Find Government Contracts for Bid — Free Search
Search active federal government contract opportunities from SAM.gov. Updated daily.
Sourced by the BidStride Research Team
How to Find Government Contracts
SAM.gov is the official source for all U.S. federal contract opportunities. Run by the General Services Administration, it consolidates solicitations from every federal agency — from the Department of Defense to USDA — into a single searchable database. Every procurement above $25,000 must be posted there, which means SAM.gov publishes tens of thousands of active opportunities at any given time.
Government contracting is open to businesses of all sizes, but the process has a learning curve. To participate, your company must be registered in SAM.gov with an active UEI (Unique Entity Identifier), maintain correct NAICS codes, and submit proposals that meet the specific requirements of each solicitation. The SAM.gov registration guide walks through each step.
NAICS codes are the key filter that narrows an ocean of contracts down to the ones your company can actually win. The North American Industry Classification System assigns 6-digit codes to every industry. When agencies post a solicitation, they attach a NAICS code that describes the work. Matching your NAICS codes to solicitations is the most reliable way to find relevant opportunities. If you are unsure which codes apply to your business, the NAICS code finder tool can help you identify the right ones.
Searching SAM.gov manually every day is practical for firms just starting out, but it does not scale. A single broad keyword search can return hundreds of results across dozens of agencies, and not all of them are a good fit. BidStride automates this process by pulling from SAM.gov (plus 50+ state and local sources), filtering by your NAICS codes, and delivering a curated list of matching opportunities each morning before 7 AM. Each result includes a relevance score so you can prioritize before you even open the solicitation.
The federal government obligated over $700 billion in contract spending in fiscal year 2024, with small businesses receiving more than $163 billion of that total. The opportunities are real — but finding them before the deadline requires daily attention. Whether you search manually with this tool or set up automated monitoring, the critical discipline is consistency: check for new opportunities every business day and submit proposals well before the response deadline.
Key Facts About Federal Contract Opportunities
- —Federal agencies must post all contracts above $25,000 on SAM.gov under the FAR Part 5 public notice requirements.
- —The federal government sets a statutory goal of awarding at least 23% of prime contract dollars to small businesses each fiscal year (15 U.S.C. § 644).
- —8(a) set-asides allow sole-source awards up to $4.5M for manufacturing and $7.5M for all other industries without competitive bidding.
- —HUBZone firms receive a 10% price evaluation preference in full and open competitions, plus access to set-asides reserved exclusively for HUBZone participants.
Types of Government Contracts
Fixed-Price
The contractor agrees to deliver at a set price regardless of actual costs. Highest risk for the contractor, most common for well-defined work with predictable costs.
Time & Materials (T&M)
Billed at agreed hourly labor rates plus materials at cost. Common for IT services, consulting, and maintenance work where scope is uncertain.
Cost-Reimbursement
The government reimburses allowable costs plus a fee. Used for R&D and complex projects where scope cannot be defined precisely upfront.
IDIQ / BPA / GSA Schedule
Indefinite-Delivery contracts set a ceiling and ordering mechanism. Once awarded, agencies place task orders. GSA Schedules are pre-competed IDIQ vehicles open to all federal buyers.
Set-aside programs restrict competition to qualifying firms. Common categories include Small Business, 8(a) Business Development Program, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), HUBZone, and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB). Each has specific eligibility requirements and annual certification requirements. Learn more on the set-asides overview page.
Frequently Asked Questions
To bid on a government contract, you need to register your business in SAM.gov (System for Award Management), obtain a UEI (Unique Entity Identifier), identify solicitations matching your NAICS codes, and submit a proposal by the response deadline. Most federal solicitations are posted on SAM.gov with detailed instructions for submitting your offer. Set-aside programs make it easier for small businesses to compete by limiting competition to qualifying firms.
Yes — registering in SAM.gov is free, and submitting proposals on federal contracts costs nothing. You may incur costs for proposal preparation (labor, printing, certifications), but there are no fees to access or respond to solicitations. Some third-party tools like BidStride charge for automated discovery and match scoring, but the underlying SAM.gov data is publicly available at no cost.
SAM.gov (System for Award Management) is the official U.S. government database for federal contract opportunities, entity registrations, and exclusions. All federal agencies are required to post contract solicitations above the micro-purchase threshold ($10,000) on SAM.gov. The database is maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and updated daily with new solicitations, amendments, and awards.
Federal agencies post hundreds of new solicitations on SAM.gov every business day. The volume varies by agency and fiscal year — the fourth quarter (July–September) typically sees higher activity as agencies spend down remaining budget. New opportunities appear continuously throughout the day, which is why monitoring tools like BidStride that check daily are essential to catching solicitations early.
No. Small businesses win billions of dollars in federal contracts every year. The federal government has a goal to award at least 23% of contract dollars to small businesses annually. Set-aside programs reserve certain contracts exclusively for small businesses, veteran-owned firms, women-owned businesses, HUBZone companies, and 8(a) participants. Many agencies actively seek small business vendors to diversify their supplier base.