The EIN is free. The D-U-N-S number is free.

Business credit has eight real steps, and two of them are free while being widely sold: the EIN from the IRS, and the D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet. People are charged $75 to $300 for a form that takes fifteen minutes. - EIN: apply directly at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online — the IRS charges nothing. - D-U-N-S: request it free from Dun & Bradstreet at https://www.dnb.com/duns/get-a-duns.html The ladder is at https://business.soapbox.community, along with the categories that are outright fraud: CPN numbers, synthetic identities, bought or rented tradelines, aged shelf corporations, guaranteed PAYDEX. Every one of those is sold around the single step nobody can sell you: three to six months of on-time payments.