The short answer
Alpha Vantage vs Twelve Data in 2026 comes down to free-tier shape and rate ceilings. Twelve Data's free Basic gives 8 requests/minute and 800/day, far more than Alpha Vantage's free 25/day. On paid plans Alpha Vantage runs $49.99 to $249.99/mo by per-minute rate, Twelve Data Grow is $79/mo and Pro $229/mo. For multi-symbol scans, Twelve Data usually wins.
Alpha Vantage vs Twelve Data in 2026 comes down to free-tier shape and rate ceilings: Twelve Data's free Basic plan gives 8 requests/minute and 800/day, far more generous than Alpha Vantage's free 25 requests/day. On paid plans, Alpha Vantage charges $49.99/mo for 75 req/min up to $249.99/mo for 1,200 req/min, while Twelve Data's Grow is $79/mo for 377 req/min and Pro is $229/mo for 1,597 req/min. For a daily multi-symbol scan, Twelve Data's per-minute headroom usually wins; for a low-volume single-symbol research job, Alpha Vantage's cheaper entry tier can be enough. Model the true monthly cost with the Data Vendor TCO.
TL;DR
| Plan | Alpha Vantage | Twelve Data |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 25 requests/day | 8 req/min, 800/day |
| Entry paid | $49.99/mo, 75 req/min | $79/mo (Grow), 377 req/min |
| Mid paid | $99.99/mo, 150 req/min | $229/mo (Pro), 1,597 req/min |
| Higher paid | $149.99 (300) / $199.99 (600) / $249.99 (1,200) req/min | $999/mo (Ultra), 10,946 req/min |
| Coverage | Equities, forex, crypto, indicators | US equities, forex, crypto + WebSocket |
All prices and rate caps verified 2026-05-25 against each vendor's official pricing page.
Free tiers: not close
The free tiers differ by an order of magnitude in usable throughput. Alpha Vantage's free tier is capped at 25 API requests per day.1 That is enough to refresh a handful of symbols once a day, and nothing more: a 50-symbol watchlist exhausts it in a single pass.
Twelve Data's free Basic plan allows 8 requests per minute and 800 per day, covering US equities, forex, and crypto.2 That 800/day budget supports a real, if modest, daily scan. For anyone evaluating before paying, Twelve Data's free tier is the more usable starting point.
Paid tiers: different ladders
Alpha Vantage prices on requests-per-minute with no daily limit on paid plans: $49.99/mo for 75 req/min, $99.99 for 150, $149.99 for 300, $199.99 for 600, and $249.99 for 1,200 req/min. The 75-req/min tier serves 15-minute delayed US data with end-of-day options; real-time US data starts at the 150-req/min tier. Annual billing gives two months off.1
Twelve Data prices on per-minute API credits: Basic (free) 8/min, Grow $79/mo for 377/min, Pro $229/mo for 1,597/min, and Ultra $999/mo for 10,946/min. Paid plans add WebSocket credits and broader asset/fundamentals access, and the per-minute credit quota resets each minute rather than imposing a daily cap. Annual billing saves ~17%.2
Which is cheaper for a 500-symbol daily scan
The deciding axis is per-minute headroom. A 500-symbol daily refresh that you want to complete in a few minutes needs a high per-minute ceiling, not a high daily total.
- On Alpha Vantage, 500 calls at 75 req/min ($49.99) takes ~7 minutes; at 150 req/min ($99.99) ~3.5 minutes. Workable if you can tolerate the spread.
- On Twelve Data, 500 calls at 377 req/min (Grow, $79) clears in under 2 minutes. Note: Twelve Data meters in API credits, and richer endpoints can cost more than one credit per call, so size against credits, not raw call count.
For a fast, wide daily scan, Twelve Data's Grow tier usually wins on throughput-per-dollar. For a slow trickle of low-volume single-symbol research, Alpha Vantage's $49.99 entry can be the cheaper home. The decision is your call pattern, not a single "cheaper vendor" verdict.
Coverage notes
Both cover equities, forex, and crypto with technical indicators. Alpha Vantage's free tier is the constraint, not its breadth. Twelve Data adds WebSocket streaming on paid plans and meters everything through the per-minute credit model. Intraday resolution and real-time US data sit behind the paid tiers on both: confirm the specific endpoint you need is in the tier you are pricing.
Verified engine output
The block below runs the Data Vendor TCO engine on Alpha Vantage for a large-universe, minute-resolution, real-time scenario. It resolves to the Premium 600 tier (600 req/min, real-time) and computes the annualized cost from the engine's own rate table. The figure aligns with Alpha Vantage's verified $249.99/mo published 600-req/min real-time tier above. The output is computed live from the shipped bundle, not typed by hand.
Decision guidance
- Evaluating for free first? Twelve Data Basic (8/min, 800/day) is far more usable than Alpha Vantage's 25/day.
- Fast wide daily scan (hundreds of symbols)? Twelve Data Grow ($79, 377/min) for the per-minute headroom.
- Low-volume single-symbol research, real-time? Alpha Vantage 150-req/min tier ($99.99) is the cheaper real-time entry.
- Need WebSocket streaming? Twelve Data: it bundles WebSocket credits on paid plans.
Connects to
- Data Vendor TCO: annualized cost for your own universe and resolution.
- Cheapest Stock Market Data API 2026: the broader budget-vendor ranking.
- Tiingo vs Polygon vs Finnhub 2026: the adjacent budget-data comparison.
- EODHD vs Marketstack 2026: the end-of-day-focused budget pair.
References
Footnotes
-
Alpha Vantage. "Premium API Key." alphavantage.co, verified 2026-05-25. https://www.alphavantage.co/premium/ ↩ ↩2
-
Twelve Data. "Individual Pricing." twelvedata.com, verified 2026-05-25. https://twelvedata.com/pricing ↩ ↩2
Verified engine output
Show the recompute-verified inputs and outputs
| vendor_id | alpha-vantage |
|---|---|
| universe | large |
| resolution | minute |
| needs_live | 1 |
| vendor › id | alpha-vantage |
|---|---|
| vendor › name | Alpha Vantage |
| vendor › url | https://www.alphavantage.co |
| vendor › short pitch | Budget tier with broad coverage. Rate limits tight. Workable for low-frequency research. |
| vendor › has overage | false |
| vendor › last checked | 2026-05-25 |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › name | Premium 75 |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly | 49.99 |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1 | daily |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2 | minute |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1 | 75 calls/min, no daily limit |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2 | Free key capped at 25 calls/day, 5/min |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › name | Premium 1200 |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly | 249.99 |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes live | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes options | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futures | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1 | daily |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2 | minute |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 3 | second |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1 | 1,200 calls/min, no daily limit |
| vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2 | Rate-tiered ladder: $99.99/150, $149.99/300, $199.99/600, $249.99/1200 |
| tier › name | Premium 75 |
| tier › monthly | 49.99 |
| tier › includes live | false |
| tier › includes options | false |
| tier › includes futures | false |
| tier › resolutions › row 1 | daily |
| tier › resolutions › row 2 | minute |
| tier › notes › row 1 | 75 calls/min, no daily limit |
| tier › notes › row 2 | Free key capped at 25 calls/day, 5/min |
| monthly | 49.99 |
| one time | 0 |
| annual total | 599.88 |
| meets resolution | true |
| meets live | false |
| meets options | true |
| meets futures | true |
| meets all | false |
Computed live at build time.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Alpha Vantage or Twelve Data better for free use?
- Twelve Data. Its free Basic plan (8 req/min, 800/day) is far more usable than Alpha Vantage's free 25 requests/day.
- How much does Alpha Vantage cost in 2026?
- Paid tiers run $49.99/mo (75 req/min) to $249.99/mo (1,200 req/min), with real-time US data starting at the $99.99 / 150-req/min tier. Annual billing gives two months off.
- How much does Twelve Data cost in 2026?
- Basic is free (8/min, 800/day), Grow is $79/mo (377/min), Pro is $229/mo (1,597/min), and Ultra is $999/mo (10,946/min). Annual billing saves about 17%.
- Which is cheaper for a 500-symbol daily scan?
- Usually Twelve Data Grow ($79, 377 req/min) on throughput-per-dollar, since per-minute headroom decides a fast wide scan. A slow low-volume scan can be cheaper on Alpha Vantage's entry tier.
- Do both offer intraday and real-time data?
- Both gate intraday resolution and real-time US data behind paid tiers. Confirm the exact endpoint and resolution you need is included in the tier you price.