- New tenders under the Procurement Act 2023 are advertised on Find a Tender, above and below the thresholds.
- Contracts Finder still carries notices for procurements and contracts that began under the old rules.
- Both are free. You can search either without an account; you need one to save searches and get alerts.
- You usually bid on the buyer’s own e-tendering portal, linked from the notice, not on either site.
The short version
If you only check one site for new opportunities, make it Find a Tender. If you want to catch everything, keep an eye on both for a while longer.
Under the old rules, the split was simple: big contracts on Find a Tender, smaller ones on Contracts Finder. The Procurement Act 2023 changed that. For procurements started on or after 24 February 2025, buyers advertise on Find a Tender, which is now part of the government’s Central Digital Platform.
Contracts Finder carries on for anything that began under the old rules, such as notices and awards for older procurements, frameworks and contracts, until those contracts end. That is why you will still find live notices there today.
Find a Tender and Contracts Finder side by side
| Find a Tender | Contracts Finder | |
|---|---|---|
| What it’s for | Advertising public contracts under the Procurement Act 2023, plus notices across the whole contract lifecycle | Lower-value contracts under the old rules (Public Contracts Regulations 2015) |
| New tenders since 24 Feb 2025 | Yes, above and below the thresholds | Only where the procurement started under the old rules |
| Where it covers | The whole UK, alongside the devolved portals | Mainly England, plus some UK-wide central government |
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Account to search | No (GOV.UK One Login to save searches and get alerts) | No (an account to save searches and get alerts) |
| Supplier registration | Yes: the Central Digital Platform, used when you bid under the Act | No |
| Where you bid | Usually the buyer’s own e-tendering portal, linked from the notice | Usually the buyer’s own e-tendering portal, linked from the notice |
Read our guide to registering on the Central Digital Platform if you haven’t done it yet: buyers now ask for it when you bid.
What we see in the data
tenderITT reads both sites every hour. On 16 October 2026 we were tracking 1,190 live opportunities: 1,112 from Find a Tender and 78 from Contracts Finder. So roughly 9 in every 10 live opportunities are now on Find a Tender.
The Contracts Finder share is small, but those notices are often lower-value contracts that suit small businesses well. Skipping them means missing some of the easiest wins.
See live tenders from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder.
tenderITT puts both portals in one list, grouped by trade and region, and shows what each buyer asks for before you bid.
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Thresholds: why contract value still matters
Thresholds decide which rules apply to a contract. From 1 January 2026 they are, including VAT:
| Type of contract | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Goods and services: central government | £135,018 |
| Goods and services: councils, NHS trusts and other public bodies | £207,720 |
| Works (construction) | £5,193,000 |
Contracts below these values are still advertised on Find a Tender if the buyer chooses to advertise them: central government from £12,000 and councils and NHS trusts from £30,000. See the full table in our Procurement Act 2023 guide.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The devolved nations have their own portals: Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI. Higher-value contracts from these nations usually appear on Find a Tender too, but some lower-value work is only on the local portal. If you sell in those nations, register there as well.
tenderITT currently reads Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, so it covers contracts from all four nations that are published on those two sites.
How to keep up with both
- 01Sign up for alerts on Find a TenderSign in with a GOV.UK One Login, run a search for your trade and save it with email alerts.
- 02Do the same on Contracts FinderCreate a free account and save the same search, so older-rules notices don’t slip past.
- 03Search by CPV code as well as keywordsBuyers describe the same work in different ways. Our guide to searching Find a Tender by trade and region shows how.
- 04Check every working dayNotices are published daily, and some bid windows are short.
- 05Or let one list do ittenderITT checks both sites every hour and emails your matches each morning, with a Go / No-Go on each.
Find a Tender vs Contracts Finder FAQs
Is Contracts Finder still used?
Yes. Since 24 February 2025 new opportunities under the Procurement Act 2023 are advertised on Find a Tender, but Contracts Finder still carries notices and awards for procurements and contracts that started under the old rules, until those contracts end.
Is Find a Tender free to use?
Yes. Searching Find a Tender and registering on the Central Digital Platform are both free. You need a GOV.UK One Login to save searches, get email alerts and register your organisation.
Do I need an account to search Find a Tender or Contracts Finder?
No. You can search both sites without signing in. You need an account to save searches and receive alerts.
Which is better for small businesses?
Watch both. Most new opportunities are now on Find a Tender, while Contracts Finder still lists some lower-value older-rules notices that often suit small businesses.
Do I bid on Find a Tender?
Usually not. The notice tells you how to respond, and most buyers use their own e-tendering portal. Under the Procurement Act you share your Central Digital Platform details with the buyer, often using a share code.
- Find a Tender, GOV.UK
- Contracts Finder, GOV.UK
- Update to legal requirements to publish procurement information on Contracts Finder (PPN 019), GOV.UK
- New public procurement thresholds from 1 January 2026, Blake Morgan
Last reviewed 16 October 2026. tenderITT is independent and not part of, or endorsed by, the UK government. This guide is general information, not legal advice; always follow the instructions in each tender pack.