VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View Sensor Tower View USAspending Back to Home

Head-to-head

Sensor Tower vs USAspending comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Sensor Tower adds App & Website Traffic coverage that USAspending skips.

USAspending includes Data APIs, Data Visualizations, Videos, and Other categories that Sensor Tower omits.

Sensor Tower highlights: App download estimates and advertising intelligence, with insights into audience and market share., App performance tracking for ASO workflows, including keyword opportunities, competitive benchmarking, and Apple Search Ads analysis. Free sign-ups provide limited access., and Usage insights built from panel data, showing daily and hourly patterns such as retention, time spent, and session frequency..

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..

Sensor Tower

sensortower.com

Mobile app and web intelligence platform covering downloads, usage, advertising, and audience trends. A limited free tier is available, while enterprise add-ons include App Teardown and expanded ASO capabilities such as unlimited keyword tracking and custom alerts. Data is delivered via Connect APIs and scheduled feeds with daily refreshes, available in CSV/Parquet and through Snowflake integration.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

App download estimates and advertising intelligence, with insights into audience and market share.
App performance tracking for ASO workflows, including keyword opportunities, competitive benchmarking, and Apple Search Ads analysis. Free sign-ups provide limited access.
Usage insights built from panel data, showing daily and hourly patterns such as retention, time spent, and session frequency.
Advertising insights covering share of voice across networks, creative tracking, and messaging trends.
Web Insights module that measures cross-platform behavior across desktop web, mobile web, and apps, with deduplicated user benchmarking.

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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

1 overlap

Both tools cover this research theme.

APIs & SDKs

Where they differ

Sensor Tower

Distinct strengths include:

App & Website Traffic

App download estimates and advertising intelligence, with insights into audience and market share.
App performance tracking for ASO workflows, including keyword opportunities, competitive benchmarking, and Apple Search Ads analysis. Free sign-ups provide limited access.
Usage insights built from panel data, showing daily and hourly patterns such as retention, time spent, and session frequency.
Advertising insights covering share of voice across networks, creative tracking, and messaging trends.

USAspending

Distinct strengths include:

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	Sensor Tower	USAspending
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: APIs & SDKs Unique: App & Website Traffic	Shared: APIs & SDKs Unique: Data APIs, Data Visualizations, 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 App download estimates and advertising intelligence, with insights into audience and market share. App performance tracking for ASO workflows, including keyword opportunities, competitive benchmarking, and Apple Search Ads analysis. Free sign-ups provide limited access. Usage insights built from panel data, showing daily and hourly patterns such as retention, time spent, and session frequency. Advertising insights covering share of voice across networks, creative tracking, and messaging trends. Web Insights module that measures cross-platform behavior across desktop web, mobile web, and apps, with deduplicated user benchmarking. Connect APIs and scheduled feeds with daily updates, available in CSV or Parquet formats, and direct integration with Snowflake.	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 Sensor Tower and USAspending both support?

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

Do Sensor Tower and USAspending require subscriptions?

Both Sensor Tower and USAspending keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access Sensor Tower and USAspending?

Both Sensor Tower 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?

Sensor Tower differentiates itself with App download estimates and advertising intelligence, with insights into audience and market share., App performance tracking for ASO workflows, including keyword opportunities, competitive benchmarking, and Apple Search Ads analysis. Free sign-ups provide limited access., and Usage insights built from panel data, showing daily and hourly patterns such as retention, time spent, and session frequency., 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..

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

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