VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)View FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)Back to Home

Head-to-head

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) vs FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) adds News, and Central Bank Watcher coverage that FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) skips.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) includes Data Visualizations, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Real Yields, APIs & SDKs, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins categories that Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) omits.

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) highlights: Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML., H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields., and H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m..

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 Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) skips.

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) logo

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)

federalreserve.gov

Hands-on review

The official website of the U.S. central bank. Through its Data Download Program (DDP), the Fed offers public access to many of its most important statistical releases in Excel, CSV, or XML formats. Key datasets include interest rates, the Fed balance sheet, commercial bank assets, foreign exchange rates, industrial production, and financial accounts. The site also hosts FOMC calendars, meeting minutes, press releases, speeches, and other policy materials.

Platforms

Web
API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
  • H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
  • H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
  • H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.
  • Foreign exchange reference rates (H.10 weekly and G.5 monthly), with scheduled update times and public downloads.

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FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo

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)

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

4 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, Calendar, and Interest Rates plus 1 more area.

Where they differ

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)

Distinct strengths include:

News
Central Bank Watcher
  • Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
  • H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
  • H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
  • H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Distinct strengths include:

Data Visualizations
Inflation Rates
Unemployment Rates
GDP
PMI / ISM
Housing & Construction
Retail Sales
Consumer Sentiment
  • 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

AttributeFederal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, Calendar, Interest Rates, Yield Curves

Unique: News, Central Bank Watcher

Shared: Data APIs, Calendar, Interest Rates, Yield Curves

Unique: Data Visualizations, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Real Yields, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Bonds, Currencies, 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

  • Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
  • H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
  • H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
  • H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.
  • Foreign exchange reference rates (H.10 weekly and G.5 monthly), with scheduled update times and public downloads.
  • G.17 Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization, published monthly with full release schedules and data formats.

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

Yes

Not yet

Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

Standard listing

Standard listing

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, Calendar, Interest Rates, and Yield Curves workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) require subscriptions?

Both Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) 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 Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) differentiates itself with Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML., H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields., and H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m., 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.

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.