SAM.gov vs Grants.gov: what's the difference?

They sound almost the same and they are both federal .gov sites, so it is easy to mix them up. But they do two completely different jobs. SAM.gov registers your organization and gives it an identity that makes it eligible to receive federal awards. Grants.gov is where you actually find grant opportunities and submit your application. Here is exactly what each one does, why you register in SAM.gov first, and how the two fit into a single workflow.

What SAM.gov is

SAM.gov — the System for Award Management — is the federal government's registry of entities that can do business with it. When you register your organization in SAM.gov, you get a Unique Entity ID (UEI), a 12-character ID that the government uses to recognize your organization. That registration is what makes your organization eligible to receive federal awards in the first place. Think of SAM.gov as your organization's official identity and eligibility — it is about who you are, not about any particular grant.

Registering in SAM.gov is free, and there is no third party involved — the UEI is issued and managed by SAM.gov itself. (The old DUNS number, issued by a third party, was retired in 2022; if that transition is new to you, see UEI vs DUNS.) One thing to keep in mind: a SAM.gov registration has to be renewed every year, and it must be active at the moment you submit an application — more on that below.

What Grants.gov is

Grants.gov is the central portal where federal grant opportunities are posted, and where you find an opportunity and submit your application. It is the doing-the-work side of the process: searching for grants you qualify for, downloading the application package, filling it out, and sending it in. Where SAM.gov is about your identity, Grants.gov is about the action of applying.

To apply through Grants.gov as an organization you set up a Grants.gov profile, which uses your UEI from SAM.gov, and you get the right role authorized (for example, an Authorized Organization Representative, or AOR, who is allowed to submit on the organization's behalf). You will also create a Login.gov account along the way to sign in securely. Creating a Grants.gov profile is free.

Side by side

Why SAM.gov comes first

The order is not arbitrary. Your Grants.gov organization profile is built using your UEI, and you only get a UEI by registering your entity in SAM.gov. So the sequence is fixed: register in SAM.gov, get your UEI, then create your Grants.gov profile with it. Trying to set up Grants.gov before SAM.gov is active is the most common reason people get stuck early.

The full registration chain looks like this: form a legal entity and get an EIN from the IRS, register that entity in SAM.gov to get your UEI, create a Login.gov account, build your Grants.gov profile and get your submitting role authorized, then find the opportunity and submit. For the step-by-step version with timing for each stage, see How to register to apply for federal grants.

Clearing up the common mix-up

Because the names are so similar, people sometimes assume the two sites are interchangeable, or that registering on one means they are done. They are not, and you usually need both. A simple way to keep them straight: SAM.gov answers “is my organization allowed to receive a federal award?” and Grants.gov answers “where do I find a grant and turn in my application?”

One more nuance worth knowing: organizations must register in SAM.gov, but an individual applying for a grant for themselves does not need a SAM.gov registration — provided the opportunity allows individual applicants. If you are applying as an organization, plan on both systems. Before you spend time on either, it is worth confirming you can even apply — you can see which grants you qualify for in about a minute.

The rule that ties them together

Here is where the two systems connect at the worst possible moment if you are not ready: when you submit on Grants.gov, it checks your SAM.gov status live. If your SAM.gov registration is still pending or has lapsed, Grants.gov rejects the application regardless of how good it is. That is why the SAM.gov side cannot be an afterthought. Because a new SAM.gov registration can take a while to go active — officially up to 10 business days, and often 2 to 8 weeks in practice — it is wise to start at least about 30 days before any deadline.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between SAM.gov and Grants.gov?

SAM.gov is where your organization registers and gets its Unique Entity ID (UEI), which makes it eligible to receive federal awards. Grants.gov is the portal where you find grant opportunities and submit applications. They are two different systems that work together — one handles your identity, the other handles applying.

Which do I register for first, SAM.gov or Grants.gov?

SAM.gov first. You register your entity in SAM.gov to get your UEI, then use that UEI to build your Grants.gov profile. You cannot complete your Grants.gov registration as an organization without an active SAM.gov registration.

Do I need both SAM.gov and Grants.gov to apply for a grant?

If you are applying as an organization, yes — SAM.gov makes you eligible and Grants.gov is where you submit. An individual applying for themselves does not need a SAM.gov registration, but the opportunity has to allow individual applicants.

Does it cost anything to register on either site?

No. Registering in SAM.gov, getting your UEI, and creating a Grants.gov profile are all free. The government will never email you demanding payment to register. Some third-party services charge roughly $300 to $3,000 for help with a process that is free.

Related guides

• How to register to apply for federal grants (step by step)
• UEI vs DUNS: what changed and what you need now
• How long does SAM.gov registration take?