# Alpha Vantage (slim)

> Alpha Vantage is a market data API for stocks, options, indices, forex, crypto, commodities, fundamentals, news sentiment, economic series and technical indicators. Agents call one REST endpoint with a function name, or the official MCP server at mcp.alphavantage.co.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/alpha-vantage.md (~6,600 tokens) · this version ~1,780 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/alpha-vantage.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/alpha-vantage
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

**E · 41.3/100 · rank #799 of 842 · #8 in Data providers · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: One GET endpoint covers about 130 documented functions, with a free key at 25 requests a day and an official MCP server whose tools are all marked read-only. The REST key travels only in the query string, errors come back as HTTP 200 with a text message, and no status page, SLA or OpenAPI document was found.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Alpha Vantage Inc. · category: Data providers · legal entity: Alpha Vantage Inc. · provenance 59/100 · data quality 82/100
- Endpoint: `https://www.alphavantage.co/query` (HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio)
- Auth: OAuth or key · pricing: Freemium · x402: no · licence: Proprietary service under Alpha Vantage's Terms of Service. The MCP server, CLI and shared client in alphavantage/alpha_vantage_mcp are MIT
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- API: One GET endpoint, `https://www.alphavantage.co/query`, selected by a `function` parameter. JSON by default, CSV with `datatype=csv`. No version in the path
- Coverage: Stocks, ETFs and mutual funds, index data, options, news sentiment, earnings call transcripts, insider and congressional trades, institutional holdings, fundamentals, forex, crypto, commodities, ten US economic series and about 50 technical indicators
- Rate limits: Free 25 requests a day. Premium 75, 150, 300, 600 or 1,200 requests a minute with no daily limit. Higher by contacting the vendor
- MCP server: Official, MIT. Hosted at `https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp` with OAuth, or local over stdio with `uvx marketdata-mcp-server`. 132 tools in the source, all with readOnlyHint, plus legacy TOOL_LIST, TOOL_GET and TOOL_CALL meta-tools
- Response size: `outputsize=compact` (latest 100 points) or `full`, a `month` parameter for intraday history, `limit` up to 1,000 on news. The MCP server previews responses over 32,000 tokens and returns a link to the full data unless `return_full_data` is set
- Errors: HTTP 200 with an `Error Message` or `Information` text field in the four calls we made. Not documented
- Credentials: One key per account in the `apikey` query parameter. OAuth 2 with PKCE and dynamic client registration on the hosted MCP server, scope `alphavantage:read`
- Packages: `marketdata-mcp-server` 0.3.1 (16 March 2026) and `marketdata-cli` 0.1.9 (17 March 2026) on PyPI. No official SDK. The documentation points to community libraries
- Use terms: Personal, non-commercial by default. Commercial use by written agreement. Economic and commodity functions fall under the FRED API terms as well
- Real-time data: Real-time and 15-minute delayed US data need a premium plan plus an entitlement step in the vendor's Alpha X Terminal, then `entitlement=realtime` or `entitlement=delayed` on the call
- Prices: Premium, 75 requests a minute $49.99 per month (plan); Premium, 150 requests a minute $99.99 per month (plan); Premium, 300 requests a minute $149.99 per month (plan); Premium, 600 requests a minute $199.99 per month (plan); Premium, 1,200 requests a minute $249.99 per month (plan)

- Scores: Reliability 30, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 46, Agent ergonomics 54, Security & auth 32, Payments & pricing 30, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 63, Transparency & trust 48 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Graded as a hosted service. · Schema & documentation, The surface graded is the REST API, with the official MCP server noted. · Agent ergonomics, `outputsize=compact` returns the latest 100 points, `datatype=csv` shortens long series, and the MCP server previews anything over 32,000 to… · Security & auth, One key per account with no scopes, documented only as `apikey=` in the query string, and replaced by emailing support. · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 (0). · Maintenance & community, The MCP server repository, which a workflow deploys to the hosted server, had its last commit on 3 October 2026, and the site footer says it… · Transparency & trust, A closed service under short terms that are clear on scope, personal and non-commercial by default, with the MCP server under MIT (15 of 30)…
- Sources: 17, open questions: 7, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: data.markets, market.indices, market.news, market.crypto, data.company
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/alpha-vantage.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/alpha-vantage.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/alpha-vantage from a page on alphavantage.co or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/alphavantage/alpha_vantage_mcp, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Check every 200 response for `Error Message`, `Information` or `Note` keys before parsing data. The API does not signal failures or limits by status code
2. Budget 25 requests a day on a free key. Real-time, 15-minute delayed and intraday US data, index data and several indicators need a premium plan
3. Keep `outputsize=compact` unless full history is needed, and ask for `datatype=csv` on long series to cut tokens
4. Use the hosted MCP server with OAuth at `https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp`. The `?apikey=` MCP URL is marked deprecated
5. Confirm the owner's use is personal and non-commercial, or that a commercial agreement exists, before acting for a business

## Connect

```bash
uvx marketdata-mcp-server YOUR_API_KEY
```

```bash
curl "https://www.alphavantage.co/query?function=GLOBAL_QUOTE&symbol=IBM&apikey=$ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY"
```

```bash
claude mcp add alphavantage -- uvx marketdata-mcp-server YOUR_API_KEY
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/alpha-vantage

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## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)