VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
★ A CURATED DIRECTORY OF FINANCIAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES ★
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Saturday, January 17, 2026
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) Review, Pricing, and Features
Free macroeconomic and financial time-series database and tooling operated by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Access via web UI, iOS/Android apps, a Microsoft Excel add-in, and a REST API. Some features (dashboards, data lists, saved graphs/maps) and API key management require a free FRED account; all API requests require an API key and are rate-limited. Usage is subject to the FRED Services Terms of Use (including restrictions on scraping and on certain copyrighted series).
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Key features
- 800,000+ economic data series from 100+ sources, covering topics such as GDP, prices/inflation, employment, exchange rates, and interest rates.
- Browse and track data via categories, releases, sources, and tags; series pages show metadata like units/frequency and “last updated / next release” fields.
- Graphing and sharing options include embeddable graphs and graph-image links.
- Economic release calendar with scheduled release dates/times (US Central Time) and a data-provider caveat for availability.
- Account tools can provide email notifications for series updates.
- FRED API supports REST over HTTPS and returns XML or JSON; it can query both FRED and ALFRED (archival/vintage) datasets.
- API documentation lists endpoints for categories, releases, series/observations, sources, and tags; plus a Maps API for geographic series and shapefiles.
- All API requests require an API key; requesting/viewing keys requires logging into a FRED account.
- API is rate-limited (includes HTTP 429 “Too Many Requests” responses).
- Official FRED app for iOS and Android with access to the FRED dataset and cross-device syncing of favorites/saved graphs/data lists.
- Free FRED Add-in for Microsoft Excel with one-click downloads, spreadsheet refresh on new releases, and frequency conversion/growth-rate calculations.
FAQ
Is FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) free?
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) is free to use. Visit the vendor site for the latest limits and onboarding details.
Who is FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) best for?
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) is built for Students/Researchers, Analysts, and Quants/Developers. It suits beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.
What platforms and connections does FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) support?
You can use FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) on Web and Mobile. FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) offers an API (REST) with APIKey authentication. Integrations include Microsoft Excel (FRED Add-in).
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About Me
Hey! Thanks for stopping by. I'm an independent investor with a soft spot for coding and the stock market - especially value investing (as you can probably tell from the tools I've collected here, haha). Hopefully you'll find something useful or interesting along the way.
Find me here:
- Twitter / X: @Jera_Value
- Substack: Jera Value
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