VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Monday, October 6, 2025

View Calcbench View FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)Back to Home

Head-to-head

Calcbench vs FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Calcbench adds Financials, Improved Filings, Flags, Management Compensation, Acquisitions, Ticker Changes, Blogs, and Regulatory Filings Monitoring coverage that FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) skips.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) includes Calendar, Data Visualizations, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Yield Curves, and Real Yields categories that Calcbench omits.

Calcbench highlights: As‑reported financials with drill‑through ‘Trace to source’ into the filing; multi‑company time‑series and standardized metrics., Interactive disclosures/footnotes search across 10‑K/10‑Q (and other docs); segment & geographic breakouts., and Earnings press‑release data within minutes of wire: GAAP, non‑GAAP, guidance, KPIs; model‑ready via Excel or API..

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) is known for: Access to over 840,000 time series from more than 100 official and third-party sources, all browsable and downloadable online., Official REST API covering both FRED and ALFRED, with endpoints for categories, releases, series, and sources., and Flexible output formats including JSON, XML, Excel, and CSV for easy integration..

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) offers mobile access, which Calcbench skips.

Calcbench

calcbench.com

SEC-filings and earnings‑release data platform built for analysts. Coverage includes as‑reported financial statements, footnotes/disclosures text, segments & breakouts, earnings press‑release numerics (incl. non‑GAAP and guidance), proxies, 8‑Ks, and SEC comment letters. ‘Trace’ any number back to the source filing. Point‑in‑time fundamentals with publication timestamps are available for backtests. Excel (Windows) add‑in is full‑featured; Office 365 (Mac/Web) and Google Sheets add‑ins are lighter. API access is separate from standard subscriptions.

Platforms

Web

Desktop

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

As‑reported financials with drill‑through ‘Trace to source’ into the filing; multi‑company time‑series and standardized metrics.
Interactive disclosures/footnotes search across 10‑K/10‑Q (and other docs); segment & geographic breakouts.
Earnings press‑release data within minutes of wire: GAAP, non‑GAAP, guidance, KPIs; model‑ready via Excel or API.
Point‑in‑time fundamentals: standardized metrics stamped with first‑available timestamps to avoid look‑ahead bias.
Auditor & auditor‑fee dataset with flags; M&A purchase‑price‑allocation dataset.

Community votes (overall)

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FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

fred.stlouisfed.org

One of the most trusted sources of macroeconomic and market data worldwide. FRED offers free access to charts, releases, Excel add-ins, and a public API. An API key (free) is required, with standard rate limits. ALFRED, the companion service, provides vintage datasets so you can see what was known at any point in time.

Platforms

Web

Mobile

API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

Access to over 840,000 time series from more than 100 official and third-party sources, all browsable and downloadable online.
Official REST API covering both FRED and ALFRED, with endpoints for categories, releases, series, and sources.
Flexible output formats including JSON, XML, Excel, and CSV for easy integration.
ALFRED (the archival database) provides point-in-time vintages, letting you track historical revisions exactly as they were published.
Maps API delivers regional datasets with GeoJSON shapefiles for states, counties, MSAs, and more.

Community votes (overall)

0% upvotes 0% downvotes

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

3 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins.

Where they differ

Calcbench

Distinct strengths include:

Financials

Improved Filings

Flags

Management Compensation

Acquisitions

Ticker Changes

Blogs

Regulatory Filings Monitoring

As‑reported financials with drill‑through ‘Trace to source’ into the filing; multi‑company time‑series and standardized metrics.
Interactive disclosures/footnotes search across 10‑K/10‑Q (and other docs); segment & geographic breakouts.
Earnings press‑release data within minutes of wire: GAAP, non‑GAAP, guidance, KPIs; model‑ready via Excel or API.
Point‑in‑time fundamentals: standardized metrics stamped with first‑available timestamps to avoid look‑ahead bias.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Distinct strengths include:

Housing & Construction

Access to over 840,000 time series from more than 100 official and third-party sources, all browsable and downloadable online.
Official REST API covering both FRED and ALFRED, with endpoints for categories, releases, series, and sources.
Flexible output formats including JSON, XML, Excel, and CSV for easy integration.
ALFRED (the archival database) provides point-in-time vintages, letting you track historical revisions exactly as they were published.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	Calcbench	FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins Unique: Financials, Improved Filings, Flags, Management Compensation, Acquisitions, Ticker Changes, Blogs, Regulatory Filings Monitoring	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins Unique: Calendar, Data Visualizations, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Yield Curves, Real Yields
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Stocks	Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Stocks, Other
Experience levels Who each product is built for	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Platforms Where you can access the product	Web, Desktop, API	Web, Mobile, API
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free, Subscription	Free
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique As‑reported financials with drill‑through ‘Trace to source’ into the filing; multi‑company time‑series and standardized metrics. Interactive disclosures/footnotes search across 10‑K/10‑Q (and other docs); segment & geographic breakouts. Earnings press‑release data within minutes of wire: GAAP, non‑GAAP, guidance, KPIs; model‑ready via Excel or API. Point‑in‑time fundamentals: standardized metrics stamped with first‑available timestamps to avoid look‑ahead bias. Auditor & auditor‑fee dataset with flags; M&A purchase‑price‑allocation dataset. Excel add‑in (Windows, full), Office 365 add‑in (Mac/Web, limited), and Google Sheets add‑on; Python API client.	Unique Access to over 840,000 time series from more than 100 official and third-party sources, all browsable and downloadable online. Official REST API covering both FRED and ALFRED, with endpoints for categories, releases, series, and sources. Flexible output formats including JSON, XML, Excel, and CSV for easy integration. ALFRED (the archival database) provides point-in-time vintages, letting you track historical revisions exactly as they were published. Maps API delivers regional datasets with GeoJSON shapefiles for states, counties, MSAs, and more. Free Excel add-in enables direct downloads, refreshes, frequency conversions, and growth-rate calculations.
Tested Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat	Not yet	Not yet
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Standard listing	Standard listing

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Calcbench and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do Calcbench and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) require subscriptions?

Both Calcbench and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

Which tool has mobile access?

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) ships a dedicated mobile experience, while Calcbench focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Calcbench differentiates itself with As‑reported financials with drill‑through ‘Trace to source’ into the filing; multi‑company time‑series and standardized metrics., Interactive disclosures/footnotes search across 10‑K/10‑Q (and other docs); segment & geographic breakouts., and Earnings press‑release data within minutes of wire: GAAP, non‑GAAP, guidance, KPIs; model‑ready via Excel or API., whereas FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) stands out for Access to over 840,000 time series from more than 100 official and third-party sources, all browsable and downloadable online., Official REST API covering both FRED and ALFRED, with endpoints for categories, releases, series, and sources., and Flexible output formats including JSON, XML, Excel, and CSV for easy integration..

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