Tool Comparison
Alpha Vantage vs GuruFocus
- Paid from
- $49.99/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
- Platforms
- Web, API
Best if
- Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
- You want news sentiment and market sentiment.
- Paid from
- $45.75/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
- Platforms
- Web, Mobile, API
Best if
- You want the cheaper way in: plans start at $45.75/mo instead of $49.99/mo
- You do a lot of your research from your phone
- You want stock ideas, screeners, and ETF screeners.
Pick Alpha Vantage instead if
Alpha Vantage
Free • From $49.99/mo · Web · API
- Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
- You want news sentiment and market sentiment.
Start here
GuruFocus
Free • From $549/yr · Web · Mobile · API
- You want the cheaper way in: plans start at $45.75/mo instead of $49.99/mo
- You do a lot of your research from your phone
- You want stock ideas, screeners, and ETF screeners.
Skip both if: Neither one clicks with how you research; there are strong third options.
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Our take
The bottom line
Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus cover a lot of the same ground (16 shared categories, including APIs & data feeds, news, and calendar), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. GuruFocus simply does more: 49 categories to Alpha Vantage's 18, including stock ideas, screeners, and ETF screeners, plus a mobile app. Alpha Vantage counters by keeping things simpler.
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Alpha Vantage
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Key differences at a glance
- Cheaper paid plan
- GuruFocus$45.75/mo vs $49.99/mo
- Free trial
- GuruFocus7 days
- Broader coverage
- GuruFocus49 vs 18 categories
- Mobile app
- GuruFocus
- Real-time data
- Alpha Vantage
- Broker sync
- GuruFocus
What Alpha Vantage does best
- Call REST endpoints for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, crypto, commodities, options, technical indicators, fundamentals, and macro data.
- Pull daily, weekly, monthly, or intraday equity series with split and dividend adjustments where supported.
- Premium U.S. options endpoints include real-time and historical chains, Greeks, and implied volatility.
- Retrieve company overviews, financial statements, dividends, splits, shares outstanding, ETF holdings, listings, earnings, and calendars.
- Alpha Intelligence adds news, sentiment, earnings-call transcripts, gainers and losers, insider trades, and related analytics.
What GuruFocus does best
- Research coverage for global stocks with long historical financials, valuation data, charts, comparisons, market valuation indicators, economic indicators, industry data, and company-level fundamentals.
- The All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters across fundamentals, valuation, profitability, growth, dividends, guru holdings, insider trades, predefined value screens, custom filters, saved screens, and downloads.
- ETF Screener and ETF GF Scores for filtering and comparing more than 5,000 U.S.
- Corporate and government bond screening by yield, maturity, ratings, coupon structure, outstanding amount, issuer, and industry, plus company-level bond tabs.
- Backtest screener strategies across many countries with configurable stock count, ranking metric, sort order, date range, and rebalance frequency; current membership terms give Premium the latest five years and Premium Plus/Professional history back to 2006.
Side by side
Pricing comparison
See for yourself
Side by side
Price, platforms, data, and market coverage.ShowHide
Side by side
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & plans | ||
Starting price | Free • From $49.99/mo | Free • From $549/yr |
Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Free trial | — | 7 days |
Plan limits | 7 limits: Free: api requests per day: 25, Premium membership (personal use): api requests per day: No enforced daily cap; the selected tier sets a per-minute rate. +5 more | 57 limits: Free: portfolio limit: Up to 3 portfolios with 25 stocks each for free members, Free: data api requests: 100/month included in the Free API package +55 more |
| Platforms & access | ||
Web app | Yes | Yes |
Mobile app | No | Yes |
API access | Yes | Yes |
Broker sync | No | Yes |
Integrations | Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets +1 more | GuruFocus Data API, GuruFocus MCP Server +3 more |
| Audience & fit | ||
Experience level | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced |
Best for | Retail Traders, Institutional Investors +3 more | Retail Traders, Pro Retail +9 more |
Categories covered | 18 | 49 |
Regions | North America, Europe, APAC | North America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, Middle East, Africa |
| Data & capabilities | ||
Data quality | 3 signals: Latency: Real-time, 15-min Delayed, and End of Day, Granularity: Minute and EOD +1 more | 5 signals: Latency: End of Day, Granularity: EOD +3 more |
Data partners | Nasdaq | 5 partners: QuoteMedia, Morningstar +3 more |
Capabilities | Greeks and Yield curves | 9 signals: Custom formulas, Ranking backtests +7 more |
Security | — | Status page and Encryption in transit |
| Try it | Visit Alpha Vantage | Visit GuruFocus |
Standout features
The best features of Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus.ShowHide
Standout features
What Alpha Vantage does best
- Call REST endpoints for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, crypto, commodities, options, technical indicators, fundamentals, and macro data.
- Pull daily, weekly, monthly, or intraday equity series with split and dividend adjustments where supported.
- Premium U.S. options endpoints include real-time and historical chains, Greeks, and implied volatility.
- Retrieve company overviews, financial statements, dividends, splits, shares outstanding, ETF holdings, listings, earnings, and calendars.
- Alpha Intelligence adds news, sentiment, earnings-call transcripts, gainers and losers, insider trades, and related analytics.
What GuruFocus does best
- Research coverage for global stocks with long historical financials, valuation data, charts, comparisons, market valuation indicators, economic indicators, industry data, and company-level fundamentals.
- The All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters across fundamentals, valuation, profitability, growth, dividends, guru holdings, insider trades, predefined value screens, custom filters, saved screens, and downloads.
- ETF Screener and ETF GF Scores for filtering and comparing more than 5,000 U.S.
- Corporate and government bond screening by yield, maturity, ratings, coupon structure, outstanding amount, issuer, and industry, plus company-level bond tabs.
- Backtest screener strategies across many countries with configurable stock count, ranking metric, sort order, date range, and rebalance frequency; current membership terms give Premium the latest five years and Premium Plus/Professional history back to 2006.
All details
Every attribute we track for Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus.ShowHide
All details
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Coverage & fit | ||
Asset types | StocksETFsMutual FundsOptionsCurrenciesCryptosCommoditiesFunds | StocksETFsBondsMutual FundsOptionsFundsOther |
Experience | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced |
Target audience | Retail TradersInstitutional InvestorsQuants/DevelopersAnalystsStudents/Researchers | Retail TradersPro RetailLong-term InvestorsValue InvestorsQuality InvestorsDividend InvestorsAnalystsQuants/Developers+3 more |
Regions | North AmericaEuropeAPAC | North AmericaEuropeAPACLatAmMiddle EastAfrica |
Coverage details | 6 countriesIdentifiers: Ticker | Identifiers: Ticker and CIK |
| Data | ||
Data freshness | Real-time15-min DelayedEnd of Day | End of Day |
Data granularity | MinuteEOD | EOD |
Pricing sources | Not specified | ExchangeVendorModel |
Data partners | Nasdaq | QuoteMediaMorningstarRefinitivFREDSEC / local regulators |
| Access & integrations | ||
API protocols | REST | REST |
API auth & delivery | Auth: APIKeyDocs | Auth: APIKeySDKs: Python and GoDocs |
Import methods | Not specified | CSVBrokerOAuthManual |
Integrations | Microsoft ExcelGoogle SheetsMCP / AI agents (Claude, VS Code, Cursor, etc.) | GuruFocus Data APIGuruFocus MCP ServerGuruFocus Excel Add-inGuruFocus Google Sheets Add-onSnapTrade |
Export formats | CSVJSON | CSVExcelJSON |
| Plans & trust | ||
Security & compliance | Not specified | Status pageEncryption in transit |
Capability signals | GreeksYield curves | Custom formulasRanking backtestsUniverse builderFactors: Value, Quality, Momentum, and GrowthBroker syncMulti-currencyYield curvesCredit ratings+1 more |
Vendor & support | Alpha Vantage Inc.Country: USSupport: Email | GuruFocus.com, LLCCountry: United StatesFounded 2004Support: Email, Chat, Phone, and Forum |
Green tags are exclusive to that tool in this comparison.
Pricing
Plans, billing, free trials, and monthly prices.ShowHide
Pricing
| Tier | ||
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Freeapi requests per day: 25 | Freeportfolio limit: Up to 3 portfolios with 25 stocks each for free members · data api requests: 100/month included in the Free API package · +1 more |
| Entry paid plan | $49.99/mo“Premium membership (personal use)”api requests per day: No enforced daily cap; the selected tier sets a per-minute rate. · api requests per minute: 75, 150, 300, 600 or 1200 depending on plan. · +4 more | $549/yr≈ $45.75/mo“Premium”billing: Annual only · region price: $549/year for USA, Asia, or Europe; $369/year for several other regions · +7 more |
| Tier 2 | — | $200/mo“Data API Builder”billing: Billed annually · monthly request limit: No limit · +12 more |
| Tier 3 | — | $2000/mo“Data API Commercial”billing: Billed annually · monthly request limit: No limit · +1 more |
| Tier 4 | — | Subscription“Premium Plus”billing: Annual only · public price: Current rendered pricing could not establish the Premium Plus amount · +4 more |
| Tier 5 | — | Subscription“Professional”billing: Annual only · public price: Current rendered pricing could not establish the Professional amount · +1 more |
| Top plan | — | $100 per unit“Data API Pay As You Go”initial top up: $100 credit · stock daily prices: $0.05/request · +16 more |
| Custom / enterprise | Contact sales“Commercial / enterprise licensing” | Contact sales“Custom API / Enterprise Package” |
| Free trial | — | 7 days |
Alternatives
Free alternatives
Questions we keep getting
What's the difference between Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus?
Alpha Vantage leans toward APIs & data feeds, news, and news sentiment, while GuruFocus puts more weight on stock ideas, screeners, and ETF screeners. They overlap in 16 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.
How much do Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus cost?
Good news: both Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus have free plans, so you can run them side by side and only pay if you hit a wall.
Can I use Alpha Vantage or GuruFocus on my phone?
GuruFocus lists a dedicated mobile app, so it travels better. Alpha Vantage doesn't list a dedicated mobile app; its documented access is web and API.
Do Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus have APIs?
Yes, both offer API access, so developers and quants can pull data programmatically or wire up their own integrations.
Should I choose Alpha Vantage or GuruFocus?
It depends on what you're after. Pick Alpha Vantage if news sentiment and market sentiment matter to you; go with GuruFocus if you'd rather have stock ideas and screeners. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.
What asset classes do Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus cover?
Both cover stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options. Alpha Vantage also handles currencies, cryptos, and commodities. GuruFocus adds bonds and other on top.
Does Alpha Vantage or GuruFocus have real-time data?
Alpha Vantage offers real-time data, which matters if you trade actively. GuruFocus runs on delayed or end-of-day data, which is perfectly fine for longer-term investors who don't live and die by the tick.
Can I export data from Alpha Vantage and GuruFocus?
Yes, both export to spreadsheets (CSV), which is handy if you like running your own numbers.
Can Alpha Vantage or GuruFocus connect to my broker?
GuruFocus syncs with brokers automatically. With Alpha Vantage, you're entering holdings by hand or importing files.
Which has a better stock screener: Alpha Vantage or GuruFocus?
GuruFocus has a stock screener for surfacing ideas; Alpha Vantage doesn't, and focuses its energy elsewhere.
Can I track my portfolio with Alpha Vantage or GuruFocus?
GuruFocus handles portfolio tracking. Alpha Vantage is really a research tool; you'd track your portfolio elsewhere.
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