VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Monday, November 10, 2025

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Tool Comparison

USAspending vs Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) comparison

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

Quick takeaways

USAspending adds Data Visualizations, and Videos coverage that Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) skips.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) includes Citations & Source Pinning categories that USAspending omits.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) offers mobile access, which USAspending skips.

In depth comparison

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

WebAPI

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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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

WebAPIMobile

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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Where they differ

USAspending

Distinct strengths include:

Data Visualizations Videos

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.

Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)

Distinct strengths include:

Citations & Source Pinning

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	USAspending	Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Other Unique: Data Visualizations, Videos	Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Other Unique: Citations & Source Pinning
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 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).	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 USAspending and Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) both support?

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

Do USAspending and Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) require subscriptions?

Both USAspending 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 USAspending focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

USAspending differentiates itself with 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., 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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