Frequently Asked Questions

No. VantaInsights is an industry research product. Vanta Inc. (vanta.com) is a separate, unrelated security-compliance company. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or related to them in any way.

VantaInsights is a product of DATS Digital LLC. More on the team and approach about VantaInsights.

We cover US industries classified by NAICS — over 1,000 6-digit codes across 20 economic sectors. We don't cover non-US markets, niches that fall outside NAICS classification, or industries where federal data coverage is too thin to support a report. Browse our industry directory for the full list.

The cost structure is different, not the rigour of the data. Traditional market research from firms like IBISWorld or Euromonitor costs $800–2,000+ per report because their pricing reflects analyst teams, primary interviews, and proprietary survey data. We deliver $239–399 marketplace reports and $299–799 custom reports by sourcing exclusively from verified federal datasets (Census, BLS, FRED, SEC) — every number is traceable to its agency, dataset, and year, but we don't add a layer of paid analyst commentary on top. If that's the differentiator that matters, we recommend IBISWorld or Gartner; for federal-data-grounded research delivered in hours, see what we are and what we're not.

Five cases where you should look elsewhere. (1) You need analyst-written primary research with interviews and proprietary survey data — that's IBISWorld, Gartner, or Euromonitor territory. (2) You need real-time market data; federal data is rigorous but lags by months to a year depending on the source. (3) You need international coverage — we are US-only across ~1,000 NAICS-classified industries. (4) You need fabricated or speculative numbers (some "AI-generated" reports do this — we explicitly don't). (5) The industry's NAICS code is suppressed by federal agencies for confidentiality (small or sensitive sectors). For categories 1–4, see what we are and what we're not.

A single PDF, professionally typeset, 20–25 pages for Basic and 35–45 pages for Standard. The PDF is searchable, copy-paste-friendly, and includes embedded charts and source citations.

The sample is a complete, watermarked report — same length and depth as a paid Basic or Standard report. Currently we publish two: NAICS 561720 (Janitorial Services, Basic) and NAICS 562111 (Solid Waste Collection, Standard). Free with a verified account on our sample reports page — log in, verify your email, and the download link arrives in your inbox. Limited to 3 sample downloads per day.

Charts are embedded as images, not editable objects. If you need editable source data for a specific chart (CSV or Excel), email support@vantainsights.com after purchase and we'll send the underlying figures.

Yes. Our free sample reports show the full structure of a Basic and Standard report — section by section.

Basic ($239 marketplace / $299 custom): national overview from Census CBP, BLS, and FRED — market sizing, employment, wages, 5-year forecast, ~20–25 pages. Standard ($399 / $499) adds state-by-state breakdowns and regional growth patterns — ~35–45 pages. Premium ($799, custom only, never resold) adds SEC EDGAR competitive intelligence, public-company financials, and trade data — ~50–60 pages. See our tier breakdown for the full comparison.

Federal data is fetched directly from agency APIs — Census Bureau, BLS, FRED, SEC EDGAR — at the time you order. AI assists in synthesizing that raw data into prose, charts, and analysis. A validation pass then re-checks every numerical claim in the draft against the source data and corrects discrepancies before the PDF is finalized. AI does not invent numbers, estimate values from training data, or scrape the web — every figure has a federal-data citation. See how we build reports for the full pipeline.

It depends entirely on whether the AI is grounded in primary data or generating from training-text patterns. Tools like ChatGPT and most "AI market research" services hallucinate industry numbers because their training data has no reliable boundary between citable statistics and pattern-matched prose. VantaInsights uses AI for synthesis and writing, never for the numbers themselves: every CAGR, market size, employment figure, and concentration ratio is computed deterministically from federal-data APIs before the AI is called, then validated again after generation. Read more on AI market research →

IBISWorld and VantaInsights pull from many of the same federal sources (Census, BLS), but the model is different: IBISWorld is sales-gated, subscription-based, and aimed at enterprise buyers; reports often run $1,000+. VantaInsights is self-serve, single-purchase, and starts at $239. For enterprise teams with annual budgets and time for a sales cycle, IBISWorld is excellent. For everyone else, our reports cover the same federal data with transparent pricing and 48-hour delivery. Read the full IBISWorld comparison →

Statista aggregates statistics across syndicated and proprietary sources behind a subscription paywall. We compile primary federal data — Census, BLS, FRED, SEC EDGAR — directly from agency APIs and present it as professional industry reports with every figure cited to its source. No subscription, no PDF lock-in: you buy one report. Read the full Statista alternative comparison →

Gartner sells enterprise IT and strategy advisory — analyst calls, magic quadrants, multi-year contracts in the five- and six-figure range. VantaInsights sells industry research reports built on federal data, sold per-report from $239. Different products for different jobs: Gartner if you need an analyst on retainer; VantaInsights if you need verifiable industry data in a deliverable PDF. Read the full Gartner alternative comparison →

First Research (now part of D&B Hoovers) sells short industry profiles to sales and credit teams, distributed mainly through enterprise subscriptions tied to D&B credit-data contracts. The product is breadth — thousands of one-pager profiles for prospect prep — not depth. VantaInsights is the opposite: full single-industry reports (25–40 pages) built on the same underlying federal data, sold per-report from $239 with no subscription or D&B contract. If you need a quick prospect-prep summary across many industries, First Research is faster; if you need rigorous data and analysis on one industry, our reports go deeper. Read the full First Research comparison →

ChatGPT is a language model — it predicts text. It does not query Census, BLS, or SEC EDGAR. When you ask it for industry numbers, it generates them from patterns in its training data, often plausible-looking but unverifiable, and frequently wrong. VantaInsights does the opposite: every number in every report is fetched from a federal-data API at the time you order, validated against agency totals, and cited to its source. ChatGPT is useful for summarizing and brainstorming; VantaInsights is what you use when the number has to be right. Read the full ChatGPT comparison →

Yes. The MCP connector at https://vantainsights.com/mcp needs no account and no subscription. It serves the published federal record for 1,766 industries, each figure with its source agency and year. Growth rates, market concentration, forecasts and state-level tables stay in the reports. Setup and the full tool list →

Seven federal datasets, all primary-source. County Business Patterns and Statistics of US Businesses (US Census Bureau) for establishments, employment, payroll, and revenue. The Economic Census concentration table (US Census Bureau) for the official CR4, CR8, CR20, CR50 and HHI. The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (Bureau of Labor Statistics) for industry wages. FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) for macroeconomic context. SEC EDGAR for public-company financials via NAICS-to-SIC mapping. And Census Foreign Trade for imports and exports on Standard-tier reports. Every number in every report cites the dataset, year, and table it came from. Browse the full list with descriptions or see how we build reports.

SEC EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's public database of mandatory corporate filings — 10-Ks, 10-Qs, 8-Ks, S-1s, and more. Every U.S.-listed public company files there, and access is free at edgar.sec.gov. We pull public-company financials from EDGAR via NAICS-to-SIC mapping to name the largest public operators in our Standard-tier competitor section. We do not derive CR4 from filings: a 10-K reports consolidated enterprise revenue across many industries, not revenue within one NAICS code, and it carries no industry denominator. Our CR4, CR8, CR20, CR50 and HHI come from the Census Economic Census concentration table. EDGAR alone also gives a skewed view of most industries because private companies don't file there — that's why we always pair it with Census CBP, BLS QCEW, and FRED. Read the full SEC EDGAR guide →

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) is the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's free public database of 800,000+ economic time series — GDP, inflation, interest rates, sector output, consumer sentiment, and more. We pull FRED indicators into every report to set the macroeconomic context against which your industry's metrics are interpreted: Census CBP tells you how many establishments exist, BLS QCEW tells you their wages, but FRED tells you whether the broader economy is expanding or contracting around them. Read the full FRED guide →

Three things keep the AI honest. First, we pre-compute the hard numbers — CAGRs, ratios, year-over-year changes, market concentration — directly from the raw federal data and feed them to the AI as authoritative figures it must copy verbatim, never estimate. Second, the AI generates prose using only those pre-computed values plus the raw source data; it does not invent or paraphrase numbers and is explicitly prevented from drawing on training data. Third, a deterministic validation pass re-checks every numerical claim in the draft against the raw data — CAGRs to a 0.05 percentage-point tolerance, state-level figures against pre-computed tables, employment counts against Census originals — and auto-corrects any drift before the PDF is finalized. The result: every figure in the final report has a federal-data citation and has been verified twice. See how we build reports for the full pipeline.

Freshness varies by source: Census County Business Patterns has a ~2-year lag, BLS quarterly data is 6–9 months behind, and FRED indicators are near real-time. Each report includes a "Data Currency" section showing the exact year ranges per source.

Federal statistics from Census, BLS, FRED, and SEC are among the most rigorous data products in the world — collected under standardized methodologies, peer-reviewed, and audited. They're not perfect: Census surveys have sampling error, BLS data is revised as more responses come in, and lag varies from near-real-time (FRED) to two years (Census CBP). What makes federal data trustworthy for industry research is that the methodology is transparent, the error margins are published, and the same number is reproducible by anyone. We compound that accuracy by validating every figure across multiple federal sources — Census employment cross-checked against BLS QCEW, SEC EDGAR financials cross-referenced with Census SUSB receipts. Read more on federal-data accuracy →

Search for your industry by NAICS code or name on the request a custom report page, pick a tier (Basic $299, Standard $499, or Premium $799), optionally add the +$199 custom-branding add-on, leave any special instructions, and submit your email. We respond within 24 hours with payment details, then deliver the report within 48 hours of payment (24 hours for annual branding subscribers). Basic and Standard come with a 15-day money-back guarantee; Premium is non-refundable due to its exclusivity guarantee.

Basic custom reports are exclusive to you for 15 days after delivery; Standard for 30 days. After that, the report can be added to the marketplace at the discounted price. Premium reports ($799) are never resold — fully exclusive, indefinitely. Branded reports (any tier with the +$199 custom-branding add-on) are also never resold on the marketplace regardless of tier — the branding is yours, and the report stays out of the public catalog.

Yes — choose the Premium tier ($799). Premium reports are never listed on the marketplace, regardless of time elapsed. They also include extended SEC EDGAR competitive intelligence not available in Basic or Standard.

Standard reports include one round of revisions; Premium reports include unlimited revisions until you're satisfied. Revision requests are typically turned around in 24–48 hours.

Tell us — we'll fix it. If the delivered report doesn't match your written request, we re-run the relevant sections at no extra charge. If it still doesn't match for Basic or Standard tiers, you're covered by the 15-day money-back guarantee.

Standard delivery is 48 hours from order. Annual branding subscribers get priority 24-hour delivery. For tighter turnarounds, email support@vantainsights.com with your timeline before ordering and we'll let you know what's feasible.

A single PDF covering one NAICS code: headline figures with their source and year, the seven-year Census CBP series, every reportable state ranked by employment, the official Economic Census concentration table where Census publishes one for the code (CR4 through CR50, and the HHI where Census publishes that row; where Census publishes no table, the pack says so), and a source-and-provenance sheet recording each source, the vintage used and the date it was extracted. Six or seven pages, $99, instant download. No written analysis, and no forecast: a projection is analysis, and that belongs to the reports.

Because nobody wrote anything. A report is the federal data plus 25 to 40 pages of analysis: what the numbers mean, where the industry sits in its cycle, what the concentration figures imply. A Data Pack is the same federal data, sourced to the same standard, with no interpretation on top. Basic and Standard both contain everything in a Data Pack, plus the analysis. If you read CBP and Economic Census tables yourself and need them assembled, cited and dated, the pack is what you are paying for and the analysis is what you are not.

Over 1,500 NAICS codes. A pack exists wherever the federal record for a code is complete enough to stand on its own, so the buy option appears on the industry or report page when there is one and is simply absent when there is not. There is no separate pack catalog: you buy one from the page for the code you need. Census does not publish at every six-digit level; where it publishes only for the broader group, the pack covers that group and says so on the page before you buy.

Every pack carries a dated identity such as 44531-2026-07-27, and the file you bought keeps returning the figures you paid for. Agencies revise and republish. If we rebuild a pack against a newer vintage, that is a new snapshot; your download does not change under you. That is what makes a pack citable months later, and why the provenance sheet records an extraction date rather than just a source name.

Yes. If you later buy a report covering the same NAICS code, the $99 you paid comes off its price. Email sales@vantainsights.com before you buy the report and we will issue the discount. It can be used once, and it is applied as a discount rather than refunded. Full terms in the refund policy.

No. A Data Pack is delivered in full the moment payment clears, and at checkout you accept immediate supply and give up the right to cancel. There is no drafting stage and no revision round in which to change your mind. Accuracy is the guarantee we do give: if a pack misstates a federal figure, email support@vantainsights.com and we will correct and reissue it at no charge. See the refund policy.

No — by design. Reports are single purchases, no recurring billing. Traditional firms charge $3,000–15,000+ per year for subscription access; we don't. The one optional subscription we offer is a $1,500/year branding plan that adds your logo to every report you buy that year, plus 24-hour priority delivery. It applies branding to reports you purchase; it is not access to our report catalog. For catalog or bulk licensing, email support@vantainsights.com. Reports themselves are always one-time purchases.

No. A report reflects the federal data available at the time of generation. When new Census or BLS data is released and you want a refreshed report, you order again. This is intentional — we don't lock you into a subscription to access data you've already paid for.

Marketplace reports are regenerated when their underlying federal data refreshes — typically annually for Census-driven sections and quarterly for BLS sections. The "Data Currency" section in each report shows when the data was last fetched.

The annual branding subscription ($1,500/year) includes a 10% discount on every report you buy that year, plus 24-hour priority delivery — useful if you're ordering more than ~8 reports a year. For one-off bulk orders outside of that, email support@vantainsights.com with the list of NAICS codes and tiers and we'll quote.

All major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) plus Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Link via Stripe. We are merchant of record for all transactions.

Standard purchases go through Stripe (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link). For purchase orders or institutional billing requirements, email support@vantainsights.com with your details and we'll accommodate where possible.

Yes — every order generates a tax-compliant invoice emailed to the address on the order. If you need a custom invoice (different billing entity, VAT details, PO number), reply to the order email within 7 days and we'll reissue.

Yes — within your organization. The standard license covers internal use across your company, including consultants and contractors working under NDA on your behalf. It does not extend to public redistribution, resale, or sharing outside the purchasing organization.

Yes. The standard license permits quoted excerpts up to 100 words with attribution to "VantaInsights" — sufficient for client deliverables, internal decks, and pitch documents. For longer excerpts, wholesale chart reuse, or reproduction of full sections, email support@vantainsights.com for written permission.

Yes — for pitch decks, business plans, and SBA loan applications. The 100-word excerpt limit applies; for full charts or longer passages, get written permission. Always credit VantaInsights and the underlying federal data source (the report cites them for you).

Yes. Use either "Source: VantaInsights, [Year]" or "Source: VantaInsights analysis of [Census Bureau / BLS / FRED / SEC EDGAR] data, [Year]". The second form is preferred when you're citing a specific federal data point — it's more verifiable and stronger for credibility.

Not under the standard license. Exception for branded reports: if you purchased the +$199 custom-branding add-on, your branded copy carries your logo and brand identity, and you may resell or deliver it to your clients in that branded form, as delivered. VantaInsights does not list or resell branded reports on our marketplace, so you keep effective exclusivity over your branded edition. Reselling reports as-is is fine; assembling purchased reports into a catalog, library, or database, or building a derivative product from them, requires a separate written license (email support@vantainsights.com). See the White-Label and Branded Reports section of our Terms.

Mostly, with one distinction worth stating plainly. A Data Pack is licensed on the same terms as a report: internal use across your organization, no public redistribution or resale of the file itself. But the figures inside it are federal statistics in the public domain, and nothing we license can restrict those. Use, quote and republish the numbers freely. What the licence covers is our compilation of them: the assembly, the formatting, the state table and the source-and-provenance sheet. In practice, put the figures in your deck or model with attribution, and don't pass the PDF around outside your organization. See Section 4 of our Terms of Service.

For most uses: "VantaInsights, [Industry Name] Industry Report, [Year]". For academic citation: "VantaInsights. ([Year]). [Industry Name] (NAICS [code]) industry report. https://vantainsights.com/reports/[id]".

Immediately after payment, you'll receive an email with a download link. The same link is also available in your account dashboard. Custom reports are emailed within 48 hours of order (24 hours for subscribers).

Yes — your reports remain available for re-download in your account dashboard indefinitely. Data Packs are there too, in the same order list, each with its own download button. A pack always returns the exact snapshot you bought, identified by its snapshot ID, so a later federal vintage never quietly replaces the file you paid for. If you can't access your account or the email, contact support@vantainsights.com with your order number and we'll resend.

Basic and Standard reports: 15-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. We confirm refunds within 24 hours and funds return to your original payment method in 5–10 business days. Important caveat for custom Basic/Standard reports: if you refund a custom report, VantaInsights reserves the right to list and sell that report on the public marketplace. Premium ($799) is non-refundable due to its exclusivity guarantee, but includes unlimited revisions until you're satisfied. Branding services (+$199) are non-refundable as custom work. See our full refund policy for details.

Email support@vantainsights.com for any question — pre-purchase, post-purchase, custom report scoping, billing, or technical issues. Or use our contact form.

Most emails are answered within one business day. Custom report scoping questions (which NAICS codes, what geography, tier choice) typically get a response within hours. Annual subscribers get priority response.