Prompt
Help me find a dataset API for financial modeling that includes historical data, bulk export, and clear rate limits
Latest observation
Oct 8, 2026
OpenAI APIWeb search: off
Here are some good dataset/API options for financial modeling that offer historical data, bulk export, and published rate limits. I’ll also note where each is strongest.
Best overall candidates
1) Alpha Vantage
- Historical data: Yes, equities, FX, crypto, indicators
- Bulk export: Yes, via CSV downloads and API outputs
- Rate limits: Clearly documented
- Free tier is limited
- Premium tiers increase throughput
- Best for: Lightweight modeling, prototypes, small-to-medium workloads
- Notes: Good docs, easy to start, but free limits can be restrictive
2) Polygon.io
- Historical data: Yes, stocks, options, forex, crypto
- Bulk export: Yes, aggregates and reference data; some bulk access depending on plan
- Rate limits: Published and plan-based
- Best for: Serious market data use, intraday modeling, options work
- Notes: Strong API quality, but can get expensive
3) IEX Cloud
- Historical data: Yes, equities and market reference data
- Bulk export: Available for some datasets/endpoints
- Rate limits: Clearly stated by plan
- Best for: Equity-focused modeling
- Notes: Good docs, but coverage is narrower than some competitors
4) Tiingo
- Historical data: Yes, equities, ETFs, crypto, some news/fundamentals
- Bulk export: Yes, historical price downloads and API access
- Rate limits: Publicly documented
- Best for: Clean historical equity data
- Notes: Often considered a strong value for end-of-day data
5) Nasdaq Data Link (formerly Quandl)
- Historical data: Yes, broad dataset marketplace
- Bulk export: Yes, many datasets support bulk downloads
- Rate limits: Depends on dataset/provider, but generally documented
- Best for: Macro, fundamentals, alternative datasets, market research
- Notes: Great if you want multiple vendors under one platform
More enterprise-grade
6) FactSet
- Historical data: Yes, extensive
- Bulk export: Yes
- Rate limits: Enterprise contract terms
- Best for: Institutional modeling
- Notes: Excellent data coverage, but expensive and sales-led
7) Bloomberg API
- Historical data: Yes
- Bulk export: Yes, via terminal/API workflows
- Rate limits: Contract/entitlement-based, not always simple public limits
- Best for: Institutional use
- Notes: Powerful, but not typically a self-serve API choice
If you want open/public data
8) SEC EDGAR API
- Historical data: Filings and company reports
- Bulk export: Yes, through bulk filing downloads and archives
- Rate limits: Public access policy is clear
- Best for: Fundamentals, filing-based modeling
- Notes: Great for accounting/valuation workflows, not market prices
9) FRED API
- Historical data: Yes, macroeconomic time series
- Bulk export: Yes, bulk downloads available for many series
- Rate limits: Publicly documented
- Best for: Macro models, rates, inflation, unemployment, etc.
- Notes: Excellent for economic modeling, not securities pricing
My recommendation by use case
- Equity historical pricing + easy API: Tiingo
- Intraday + options + broader market data: Polygon.io
- Low-cost starter API: Alpha Vantage
- Macro/fundamental research: Nasdaq Data Link or FRED
- Institutional-grade: FactSet or Bloomberg
What to look for in the docs
When evaluating APIs, confirm these items:
- Historical coverage depth
- daily only vs intraday vs tick data
- Bulk export format
- CSV, JSON, parquet, S3, FTP, etc.
- Rate limits
- per minute, per day, burst limits, concurrent request caps
- Licensing restrictions
- redistribution limits, internal use only, caching rules
- Corporate actions handling
- splits/dividends adjusted or unadjusted data
- Coverage completeness
- delisted securities, survivorship bias, symbol changes
If you want, I can narrow this down
I can give you a short list based on:
- asset class: stocks / options / forex / crypto / macro
- time granularity: daily / intraday / tick
- budget: free / under $100/mo / enterprise
- preferred export: CSV / JSON / parquet / S3
If you want, I can also make a comparison table with pricing and rate limits for 5–6 specific APIs.