FRED API alternatives

FRED is free, with 800,000+ series and an official MCP connector. Its non-commercial default terms, US-centred coverage and series-by-series structures can prompt a switch.

Decision

Choose Narwhal for official indicators across 36 countries with commercial apps allowed on Free. Choose DBnomics for breadth, IMF for forecasts or BLS for US labour statistics.

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Provider shortlist

Narwhal API is owned and operated by Nusantara Ventures, LLC.

Compare the options

Best fit is not feature parity. Check the evidence and limitation together.

ProviderBest forEvidence checkedImportant limitation
Narwhal APIOfficial national indicators alongside calendars, FX and hosted MCP.Economics spans 36 countries; Free includes 5,000 successful monthly requests and commercial apps.No forecasts or policy-rate series; history shows current accepted series, without revision vintages.
DBnomicsBroad economic research across many publishers without an API key.Free access to millions of series from 94 providers, preserving numerical values and provider structures.No cross-country normalization; freshness depends on each provider's fetcher. The API targets focused queries.
BLS Public Data APIFree US CPI, unemployment and payroll survey data.Registered Version 2 allows 500 daily queries, 50 series and 20 years per query.US only; registration renews yearly. Requests require series IDs, with no published catalogue.
World Bank APIAnnual development indicators without registration or an API key.Free access to nearly 16,000 time-series indicators across more than 45 databases.Mostly annual data, rather than a monthly CPI feed; Data360 MCP targets a different platform.
IMF Data APIIMF datasets and World Economic Outlook projections.Public SDMX access needs no key; SDMX 2.1, SDMX 3.0 and DataMapper APIs are available.SDMX structures put interpretation work on the caller.
Trading EconomicsBroad macro coverage with forecasts, calendar consensus and hosted MCP.Standard costs $199/month for 500 requests; MCP documentation cites 300,000+ series across 196 countries.No ongoing free tier; the $49 Standard trial lasts one week and allows 100 requests.
API NinjasInflation across major economies alongside a broad API catalogue.Premium inflation endpoints cover 38 major countries, including China, India, Brazil, South Korea and Indonesia.Inflation is Premium only; Free excludes commercial use, requires attribution and prohibits caching.

Choose by requirement

Match countries and series

Narwhal's economics spans 36 countries, with coverage varying by indicator. API Ninjas includes large economies Narwhal does not, including China, India and Indonesia.

Choose the history model

Narwhal history shows the current accepted series without revision vintages. FRED's ALFRED real-time periods provide vintages; IMF supplies World Economic Outlook projections.

Check commercial access

Narwhal Free allows commercial apps and 5,000 successful monthly requests. FRED commercial use has additional restrictions; API Ninjas Free excludes commercial use.

Sources and review date

Each detailed provider page lists the first-party documentation used, its evidence boundaries, and its review date.

Reviewed:

Test the overlapping job

Inspect Narwhal's published coverage and response contract before choosing a provider.

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