Quick Answer
SAM.gov covers federal contracts only. eMMA covers Maryland state contracts only. SubRizz covers DC, Maryland, and Virginia local/state contracts with AI matching and procurement intelligence. They are not direct competitors — they cover different jurisdictions. Most DMV small businesses should use all three.
If you are a small business looking for government contracts in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area, you have likely come across SAM.gov, eMMA, and SubRizz. All three operate in the government contracting space, but they cover fundamentally different jurisdictions and serve different use cases. Here is an honest breakdown of each tool and when to use it.
What is SAM.gov?
SAM.gov (System for Award Management) is the federal government's official procurement and vendor registration platform, operated by the General Services Administration (GSA). It serves as the mandatory registration point for any business seeking to win a federal contract — if you are not registered on SAM.gov, you cannot be awarded a federal contract, period.
SAM.gov covers contracts from all federal agencies — the Department of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, GSA, and every other federal department and independent agency. It is free to register on and free to search. Your SAM registration generates a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), which is required across all federal procurement systems and increasingly referenced in state and local government work as well.
SAM.gov also hosts the Contract Opportunities database (formerly FBO.gov), where all federal solicitations above $25,000 must be posted. The search functionality allows filtering by NAICS code, set-aside type, agency, and location.
What SAM.gov does not cover: DC government contracts, Maryland state contracts, Virginia state contracts, WMATA, DCPS, DC Water, MWAA, DCHA, or any other local or regional government entity. If your business focuses primarily on DC/MD/VA local government work, SAM.gov is not where those opportunities are posted — but registration is still worth completing.
What is eMMA?
eMMA (eMaryland Marketplace Advantage) is Maryland's official state procurement portal, operated by the Maryland Department of General Services. It lists solicitations from Maryland state agencies — the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), Department of Health, Department of Information Technology, and others — along with some county-level opportunities from jurisdictions that have opted in.
eMMA is free to register on and free to search. Vendor registration is required before you can electronically respond to Maryland state contracts. The portal sends email alerts when new solicitations are posted matching your registered commodity codes, which function similarly to NAICS codes in the Maryland procurement system.
eMMA also connects to the Maryland MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certification database, making it easier for certified MBE firms to be visible to prime contractors working on state projects.
What eMMA does not cover: DC government contracts, Virginia state contracts, or independent DC-area agencies like WMATA, DCPS, DC Water, or MWAA. eMMA is Maryland-only — it is the definitive source for Maryland state contracts, but it does not extend beyond that jurisdiction.
What is SubRizz?
SubRizz is a private-sector procurement intelligence platform built specifically for small businesses competing in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia local government market. Unlike SAM.gov and eMMA, which are government-run portals covering a single jurisdiction, SubRizz aggregates solicitations from 15+ regional portals into one place.
SubRizz pulls nightly from DC eSourcing, eMMA, eVA, WMATA, DCPS, DC Water, MWAA, DCHA, and more. The platform uses AI to score every opportunity against your NAICS codes, certifications, and search history, and delivers your best-matched solicitations every morning at 7am — rather than requiring you to check each portal individually and manually filter thousands of results.
The platform is also built on 1.88 million rows of DC PASS procurement data (Source: DC Procurement Automated Support System, 2026). This spend intelligence layer shows you what DC agencies actually buy, how much they spend per vendor, who currently holds each contract, and when those contracts expire. This is data that is not available in any organized form on SAM.gov or eMMA.
Additional features include AI-powered RFP analysis (upload a solicitation and get a GO/CONSIDER/SKIP recommendation in under 5 minutes), an incumbent tracker with contract expiration alerts, a verified subcontractor directory where prime contractors search for CBE/MBE subs, and a pipeline CRM to track bids from discovery to award.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | SubRizz | SAM.gov | eMMA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | DC + MD + VA (15+ portals) | Federal only | Maryland only |
| AI opportunity matching | Yes — daily at 7am | No | No |
| Procurement spend data | 1.88M rows (DC PASS) | USASpending.gov (federal) | Limited |
| Verified sub directory | Yes — CBE/MBE verified | No | No |
| RFP analysis (AI) | GO/CONSIDER/SKIP in 5 min | No | No |
| Incumbent tracker | Yes — contract expiration alerts | No | No |
| Email alerts | Daily AI digest at 7am | Basic keyword alerts | Basic commodity alerts |
| Pipeline CRM | Yes — track bids to award | No | No |
| Price | $149/mo (subs) · Free (primes) | Free | Free |
| Best for | DC/MD/VA local contracts | Federal contracts | Maryland state contracts |
Which tool should you use?
- Federal contracts only? Use SAM.gov. Registration is mandatory for all federal contract awards. The Contract Opportunities section lists every federal solicitation above $25,000. It is free and comprehensive for the federal market.
- Maryland state contracts only? Use eMMA. It is the official Maryland portal, free, and required for submitting bids on state contracts. Register, set up commodity code alerts, and check it regularly.
- DC, Maryland, and Virginia local/state contracts? Use SubRizz. It aggregates all three jurisdictions plus provides AI matching, procurement intelligence, and a verified subcontractor directory — none of which are available on government portals.
- Pursuing both federal and local work? Register on SAM.gov (free, required for federal), register on eMMA (free, required for Maryland state bids), and use SubRizz to cover the DC/MD/VA local market with AI-powered monitoring and spend intelligence.
Using all three tools together: a practical strategy
For small businesses pursuing the full DMV government contracting market, the most effective approach is not choosing between these tools — it is understanding how they complement each other:
- Start with SAM.gov registration — Even if you are focused on DC local contracts, get your UEI and SAM registration completed first. It is free, takes about 10 business days to process, and is required or referenced across more procurement systems every year.
- Register on eMMA — If you are pursuing any Maryland work, eMMA registration is free and required. Set up your commodity code alerts to receive notifications when new matching solicitations are posted.
- Use SubRizz for daily monitoring and intelligence — Instead of checking each of the 15+ DC/MD/VA portals manually, use SubRizz to aggregate everything into a single ranked feed. Use the DC PASS spend data to identify which agencies are your best targets and which contracts are coming up for renewal.
- Apply for certifications in parallel — CBE, MBE, and SWaM each take weeks to months to process. Start those applications while you are registering on portals so certifications are active by the time you identify a relevant solicitation.
SAM.gov and eMMA are free and there is no reason not to register on both. SubRizz solves the aggregation and intelligence problem that neither government portal addresses — monitoring 15+ sources simultaneously and matching opportunities to your specific profile. The 14-day free trial requires no credit card.
→ Step-by-step guide: How to Find DC Government Contracts for Small Business