characters. Examples:

• zurich -- find companies with "zurich" in their name
• novartis -- find Novartis and related entities
• blockchain -- find blockchain-related companies

Look up by UID (CHE number)

Every Swiss company has a unique UID number (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer). Enter it in the UID field to get a specific company's full details. Accepts multiple formats:

• CHE-123.456.789 (formatted)
• CHE123456789 (compact)
• 123456789 (digits only)

Filter by canton

Narrow your search to a specific Swiss canton using the dropdown. All 26 cantons are supported: AG, AI, AR, BE, BL, BS, FR, GE, GL, GR, JU, LU, NE, NW, OW, SG, SH, SO, SZ, TG, TI, UR, VD, VS, ZG, ZH.

Filter by legal form

Filter by legal form code (eCH-0097 standard). Common codes:

Code	Legal Form (German)	Legal Form (English)
0106	Aktiengesellschaft (AG)	Corporation
0107	Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung (GmbH)	Limited liability company
0108	Kommanditaktiengesellschaft	Limited partnership with shares
0109	Einzelunternehmen	Sole proprietorship
0110	Kollektivgesellschaft	General partnership
0111	Auslandische Niederlassung	Foreign branch
0302	Verein	Association
0327	Stiftung	Foundation

What data does Zefix Scraper extract?

Field	Type	Description
companyName	String	Company name (English translation if available)
legalName	String	Official registered company name
uid	String	Swiss UID number (CHE-XXX.XXX.XXX)
chid	String	Old Swiss CH identification number
legalForm	String	Legal form name in German
legalFormCode	String	Legal form code (eCH-0097)
purpose	String	Official company purpose from the commercial register
canton	String	Two-letter canton code (ZH, BE, GE, etc.)
municipality	String	Municipality where the company is registered
street	String	Street address with house number
postalCode	String	Swiss postal code (PLZ)
city	String	City name
status	String	Company status
zefixUrl	String	Direct link to the company on zefix.ch
cantonalRegisterUrl	String	Link to cantonal register entry
scrapedAt	String	ISO 8601 extraction timestamp

Example output

{
    "companyName": "Zurich Convention Center Ltd.",
    "legalName": "Kongresshaus Zurich AG",
    "uid": "CHE-105.951.817",
    "chid": "CH02039026672",
    "legalForm": "Aktiengesellschaft",
    "legalFormCode": "0106",
    "purpose": "Betrieb des Kongresshauses Zurich...",
    "canton": "ZH",
    "municipality": "Zurich",
    "street": "Claridenstrasse 5",
    "postalCode": "8002",
    "city": "Zurich",
    "status": "active",
    "zefixUrl": "https://www.zefix.ch/en/search/entity/list/firm/19135",
    "cantonalRegisterUrl": "https://www.zefix.admin.ch/en/search/entity/list?name=CHE105951817&directLink=true",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-06-09T14:30:00.000Z"
}

Data source

This actor queries the LINDAS (Linked Data Service) SPARQL endpoint maintained by the Swiss Federal Archives. The data originates from the Federal Commercial Registry Office (EHRA) and is updated daily. It covers all active legal entities from all 26 cantonal commercial registers.

The data is published under the OGD (Open Government Data) license -- open use with source attribution required. Source: Swiss Federal Office of Justice via opendata.swiss.

Use cases

• B2B lead generation: Find companies in specific cantons or industries by searching purpose descriptions
• Due diligence: Look up company details, legal form, and registration data by UID
• Market research: Map the Swiss corporate landscape by canton, legal form, or keyword
• Competitor analysis: Search for companies in your sector across Switzerland
• CRM enrichment: Feed a list of UIDs and get back full company profiles with addresses
• Compliance: Verify company registration details against the official government source

Technical details

• Data source: LINDAS SPARQL endpoint (Swiss government Linked Data service)
• Authentication: None required -- uses the publicly accessible open data endpoint
• Rate limiting: The government endpoint is generally reliable but may throttle very large queries
• Update frequency: Source data is updated daily by the Federal Commercial Registry Office
• Coverage: All active legal entities in all 26 Swiss cantonal commercial registers

Input example

{
    "searchQuery": "fintech",
    "canton": "ZH",
    "maxResults": 50
}

Cost of usage

This actor uses the Apify platform. Proxy usage is optional since the LINDAS endpoint is a public government service. A typical run searching 100 companies takes under 30 seconds and costs minimal compute units.

Is it legal to scrape Zefix?

Yes. The Zefix data is published as Open Government Data (OGD) by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice under an open-use license. The LINDAS SPARQL endpoint is explicitly designed for programmatic access. Source attribution is required per the license terms.