Head to head · Market prices · October 2026 research run
Tiingo vs Twelve Data
Twelve Data scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Tiingo's 46.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do market prices.
Best financial market data APIs for AI agents · All 55 markets comparisons
Which one, for what
Tiingo D
Best for Agents that need clean US end-of-day composites with dividend and split adjustments, fund fees and news on a cheap plan, and anyone who values a long changelog.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
The connecting guide documents the token as ?token= in the URL alongside the header
Twelve Data BB
Best for Agents that need prices and time series across many exchanges and asset classes with one contract, CSV output, and a documented error table.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 83 against 60
- Schema & documentation, 83 against 39
- Agent ergonomics, 84 against 56
- Security & auth, 54 against 32
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 50
- Transparency & trust, 67 against 57
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
The REST docs and OpenAPI accept the key as ?apikey= in the query string alongside the header
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Schema & documentation Twelve Data +44
Tiingo 39
No OpenAPI document or MCP server was found (0 of 25). llms.txt and llms-full.txt are served, with product routing and licence notes (10). Each documentation page states the endpoint's purpose and timing, such as prices after 5.30 pm ET with corrections to 8 pm, with little on when not to use it (12 of 20). Parameters and response fields are tabled with names and meanings, but types, defaults and allowed values are partly in prose (8 of 15). Examples in Python, Node and PHP on every page; no error responses documented (7 of 15). A changelog dated by entry since 2017 and a one-year support commitment after breaking changes, with no version in the path (12 of 15). 0 + 10 + 12 + 8 + 7 + 12 = 39.
Twelve Data 83
A public OpenAPI 3.1 document covers 187 operations, every one with a description and 200, 400, 401, 403, 404, 414, 429 and 500 responses, and the MCP tools in the source carry typed inputs and annotations (25). llms.txt on the site and in the docs link Markdown pages per section, pricing.md and auth.md (10). Descriptions state purpose, plan requirement and credit cost, with little on when not to use an endpoint (16 of 20). Required parameters are marked and the Markdown lists interval, adjust and type values, but none of the 3,091 parameters in the spec declares an enum (9 of 15). Examples with a demo key on every endpoint and an error table with codes and meanings (13 of 15). No version in the path, a spec at version 0.0.1, and monthly dated product updates on the news page rather than an API changelog (10 of 15). 25 + 10 + 16 + 9 + 13 + 10 = 83.
Maintenance & community Twelve Data +32
Tiingo 50
Read as a closed service. The changelog's newest entry is 9 October 2026 (30). Entries dated 9 October and 8 September 2026 fall in the last 90 days, with 21 July just outside, and the status page adds a maintenance window on 28 September (12 of 20). A dated changelog, a support address and a blog, with the developer programme promising priority email support (8 of 15). No official SDK (0 of 15). No package to assess (0 of 10). 30 + 12 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 50.
Twelve Data 82
Read as a closed service. The newest dated change is the product update of 12 October 2026, with the MCP repository changed on 1 October and the world-model dataset repository on 31 October (30). Monthly updates dated 12 August, 12 September and 12 October 2026 (20). A monthly changelog, a support portal, a sales contact and a Telegram channel; replies on the MCP repository's issues were not read (10 of 15). Six official SDKs and a CLI, twelvedata-python at v1.4.0 of 27 April 2026 (15). The MCP server pins its dependencies with reasons and ships tests; the Python SDK's changelog stops at version 0.1 (7 of 10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 15 + 7 = 82.
Agent ergonomics Twelve Data +28
Tiingo 56
startDate, endDate, resampleFreq, format=csv and column selection on some endpoints size responses; no field selection on end-of-day prices (15 of 25). Date ranges throughout and limit and offset on news, no cursor (15 of 20). Errors are undocumented; a missing token answered 403 with a JSON detail field in our one test call (3 of 20). Every call is a read (16 of 20). Few required parameters, but no official SDK; the docs point to third-party packages (7 of 15). 15 + 15 + 3 + 16 + 7 = 56.
Twelve Data 84
The REST API is the surface graded. outputsize 1 to 5,000 with a default of 30, format=CSV, dp, date ranges and batch requests size responses, and the MCP server lists 27 tools (20 of 25). Date ranges, outputsize and exchange, country and type filters, with no cursor pagination (15 of 20). Error codes with meanings an agent can branch on, 403 for plan limits and 429 for credits (16 of 20). Every operation is a read, and the MCP source marks tools readOnlyHint (18 of 20). Few required parameters, a demo key, and official SDKs in Python, Node.js, Go, Java and R (15). 20 + 15 + 16 + 18 + 15 = 84.
Reliability Twelve Data +23
Tiingo 60
Read with the hosted lines. A public status page on Instatus at status.tiingo.com lists 13 components with a notice history (20). The history in the 90 days to 3 November 2026 shows a 9 hour 59 minute outage of the Blue Ocean ATS endpoints on 21 October, a WebSocket issue on 21 September and two maintenance windows, with nothing recorded before 21 September; a long outage of one niche feed rather than the core price API (15). Limits are published with numbers, 50 and 10,000 requests an hour, 1,000 and 100,000 a day and 1 GB and 40 GB a month (15). No 429, Retry-After or backoff guidance was found (0). No SLA found (0). The end-of-day, news, crypto and forex APIs are generally available, while Equity Realtime and BOATS are in beta (10). 20 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 60.
Twelve Data 83
Read with the hosted lines. A public status page at twelvedata.isitup.cloud lists Price API, Fundamentals API, WebSocket and Website with uptime figures (20). Its history shows two incidents in the 90 days to 3 November 2026, 20 minutes of unavailability across the three APIs on 1 September and 16 minutes on the WebSocket on 14 October, minor only (20). Limits are published with numbers, credits a minute by plan from 8 to 10,946 and 800 a day on Basic (15). The docs document a 429 on the limit and the usage endpoint, with no Retry-After or backoff guidance; reads only (8 of 15). The terms sell a 99.9 per cent SLA with service credits, and the Enterprise plan carries 99.99 per cent (10). The REST API and MCP server are generally available (10). 20 + 20 + 15 + 8 + 10 + 10 = 83.
Security & auth Twelve Data +22
Tiingo 32
One token per account with no scopes, documented as ?token= in the URL or an Authorization header, with rotation on the account page since May 2026 (20 less 10 for the query string, plus 2 for rotation, so 12). Every endpoint is a read (15 of 20). News is third-party text and no guidance was found (5 of 15). A usage page shows hourly and daily requests and bandwidth, not a per-call log (0 of 15, no log). security.txt redirects on www and is absent on api, and no disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found (0 of 20). 12 + 15 + 5 + 0 + 0 = 32.
Twelve Data 54
The REST key is a plain per-account key with no scopes, accepted as a header or as ?apikey= (20 less 10 for the query string). The hosted MCP server refuses keys and uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, a resource indicator, refresh tokens, revocation and one scope, which lifts the credential model for that surface (18 of 30). Every operation is a read (15 of 20). Company news is third-party text and no guidance was found (5 of 15). An /api_usage endpoint and dashboard usage give the key holder a view of consumption, not a per-call log (6 of 15). A trust centre on SafeBase lists SOC 2, GDPR and CCPA and ten policies; no security.txt, disclosure process or bug bounty was found (10 of 20). 18 + 15 + 5 + 6 + 10 = 54.
Transparency & trust Twelve Data +10
Tiingo 57
A closed service whose terms sit on app.tiingo.com, which answered 403 to every request, so they were not read; the pricing and documentation pages define internal, commercial and redistribution licences (8 of 30). The privacy policy is on the same host and was not read (0 of 30). The developer programme commits to a year of continued support after a breaking change, with changes posted in the changelog and emailed to registered developers, and the changelog's 9 October 2026 entry describes a changed default for prevClose (16 of 20). Equinix hosting is named on the about page, with no processor list or data location (4 of 20). 8 + 0 + 16 + 4 = 28.
Twelve Data 67
A closed service under terms that name the entity, define internal use, business use and redistribution, and were last updated 1 January 2026; the MCP repository is open source but ships no licence file (15 of 30). The privacy policy of 22 September 2026 states retention periods and names its processors, the terms require data deletion within 30 days of termination, and no DPA is named (20 of 30). No deprecation policy or notice period; the terms allow changes and the monthly updates record them after the fact (3 of 20). Subprocessors are named on the privacy policy and the trust centre, with no data locations beyond transfer mechanisms (12 of 20). 15 + 20 + 3 + 12 = 50.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Tiingo | Twelve Data | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 60 | 83 | Twelve Data +23 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 39 | 83 | Twelve Data +44 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 56 | 84 | Twelve Data +28 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 32 | 54 | Twelve Data +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 50 | 82 | Twelve Data +32 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 57 | 67 | Twelve Data +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | D 46.2/100 | BB 70/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Tiingo | Twelve Data |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Tiingo Inc. | Twelve Data Pte. Ltd. |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.tiingo.com | https://api.twelvedata.com |
| Transports | HTTP, websocket | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio, websocket |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Tools exposed | none | 27 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-12 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-01-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-02-18 | 2026-09-22 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | none | 791 stars |
Verdicts
Tiingo
A dated changelog since 2017, a one-year support commitment after breaking changes, an Instatus status page and a free token at 1,000 requests a day. The token is documented in the URL, no OpenAPI document, error reference, SDK or MCP server exists, and the terms and privacy policy sit on a host that refused our reader.
Twelve Data
A public OpenAPI 3.1 document with error responses on all 187 operations, Markdown docs and pricing for agents, a status page with two short incidents in 90 days, and an MCP server behind OAuth 2.1. The REST key still travels in the query string as a documented option, no enums are declared, and free and individual plans forbid company use.
Before you call either
Tiingo
- Send the token as
Authorization: Token <token>, not as?token=in the URL - Ask for
format=csvon large price pulls; the docs say CSV is 4 to 5 times faster than JSON, and bandwidth counts against the monthly cap - Count requests an hour and a day, not per second; 50 an hour on Starter, 10,000 on Power, reset on the hour and at midnight ET
- Expect 403
{"detail":"Please supply a token"}without a token; other error shapes are undocumented, so log the body - Use dashes in share classes (BRK-A), and fetch supported_tickers.zip rather than guessing symbols
Twelve Data
- Send the key as
Authorization: apikey <key>, not in the URL; the hosted MCP server takes OAuth only, so never paste a key into a connector's key field - Set
outputsize(1 to 5,000, default 30) andformat=CSVon time_series to keep responses small, and readstatusin the JSON body since errors come with HTTP codes and amessage - Count credits, not calls; most endpoints cost one credit per symbol and the Basic plan allows 8 a minute and 800 a day, with 429 when exceeded
- A 403 means the key's plan lacks the endpoint or symbol, not a bad key; check pricing.md before escalating
- Use trial symbols from twelvedata.com/exchanges to test premium data on the free plan
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Tiingo or Twelve Data?
Twelve Data scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Tiingo's 46.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.
Do Tiingo and Twelve Data need an API key?
Tiingo needs an API key. Twelve Data takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.
Can an agent call Tiingo and Twelve Data without installing anything?
Yes. Tiingo has a hosted endpoint at https://api.tiingo.com and Twelve Data at https://api.twelvedata.com.
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- Financial Datasets vs Tiingo
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- Financial Modeling Prep vs Tiingo
- Financial Modeling Prep vs Twelve Data
- EODHD vs Tiingo
- EODHD vs Twelve Data
- Benzinga vs Tiingo
- Benzinga vs Twelve Data
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/tiingo-vs-twelve-data.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/tiingo.json·/api/v1/tools/twelve-data.json - From a terminal
anchor compare tiingo twelve-data(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "tiingo", "b": "twelve-data"}at/mcp, no key