DAWA closes 17 August 2026 — what now?

DAWA — Denmark's national address API, used by thousands of Danish websites, apps and systems — shuts down permanently on 17 August 2026. Every integration that calls dawa.aws.dk or api.dataforsyningen.dk will stop working immediately. This guide explains what happens, what breaks, and exactly how to fix it.

What is DAWA?

DAWA (Danmarks Adressers Web API) has been the backbone of Danish address data since 2013. It provides a free, open REST API with 2.7 million Danish addresses, access addresses, postcodes, municipality codes, parishes, replication streams and geocoding. Virtually every Danish webshop, CRM, citizen portal and logistics system uses it — usually without the developers even knowing, because it was bundled into a third-party plugin.

DAWA is operated by the Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency (Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur, SDFI) under the address register DAR. On 17 August 2026, SDFI is decommissioning the service in favour of the new Datafordeler platform.

What breaks on 17 August 2026?

At 00:00 UTC on 17 August 2026, all requests to the following domains will return errors:

• dawa.aws.dk — the original DAWA domain
• api.dataforsyningen.dk — the newer alias (same service)

This affects every endpoint: /autocomplete, /adresser, /adgangsadresser, /datavask, /postnumre, /vejnavne, /kommuner, /regioner, /sogne and /replikering. There is no grace period and no redirect — the service simply goes dark.

Which products are affected?

Webshops: Address autocomplete in checkout. If customers can no longer type and select their address, conversion drops immediately. WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, PrestaShop, DanDomain and Shoporama stores that use DAWA-based plugins are all affected.

CRM and sales systems: Address validation when creating contacts, leads or orders. Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Dynamics 365 integrations that look up Danish addresses via DAWA will fail.

Citizen portals and public-sector apps: Self-service forms where citizens enter their address. From insurance claims to municipal applications — anything that validates or autocompletes against DAWA stops working.

Logistics and fleet: Driver apps and dispatch systems that geocode delivery addresses or look up the nearest address from GPS. The /adgangsadresser/reverse endpoint goes offline too.

Replication subscribers: Companies that mirror the full Danish address dataset via /replikering/haendelser will receive no further updates after 17 August.

Why isn't Datafordeleren a drop-in replacement?

SDFI's recommended migration path is Datafordeler.dk — but it is not a drop-in for DAWA. The differences are significant:

• Protocol: Datafordeler uses GraphQL and WFS, not a simple REST/JSON API.
• Authentication: Datafordeler requires OAuth2 with a business agreement (virksomhedsaftale) — typically a multi-week onboarding process.
• No autocomplete: Datafordeler does not provide a typo-tolerant full-text search endpoint. You would need to build your own search layer on top of the raw data.
• No datavask: Address cleansing (normalising and matching a free-text string to a DAR address) does not exist in the same form on Datafordeler.
• Different data model: Datafordeler returns data in its own schema — your parsers and database columns would need updating.

For most DAWA users, migrating to Datafordeler directly means rewriting significant parts of their integration — weeks of work, not hours.

What is the easiest migration path?

The simplest migration for existing DAWA users is a drop-in replacement: an API that serves the same endpoints, the same parameters and the same JSON shapes as DAWA — but runs independently on its own data from Datafordeler.

Danadresse is exactly this. It is a DAWA analog — the same REST interface, the same address UUIDs (from DAR), the same response format — with one difference: the base URL and an API key. You do not change your parsing code, your database schema or your data model.

How to migrate in under 30 minutes

Here are the three changes required:

1. Get a free API key

Sign up at danadresse.dk/dashboard/signup. The free tier gives you 1,000 calls per month — enough for testing and low-volume production. No credit card required.

2. Change the base URL

In your HTTP client, environment config or plugin settings, replace:

https://api.dataforsyningen.dk  →  https://api.danadresse.dk
https://dawa.aws.dk             →  https://api.danadresse.dk

3. Add the X-Api-Key header

Add one header to every request:

X-Api-Key: dawa_live_…

Alternatively, pass it as a query parameter: ?api_key=dawa_live_… — useful for browser-side or JSONP integrations that can't set headers.

That's it. Your existing code — autocomplete UI, datavask pipeline, replication subscriber — works unchanged. The endpoints, parameters, HTTP methods and JSON response shapes are 1:1 with DAWA.

Testing your migration

Use the 10-step migration checklist to verify each endpoint before you go live. The key tests:

• Autocomplete: Call /autocomplete?q=Rådhuspladsen and confirm the response array structure matches what your UI parser expects.
• UUID identity: The id field on /adresser is the same DAR UUID as DAWA returns — your database foreign keys remain valid.
• Datavask: POST a known address to /datavask/adresser and confirm you receive a category A result with the same JSON fields.
• Replication: If you use /replikering/haendelser, confirm your sequence number is accepted and events are flowing.

What if I use a third-party plugin?

If your DAWA integration is inside a WooCommerce plugin, a Shopify app or a CRM module that you did not write, you have two options:

1. Update the plugin: Many plugins allow you to override the base URL in settings. Look for "DAWA URL" or "API endpoint" in the plugin configuration.
2. Replace the plugin: Danadresse has official modules for WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, PrestaShop, DanDomain, Salesforce, HubSpot and more. See the integrations page for the full list.

Beyond DAWA: what you get that DAWA never had

Danadresse includes the full DAWA surface — and adds a property data layer that DAWA never offered:

• BBR building data: 35+ fields per building — area, year built, heating, roof type, outer wall material.
• Public property valuation: Property value and land value from the Danish Valuation Agency (Vurderingsstyrelsen).
• Energy label (EMO): Energy class A–G and report reference from the Danish Energy Agency.
• Zoning and local plan: Urban/rural/summer-house zone and active local plans from Plandata.dk.
• DAGI administrative areas: Parish, police district, court district, constituency — all from one address.

These are available via /api/v1/enrich/adresser/{id}/all and are especially useful for estate agencies, insurance platforms and property tech companies.

Timeline and urgency

17 August 2026 is a hard deadline — there is no announced extension and SDFI has confirmed the shutdown date multiple times. The migration itself takes under 30 minutes for a simple integration, but larger systems with many integrations, replication pipelines and third-party plugins may need more time for testing and deployment. Starting now gives you enough buffer for proper testing.

Summary

• DAWA shuts down permanently on 17 August 2026.
• Every endpoint goes offline — autocomplete, datavask, geocoding, replication.
• Datafordeler is not a drop-in: different protocol, different auth, no autocomplete, no datavask.
• Danadresse is a 1:1 DAWA analog: same REST API, same UUIDs, same JSON — only the base URL and one header change.
• Migration takes under 30 minutes. The free tier covers 1,000 calls/month with no credit card.

Read the full migration guide →