What Postcoder does

Postcoder is a hosted REST API platform, developed and operated by Allies Computing Ltd (a private limited company founded in 1987 and headquartered in Norwich, United Kingdom), that provides address lookup and customer data validation services to over 10,000 organisations worldwide. Its single unified API consolidates five core capabilities: address lookup (covering the UK Royal Mail PAF with 30 million daily-updated addresses plus international coverage in 249 countries including USPS ZIP+4 in the United States and Eircode in Ireland), bank validation (UK sort codes and international IBAN), email validation, mobile phone validation, and OTP SMS verification. Postcoder accesses authoritative national postal datasets through licensing relationships with Royal Mail, USPS, and Ordnance Survey, supplemented by sub-processors for additional data validation, and is hosted on AWS infrastructure.

The platform targets ecommerce, enterprise, financial services, government, and healthcare customers with named users including NHS, Sky, KFC, Rightmove, Legal & General, Victorian Plumbing, loveholidays, and Citizens Advice. The go-to-market is API-first and developer-focused, with self-service signup, free trials, instant API key issuance, and sales-assisted enterprise engagement via demo booking. Revenue is generated through credit-based pay-as-you-go usage pricing, monthly subscription plans for regular users, and enterprise contracts; no public pricing or revenue figures are disclosed. The business is founder-owned with no disclosed external funding, holds ISO 9001:2015 and Cyber Essentials certifications, and has accumulated multiple G2 awards through 2025-2026 alongside a Devportal Award for Best Served API Business Model in 2024.

Name

Postcoder

Legal name

Allies Computing Ltd

Website

https://postcoder.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Postcoder, built by Allies Computing Ltd, is a single REST API providing address lookup, bank, email, mobile, and OTP validation. It serves over 10,000 organisations worldwide with coverage across 249 countries, anchored by licensed UK Royal Mail PAF, USPS, and Ordnance Survey data.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Address Verification and Data Validation APIs

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Wire/RTP Confirmation of Payee (CoP) & Beneficiary Verification (FSAMAHAL)

Keywords

• Address validation API
• Postcode lookup API
• Bank account validation
• Email validation API
• Form verification API

Headquarters

HQ city

Norwich

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Credit-based API Usage: Pay-per-lookup credit system where each API request deducts a fixed number of credits from purchased credit packs. IBAN validation costs 1.2 credits per request.
2. Monthly Subscription Plans: Monthly plans available for regular users with predefined monthly credit allocations and discounted rates compared to pay-as-you-go.
3. Enterprise API Access: Full access to all Postcoder features including bank validation, email validation, mobile validation, and OTP verification for enterprise customers with appropriate API key access levels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Postcoder is a hosted REST API that provides address lookup, bank/IBAN validation, email validation, mobile validation, and OTP SMS verification as a single unified integration for websites and mobile applications. The service is backed by authoritative postal datasets (Royal Mail PAF, USPS ZIP+4, Eircode, BFPO, Ordnance Survey NGD) covering 249 countries and is sold via credit packs, monthly subscriptions, and enterprise agreements.

Product overview

Postcoder is a unified API platform developed by Allies Computing Ltd that provides address lookup and form validation services. The core Postcoder API offers five main features: Address Lookup (including postcode lookup, autocomplete, and international coverage for 249 countries), Bank Validation (UK sort code/account validation plus IBAN for international accounts), Email Validation, Mobile Validation, and OTP Verification for authentication. Address data is sourced from authoritative datasets including Royal Mail PAF (30M UK addresses), Multiple Residence, Not Yet Built, BFPO, Eircode (Ireland), USPS ZIP+4 (USA), and Ordnance Survey NGD. The API operates via REST with JSON/XML responses, 99.99% uptime, and 350ms response times.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Postcoder API Hosted REST API providing address lookup, bank validation, email validation, mobile validation, and OTP verification services for websites and mobile applications. Targets developers and businesses integrating customer-data verification into forms, checkouts, and onboarding flows.
• Address Lookup Postcode lookup and address autocomplete service that enables rapid capture of verified addresses from customers on websites and mobile apps. Supports Royal Mail PAF, Multiple Residence, Not Yet Built, BFPO, Eircode (Ireland), USPS ZIP+4 (USA), and international addresses in 249 countries.
• Bank Validation UK bank account validation service verifying sort codes and account numbers, returning bank and branch details. Includes IBAN validation for international bank accounts with UK-specific extended details and payment-scheme flags.
• Email Validation Real-time email address validation API that checks whether email addresses are capable of receiving messages, detects disposable addresses, and returns quality scores.
• Mobile Validation Mobile phone number validation API that checks validity, network connectivity, and country information for SMS and call capability.
• OTP Verification

Quantifiable outcome

• Postcode lookup is up to 80% faster than typing an address manually
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationAmazon Web Services EMEA SARL, Luxembourg - Infrastructure and hosting provider for Postcoder API services.
• Royal MailcoreTechnology or IntegrationRoyal Mail is the source of PAF (Postcode Address File) data - the definitive UK address database updated daily with 30 million addresses. Allies is a Royal Mail Licensed Solution Provider.
• USPScoreTechnology or IntegrationUnited States Postal Service provides ZIP+4 database covering 67.5 million US addresses, updated every 2 months.
• Ordnance SurveycoreTechnology or IntegrationOS NGD (National Geographic Database) API access provided through Postcoder for the UK's most detailed geographic dataset.
• G2minorGTM or Marketing PartnerG2.com Inc, USA - Software marketplace for user reviews and marketing analytics.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• AddressFinder: Australia/New Zealand-focused address lookup API with similar developer-first model. Comparable product offering but geographically concentrated in APAC, not directly competing in Postcoder's core UK market.
• PostGrid: Address verification and direct mail API provider with address autocomplete, validation, and document delivery services. Comparable API-first model targeting similar ecommerce and enterprise verification use cases.

Broad incumbents

• AWS Location Service: Amazon's geospatial service includes address geocoding and validation as part of a broader cloud platform. Competes with Postcoder through cloud bundling for AWS-native customers, where Postcoder is hosted.
• Google Address Validation API: Hyperscaler address validation API bundled into Google Maps Platform. While broader in scope than Postcoder's offering, it competes head-on for address lookup workloads, especially for customers already on GCP.
• Trulioo: Global identity verification platform with address, email, and phone verification capabilities. Overlaps with Postcoder's enterprise verification use cases, particularly for KYC/AML compliance-driven customers.
• Experian Data Quality: Large-scale data quality and identity verification provider offering address validation, email verification, and fraud prevention. Competes as an enterprise incumbent with broader data and credit bureau assets.

Direct peers

• Smarty (formerly SmartyStreets): US-based address validation API provider offering USPS, international address verification, and geocoding. Closest US-headquartered direct competitor with similar developer-first, credit-based pricing model.
• Reach (reachdesk): UK-based provider of address lookup and verification APIs (Reach previously operated as separate entity). Direct overlap with Postcoder in UK ecommerce address capture and form validation.
• Melissa Data: Global data quality provider offering address verification, email validation, phone validation, and identity verification APIs. Competes directly with Postcoder's unified verification platform across multiple data types.
• Loqate (GBG): GBG's Loqate is the most direct competitor, offering address verification, email validation, and phone validation APIs globally. Both serve the same enterprise customers with comparable address capture and data quality use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Postcoder