# Alpha Vantage

The API most people's first script talks to — free key, wide coverage, hard rate limits.

*https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/alpha-vantage · Market Data APIs*

## Facts

### At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Vendor | Alpha Vantage Inc. |
| Category | Market Data APIs |
| Job | historical |
| Website | https://www.alphavantage.co |
| Pricing model | subscription |
| Free tier | true |
| Open source | false |
| Licence | none |
| Self-hosted | false |
| Tested hands-on | false |
| Last updated | 2026-09-13 |

### Pricing

| Tier | USD | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | 0 | month |
| Premium 75/min | 50 | month |
| Premium 150/min | 100 | month |

### Specifications

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| History depth | 20+ years of daily bars; intraday history is shorter and varies by symbol |
| Delivery | rest |
| Data source | aggregator |
| Free tier limits | 25 requests/day, 5 requests/min |
| Paid rate limits | 75-1200 requests/min depending on tier |
| Entry paid tier, $/mo | 50 |
| Entry tier name | Premium 75 requests/minute |
| Official SDKs | python |
| Redistribution | prohibited |
| Bulk / flat-file download | false |
| Key without a card | true |

### Coverage

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Asset classes | stocks, etf, forex, crypto, commodities, indices |
| Markets | us, eu, asia, uk, global |
| Works outside the US | true |
| Data latency | delayed |
| Platforms | web, library |
| AI features | none |

### Interfaces

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| API | true |
| Webhooks | false |
| Scripting | none |
| Python | true |
| Spreadsheet add-in | true |
| MCP server | false |
| Export | csv, json |

### Capabilities

Yes: news

No: charting, screening, scanning, backtesting, automation, live_trading, paper_trading, portfolio_tracking, broker_import, tax_reporting, alerts, options_analysis

## What it is

Alpha Vantage is where most people's first data script points: a free key arrives by email in
seconds, the REST responses are JSON or CSV, and technical indicators are computed server-side
so a beginner never has to implement an RSI. Coverage runs well past the US — global equities,
forex, crypto and commodities — which is rare at the price.

What you are buying, on any tier, is convenience rather than depth. The data is aggregated
rather than taken from exchange feeds, redistribution is not permitted, and there are no flat
files to pull.

## Pricing

The free key is 25 requests a day. Paid tiers are priced purely by request rate — $50/month for
75 a minute, more for more — and unlock nothing else. That makes the decision unusually simple:
you are buying throughput, and only throughput.

## Data & coverage

Global, delayed. The breadth outside the US is genuinely useful for research and genuinely
uneven symbol by symbol, so check yours first.

## Limitations

- No real-time data on any tier.
- Redistribution is prohibited outright.
- Intraday history is shallow and inconsistent between symbols.
- 25 requests a day on the free tier is smaller than most tutorials assume.

## Alternatives

For real-time US data see [Polygon.io](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/polygon-io); for non-US coverage with more depth,
the rest of the [market data category](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/market-data-apis).

Get a key at [Alpha Vantage](https://stockmarketstack.com/go/alpha-vantage).

## FAQ

### How many free Alpha Vantage calls do I get?

Twenty-five a day on the free key, at no more than five a minute. That is a demo allowance — enough to check that your parsing works, not enough to backfill a universe.

### Does Alpha Vantage cover non-US markets?

Yes, which is unusual at this price. Coverage outside the US is broad but uneven, so verify the specific symbols you need before committing.

### Is Alpha Vantage real-time?

No. Treat it as delayed and end-of-day data. If your strategy needs the current quote, this is the wrong tier of provider entirely.