If you're thinking about hiring a contractor in Portugal and want to check the company first, you've probably already found Racius. It's the largest business data platform in Portugal, with over 1 million registered companies. But does it give you what you actually need to make a decision?
What Racius does
Racius is a generic business intelligence platform. It covers every company in Portugal, from restaurants to banks, bakeries to construction firms. The corporate report shows raw data: corporate events, court actions, annual accounts filings, shareholders with quota details, related entities.
The problem? The data is there, but nobody tells you what it means. You see the company has an "Ação de Processo Comum" (common civil proceeding) - now what? Is it serious? Is it normal? Should you worry? You see that 2 years of annual accounts are missing - is that a red flag or is it common? The share capital is 5,000 euros - is that low for a construction company?
Racius was built for accountants, lawyers, and credit analysts - professionals who know how to read financial data. If you don't have a financial or legal background, you end up with a PDF full of information that doesn't help you decide anything.
What ObraXRAY does differently
ObraXRAY was built with a single purpose: tell you whether it's safe to hire that contractor. Instead of dumping data on you and hoping you know how to interpret it, we do the analysis for you.
Visual risk indicator + exact score - The free search shows 6 of 13 risk categories with an immediate visual indicator: green shield (score above 70), yellow (50-69), or red (below 50). The full report (€19.99) unlocks the exact 0-100 score, all 13 categories, and concrete recommendations. You don't need to know how to read a financial statement to understand that a red shield means danger.
6 verdict levels - From "Positive Verification" to "Do Not Proceed", including "Low Risk", "Precautions Recommended", "Caution", and "Extreme Caution". Certain factors force automatic verdicts: declared insolvency always triggers "Do Not Proceed", active PER forces "Extreme Caution", and combined tax + Social Security debts force "Do Not Proceed". We don't just give you data and wish you good luck. We tell you what we found so you can decide.
20+ checks across 9 official databases - Missing annual accounts? We explain what it means and what you should do. No IMPIC license? We explain it's illegal. Civil proceedings as defendant? We show you in how many courts and the company's role. ACT labour sanctions? We flag the impact. Every factor comes with a plain-language explanation and concrete recommendation.
IMPIC verification - Racius doesn't check whether the company has a construction license. We do. And this is probably the most important piece of information for anyone hiring a construction company - without a license, the company cannot legally perform construction work in Portugal.
Civil proceedings across 197 courts + labour sanctions - ObraXRAY goes beyond CITIUS. We monitor civil proceedings as defendant across 197 Portuguese courts and labour sanctions from ACT (Working Conditions Authority). We also detect edital citations, which is when the court cannot locate the company to notify it - a very serious sign of a ghost company.
Full director analysis - Racius shows you who the shareholders are. We go further: we cross-reference every director's personal NIF against CITIUS insolvencies, the public execution list, tax and Social Security debtor lists, and previously failed companies. This is how you detect phoenix companies - construction firms that open, fail, leave clients stranded, and reopen under a different name.
Automatic alerts - If you buy a report and the company's situation changes (new insolvency, seizure, change of directors), you get an email. You don't need to keep checking manually.
The fundamental difference
Racius gives you the ingredients. ObraXRAY gives you the diagnosis - and there are checks ObraXRAY does that Racius structurally cannot.
CITIUS and MJ Publications index by company NIPC, not by director NIF. Racius has no director-to-prior-companies index because that index doesn't exist in any public source - we built ours from scratch using the publications. Phoenix detection is a synthesis of three crossed sources (director identity, personal insolvencies, prior failed companies) - it isn't a column in any database. CIRE phase classification (filed vs declared vs closed with reason) is interpretation we apply to each proceeding - Racius treats insolvency as yes or no. Civil proceedings across 197 courts require daily accumulation because the public CITIUS portal only exposes a 6-month window and deletes the rest.
If you're an accountant who wants raw data for your own analysis, Racius works. If you're handing over 50,000 or 100,000 euros to a contractor and want to know if it will go wrong, ObraXRAY does checks that Racius can't do even if it wanted to.
Direct comparison
| Racius | ObraXRAY | |
|---|---|---|
| Visual risk indicator | No | Green/yellow/red shield (free) + score 0-100 (report) |
| Actionable recommendation | No | 6 verdicts: "Positive Verification" to "Do Not Proceed" |
| Automated checks | Raw data | 20+ checks across 9 official databases |
| IMPIC license verification | No | Yes |
| Director cross-reference | No | Yes (insolvencies, executions, debts, failed companies) |
| Phoenix company detection | No | Yes |
| Insolvency phases | Yes/No only | Filed / Declared / Closed (with score impact) |
| Civil proceedings | No | 197 Portuguese courts (company role identified) |
| Labour sanctions (ACT) | No | Yes |
| Edital citations | No | Yes (ghost company detection) |
| Annual accounts | Yes (raw data) | Yes (with gap analysis and score impact) |
| Email alerts | Follow company (no detail) | Yes, with change notifications |
| Financial data (IES) | Yes | No |
| Target audience | Accountants and lawyers | Families and property owners |
Data Reliability: A Real Problem
When testing both platforms with real companies, we found concerning discrepancies in Racius reports that deserve attention.
Insolvency proceedings treated as generic court cases - In the case of Diagramamotriz (the well-known Palmela scandal that affected 114 families and 27 million euros), Racius shows "Insolvency: No" in the "Structural Situation" summary. The insolvency filing appears in the event timeline as "Insolvência Pessoa Coletiva (Requerida)", but grouped with other court proceedings without clear distinction. Racius treats insolvency proceedings the same way as any other lawsuit, without indicating that it's an insolvency or what phase it's in. For a user without legal knowledge, a filed insolvency proceeding is indistinguishable from any civil action. In ObraXRAY, insolvency proceedings are identified and classified by phase: filed (pending decision), declared (court ruling), or closed (with reason detail). The score reflects the actual severity of each phase.
No insolvency phase distinction - Racius simply shows "Insolvency: Yes" or "Insolvency: No". It doesn't distinguish whether the insolvency was filed (may still be dismissed), declared by court, or already closed. ObraXRAY distinguishes these phases because the impact is completely different: a filed insolvency can be contested and dismissed, a declared one triggers the 30-day CIRE deadline, and a closed one is historical. This granularity is fundamental for anyone who needs to make an informed decision.
Shareholders with impossible percentages - Racius accumulates all historical shareholders as if they were all current. In the Diagramamotriz case, it shows 4 shareholders with percentages totalling 208% of the capital, which is mathematically impossible. This happens because each "Sócios e Quotas" publication in the commercial registry is a complete snapshot of shareholders at that moment, not an addition. When a new shareholder appears with 100%, the previous ones are no longer part of the company. Racius doesn't make this distinction.
ObraXRAY treats each quota publication for what it is: the complete and current shareholder list. Previous shareholders are moved to a "Former Shareholders and Directors" section, with entry and exit dates. No ambiguity, no impossible percentages.
No cross-referencing of directors - Racius lists shareholders and managers, but doesn't check whether those individuals have personal insolvencies or involvement in companies that went bankrupt. This cross-referencing is exactly what allows the detection of phoenix companies - construction firms that open, fail, and reopen under a different name but with the same directors.
We're not saying Racius is useless - it has its audience and its purpose for professionals. But for someone hiring a contractor who needs reliable data to make a decision, data accuracy is everything. A summary that says "no insolvency" when the company is in insolvency proceedings can cost a family tens of thousands of euros.
When to use each one
Use Racius if you're a financial or legal professional who wants raw data for your own analysis. If you know what a PER is, if you can read annual accounts, if you understand the difference between a declaratory action and an enforcement proceeding.
Use ObraXRAY if you're hiring a contractor and want real protection. If you want to know whether the company is at risk of going bankrupt, whether the directors have failed before, whether the licenses are in order, and what you should demand before signing a contract.
The value isn't in the data. It's in knowing what to do with it.
Check your contractor now on ObraXRAY - free search with immediate visual indicator. Full report for €19.99.