VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

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

Head-to-head

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) vs GuruFocus comparison

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

Quick takeaways

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) adds Data APIs, Data Visualizations, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, and Real Yields coverage that GuruFocus skips.

GuruFocus includes Screeners, Stock Ideas, Stock Comparison, Portfolio, Backtesting, Investor Holdings, US Government Trades, News, Alerts, Commitment of Traders (COT), Financials, Valuation Models, Scores, Transcripts, Insider Data, 13F, ETF Overview, and ETF Holdings categories that FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) omits.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) 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., and Flexible output formats including JSON, XML, Excel, and CSV for easy integration..

GuruFocus is known for: All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters, historical screening, and custom filter creation., Backtesting with survivorship-bias-free data. Windows vary by plan: up to 3 years for Premium and up to 10 years for Premium Plus. Global coverage spans 80+ countries., and Guru portfolios tracking 13F and mutual fund holdings, real-time picks, and portfolio downloads to Excel..

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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GuruFocus

gurufocus.com

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

A global equity research and value-investing platform with robust screening, backtesting, and portfolio tools. Features and data access depend on plan tier—Premium vs. Premium Plus—while enterprise-level users can license data directly via API. Add-ins for Excel and Google Sheets extend workflows, though usage caps apply to lower tiers. Alerts and mobile apps are included across paid plans.

Platforms

Web

Mobile

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters, historical screening, and custom filter creation.
Backtesting with survivorship-bias-free data. Windows vary by plan: up to 3 years for Premium and up to 10 years for Premium Plus. Global coverage spans 80+ countries.
Guru portfolios tracking 13F and mutual fund holdings, real-time picks, and portfolio downloads to Excel.
Specialty trackers for insider trading and U.S. politician trades.
ETF profiles with current and historical holdings, including N-PORT data and timestamps.

Community votes (overall)

0% upvotes 0% downvotes

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

8 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Calendar, Inflation Rates, and Unemployment Rates plus 5 more areas.

Where they differ

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Distinct strengths include:

Data APIs

Data Visualizations

PMI / ISM

Housing & Construction

Retail Sales

Consumer Sentiment

Real Yields

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.

GuruFocus

Distinct strengths include:

All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters, historical screening, and custom filter creation.
Backtesting with survivorship-bias-free data. Windows vary by plan: up to 3 years for Premium and up to 10 years for Premium Plus. Global coverage spans 80+ countries.
Guru portfolios tracking 13F and mutual fund holdings, real-time picks, and portfolio downloads to Excel.
Specialty trackers for insider trading and U.S. politician trades.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)	GuruFocus
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Calendar, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, Yield Curves, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins Unique: Data APIs, Data Visualizations, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Real Yields	Shared: Calendar, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, Yield Curves, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins Unique: Screeners, Stock Ideas, Stock Comparison, Portfolio, Backtesting, Investor Holdings, US Government Trades, News, Alerts, Commitment of Traders (COT), Financials, Valuation Models, Scores, Transcripts, Insider Data, 13F, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Stocks, Other	Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds
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	Free, Subscription
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	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.	Unique All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters, historical screening, and custom filter creation. Backtesting with survivorship-bias-free data. Windows vary by plan: up to 3 years for Premium and up to 10 years for Premium Plus. Global coverage spans 80+ countries. Guru portfolios tracking 13F and mutual fund holdings, real-time picks, and portfolio downloads to Excel. Specialty trackers for insider trading and U.S. politician trades. ETF profiles with current and historical holdings, including N-PORT data and timestamps. Valuation and scoring tools: discounted cash flow calculators, GF Value, and GF Score frameworks.
Tested Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat	Not yet	Yes
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Standard listing	Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and GuruFocus both support?

Both platforms cover Calendar, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, Yield Curves, APIs & SDKs, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and GuruFocus require subscriptions?

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

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

Both FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and GuruFocus 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?

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) differentiates itself with 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., whereas GuruFocus stands out for All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters, historical screening, and custom filter creation., Backtesting with survivorship-bias-free data. Windows vary by plan: up to 3 years for Premium and up to 10 years for Premium Plus. Global coverage spans 80+ countries., and Guru portfolios tracking 13F and mutual fund holdings, real-time picks, and portfolio downloads to Excel..

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

Browse the categories and profiles that overlap most with this comparison to round out your shortlist.