BEST INVESTING TOOLS COMPARISON

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Checked September 24, 2026

Tool Comparison

Find and update company information (Companies House) vs FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Paid from
—
Free plan
Yes
Platforms
Web, API

Best if

  • Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
  • You want regulatory filings monitoring.
Paid from
—
Free plan
Yes
Platforms
Web, Mobile, API

Best if

  • You do a lot of your research from your phone
  • You want macro data, data visualizations, and calendar.

Pick Find and update company information (Companies House) instead if

Find and update company information (Companies House) logo

Find and update company information (Companies House)

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

Free · Web · API

  • Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
  • You want regulatory filings monitoring.
Our pick for most investors

Start here

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

fred.stlouisfed.org

Free · Web · Mobile · API

  • You do a lot of your research from your phone
  • You want macro data, data visualizations, and calendar.

Skip both if: Neither one clicks with how you research; there are strong third options.

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Our take

The bottom line

Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) cover a lot of the same ground (3 shared categories, alerts, APIs & data feeds, and official sources), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) simply does more: 7 categories to Find and update company information (Companies House)'s 4, including macro data, data visualizations, and calendar, plus a mobile app. Find and update company information (Companies House) counters by being completely free.

What readers say

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FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

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Key differences at a glance

Real-time data
Find and update company information (Companies House)
Broader coverage
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)7 vs 4 categories
Mobile app
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Free plan
Both
See the full side-by-side table
Find and update company information (Companies House) logo

What Find and update company information (Companies House) does best

  1. Search across the official UK register for active and dissolved companies, registered details, company status, filing history, officers, charges, insolvency records, and document images.
  2. Review accounts, confirmation statements, incorporation documents, officer appointments, mortgage charges, and other filings from the company record.
  3. Persons with significant control when ownership or control context matters for diligence, supplier review, or private-company research.
  4. Monitor companies and receive email alerts when new filings are accepted, with direct links back to the filing history.
  5. Advanced search filters for company status, dates, filing types, directors, and other register fields where available.
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo

What FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) does best

  1. Search across and chart hundreds of thousands of economic and financial data series from many official and third-party sources.
  2. Research coverage for macro topics such as GDP, inflation, prices, employment, exchange rates, interest rates, credit, monetary data, and market indicators.
  3. Browsing access to by categories, releases, sources, and tags, with series metadata for units, frequency, last update, and next release where available.
  4. FRED charts for visualization, sharing, embedded graphs, graph images, and saved graph workflows with a free account.
  5. Monitor the economic release calendar for scheduled release dates and times, while accounting for provider timing and availability caveats.

Side by side

Pricing & plans
Starting price
Free
Free
Free tier
Yes
Yes
Free trial
—
—
Platforms & access
Web app
Yes
Yes
Mobile app
No
Yes
API access
Yes
Yes
Broker sync
No
—
Integrations
—
Microsoft Excel (FRED Add-in)
Coverage & data
Asset types
Other
Other
Target audience
Not specified
Students/ResearchersAnalystsQuants/Developers
Data freshness
Real-timeStreaming
Not specified
Export formats
PDFCSV
ExcelImageJSONXML

Pricing comparison

See for yourself

Side by side

Price, platforms, data, and market coverage.
Show
Side-by-side comparison of Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Attribute
Find and update company information (Companies House) logo
Find and update company information (Companies House)
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Pricing & plans
Starting price
FreeFree
Free tier
YesYes
Free trial
——
Plan limits
Free: api rate limit: 600 requests per 5 minutesFree: api key required: Yes and Free: api rate limited: Yes
Platforms & access
Web app
YesYes
Mobile app
NoYes
API access
YesYes
Broker sync
No—
Integrations
—Microsoft Excel (FRED Add-in)
Audience & fit
Experience level
Beginner, Intermediate, AdvancedBeginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Best for
—Students/Researchers, Analysts +1 more
Categories covered
47
Regions
Europe—
Data & capabilities
Data quality
3 signals: Latency: Real-time and Streaming, Corporate actions: Current +1 more—
Try itVisit Find and update company information (Companies House)Visit FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Standout features

The best features of Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data).
Show
Find and update company information (Companies House) logo

What Find and update company information (Companies House) does best

  1. Search across the official UK register for active and dissolved companies, registered details, company status, filing history, officers, charges, insolvency records, and document images.
  2. Review accounts, confirmation statements, incorporation documents, officer appointments, mortgage charges, and other filings from the company record.
  3. Persons with significant control when ownership or control context matters for diligence, supplier review, or private-company research.
  4. Monitor companies and receive email alerts when new filings are accepted, with direct links back to the filing history.
  5. Advanced search filters for company status, dates, filing types, directors, and other register fields where available.
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo

What FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) does best

  1. Search across and chart hundreds of thousands of economic and financial data series from many official and third-party sources.
  2. Research coverage for macro topics such as GDP, inflation, prices, employment, exchange rates, interest rates, credit, monetary data, and market indicators.
  3. Browsing access to by categories, releases, sources, and tags, with series metadata for units, frequency, last update, and next release where available.
  4. FRED charts for visualization, sharing, embedded graphs, graph images, and saved graph workflows with a free account.
  5. Monitor the economic release calendar for scheduled release dates and times, while accounting for provider timing and availability caveats.

All details

Every attribute we track for Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data).
Show
Attribute
Find and update company information (Companies House) logo
Find and update company information (Companies House)
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Coverage & fit
Asset types
Other
Other
Experience
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
Target audience
Not specified
Students/ResearchersAnalystsQuants/Developers
Regions
Europe
Not specified
Coverage details
Countries: GB
Not specified
Data
Data freshness
Real-timeStreaming
Not specified
Access & integrations
API protocols
REST
REST
API auth & delivery
Auth: APIKey and OAuth2120 req/min
Auth: APIKeyDocs
Integrations
Not specified
Microsoft Excel (FRED Add-in)
Export formats
PDFCSV
ExcelImageJSONXML
Plans & trust
Vendor & support
Companies House (Executive agency of the UK Government)Country: United KingdomSupport: Email and Phone
Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouisCountry: United StatesSupport: Email
Curation ratings
Methodology 5/5Reliability 5/5UX 4/5
Not specified

Green tags are exclusive to that tool in this comparison.

Pricing

Plans, billing, free trials, and monthly prices.
Show
Plan-by-plan pricing comparison of Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Tier
Find and update company information (Companies House) logo
Find and update company information (Companies House)
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) logo
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Free plan
Freeapi rate limit: 600 requests per 5 minutes
Freeapi key required: Yes · api rate limited: Yes

Questions we keep getting

What's the difference between Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)?

Find and update company information (Companies House) leans toward regulatory filings monitoring, alerts, and APIs & data feeds, while FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) puts more weight on macro data, data visualizations, and calendar. They overlap in 3 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.

How much do Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) cost?

Good news: both Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) have free plans, so you can run them side by side and only pay if you hit a wall.

Can I use Find and update company information (Companies House) or FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) on my phone?

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) lists a dedicated mobile app, so it travels better. Find and update company information (Companies House) doesn't list a dedicated mobile app; its documented access is web and API.

Do Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) have APIs?

Yes, both offer API access, so developers and quants can pull data programmatically or wire up their own integrations.

Should I choose Find and update company information (Companies House) or FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)?

It depends on what you're after. Pick Find and update company information (Companies House) if regulatory filings monitoring matter to you; go with FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) if you'd rather have macro data and data visualizations. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.

Does Find and update company information (Companies House) or FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) have real-time data?

Find and update company information (Companies House) offers real-time data, which matters if you trade actively. FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) runs on delayed or end-of-day data, which is perfectly fine for longer-term investors who don't live and die by the tick.

Can I export data from Find and update company information (Companies House) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)?

Yes, both export to spreadsheets (Find and update company information (Companies House): CSV; FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data): Excel), which is handy if you like running your own numbers.

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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.