ImportDoor vs ImportGenius
Both platforms are built on U.S. Customs bill of lading records. The differences are what you pay, how much you can search, and how much you can export. Here is the honest side-by-side, using ImportGenius’s published pricing as of August 2026.
Sourced from U.S. Customs bill of lading data · Updated monthly · Data through July 2026
The short version
- ImportDoor Pro is $49/month with 10,000 export rows. ImportGenius Essentials Flex is $229/month with 1,000 export rows: 10 times the rows at about one fifth of the price.
- We never meter searches. Every ImportDoor plan, including Free, has unlimited searching. ImportGenius caps searches at 25 to 50 per day.
- ImportDoor has a free plan. ImportGenius starts at $229/month (or $183/month on an annual contract).
- ImportGenius is stronger on history before 2020, U.S. export records, and non-U.S. coverage. If you need those, it may be worth the premium.
Side-by-side comparison
| ImportDoor | ImportGenius | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | Starter, $29/month | Essentials Flex, $229/month |
| Cheapest plan with bulk export | Pro, $49/month | Essentials Flex, $229/month |
| Search limits | Unlimited on every plan | 25/day (Essentials), 50/day (Pro) |
| Export rows, monthly billing | 10,000/month (Pro), 50,000/month (Business) | 1,000/month (Essentials Flex and Pro Flex) |
| Export rows, annual billing | Same 10,000 / 50,000 per month | 30,000/month (Essentials), 150,000/month (Pro, up to 3 seats) |
| U.S. import history | Jan 2020 to current (Pro and Business) | Last 12 months (Essentials), 2006 to current (Pro) |
| U.S. export (outbound) records | Not offered | 2014 to current |
| Countries beyond the U.S. | Not offered | Optional add-ons; 21+ countries on Enterprise |
| Team seats included | 3 (Pro), 10 (Business) | 1 (Flex plans), up to 3 (annual plans) |
| Free plan | Yes: 5 profiles/month, no credit card | No free plan |
ImportGenius plan details from importgenius.com/pricing as of August 2026. ImportDoor prices are founding member prices for our first 200 customers, locked in for as long as the subscription stays active.
Same customs records, very different bills
U.S. import intelligence platforms do not own the underlying shipment data. Bill of lading filings are collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and made available publicly; every vendor in this space, including us and ImportGenius, indexes that same stream. What you are actually buying is coverage, search, and export. That is why we think the fair comparison is not “whose data” but “what does it cost to ask questions and take the answers with you.” On that comparison, ImportDoor Pro at $49 per month includes unlimited searching and 10,000 export rows, against 25 searches per day and 1,000 export rows on ImportGenius’s $229 entry plan.
Search should not be metered
Supplier research is iterative. You search a product, refine by origin country, pivot to a shipper, check their other customers, and repeat. A 25-search daily cap means a single research session can hit the wall before lunch. We deliberately keep searching unlimited on every plan and meter only bulk export, because exploring the data is how you find out whether it is useful.
Where ImportGenius is stronger
An honest comparison cuts both ways. ImportGenius has been around since 2007 and its higher tiers cover things we currently do not: U.S. import history back to 2006 (our records start in January 2020), U.S. export records back to 2014, and paid add-ons for shipment data from other countries. Its Pro annual plan also carries a larger export allowance (150,000 rows per month shared across up to 3 seats at $359 per month) than our Business plan. If your work depends on pre-2020 history or multi-country coverage, ImportGenius or an enterprise platform is the right tool, and we would rather tell you that than have you churn in a month.
Frequently asked questions
Is ImportDoor a good alternative to ImportGenius?
For researching U.S. ocean imports, yes. Both platforms are built on the same public U.S. Customs bill of lading records. ImportDoor gives you unlimited searches on every plan, a 10,000-row monthly export allowance on Pro at $49 per month, and a free plan to start with. ImportGenius offers deeper history (back to 2006 on its Pro plan), U.S. export records, and add-ons for other countries, so if you need those, its higher tiers cover ground we currently do not.
How much cheaper is ImportDoor than ImportGenius?
ImportDoor Pro costs $49 per month and includes bulk CSV and Excel export. ImportGenius's entry plan, Essentials Flex, is $229 per month, so ImportDoor Pro is about 79% less. ImportDoor's entry paid plan, Starter, is $29 per month. All ImportDoor prices shown are founding member prices available to our first 200 customers and locked in for as long as the subscription stays active.
How do export limits compare between ImportDoor and ImportGenius?
On month-to-month billing, ImportDoor Pro includes 10,000 export rows per month and Business includes 50,000, while ImportGenius caps both Essentials Flex ($229) and Pro Flex ($449) at 1,000 rows per month. On annual billing, ImportGenius raises its allowances to 30,000 rows (Essentials) and 150,000 rows (Pro, shared across up to 3 seats). ImportDoor's allowances are the same whether you pay monthly or yearly, and page exports never count toward the allowance.
Does ImportDoor limit how many searches I can run?
No. Searching is unlimited on every ImportDoor plan, including the Free plan. ImportGenius publishes a cap of 25 searches per day on Essentials and 50 per day on Pro.
Do ImportDoor and ImportGenius use the same data?
The U.S. import records behind both platforms come from the same source: bill of lading filings collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ImportDoor covers U.S. ocean imports from January 2020 to the present, updated monthly. ImportGenius also sells older history (back to 2006), U.S. export records, and data for other countries on its higher tiers.
Can I try ImportDoor before paying?
Yes. The Free plan includes unlimited searching and 5 full company, supplier, or product profiles per month, with no credit card required. Our importer, supplier, and product directories, the HS code lookup, and our quarterly import reports are free without an account.
See the data for yourself
Search 85M+ U.S. import shipment records free. No credit card, no demo call, no daily search cap.
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ImportGenius is a trademark of its owner. ImportDoor is not affiliated with or endorsed by ImportGenius. Competitor plan details are transcribed from publicly available pages as of August 2026 and may have changed since. If you spot an error, please contact us and we will correct it promptly.