VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View FlightAware View FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)Back to Home

Head-to-head

FlightAware vs FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

FlightAware adds Alerts, and Satellite / Geospatial 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 FlightAware omits.

FlightAware highlights: Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions., Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data., and AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication..

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..

FlightAware

flightaware.com

A global flight-tracking platform offering free web and mobile access to live flight data. Premium subscriptions add unlimited alerts and extended historical lookback. Enterprise offerings include AeroAPI (REST), Firehose (streaming), and Rapid Reports (one-off email deliveries).

Platforms

Web

Mobile

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

One-time

Quick highlights

Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions.
Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data.
AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication.
FlightAware Firehose delivers a continuous enterprise-grade feed of real-time, historical, and predictive flight data over secure TCP/SSL connections.
Global coverage powered by fused data sources: national air navigation providers, ACARS messages, over 30,000 terrestrial ADS-B receivers, Aireon space-based ADS-B with ~1-minute updates, and FlightAware’s HyperFeed® ML engine processing tens of thousands of position messages per second.

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

FlightAware

Distinct strengths include:

Alerts

Satellite / Geospatial

Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions.
Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data.
AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication.
FlightAware Firehose delivers a continuous enterprise-grade feed of real-time, historical, and predictive flight data over secure TCP/SSL connections.

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	FlightAware	FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Data Visualizations Unique: Alerts, Satellite / Geospatial	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, Mobile, API	Web, Mobile, API
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free, Subscription, One-time	Free
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions. Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data. AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication. FlightAware Firehose delivers a continuous enterprise-grade feed of real-time, historical, and predictive flight data over secure TCP/SSL connections. Global coverage powered by fused data sources: national air navigation providers, ACARS messages, over 30,000 terrestrial ADS-B receivers, Aireon space-based ADS-B with ~1-minute updates, and FlightAware’s HyperFeed® ML engine processing tens of thousands of position messages per second. Rapid Reports offer one-time purchases of airport or aircraft history, delivered via email within about an hour.	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 FlightAware 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 FlightAware and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) require subscriptions?

Both FlightAware and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access FlightAware and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)?

Both FlightAware and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) support web and mobile access, making it easy to keep tabs on research away from the desk.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

FlightAware differentiates itself with Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions., Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data., and AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication., 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.