VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Head-to-head

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database vs Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database adds Data Visualizations, and Regulatory Filings Monitoring coverage that Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) skips.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) includes Citations & Source Pinning, and Other 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..

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) is known for: On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within)., Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation., and Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2..

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) offers mobile access, which CFPB Consumer Complaint Database skips.

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database logo

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.

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Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) logo

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)

web.archive.org

General‑purpose web archiving used widely in financial research to cite and compare historical webpages (IR pages, fund fact sheets, product sites). Save Page Now (SPN2) enables on‑demand snapshots with options like outlink capture and full‑page screenshots. Availability and CDX APIs expose snapshot discovery; Memento provides time‑based negotiation. Rate limits/quotas apply to SPN2; crawling and replay behavior may vary by target site robots/policies. Some large platforms (e.g., Reddit) restrict Wayback access to content.

Platforms

Web
API
Mobile

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within).
  • Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation.
  • Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2.
  • Mobile & extensions: official iOS/Android apps and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) for quick saving and lookup.
  • Quotas/limits (SPN2): per‑minute, per‑day, per‑URL, resource size and screenshot size limits; concurrency dampening by host; max outlinks/embeds returned.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, and APIs & SDKs.

Where they differ

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database

Distinct strengths include:

  • 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.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)

Distinct strengths include:

  • On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within).
  • Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation.
  • Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2.
  • Mobile & extensions: official iOS/Android apps and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) for quick saving and lookup.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeCFPB Consumer Complaint DatabaseWayback Machine (Internet Archive)
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs

Unique: Data Visualizations, Regulatory Filings Monitoring

Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs

Unique: Citations & Source Pinning, Other

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Other

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, API, Mobile

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

  • On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within).
  • Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation.
  • Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2.
  • Mobile & extensions: official iOS/Android apps and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) for quick saving and lookup.
  • Quotas/limits (SPN2): per‑minute, per‑day, per‑URL, resource size and screenshot size limits; concurrency dampening by host; max outlinks/embeds returned.
  • Timestamps and replay: captures are timestamped (UTC) and replayed with toolbar metadata; screenshot capture available as a separate archived asset.
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 Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) both support?

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

Do CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) require subscriptions?

Both CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

Which tool has mobile access?

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) 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 Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) stands out for On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within)., Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation., and Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2..

Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.