VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Monday, October 13, 2025

View U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)View Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)Back to Home

Head-to-head

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) vs Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) adds GDP, Inflation Rates, and Calendar coverage that Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) skips.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) includes Citations & Source Pinning, and Other categories that U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) omits.

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

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) is known for: On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within)., Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation., and Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2..

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) offers mobile access, which U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) skips.

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

Web

API

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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Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)

web.archive.org

General‑purpose web archiving used widely in financial research to cite and compare historical webpages (IR pages, fund fact sheets, product sites). Save Page Now (SPN2) enables on‑demand snapshots with options like outlink capture and full‑page screenshots. Availability and CDX APIs expose snapshot discovery; Memento provides time‑based negotiation. Rate limits/quotas apply to SPN2; crawling and replay behavior may vary by target site robots/policies. Some large platforms (e.g., Reddit) restrict Wayback access to content.

Platforms

Web

API

Mobile

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within).
Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation.
Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2.
Mobile & extensions: official iOS/Android apps and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) for quick saving and lookup.
Quotas/limits (SPN2): per‑minute, per‑day, per‑URL, resource size and screenshot size limits; concurrency dampening by host; max outlinks/embeds returned.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, and APIs & SDKs.

Where they differ

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

Distinct strengths include:

GDP

Inflation Rates

Calendar

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.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)

Distinct strengths include:

Citations & Source Pinning

Other

On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within).
Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation.
Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2.
Mobile & extensions: official iOS/Android apps and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) for quick saving and lookup.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)	Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs Unique: GDP, Inflation Rates, Calendar	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs Unique: Citations & Source Pinning, 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, Mobile
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free	Free
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	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.	Unique On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within). Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation. Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2. Mobile & extensions: official iOS/Android apps and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) for quick saving and lookup. Quotas/limits (SPN2): per‑minute, per‑day, per‑URL, resource size and screenshot size limits; concurrency dampening by host; max outlinks/embeds returned. Timestamps and replay: captures are timestamped (UTC) and replayed with toolbar metadata; screenshot capture available as a separate archived asset.
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 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) 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 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) require subscriptions?

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

Which tool has mobile access?

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) ships a dedicated mobile experience, while U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) differentiates itself with 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)., whereas Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) stands out for On‑demand archiving via Save Page Now (SPN2) with POST/GET; options include capture_outlinks, capture_all, capture_screenshot, custom UA/cookies, and conditional capture (if_not_archived_within)., Snapshot discovery: Availability API (/wayback/v1/available) returns the closest archived capture to a URL/time; CDX Server API lists/filters captures; Memento TimeGate/TimeMap endpoints enable time‑based content negotiation., and Operational endpoints: user status (remaining/active SPN sessions) and system status (overload/OK) for SPN2..

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