VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View Alpha Vantage View Interactive Brokers Back to Home

Head-to-head

Alpha Vantage vs Interactive Brokers comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

Alpha Vantage adds News, News Sentiment, Calendar, Dividends, Splits, IPO, Delisted, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, ETF Holdings, Transcripts, Insider Data, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins coverage that Interactive Brokers skips.

Interactive Brokers includes Brokerage, Paper Trading, Advanced Order Types, Smart/Direct Routing, Order Book / Level II, Portfolio, Watchlist, Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown), Scenario & Stress Tests, and Performance Attribution categories that Alpha Vantage omits.

Alpha Vantage highlights: Equity time series for global stocks (intraday down to 1-minute, plus daily/weekly/monthly) with 20+ years of history, including pre- and post-market support and adjustment toggles for splits and dividends., US options coverage with real-time and historical data spanning over 15 years, including optional greeks and implied volatility outputs in JSON or CSV., and Fundamentals and corporate actions such as company overviews, financials, dividends, splits, plus ETF profiles and holdings..

Interactive Brokers is known for: Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies., More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing., and Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS)..

Alpha Vantage has a free tier, while Interactive Brokers requires a paid plan.

Interactive Brokers offers mobile access, which Alpha Vantage skips.

Alpha Vantage

alphavantage.co

Hands-on review

REST APIs delivering global market data in JSON and CSV. The free tier allows 25 requests per day, while premium plans remove limits and unlock real-time and 15-minute delayed US equities plus real-time US options. Entitlements and account management are handled through the Alpha X Terminal.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Equity time series for global stocks (intraday down to 1-minute, plus daily/weekly/monthly) with 20+ years of history, including pre- and post-market support and adjustment toggles for splits and dividends.
US options coverage with real-time and historical data spanning over 15 years, including optional greeks and implied volatility outputs in JSON or CSV.
Fundamentals and corporate actions such as company overviews, financials, dividends, splits, plus ETF profiles and holdings.
Corporate calendars: earnings announcements, IPO schedules, listings, and delisting status.
Alpha Intelligence datasets with market news and sentiment, earnings call transcripts, insider transactions, and daily gainers/losers.

Community votes (overall)

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Interactive Brokers

interactivebrokers.co.uk

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

A global, multi-asset direct-access broker with coverage across 160 markets in 36 countries and 28 currencies. Crypto trading and some services vary by region (IBKR Crypto is powered by Paxos or Zero Hash where supported). Client APIs include the Client Portal Web API and TWS API; retail users authenticate via the local Client Portal Gateway, while OAuth2 applies to approved web integrations.

Platforms

Web

Mobile

Desktop

API

Pricing

Other

Quick highlights

Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.
Risk Navigator for real-time portfolio risk, Value-at-Risk, and what-if scenario analysis.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

3 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, Options & Derivatives, and APIs & SDKs.

Where they differ

Alpha Vantage

Distinct strengths include:

Equity time series for global stocks (intraday down to 1-minute, plus daily/weekly/monthly) with 20+ years of history, including pre- and post-market support and adjustment toggles for splits and dividends.
US options coverage with real-time and historical data spanning over 15 years, including optional greeks and implied volatility outputs in JSON or CSV.
Fundamentals and corporate actions such as company overviews, financials, dividends, splits, plus ETF profiles and holdings.
Corporate calendars: earnings announcements, IPO schedules, listings, and delisting status.

Interactive Brokers

Distinct strengths include:

Order Book / Level II

Portfolio

Watchlist

Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown)

Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	Alpha Vantage	Interactive Brokers
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, Options & Derivatives, APIs & SDKs Unique: News, News Sentiment, Calendar, Dividends, Splits, IPO, Delisted, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, ETF Holdings, Transcripts, Insider Data, Sheets / Excel Add-ins	Shared: Data APIs, Options & Derivatives, APIs & SDKs Unique: Brokerage, Paper Trading, Advanced Order Types, Smart/Direct Routing, Order Book / Level II, Portfolio, Watchlist, Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown), Scenario & Stress Tests, Performance Attribution
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Stocks, ETFs, Options, Currencies, Cryptos, Commodities, Mutual Funds	Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Currencies, Commodities, Cryptos
Experience levels Who each product is built for	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Platforms Where you can access the product	Web, API	Web, Mobile, Desktop, API
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free, Subscription	Other
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Equity time series for global stocks (intraday down to 1-minute, plus daily/weekly/monthly) with 20+ years of history, including pre- and post-market support and adjustment toggles for splits and dividends. US options coverage with real-time and historical data spanning over 15 years, including optional greeks and implied volatility outputs in JSON or CSV. Fundamentals and corporate actions such as company overviews, financials, dividends, splits, plus ETF profiles and holdings. Corporate calendars: earnings announcements, IPO schedules, listings, and delisting status. Alpha Intelligence datasets with market news and sentiment, earnings call transcripts, insider transactions, and daily gainers/losers. Coverage across FX and crypto exchange rates (including intraday), commodities (oil, metals, agriculture), and US macro indicators like GDP, CPI, interest rates, and unemployment.	Unique Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies. More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing. Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS). Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer. Risk Navigator for real-time portfolio risk, Value-at-Risk, and what-if scenario analysis. Portfolio Rebalancer tool to realign or target allocation weights across accounts.
Tested Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat	Yes	Yes
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Standard listing	Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Alpha Vantage and Interactive Brokers both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, Options & Derivatives, and APIs & SDKs workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Which tool offers a free plan?

Alpha Vantage offers a free entry point, while Interactive Brokers requires a paid subscription. Review the pricing table to see how the paid tiers compare.

Which tool has mobile access?

Interactive Brokers ships a dedicated mobile experience, while Alpha Vantage focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Alpha Vantage differentiates itself with Equity time series for global stocks (intraday down to 1-minute, plus daily/weekly/monthly) with 20+ years of history, including pre- and post-market support and adjustment toggles for splits and dividends., US options coverage with real-time and historical data spanning over 15 years, including optional greeks and implied volatility outputs in JSON or CSV., and Fundamentals and corporate actions such as company overviews, financials, dividends, splits, plus ETF profiles and holdings., whereas Interactive Brokers stands out for Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies., More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing., and Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS)..

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Stay on top of related tools

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