CNPJ Lookup
Look up a company's public data from its CNPJ: legal name, status and partners.
The CNPJ you type is sent to the Nexinon server, which queries the public BrasilAPI source on your behalf and caches the result (public data — a company's registration record, unrelated to who looked it up) for up to 30 days, for faster responses on later lookups. The CNPJ you type is never logged.
The API behind this tool
This tool queries BrasilAPI, a free public API with no access key required — the Nexinon server does the lookup on your behalf and caches the result (public data) for up to 30 days, so your IP is never exposed directly to the source on every repeated lookup. BrasilAPI, in turn, replicates the Federal Revenue's public registry via the Minha Receita project.
https://brasilapi.com.br/api/cnpj/v1/{cnpj}
{
"cnpj": "19131243000197",
"razao_social": "OPEN KNOWLEDGE BRASIL",
"nome_fantasia": "REDE PELO CONHECIMENTO LIVRE",
"descricao_situacao_cadastral": "ATIVA",
"natureza_juridica": "Associação Privada",
"porte": "DEMAIS",
"cnae_fiscal": 9430800,
"cnae_fiscal_descricao": "Atividades de associações de defesa de direitos sociais",
"municipio": "SAO PAULO",
"uf": "SP",
"qsa": [
{
"nome_socio": "HAYDEE SVAB",
"qualificacao_socio": "Presidente"
}
]
}What CNPJ is
CNPJ (Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica) is the 14-digit number that identifies a company with Brazil's Federal Revenue — the company equivalent of an individual's CPF. The first 8 digits identify the root (the company itself), the next 4 identify the establishment order (0001 is always the headquarters; 0002 onward are branches), and the last 2 are check digits, computed from the previous 12. Since 2026, CNPJs can be alphanumeric (the root and order can contain letters as well as digits) — a Federal Revenue change to avoid running out of purely numeric combinations; the check digits themselves are always numeric.
How to read the registration status
Brazil's Federal Revenue recognizes 5 statuses: Ativa (active, operating normally), Baixada (closed down), Suspensa (suspended), Inapta (non-compliant) and Nula (voided). Only "Ativa" indicates a company genuinely in operation — any other status is a reason to look closer before doing business. When the status isn't Ativa, the Federal Revenue also records a reason (e.g. "Extinction by voluntary liquidation"), shown alongside the result.
CNAE and company size
CNAE (Classificação Nacional de Atividades Econômicas) describes the company's business activity — the primary one is the core of the business, the secondary ones are additional activities it's also authorized to carry out. Company size (MICRO EMPRESA, EMPRESA DE PEQUENO PORTE or DEMAIS) is a Federal Revenue classification based on revenue, used to determine different tax rules and reporting obligations by company size.
Frequently asked questions
Ativa is the only status meaning a company in regular operation; Baixada, Suspensa, Inapta and Nula each indicate, in their own way, a company that's no longer operating normally — see "How to read the registration status", above.
This tool's source (BrasilAPI, which replicates the Federal Revenue registry via the Minha Receita project) is updated manually, with a few days' lag behind the Federal Revenue — a very recently registered CNPJ may not be in the dataset yet. Also double-check that all 14 digits were typed correctly.
The primary CNAE is the company's core business activity; the secondary ones are other activities it's also formally authorized to carry out, even if they're not the focus of the business — see "CNAE and company size", above.
A Federal Revenue change (Instrução Normativa RFB nº 2.119/2022, amended by IN RFB 2.229/2024) that allows letters in the first 12 characters of a CNPJ (root and order), in addition to the usual digits — the last 2 check digits are always numeric. It's still rare in practice: the Federal Revenue only started issuing the first alphanumeric CNPJs in August 2026.
The partners list (QSA) reflects what's registered with the Federal Revenue for that type of company — some legal natures (e.g. sole proprietorships) don't have partners in the formal sense, and the field shows up empty in those cases.
The lookup always queries BrasilAPI, but the result is cached on our server for up to 30 days — registration data changes rarely, and the source itself already carries a few days' lag behind the Federal Revenue, so this has no practical impact on accuracy.
From the public BrasilAPI (brasilapi.com.br), free and requiring no access key, which in turn replicates the Federal Revenue's public registry via the Minha Receita project — see "The API behind this tool", above.
No. Only the lookup result (a company's public registration record) is cached — what you type is never logged in any access or application log.
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