TradingDataCompare

Alpha Vantage vs Finnhub

Head-to-head comparison of two trading data providers. Updated 2026-05-23.

Overall winner: Finnhub — wins 2 of 6 comparison axes.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Alpha Vantage Finnhub
API Quality 3/5 4/5 ✓
Doc Quality 3/5 4/5 ✓
Free Tier Yes Yes
Affiliate Program No No
Data Latency minute second
SDK Languages 5 languages 5 languages
Asset Coverage US Equities, Global Equities, Forex, Crypto, Commodities US Equities, Global Equities, Forex, Crypto, ETFs
Historical Depth 20+ years (daily); intraday 1-2 months on free 30+ years (daily); 1 year intraday on free
Starting Price $0/mo $0/mo
Rate Limits Free: 25/day; paid from 75/min Free: 60/min; paid: 300/min

Alpha Vantage: Best For

  • Beginners
  • Homework / hobby projects
  • Technical indicator data
  • Fundamentals screening

Not Ideal For

  • Production trading systems
  • Real-time needs on free tier
  • Tick data
Full Alpha Vantage review →

Finnhub: Best For

  • Indie developers
  • Screener apps
  • Sentiment / news analytics
  • Global equities

Not Ideal For

  • Tick data / HFT
  • Deep intraday history free tier
  • Futures
Full Finnhub review →

More Comparisons

Alpha Vantage vs Databento Finnhub vs Databento Alpha Vantage vs Polygon.io (now Massive) Finnhub vs Polygon.io (now Massive) Alpha Vantage vs Alpaca Finnhub vs Alpaca Alpha Vantage vs IEX Cloud (Discontinued) Finnhub vs IEX Cloud (Discontinued) Alpha Vantage vs Twelve Data Finnhub vs Twelve Data Alpha Vantage vs EOD Historical Data Finnhub vs EOD Historical Data