VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)View USAspending Back to Home

Head-to-head

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) vs USAspending comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) adds Shipping & Trade, Education, and Blogs coverage that USAspending skips.

USAspending includes APIs & SDKs, Videos, and Other categories that Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) omits.

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) highlights: Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs..

USAspending is known for: Advanced Search & profiles across awards, recipients, agencies, federal accounts; filters include date, place of performance, NAICS/PSC, Assistance Listing (formerly CFDA), DEFC for COVID/infrastructure., Spending Explorer and Agency/Federal Account profiles for top‑down views of obligations/outlays and drill‑downs by budget hierarchy., and Public REST API that powers the website (GET & POST endpoints; JSON responses); tutorial and contracts for commonly used endpoints..

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

oec.world

A global trade and economic complexity platform with rich visualizations, country and product rankings, and an API. Pro plans unlock the latest monthly and subnational datasets, while Premium adds company-level Bill of Lading data and bulk downloads. Academic discounts and enterprise options with SSO support are also available.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.
Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers.

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USAspending

usaspending.gov

Official U.S. federal spending open‑data portal mandated by the DATA Act and operated by Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The public REST API powers the site (GET/POST endpoints, JSON responses). Data refreshes daily after a nightly pipeline; underlying source systems update on different cadences (e.g., monthly for Files A/B/C via the DATA Act Broker; next‑day for FPDS contracts; FABS within 2 weeks; FSRS subawards by month‑end; GTAS monthly). Bulk downloads and archives are available for awards back to FY2008.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

Advanced Search & profiles across awards, recipients, agencies, federal accounts; filters include date, place of performance, NAICS/PSC, Assistance Listing (formerly CFDA), DEFC for COVID/infrastructure.
Spending Explorer and Agency/Federal Account profiles for top‑down views of obligations/outlays and drill‑downs by budget hierarchy.
Public REST API that powers the website (GET & POST endpoints; JSON responses); tutorial and contracts for commonly used endpoints.
Bulk data: Award Data Archive (pre‑generated, by agency/fiscal year), Custom Award Data, Custom Account Data, and full Database Download.
Award coverage: contracts, contract IDVs, grants, direct payments, loans, insurance, other financial assistance; prime awards and subawards (FSRS).

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data Visualizations, and Data APIs.

Where they differ

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

Distinct strengths include:

Shipping & Trade

Education

Blogs

Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.

USAspending

Distinct strengths include:

APIs & SDKs

Videos

Other

Advanced Search & profiles across awards, recipients, agencies, federal accounts; filters include date, place of performance, NAICS/PSC, Assistance Listing (formerly CFDA), DEFC for COVID/infrastructure.
Spending Explorer and Agency/Federal Account profiles for top‑down views of obligations/outlays and drill‑downs by budget hierarchy.
Public REST API that powers the website (GET & POST endpoints; JSON responses); tutorial and contracts for commonly used endpoints.
Bulk data: Award Data Archive (pre‑generated, by agency/fiscal year), Custom Award Data, Custom Account Data, and full Database Download.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)	USAspending
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data Visualizations, Data APIs Unique: Shipping & Trade, Education, Blogs	Shared: Data Visualizations, Data APIs Unique: APIs & SDKs, Videos, Other
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Other	Other
Experience levels Who each product is built for	Beginner, 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 Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification. Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans. Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs. REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes. Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers. Support for multiple HS revisions (from HS92 through HS2022) with well-documented historical ranges.	Unique Advanced Search & profiles across awards, recipients, agencies, federal accounts; filters include date, place of performance, NAICS/PSC, Assistance Listing (formerly CFDA), DEFC for COVID/infrastructure. Spending Explorer and Agency/Federal Account profiles for top‑down views of obligations/outlays and drill‑downs by budget hierarchy. Public REST API that powers the website (GET & POST endpoints; JSON responses); tutorial and contracts for commonly used endpoints. Bulk data: Award Data Archive (pre‑generated, by agency/fiscal year), Custom Award Data, Custom Account Data, and full Database Download. Award coverage: contracts, contract IDVs, grants, direct payments, loans, insurance, other financial assistance; prime awards and subawards (FSRS). Entity identifiers: UEI (replaced DUNS on Apr 4, 2022) used for recipients as the governmentwide identifier (via SAM.gov).
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 Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and USAspending both support?

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

Do Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and USAspending require subscriptions?

Both Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and USAspending keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and USAspending?

Both Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and USAspending 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?

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) differentiates itself with Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs., whereas USAspending stands out for Advanced Search & profiles across awards, recipients, agencies, federal accounts; filters include date, place of performance, NAICS/PSC, Assistance Listing (formerly CFDA), DEFC for COVID/infrastructure., Spending Explorer and Agency/Federal Account profiles for top‑down views of obligations/outlays and drill‑downs by budget hierarchy., and Public REST API that powers the website (GET & POST endpoints; JSON responses); tutorial and contracts for commonly used endpoints..

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