VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View CFPB Consumer Complaint Database View FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)Back to Home

Head-to-head

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database vs FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database adds Regulatory Filings Monitoring coverage that FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) skips.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) includes Calendar, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Yield Curves, Real Yields, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins categories that CFPB Consumer Complaint Database omits.

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database highlights: Interactive explorer to filter, chart trends over time, map by geography, and read consented narratives., Programmatic access via the Consumer Complaint Database Search API; results available as JSON, CSV, XLS, or XLSX., and Daily refresh cadence; complaints published after a response or after 15 days; complaints referred to other regulators are not published..

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 CFPB Consumer Complaint Database skips.

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database

consumerfinance.gov

Official U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) database of consumer financial complaints. Complaints are published after the company responds or after 15 days (whichever comes first); the database generally updates daily. Narratives are published only with consumer consent and are scrubbed to remove personal information. The dataset includes product/issue taxonomies, company names, location fields (state/ZIP with privacy rules), submission channel, dates, company response categories, timeliness, tags (e.g., servicemember, older adult) and more. UI provides filters, trends, and maps; API returns JSON/CSV/Excel formats for programmatic use.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

Interactive explorer to filter, chart trends over time, map by geography, and read consented narratives.
Programmatic access via the Consumer Complaint Database Search API; results available as JSON, CSV, XLS, or XLSX.
Daily refresh cadence; complaints published after a response or after 15 days; complaints referred to other regulators are not published.
Detailed fields: product/sub‑product, issue/sub‑issue, company, dates (received/sent to company), state/ZIP (privacy rules), submission channel, tags (e.g., Servicemember, Older American), company public response, response category, timeliness, and (if consented) complaint narrative.
Download tools on the site plus API endpoints for bulk or filtered pulls; annual and topical reports summarize trends.

Community votes (overall)

0% upvotes 0% downvotes

You haven't voted yet

View full profile Visit site

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

You haven't voted yet

View full profile Visit site

Overlap

Shared focus areas

3 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, and Data Visualizations.

Where they differ

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database

Distinct strengths include:

Regulatory Filings Monitoring

Interactive explorer to filter, chart trends over time, map by geography, and read consented narratives.
Programmatic access via the Consumer Complaint Database Search API; results available as JSON, CSV, XLS, or XLSX.
Daily refresh cadence; complaints published after a response or after 15 days; complaints referred to other regulators are not published.
Detailed fields: product/sub‑product, issue/sub‑issue, company, dates (received/sent to company), state/ZIP (privacy rules), submission channel, tags (e.g., Servicemember, Older American), company public response, response category, timeliness, and (if consented) complaint narrative.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Distinct strengths include:

Housing & Construction

Retail Sales

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	CFPB Consumer Complaint Database	FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Data Visualizations Unique: Regulatory Filings Monitoring	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Data Visualizations Unique: Calendar, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Yield Curves, Real Yields, Sheets / Excel Add-ins
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Other	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, API	Web, Mobile, API
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free	Free
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Interactive explorer to filter, chart trends over time, map by geography, and read consented narratives. Programmatic access via the Consumer Complaint Database Search API; results available as JSON, CSV, XLS, or XLSX. Daily refresh cadence; complaints published after a response or after 15 days; complaints referred to other regulators are not published. Detailed fields: product/sub‑product, issue/sub‑issue, company, dates (received/sent to company), state/ZIP (privacy rules), submission channel, tags (e.g., Servicemember, Older American), company public response, response category, timeliness, and (if consented) complaint narrative. Download tools on the site plus API endpoints for bulk or filtered pulls; annual and topical reports summarize trends.	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 CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) both support?

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

Do CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) require subscriptions?

Both CFPB Consumer Complaint Database 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 CFPB Consumer Complaint Database focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database differentiates itself with Interactive explorer to filter, chart trends over time, map by geography, and read consented narratives., Programmatic access via the Consumer Complaint Database Search API; results available as JSON, CSV, XLS, or XLSX., and Daily refresh cadence; complaints published after a response or after 15 days; complaints referred to other regulators are not published., 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..

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

Browse the categories and profiles that overlap most with this comparison to round out your shortlist.