Edgrapi vs Financial Datasets: SEC data API compared
You need SEC filing data in your app, and you have found two API-first, MCP-native options: Edgrapi and Financial Datasets.
They look similar on the surface. They are not priced the same, and they do not cover the same ground.
Here is the honest comparison, from someone who builds one of them.
Edgrapi vs Financial Datasets: which should you use?
It comes down to two questions: what is your budget, and do you need market prices? Financial Datasets is a broad, real-time, NASDAQ-licensed platform that starts at $200 a month and covers filings plus stock prices and 60-plus technical indicators. Edgrapi is a focused SEC-filings API that starts free and tops out at $99 a month, covers insider trades, 8-Ks, 13F and 13D/13G, and skips market data entirely. Same category, different bets.
So the quick call:
Building a quant platform or trading infrastructure with a real budget? Look hard at Financial Datasets.
Building an agent, a side project, or a filings-focused tool and watching costs? Edgrapi will get you further for less.
The rest of this compares them on the things that actually decide it: price, coverage, real-time, and the MCP experience.
How do the prices compare?
This is the biggest gap. Per its pricing page, Financial Datasets has no recurring free tier: the floor is a $20 one-time purchase of 1,000 requests, then $200 a month for 100,000 requests, then $2,000 a month for the Pro plan. Edgrapi gives you 100 credits every month for free with no card, then $10 a month for 10,000 credits, scaling to $99 for 150,000. For a developer testing an idea, that is the difference between paying up front and not.
Here is the side by side:
| Tier | Edgrapi | Financial Datasets |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 100 credits/month, no card | None |
| Entry | $10/mo (10,000 credits) | $20 one-time (1,000 requests) |
| Standard | $29/mo (30,000 credits) | $200/mo (100,000 requests) |
| High | $99/mo (150,000 credits) | $2,000/mo (unlimited, redistribution) |
| Pay-as-you-go | 5,000 for $7, never expire | Credits do not recur |
One honest note on the metering. Edgrapi charges weighted credits, so a light lookup costs 1 credit and a full filing parse costs 5. Financial Datasets counts flat requests. So the raw numbers are not perfectly apples to apples, but the entry price gap, free versus $200 a month, is real either way.
Does Financial Datasets have a free tier?
No. As of this writing, Financial Datasets has no recurring free plan. The cheapest way in is a one-time $20 purchase of 1,000 requests, which is fine for a quick test but runs out and does not refill. Edgrapi runs a standing free tier of 100 credits a month, no card, that resets every month. If you want to try SEC data in an API without paying anything, that is the practical difference.
This matters more than it sounds.
A free tier that renews lets you run a small production workload, a hobby project, or a demo indefinitely without a card on file. A one-time credit pack does not.
If your project is early or unfunded, start on the free tier and only pay when you outgrow it.
What data does each one cover?
Financial Datasets is broader; Edgrapi is deeper on filings. Financial Datasets ingests 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and Form 4 in real time, exposes 13F institutional ownership, and adds stock prices and 60-plus technical indicators. Edgrapi skips prices and indicators entirely and instead goes deeper on the smart-money filings: insider trades with Form 3/5/144 and cluster-buy detection, typed 8-K events, 13F holdings, and 13D/13G activist stakes. Pick based on whether you need market data alongside filings.
| Capability | Edgrapi | Financial Datasets |
|---|---|---|
| Insider trades (Form 4) | Yes, plus Form 3/5/144 and cluster buys | Yes, real-time |
| 8-K material events | Yes, typed items | Yes, real-time |
| 13F fund holdings | Yes, CUSIP-deduped and diffed | Yes |
| 13D/13G activist stakes | Yes | Not a listed dataset |
| Fundamentals + ratios | Yes, 14 ratios | Yes |
| Stock prices | No | Yes |
| Technical indicators | No | 60-plus |
| Real-time (within seconds) | Webhooks, minutes | Yes |
| MCP server | 9 tools | Yes |
| Free tier | 100/month | No |
The parsing is where Edgrapi spends its effort. A 13F table double-counts unless you aggregate by CUSIP across a fund's sub-managers; a 13F put is a bearish bet, not a holding; and every position gets labelled new, added, reduced or exited against the prior quarter. If your job is reading what the smart money did, that parsing is the product.
Which is better for an AI agent over MCP?
Both ship a hosted MCP server, so an agent in Claude, Cursor or Cline can call either with one config line. The difference is what the agent can reach. Edgrapi exposes nine tools built around SEC filings, including get_holdings for 13F and get_activist for 13D/13G. Financial Datasets exposes its broader dataset, including prices and indicators, over MCP too. For a filings-only agent, Edgrapi's tool set is more focused; for an agent that also needs price context, Financial Datasets reaches further.
Neither one makes you write glue code, which is the whole point of MCP.
The practical test: list the questions your agent needs to answer. If they are all "who bought, who filed, what changed in the 13F," either works and Edgrapi is cheaper. If they include "and what did the stock do," you need the market data, which is Financial Datasets.
When Financial Datasets is the better choice
Reach for Financial Datasets when you need speed, breadth, or a license. It ingests filings within seconds of publication, which matters for event-driven trading; it carries stock prices and technical indicators, so you get market context in the same API; and its Pro plan grants redistribution rights, which you need if you resell the data. For a funded team building quant research or trading infrastructure, that combination is worth the $200-plus a month.
It is a genuinely strong product. If real-time and market data are core to what you are building, the price is not the deciding factor.
Where it costs you is exactly there: no free tier, and $200 a month is a real commitment for an early project.
When Edgrapi is the better choice
Reach for Edgrapi when you want SEC filings cheaply and you do not need market prices. The free tier lets you build and ship without a card; $10 a month covers a real workload; and the coverage is aimed squarely at smart-money signals: parsed insider trades with Form 144, 13F holdings deduped and diffed, and 13D/13G activist stakes. If your app or agent reads filings and does not chart prices, you are paying for exactly what you use and nothing else.
This is the better fit for indie developers, agent builders, and anyone testing an idea before there is revenue to justify $200 a month.
Where it falls short: no stock prices, no technical indicators, and no sub-second real-time. If you need those, it is the wrong tool, and Financial Datasets is the honest recommendation.
How to decide in one minute
Answer three questions. Do you need stock prices or technical indicators? Do you need filings within seconds? Do you have a $200-a-month budget? If you answered yes to any of them, Financial Datasets fits, and it is a strong pick. If you answered no to all three, Edgrapi does the same filings job for free to start and a fraction of the price after.
These two are not the only options. edgar.tools covers more filing types, and Wisesheets ships a free tier with an MCP server too. But if your shortlist is Edgrapi and Financial Datasets, the split above holds.
You do not have to guess. Edgrapi's free tier is 100 credits a month with no card, so you can wire it into your app or agent today and see the real JSON before you decide.
Get a key at edgrapi.com/app, read the docs, or point your MCP client at the nine-tool server and ask it what an insider bought.
Frequently asked questions
Does Financial Datasets have a free tier?
No. Financial Datasets has no recurring free plan. The cheapest entry is a one-time $20 purchase of 1,000 requests, then $200 a month for the Build plan. Edgrapi runs a standing free tier of 100 credits a month with no card that resets monthly, so you can try SEC data in an API without paying anything.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Financial Datasets?
For SEC filing data, yes. Edgrapi covers insider trades, 8-Ks, 13F holdings and 13D/13G stakes as clean JSON, starts free, and costs $10 a month paid, against Financial Datasets' $200 a month floor. The trade-off is that Edgrapi has no stock prices or technical indicators, so it is cheaper because it is narrower.
Do both Edgrapi and Financial Datasets support MCP?
Yes. Both ship a hosted MCP server, so an AI agent in Claude, Cursor or Cline can call either with one config line. Edgrapi exposes nine tools focused on SEC filings, including 13F and 13D/13G. Financial Datasets exposes its broader dataset, including prices and indicators, over MCP too.
Which has better real-time data?
Financial Datasets. It ingests 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and Form 4 filings within seconds of publication, which matters for event-driven use. Edgrapi delivers new filings through webhooks on a polling cycle, so it is a few minutes behind rather than sub-second. If real-time is core to your build, Financial Datasets is the honest pick.
Does Edgrapi have 13F data?
Yes, and it is a focus. Edgrapi's 13F holdings are aggregated by CUSIP across a fund's sub-managers so the table does not double-count, options are flagged put or call, and every position is diffed against the prior quarter as new, added, reduced or exited. It also adds 13D/13G activist stakes, a separate signal from 13F.
Which SEC data API should I use for an AI agent?
If your agent only reads filings, either works over MCP and Edgrapi is cheaper, with a free tier to start. If your agent also needs stock prices or technical indicators alongside filings, Financial Datasets covers both in one API. List the questions your agent must answer, and pick based on whether any of them need market data.