What is the cheapest way for a US manufacturer to find a European distributor?

Free routes exist: the Enterprise Europe Network partnering database, the europages search and TED award notices cost nothing to search. They take your time instead. Among paid routes, a state STEP grant can cover part of the cost of a Commercial Service search or a trade fair, so check with your state trade office first.

How much does the US Commercial Service charge for a partner search in 2026?

As published on trade.gov on November 8, 2026, an International Partner Search costs $2,500 and a Gold Key standard package $3,250 plus direct costs, for every US company. The small and medium business discounts ended with the fee revision published in the Federal Register on June 22, 2026.

Can LinkedIn Sales Navigator or ZoomInfo tell me who already sells my product in Europe?

Not directly. They are people and company databases: good for finding the right person at a company you have already chosen. They do not record which company sold which product category to which customer. Use them after you have a shortlist.

Is Thomasnet useful for finding distributors in Europe?

Thomasnet describes itself as a sourcing platform with profiles of more than 500,000 North American suppliers. It helps buyers find US suppliers, so it is useful for seeing how your competitors present themselves, not for finding European resellers.

Does Cresques work for distributors that only sell to private customers?

No. Cresques is built on public contract award notices published on TED, so it sees companies that win public contracts in your category. A distributor that sells only to retailers, private clinics or contractors will not appear. For those, a trade fair, a directory or an introduction is the better route.

Best tools for US manufacturers to find European distributors in 2026, compared

For a US manufacturer, no single tool finds a European distributor on its own: the US Commercial Service gives you companies that have said they are interested, trade fairs give you a room full of the trade, databases give you people to write to, and award-notice data shows who already sells your category to European public buyers. The practical answer is a sequence of two or three of these, chosen by your budget, your category and whether your customers are public or private.

Putting it simply: if you want a US government specialist to vet partners for you, pay for an International Partner Search ($2,500 as of November 8, 2026) and ask your state whether STEP will cover part of it. If you want evidence of who already sells your category, start from award notices. If you already know the companies, use a contact database. Put the money into a fair only once you know whom you want to meet there.

How we compared

We looked at ten routes a US manufacturer actually uses to find a first European distributor, and judged each on the same six criteria:

What it is: a service, a grant, a directory, a database, a network, an event or a data tool.
Data source: where the names come from (self-listing, a vendor's research, government staff, public records).
Coverage: which countries and which companies it can see.
Evidence of category sales: whether it shows that a company has actually sold your kind of product.
Best for: the job it does well.
Price as published: the price on the provider's own site on the day we checked, or "pricing on request" where none is published.

Every third-party fact below comes from that provider's own pages, opened on November 8, 2026. We did not use review-site scores. No route wins on every criterion, and we say where Cresques is the wrong choice.

Disclosure: Cresques is our own product. We compare on criteria you can verify yourself, following the standard for comparative advertising in Directive 2006/114/EC, and link to each source.

The comparison

Route	What it is	Data source	Coverage	Evidence of category sales	Best for	Pricing as published	Checked on
US Commercial Service: International Partner Search	Government partner search	Commercial Service staff contact candidates in the target country	Target countries where the service is offered	No; expressed interest instead	Up to five partners that have expressed interest	$2,500; IPS Plus with virtual introductions $3,300	Nov 8, 2026
US Commercial Service: Gold Key	Government matchmaking with meetings	As above, with staff attending meetings	As above	No; expressed interest instead	Meetings with up to five interested partners	$3,250 standard package plus direct costs (+$800 over five appointments or eight hours)	Nov 8, 2026
State STEP grant	Federal grant passed through states	Not a data source; helps cover export costs	Your state's program and rules	Not applicable	Paying part of the other routes	Set by each state	Nov 8, 2026
europages	B2B directory	Companies list themselves	2.2 million registered companies, Europe-focused	No; companies describe themselves	Websites and contact forms of companies you identify	Free for companies doing research; seller options on request	Nov 8, 2026
Kompass EasyBusiness	Company database for prospecting	Kompass data	About 60 million companies, 70+ countries (one menu entry on the same page says 21 million)	Not shown on the page we checked	Target lists with firmographics	Pricing on request	Nov 8, 2026
LinkedIn Sales Navigator	People and account search	Member profiles	Wherever buyers use LinkedIn	Not shown on the page we checked	Reaching named people at known companies	Core from $119.99/month or $1,079.88/year per license; Advanced from $159.99/month	Nov 8, 2026
ZoomInfo	Contact and company data platform	ZoomInfo data	Not stated on the pricing page	Not shown on the page we checked	Contact data at scale, CRM enrichment	Pricing on request (custom packages)	Nov 8, 2026
Thomasnet (for contrast)	Industrial sourcing platform	Supplier profiles	More than 500,000 North American suppliers	Not applicable (North American suppliers)	Finding US suppliers, benchmarking competitors	Not stated on the About page	Nov 8, 2026
Enterprise Europe Network	EU-funded SME support network	Partnering profiles handled by advisers	EU plus non-EU members; five US contact points	No; partner requests instead	Companies actively asking for a partner	Database free; adviser services: ask your contact point	Nov 8, 2026
Trade fair (example: MEDICA, Düsseldorf)	Sector exhibition	Exhibitors who booked a stand	One sector, international	No; you ask in person	Meeting the trade in person	Row stand €304/m² net, minimum 12 m², plus €995 media fee, before stand build and travel	Nov 8, 2026
Cresques	Award-notice data application	Public contract award notices on TED	30 EU/EEA countries; public buyers above EU thresholds	Yes, for public contracts only	A first list of companies with proof they sell your category	Free plan (one market map); plans from $49/month, payable in US dollars	Nov 8, 2026

Route by route

US Commercial Service: International Partner Search and Gold Key

trade.gov describes the IPS as delivering "up to five partners/distributors that have expressed an interest" in your goods, with a report on each. The Gold Key adds "matchmaking appointments with up to five interested partners in a foreign market", with staff present. Since the fee revision published in the Federal Register on June 22, 2026 and applied from July 22, 2026, every US company pays the same: $2,500 and $3,250 (our fee breakdown has the old and new schedules). The strength is the expressed interest and, in countries that restrict cold e-mail, a clean first contact. The limit is five names per search, chosen by someone else. trade.gov says both services are for export-ready US companies whose goods or services are "of U.S. origin or that have at least 51% U.S. content", so check that with your local trade specialist before you order.

State STEP grants

STEP is an SBA program that makes awards to US states and territories, which then help small businesses cover export costs; the eligible activities the SBA lists include subscribing to services provided by the US Department of Commerce, tradeshow exhibitions and translation fees. The SBA says the grants are "specifically for established U.S. small businesses" and it directs applicants to the STEP awardee in their state or territory. It finds no one by itself; it lowers the cost of the routes that do. Rates and caps differ widely, see STEP grants state by state.

europages

europages, run by Visable, reports 2.2 million registered companies and says it "is free of charge for companies doing research". Its breadth is real, and it is a quick way to find a company's website and product range. Profiles and product ranges are created by the listed suppliers themselves, and sellers can pay for higher ranking in search results, so a listing shows that a company exists and what it says it does, not what it has sold.

Kompass EasyBusiness

Kompass calls EasyBusiness a global B2B prospecting solution, citing more than 60 million companies and targets in 70+ countries; it publishes no price and offers product and price information on request. It suits building a target list by sector code and company size. Like any firmographic database, it describes companies; it does not show which of them have sold your product.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator Core is published from $119.99 a month or $1,079.88 a year per license. It is a direct way to find the managing director or category buyer at a distributor you have already chosen. It does not tell you which distributors to choose, and message limits and European outreach rules still apply (see our compliance checklist).

ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo's pricing page offers "custom packages based on your B2B data use cases and needs" and publishes no prices or data counts. It is strong for teams that already run outbound sales from a CRM. For a first European distributor search it has the same gap as other contact databases: people and firmographics, no category sales history.

Thomasnet, for contrast

Thomasnet describes itself as offering "in-depth supplier profiles of more than 500,000 North American suppliers". It points the other way from this task: it helps buyers find North American suppliers, so it will not surface European resellers.

Enterprise Europe Network

The EEN calls its partnering database "Europe's largest online database of business opportunities" and "this free resource". You work through a local contact point; in the United States those are five European American Chambers of Commerce (Cincinnati, Dallas, the Carolinas, Miami, New York). Its value is that profiles come from companies actively looking for a partner. The pool in any one niche can be small.

Trade fairs

A sector fair puts most of a trade in one hall. MEDICA in Düsseldorf runs November 16 to 19, 2026; its 2026 conditions list a row stand at €304 per m² net with a 12 m² minimum and a €995 media fee; with the small per-m² AUMA and waste charges that is roughly €4,680 net before stand build, travel and staff. Nothing replaces meeting a distributor face to face. The cost and the fixed dates make a fair the last step, once you know whom to book meetings with.

Cresques

Cresques reads contract award notices from TED, which public buyers must publish under Article 50 of Directive 2014/24/EU for contracts above the EU thresholds, naming the winner. Since November 2023 the evidence view holds 1,604,107 awards across 30 countries (computed November 8, 2026; methodology). For a US maker, US-registered companies themselves won 726 awards (536 companies) in that period, against 1,509 for UK and 1,142 for Swiss companies, so the realistic route is the local distributor that wins. Cresques shows those companies with the notice behind each, the lawful first-contact channel per country, and a first message in the local language. It does not supply named contacts, an expressed interest or private-sector resellers.

Which to use when

You want someone else to vet and call candidates. Commercial Service IPS, then a Gold Key if the report looks promising. Ask your state about STEP before you pay.
Your customers include hospitals, schools, utilities or public agencies. Start with award-notice evidence in Cresques or on TED to see who wins your category, then check those companies on europages or their websites. See /for/us-manufacturers.
Your distributors sell only to retail or private buyers. Cresques will not see them. Use a trade fair, europages and EEN, or a Commercial Service search.
You already have the company names. Sales Navigator for named people; Kompass or ZoomInfo if you run outbound at scale.
You want companies that have asked for a partner. EEN partnering database, through a US contact point.
You are ready to meet. A trade fair, with meetings booked in advance from your shortlist.

Whatever the route, check the distribution agreement before you sign (what to know), and plan delivery terms and VAT (Incoterms and VAT). For the playbook end to end, read entering the EU through distributors, and for how EU award data compares with USAspending, TED vs SAM.gov.