How to find government RFPs
Where federal, state, local and international public bids are actually published, how to register so buyers notify you, and how to watch the rest without checking dozens of portals every day.
Facts checked
The short answer
Government bids are published by the buying agency, at its own level: federal bids on SAM.gov, state bids on each state's procurement portal, local bids on city, county and school district sites, and international tenders on national portals and funders' sites. No single official list covers all of them, so finding RFPs means knowing those sources and monitoring them.
Federal: SAM.gov and Grants.gov
U.S. federal agencies must publicize most contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 on SAM.gov, the government-wide point of entry, under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Federal grants are announced on Grants.gov. Both are free to search, and you need a SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID before you can be awarded a federal contract.
- 01
Search SAM.gov Contract Opportunities
Filter by NAICS code, set-aside type and place of performance, and save searches for email notices.[1]
- 02
Search Grants.gov for funding
Grant notices list eligible applicant types; many are open only to governments, universities or nonprofits.[2]
- 03
Register in SAM.gov
Registration is free and must be renewed every year.[3]
State: one central portal per state, plus exceptions
Every state runs a central e-procurement portal where state agencies post bids above a dollar threshold: Cal eProcure in California, the ESBD in Texas, MyFloridaMarketPlace in Florida, and so on. Registering on that portal, with the right commodity codes, is how you get notified.
The exceptions matter. Departments of transportation usually run separate highway letting sites, universities often buy on their own systems, and some states let cities and counties post on the state portal while others do not. The state guides below spell this out for each state BidRover covers.
Local: cities, counties, school districts and authorities
Local governments are the largest and most scattered group of buyers. Each city, county, school district, transit agency, port and utility posts on its own website or on a bid network it chose. Many small cities publish on a standard "Bids" page on their municipal website, while others use bid networks such as BidNet Direct, DemandStar or Periscope.
That scatter is why local bids are hard to find: there is no single national list. Aggregators, BidRover included, exist to read many of those sites and put them in one search.
International: national portals, the EU and development banks
Outside the U.S., most countries publish public tenders on one national portal: Contracts Finder and Find a Tender in the UK, CanadaBuys in Canada, simap.ch in Switzerland, Prozorro in Ukraine, SECOP II in Colombia. Contracts above EU thresholds are also published on Tenders Electronic Daily (TED).
Projects funded by development banks and UN agencies are published by the funder as well: the World Bank, EBRD, AIIB and the Caribbean Development Bank post procurement notices, and UN agencies post on the United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM). Many of these are open to bidders from any member country.
Five steps that work at every level
- 01
Define what you sell in the buyer's codes
Agencies classify bids with NAICS (federal), NIGP or UNSPSC (most states) codes. Pick the codes for your work first; every portal's notifications run on them.
- 02
Register where your buyers post
SAM.gov for federal work, your state's central portal, and the portals of the cities and counties you want. Registration is free on most government portals; Texas's bidders list is a notable paid exception.
- 03
Get certified if you qualify
Small, minority-, women- and veteran-owned certifications open set-asides and simplified purchases in many states. Rules changed in several states in 2026, so check the current program.
- 04
Monitor everything else in one place
Use an aggregator or saved searches so local and international bids reach you without checking dozens of sites daily.
- 05
Read the whole solicitation before deciding
Check the deadline and its time zone, mandatory pre-bid meetings, bonding, insurance and addenda. Addenda can change scope or dates after the bid is posted.
Where open bids are right now
Live counts of open bids in BidRover's catalog, by country and by category. Each links to the full list.
- United States · 6,651
- Canada · 1,357
- Germany · 1,342
- Switzerland · 1,148
- United Kingdom · 735
- Ireland · 428
- Romania · 426
- Lithuania · 424
- Colombia · 326
- Ukraine · 324
- Construction & facilities · 3,618
- General procurement · 2,864
- Software & digital services · 843
- Goods & supplies · 830
- Research & scientific services · 788
- Healthcare · 734
- Utilities & telecommunications · 720
- Cloud & infrastructure · 675
- Transportation & logistics · 652
- Architecture & engineering · 582
State guides
| State | Where state agencies post bids |
|---|---|
| California | Cal eProcure |
| Texas | Electronic State Business Daily (ESBD) on Texas SmartBuy |
| Florida | MyFloridaMarketPlace (MFMP) |
| New York | New York State Contract Reporter (NYSCR) |
| Illinois | BidBuy |
| Massachusetts | COMMBUYS |
| New Jersey | NJSTART |
| Washington | WEBS (Washington's Electronic Business Solution) |
| North Carolina | NC electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) |
| Kansas | Kansas eSupplier (Office of Procurement and Contracts) |
| Missouri | MissouriBUYS |
| Louisiana | LaPAC (Louisiana Procurement and Contract Network) |
| Colorado | Colorado Vendor Self Service (ColoradoVSS) |
| Tennessee | Edison Supplier Portal (Central Procurement Office) |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Business Opportunities (SCBO) |
Guides by category
Questions
Where are government RFPs posted?
Federal contracts are posted on SAM.gov and federal grants on Grants.gov. Each state posts on its own central e-procurement portal, and cities, counties and school districts post on their own websites or bid networks. Outside the U.S., most countries use a national portal, and EU contracts above thresholds also appear on TED.
Is there one website with all government bids?
No. There is no single official list for state and local bids. Aggregators such as BidRover read many official portals and combine them; BidRover lets you browse its open bids free without an account.
Do I have to pay to see government bids?
Official government portals are free to search. Paid services charge for combining many portals, matching bids to your business and sending alerts.
How far ahead are RFPs posted?
It varies by rule and buyer. Federal agencies generally allow at least 30 days to respond to non-commercial solicitations above the simplified acquisition threshold; state and local deadlines are often two to four weeks.
What is the difference between an RFP, an RFQ and an IFB?
An invitation for bids (IFB) awards on price to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. A request for proposals (RFP) scores approach, experience and price together. A request for qualifications (RFQ) ranks firms on qualifications, common for architecture and engineering. Some agencies use RFQ to mean a request for quotation, a simple price request.