I Replaced My $50/Month Stock Research Tool with 3 Free APIs

#discuss #python #api #beginners

A few weeks ago I was paying $50/month for a stock research tool. Yahoo Finance Premium, if you're curious.

Then I discovered that the exact same data — actually BETTER data — is available for free through government APIs.

Here are the 3 APIs that replaced my paid subscription:

1. SEC EDGAR API — Company Financials ($0)

Every US public company files financial reports with the SEC. Revenue, profit, assets, debt — it's all there.

No API key needed. Just add a User-Agent header.

import requests

headers = {"User-Agent": "MyApp (email@example.com)"}
cik = "0001318605"  # Tesla
url = f"https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK{cik}.json"
data = requests.get(url, headers=headers).json()

revenue = data["facts"]["us-gaap"]["Revenues"]["units"]["USD"]
for r in revenue[-3:]:
    if r["form"] == "10-K":
        print(f"{r["fy"]}: ${r["val"]:,.0f}")

📖 Full SEC EDGAR tutorial

2. FRED API — Economic Indicators ($0)

816,000+ time series from the Federal Reserve. Inflation, GDP, unemployment, interest rates.

Free API key, takes 30 seconds.

api_key = "your_free_key"
url = f"https://api.stlouisfed.org/fred/series/observations?series_id=CPIAUCSL&api_key={api_key}&file_type=json"
data = requests.get(url).json()

for obs in data["observations"][-3:]:
    print(f"{obs["date"]}: CPI = {obs["value"]}")

📖 Full FRED API tutorial

3. Treasury.gov API — Government Debt Data ($0)

Real-time US national debt, treasury auctions, interest rates on government bonds.

No API key needed.

url = "https://api.fiscaldata.treasury.gov/services/api/fiscal_service/v2/accounting/od/debt_to_penny?sort=-record_date&page[size]=5"
data = requests.get(url).json()

for record in data["data"]:
    debt = float(record["tot_pub_debt_out_amt"])
    print(f"{record["record_date"]}: ${debt/1e12:.2f} trillion")

The Math

What I had	Cost	What I have now	Cost
Yahoo Finance Premium	$50/mo	SEC EDGAR + FRED + Treasury	$0
1 data source	-	816,000+ datasets	-
Pre-built charts only	-	Full programmatic access	-
US stocks only	-	Every public company + macro	-

$600/year saved. And honestly, the free APIs give me MORE data.

The catch?

You need to know a little Python. But if you're reading Dev.to, you probably do.

Has anyone else replaced a paid tool with a free API?

I'm curious what other "paid tool → free API" swaps people have made. Drop yours in the comments.

I'm writing a series on free APIs that replace paid tools. Follow for more.

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