VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Tool Comparison

marketstack vs U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

marketstack adds Dividends, Splits, ETF Holdings, Interest Rates, Analyst Recommendations, and Analyst Price Targets coverage that U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) skips.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) includes GDP, Inflation Rates, and Calendar categories that marketstack omits.

In depth comparison

marketstack logo

marketstack

marketstack.com

A global market data API with free and paid tiers. End-of-day coverage spans 15+ years and 500k+ tickers, while intraday and real-time access are unlocked on higher plans. Rate limits apply: 5 requests per second globally, with some endpoints (like ETF holdings) counting as multiple calls. Premium tiers add features like SEC/EDGAR filings, analyst ratings, and bond/index data. Data is sourced from Tiingo for U.S. markets, and uptime is tracked on a public status page.

Platforms

WebAPI

Pricing

FreeSubscription

Quick highlights

  • RESTful JSON API with secure API key access, HTTPS transport, and a 5 requests/sec global limit.
  • End-of-day data with 15+ years of history across 500,000+ tickers, including MIC-level filtering and adjusted fields (open, close, volume).
  • Intraday data for U.S. markets via IEX, with intervals from 1–60 minutes. Real-time reference prices are derived from IEX feeds; some fields require separate entitlements.
  • Professional and higher tiers include real-time stock prices with minute-level updates (1 API call per minute rate cap).
  • Corporate actions endpoints for dividends and stock splits.

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U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) logo

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

bea.gov

Official U.S. macroeconomic statistics publisher (U.S. Dept. of Commerce). Offers free interactive tables (iTables) and a REST API with JSON/XML output for GDP, PCE/inflation, personal income/outlays, international transactions (ITA), international investment position (IIP), fixed assets, GDP by industry, and regional accounts. The API requires a 36‑character key and enforces throttling (100 requests/min or 100 MB/min; 429 with Retry‑After). A public release calendar is available (ICS/JSON).

Platforms

WebAPI

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
  • Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
  • API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
  • Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.
  • Release Schedule provides machine‑readable calendar feeds (ICS/JSON) and shows planned 8:30/10:00 a.m. release times.

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Where they differ

marketstack

Distinct strengths include:

  • RESTful JSON API with secure API key access, HTTPS transport, and a 5 requests/sec global limit.
  • End-of-day data with 15+ years of history across 500,000+ tickers, including MIC-level filtering and adjusted fields (open, close, volume).
  • Intraday data for U.S. markets via IEX, with intervals from 1–60 minutes. Real-time reference prices are derived from IEX feeds; some fields require separate entitlements.
  • Professional and higher tiers include real-time stock prices with minute-level updates (1 API call per minute rate cap).

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

Distinct strengths include:

  • Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
  • Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
  • API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
  • Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributemarketstackU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs

Unique: Dividends, Splits, ETF Holdings, Interest Rates, Analyst Recommendations, Analyst Price Targets

Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs

Unique: GDP, Inflation Rates, Calendar

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Bonds, Commodities

Other

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Intermediate, Advanced

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web, API

Web, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription

Free

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • RESTful JSON API with secure API key access, HTTPS transport, and a 5 requests/sec global limit.
  • End-of-day data with 15+ years of history across 500,000+ tickers, including MIC-level filtering and adjusted fields (open, close, volume).
  • Intraday data for U.S. markets via IEX, with intervals from 1–60 minutes. Real-time reference prices are derived from IEX feeds; some fields require separate entitlements.
  • Professional and higher tiers include real-time stock prices with minute-level updates (1 API call per minute rate cap).
  • Corporate actions endpoints for dividends and stock splits.
  • ETF holdings data (Basic+ plans and above) with identifiers like ISIN and CUSIP; each request consumes 20 API calls.

Unique

  • Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
  • Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
  • API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
  • Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.
  • Release Schedule provides machine‑readable calendar feeds (ICS/JSON) and shows planned 8:30/10:00 a.m. release times.
  • Official open‑source SDKs/tools: R package (bea.R) and a Python helper (beaapi) on BEA’s GitHub.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do marketstack and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, and APIs & SDKs workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do marketstack and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) require subscriptions?

Both marketstack and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access marketstack and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)?

Both marketstack and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) prioritize web or desktop access. Investors wanting a mobile-first workflow may need to rely on responsive web views.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

marketstack differentiates itself with RESTful JSON API with secure API key access, HTTPS transport, and a 5 requests/sec global limit., End-of-day data with 15+ years of history across 500,000+ tickers, including MIC-level filtering and adjusted fields (open, close, volume)., and Intraday data for U.S. markets via IEX, with intervals from 1–60 minutes. Real-time reference prices are derived from IEX feeds; some fields require separate entitlements., whereas U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) stands out for Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP., Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts., and API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout)..

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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.