CME FedWatch vs FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) comparison

CME FedWatch focuses on Central Bank Watcher, Interest Rates, and Data APIs while FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) specializes in Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, and GDP. They overlap in 3 categories, so choose based on your preferred workflow and pricing.

Good news—both CME FedWatch and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) offer free plans. You can try each platform without commitment and only pay when you need premium features.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) has a mobile app so you can check your research on the go. CME FedWatch is web-only, so you'll need a browser to access it from mobile devices.

Yes, both platforms offer API access for developers and quants who want to build custom integrations or automate their workflows.

Choose CME FedWatch if you need Web tool shows probabilities of FOMC target rate changes for upcoming meetings, implied by 30‑Day Fed Funds futures prices (CME: “CME FedWatch”)., and Free tool listed among CME interest‑rate “free pricing and analytics tools.”. Go with FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) if 800,000+ economic data series from 100+ sources, covering topics such as GDP, prices/inflation, employment, exchange rates, and interest rates., and Browse and track data via categories, releases, sources, and tags; series pages show metadata like units/frequency and “last updated / next release” fields. better fits how you invest.

Both cover common asset types. CME FedWatch also includes Futures. FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) adds coverage for Other.

CME FedWatch offers real-time data feeds, which is essential for active traders. FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) uses delayed or end-of-day data, which works fine for longer-term investors who don't need up-to-the-second quotes.

Both platforms let you export data to spreadsheets (Excel). This is useful for custom analysis or record-keeping.