# CoinDesk Data API vs FRED API

> CoinDesk Data API scores 46.6 (D) on agent readiness against FRED API's 42.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FRED API leads on payments & pricing. Both do market indices. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-fred
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-fred.md (~2,050 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-fred.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-fred.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

CoinDesk Data API scores 46.6 (D) on agent readiness against FRED API's 42.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FRED API leads on payments & pricing. Both do market indices.

- CoinDesk Data API: grade D, 46.6/100, rank #754 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/coindesk-data-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/coindesk-data-api.json
- FRED API: grade E, 42.7/100, rank #789 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fred.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fred.json

## Which one, for what

### CoinDesk Data API (D)

Good for: Institutional crypto work that needs derivatives, order books, regulated reference rates or deep history, with a human buying the plan.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 43 against 38
- Schema & documentation, 72 against 43
- Security & auth, 45 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 23 against 15

Watch for: No free or trial access since 2026-05-21, and no x402, so a person has to buy a plan before an agent gets data

### FRED API (E)

Good for: Looking up US and international macroeconomic series, their metadata and their revision history in a live session.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 0

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The FRED Services Terms of Use forbid using the API to develop or train any AI or machine-learning system, and forbid storing, caching or archiving FRED content


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | CoinDesk Data API | FRED API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 43 | 38 | CoinDesk Data API +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 43 | CoinDesk Data API +29 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 68 | CoinDesk Data API +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 35 | CoinDesk Data API +10 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 40 | FRED API +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 23 | 15 | CoinDesk Data API +8 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 53 | CoinDesk Data API +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **46.6 · D** | **42.7 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | CoinDesk Data API | FRED API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | CoinDesk Data (formerly CCData / CryptoCompare) | Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://data-api.coindesk.com` | `https://api.stlouisfed.org` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | proprietary | Proprietary service under the FRED Services Terms of Use. Some data series are third-party copyright |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | none | 2025-11-04 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-11-14 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**CoinDesk Data API.** Official OpenAPI 3.0.3 document at data-api.coindesk.com/info/v1/openapi, with enums, examples and error responses from 400 to 503. No free or trial access since 2026-05-21, and no x402, so a person has to buy a plan before an agent gets data.

**FRED API.** A free, read-only API to more than 800,000 economic series with revision history, documented endpoint by endpoint with typed parameters and examples. The terms forbid storing or caching FRED content and using the API to develop or train AI systems, version 1 carries the key in the URL, and no status page or OpenAPI file was found.

## Before you call either

### CoinDesk Data API

1. Read the OpenAPI at `https://data-api.coindesk.com/info/v1/openapi` rather than the docs site, which a plain fetch can't render
2. Send the key as `Authorization: Apikey <key>` and never in the query string
3. Use `groups` to ask for only the field groups you need on tick endpoints
4. Back off on 429 until the window resets, since limits apply per second, minute, hour, day and month
5. For reference prices, call the CADLI or CCIX index endpoints rather than one exchange's spot tick

### FRED API

1. Add `file_type=json` to every version 1 request. The default is XML
2. Find a series with `fred/series/search?search_text=`, then read it with `fred/series/observations?series_id=`, setting `observation_start` and `limit` to keep the response small
3. Treat the value `.` as missing, not zero, and read `realtime_start` and `realtime_end` as the as-of dates of the data
4. Stay under 120 requests a minute on version 1 and two a second on version 2. Repeated 429s can bring a temporary block
5. Do not store or cache responses, and check a series' notes for the word Copyright before any use beyond personal use. The terms forbid the first and require the second

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, CoinDesk Data API or FRED API?

CoinDesk Data API scores 46.6 (D) on agent readiness against FRED API's 42.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FRED API leads on payments & pricing.

### Do CoinDesk Data API and FRED API need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call CoinDesk Data API and FRED API without installing anything?

Yes. CoinDesk Data API has a hosted endpoint at https://data-api.coindesk.com and FRED API at https://api.stlouisfed.org.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-fred.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-fred.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "coindesk-data-api", "b": "fred"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare coindesk-data-api fred`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/coindesk-data-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fred.json

## Other comparisons with CoinDesk Data API or FRED API

- [Alpha Vantage vs CoinDesk Data API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alpha-vantage-vs-coindesk-data-api.md)
- [CoinDesk Data API vs CoinGecko x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-coingecko-x402-api.md)
- [CoinDesk Data API vs CoinMarketCap x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-coinmarketcap-x402-api.md)
- [CoinDesk Data API vs Massive (formerly Polygon.io)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-massive.md)
- [CoinDesk Data API vs Nansen x402 API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coindesk-data-api-vs-nansen-x402-api.md)
- [Alpha Vantage vs FRED API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alpha-vantage-vs-fred.md)
- [FRED API vs Massive (formerly Polygon.io)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fred-vs-massive.md)

## Disclosure

- Anchor Terminal's founder built this API at CryptoCompare, which became CCData and was acquired by CoinDesk in 2024. He no longer works there. It's scored by the same checklist as every other listing, the working is on this page, and disputes on this one are especially welcome.