VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

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

Head-to-head

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) vs Semrush comparison

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

Quick takeaways

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) adds Calendar, Data Visualizations, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Yield Curves, and Real Yields coverage that Semrush skips.

Semrush includes App & Website Traffic, and Blogs 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..

Semrush is known for: Traffic Analytics tools to examine any website’s visitors, sources, engagement metrics, and competitive benchmarks., Rich API suite: Analytics and Projects APIs (Business plan), Trends API, Listing Management, and Map Rank Tracker. Current versions support API key (v3) and OAuth 2.0 with JSON (v4)., and API consumption billed in ‘units’ per request or per line of data. Historical queries cost more; some APIs like Listing Management and Map Rank Tracker are excluded from unit billing..

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.

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Semrush

semrush.com

Comprehensive SEO, marketing, and web traffic analytics platform. API access for core Analytics and Projects requires a Business plan, with usage billed in API units. Some APIs—like Listing Management and Map Rank Tracker—don’t consume units. Enterprise security options include SAML SSO on Guru and Business tiers. A 7-day free trial is available for all paid plans.

Platforms

Web

Mobile

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Traffic Analytics tools to examine any website’s visitors, sources, engagement metrics, and competitive benchmarks.
Rich API suite: Analytics and Projects APIs (Business plan), Trends API, Listing Management, and Map Rank Tracker. Current versions support API key (v3) and OAuth 2.0 with JSON (v4).
API consumption billed in ‘units’ per request or per line of data. Historical queries cost more; some APIs like Listing Management and Map Rank Tracker are excluded from unit billing.
Flexible exports in CSV, Excel, and PDF across tools. Position Tracking and Site Audit modules generate PDF reports; Position Tracking also supports direct Google Sheets export.
Google Sheets integration through the App Center ‘AI Automated Data Connector’ for automated reporting pipelines.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

3 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins.

Where they differ

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Distinct strengths include:

Housing & Construction

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.

Semrush

Distinct strengths include:

App & Website Traffic

Blogs

Traffic Analytics tools to examine any website’s visitors, sources, engagement metrics, and competitive benchmarks.
Rich API suite: Analytics and Projects APIs (Business plan), Trends API, Listing Management, and Map Rank Tracker. Current versions support API key (v3) and OAuth 2.0 with JSON (v4).
API consumption billed in ‘units’ per request or per line of data. Historical queries cost more; some APIs like Listing Management and Map Rank Tracker are excluded from unit billing.
Flexible exports in CSV, Excel, and PDF across tools. Position Tracking and Site Audit modules generate PDF reports; Position Tracking also supports direct Google Sheets export.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)	Semrush
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins Unique: Calendar, Data Visualizations, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, GDP, Interest Rates, PMI / ISM, Housing & Construction, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment, Yield Curves, Real Yields	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins Unique: App & Website Traffic, Blogs
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Stocks, Other	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	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 Traffic Analytics tools to examine any website’s visitors, sources, engagement metrics, and competitive benchmarks. Rich API suite: Analytics and Projects APIs (Business plan), Trends API, Listing Management, and Map Rank Tracker. Current versions support API key (v3) and OAuth 2.0 with JSON (v4). API consumption billed in ‘units’ per request or per line of data. Historical queries cost more; some APIs like Listing Management and Map Rank Tracker are excluded from unit billing. Flexible exports in CSV, Excel, and PDF across tools. Position Tracking and Site Audit modules generate PDF reports; Position Tracking also supports direct Google Sheets export. Google Sheets integration through the App Center ‘AI Automated Data Connector’ for automated reporting pipelines. Native integrations with Google Analytics and Google Search Console to combine marketing and search performance data.
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 FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and Semrush both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, 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 Semrush require subscriptions?

Both FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and Semrush 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 Semrush?

Both FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and Semrush 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 Semrush stands out for Traffic Analytics tools to examine any website’s visitors, sources, engagement metrics, and competitive benchmarks., Rich API suite: Analytics and Projects APIs (Business plan), Trends API, Listing Management, and Map Rank Tracker. Current versions support API key (v3) and OAuth 2.0 with JSON (v4)., and API consumption billed in ‘units’ per request or per line of data. Historical queries cost more; some APIs like Listing Management and Map Rank Tracker are excluded from unit billing..

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