VariantValidator is a widely used platform for validating and standardising genomic variant descriptions. It supports researchers, clinicians and data specialists around the world, and has become a routine part of many clinical and research workflows. Every day, the service helps ensure that genomic data can be shared, interpreted and reused accurately and consistently.

As use of VariantValidator has grown, so has the responsibility and cost of running it. The platform now operates at a scale that requires significant, ongoing investment in infrastructure, maintenance, monitoring and user support. Without a sustainable funding model, it would not be possible to maintain the reliability, accuracy and availability that users depend on. Put simply, this change is essential to keep VariantValidator running and to keep it at the standard the community expects.

Over the past year, VariantValidator has supported 28,987 active users across 129 countries, with particularly high usage in the UK, the United States, China, France and India. During this time, the platform recorded 58,403 engaged sessions and generated 429,535 events, including variant submissions, batch validations and other interactions. These figures reflect how deeply the service is embedded in day-to-day genomic work across research and healthcare.

Alongside this, VariantValidator’s API routinely receives over 1.3 million hits each month from more than 130,000 users, showing the extent to which the service is integrated into automated pipelines used by developers, bioinformaticians and clinical IT teams.

To ensure VariantValidator can continue to operate at this scale, remain reliable and keep improving, we are introducing a small but vital change to how commercial and high-volume use of the service is funded. This change allows us to protect free access for the majority of users while securing the future of the platform for everyone.

What is VariantValidator

VariantValidator is an open resource that checks and standardises genomic variant descriptions, helping to reduce errors and make genetic information easier to share, find and reuse across research, clinical practice and scientific publishing.

It validates Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) variant descriptions, maps between transcript and genomic representations and converts variant data between commonly used formats. As genomic testing becomes more widespread in healthcare and research, tools like VariantValidator are increasingly important for supporting consistent, high-quality reporting.

Updates to our funding model

VariantValidator began as a spinout from The University of Manchester to address a simple but persistent problem in genomics. The same genetic variant can be written in multiple ways, making it difficult for researchers, clinicians and databases to recognise when they are referring to the same finding.

To support continued development and to strengthen the level of support we can provide, VariantValidator will introduce a nominal charge from March 2026 for the use of its Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and batch validation tools in commercial settings and for high-volume usage.

This change will not affect academic, research or other non-commercial users operating within VariantValidator’s standard fair usage policies. There will be no disruption to existing access or workflows for these users, and the core mission of improving the accuracy, consistency and findability of genomic variant descriptions remains unchanged.

The updated model reflects the scale at which VariantValidator is now used and the need to ensure the service continues to meet expectations for performance, availability and support.

“The response from the community has been extremely positive,” said Dr Peter Freeman, founder of VariantValidator. “We have ambitious plans for how the service will evolve over the coming years, and this step is vital in ensuring that we can continue to improve the platform while providing the level of responsive, high-quality support that our users have come to expect. Introducing a modest charge for commercial and high-volume users allows us to do that in a sustainable way.”

What commercial and high-volume users receive

Users accessing premium services will benefit from:

  • Reduced rate limiting so API responses are returned more quickly and integrate smoothly into workflows
  • Increased levels of support, including personal training, faster responses to bug reports and closer collaboration on feature development
  • Removal of submission limits for the batch validation service

Why are we introducing this change

Professional societies, journals and standards bodies are placing increasing emphasis on the quality and consistency of genomic data reporting. As sequencing becomes more widely used across healthcare and research, reliable tools that support standardised variant descriptions are essential.

VariantValidator was created as a free and openly accessible service, and we remain committed to keeping it that way wherever possible. However, while the software is free to use, delivering a reliable, scalable and well-supported service requires ongoing investment. This includes infrastructure, maintenance, expert curation and user support, all delivered to a high technical standard.

To illustrate the scale involved, in October 2025 alone, the VariantValidator API processed over 1.3 million requests from more than 130,000 distinct IP addresses. Sustaining this level of service, while continuing to improve accuracy and keep pace with evolving standards, requires stable funding.

Like many community-driven resources, VariantValidator does not have guaranteed long-term funding. Without continued investment, maintaining the quality and reliability that users expect becomes increasingly difficult. The updated model allows organisations that rely on VariantValidator at scale, particularly in commercial environments, to contribute directly to its sustainability.

Looking ahead

“We are proud of the growth that VariantValidator has achieved since spinning out from the University of Manchester Innovation Factory,” said Natalie Mera-Pirttijarvi, Senior Commercial Development Manager at the University of Manchester Innovation Factory.. “The team has built a globally respected service that meets a real and growing need in genomics. This step reflects a careful and responsible approach to sustainability, and we look forward to seeing VariantValidator continue to evolve for the benefit of its users worldwide.”

Revenue generated through commercial use will be reinvested into:

  • Ongoing maintenance, infrastructure and staffing to ensure long-term sustainability
  • Improvements to validation accuracy and coverage
  • Development of new functionality aligned with emerging standards
  • Responsive user support, training and documentation

This approach will help ensure that VariantValidator remains a reliable, trusted resource for the global genomics community, supporting best practice and evolving standards while staying practical and accessible for everyday use.

Our goal is simple: to keep VariantValidator reliable, open and available to the community that depends on it. This change helps us do that, and we are grateful for the support and trust of our users.

Users wishing to register for ongoing free access to our APIs should register their interest by visiting https://github.com/openvar/rest_variantValidator/blob/develop_3.0.0/docs/Account.md and following the instructions provided. For assistance, please contact the team via https://variantvalidator.org/help/contact/.

Premium services will be offered through a platform hosed by Terracipher (https://www.terracipher.com/).