The short answer

FMP and Alpha Vantage price the same budget differently. FMP gives 250 free calls a day, then Starter $29, Premium $69 and Ultimate $139 a month ($19/$49/$99 billed annually) by data depth; Alpha Vantage gives 25 free requests a day, then $49.99 to $249.99 a month by requests per minute (both read 2026-10-11). FMP is the cheaper fundamentals entry; Alpha Vantage sells pure throughput.

FMP and Alpha Vantage price the same budget in opposite ways: Financial Modeling Prep gives 250 free calls a day and then sells plans by data depth (Starter $29, Premium $69, Ultimate $139 a month, or $19, $49 and $99 billed annually), while Alpha Vantage gives 25 free requests a day and sells pure throughput, from $49.99/month for 75 requests/minute to $249.99/month for 1,200. Both pricing pages were read on 2026-10-1112. FMP is the cheaper entry for fundamentals; Alpha Vantage is the simpler buy when you only need more requests per minute. Model your universe in the Data Vendor TCO.

How do FMP and Alpha Vantage pricing compare in 2026?

Dimension Financial Modeling Prep Alpha Vantage
Free tier 250 calls/day, end-of-day data 25 requests/day
Entry paid plan Starter $29/mo ($19/mo billed annually), 300 calls/min $49.99/mo, 75 requests/min
Top self-serve plan Ultimate $139/mo ($99/mo billed annually), 3,000 calls/min $249.99/mo, 1,200 requests/min
What the price buys History, coverage, datasets and throughput together Requests per minute; no daily limit
Annual billing Up to 34% off "2 months off" ($499 to $2,499/year)
Display or redistribution Separate Data Display and Licensing Agreement Not covered by the premium page

All figures read from the two vendors' official pricing pages on 2026-10-1112.

Which free tier goes further?

FMP's, by a factor of ten: 250 calls a day against Alpha Vantage's 2512. Alpha Vantage also offers unlimited free requests for verified open-source or educational projects, according to its support page3. For a nightly job over a few dozen tickers, FMP's free key is enough; Alpha Vantage's is enough to evaluate the API.

What does each paid plan buy?

Alpha Vantage sells one dimension. Its five monthly plans are $49.99 (75 requests/minute), $99.99 (150), $149.99 (300), $199.99 (600) and $249.99 (1,200), each with no daily limit and premium support; annual plans run $499 to $2,4992. Real-time and 15-minute-delayed US data are premium-only and are entitled through Alpha Vantage's separate Alpha X Terminal step after payment2.

FMP bundles several dimensions per step. Starter ($29) adds 300 calls/minute, 5 years of history and US fundamentals; Premium ($69) adds 750 calls/minute, 30 years, UK and Canada and intraday charts; Ultimate ($139) adds 3,000 calls/minute, global coverage, earnings call transcripts and 13F holdings1. Each plan also has a trailing-30-day bandwidth cap (20GB, 50GB, 150GB). The full ladder is in FMP API Pricing 2026.

Which is cheaper for the same workload?

  • Fundamentals for US names, under 300 calls a minute: FMP Starter at $19/month billed annually is cheaper than any Alpha Vantage plan.
  • Throughput only, no new datasets: Alpha Vantage's 75/minute plan at $49.99 versus FMP Starter at $29 with 300/minute; FMP is cheaper per call if its datasets cover you.
  • Transcripts, 13F or global coverage: FMP Ultimate; Alpha Vantage's ladder does not change datasets by tier.
  • Showing data to users: FMP requires its display agreement; neither vendor's self-serve page prices that use.

How to choose

  • Larger free daily allowance: FMP (250/day vs 25/day).
  • Fundamentals, filings and transcripts: FMP.
  • A single number to buy (requests per minute): Alpha Vantage.
  • Indicator-heavy or FX work on a known rate budget: Alpha Vantage premium.
  • Open-source or educational project: ask Alpha Vantage about its unlimited free access.

Connects to

References

Footnotes

  1. Financial Modeling Prep. "Pricing Plans" (Basic 250 calls/day; Starter $29 or $19 billed annually, 300/min; Premium $69 or $49, 750/min; Ultimate $139 or $99, 3,000/min; bandwidth caps; display agreement clause). Read 2026-10-11. https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/pricing-plans ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Alpha Vantage. "Premium API Key" (standard limit 25 requests/day; monthly plans $49.99/75, $99.99/150, $149.99/300, $199.99/600, $249.99/1,200 requests per minute; annual $499 to $2,499; no daily limits; Alpha X Terminal entitlement for real-time and delayed US data). Read 2026-10-11. https://www.alphavantage.co/premium/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Alpha Vantage. "Support" (25 requests/day free; unlimited for verified open-source or educational projects). Read 2026-10-11. https://www.alphavantage.co/support/ ↩

Frequently asked questions

FMP vs Alpha Vantage: which has the better free tier?
FMP. Its free Basic plan allows 250 calls per day against Alpha Vantage's 25 requests per day (both read 2026-10-11). Alpha Vantage additionally offers unlimited free access to verified open-source and educational projects.
What does Alpha Vantage premium cost in 2026?
$49.99/month for 75 requests/minute, $99.99 for 150, $149.99 for 300, $199.99 for 600 and $249.99 for 1,200, all with no daily limit. Annual plans run $499 to $2,499, which Alpha Vantage describes as two months off.
What does Financial Modeling Prep cost in 2026?
FMP lists Starter $29, Premium $69 and Ultimate $139 per month on monthly billing, or $19, $49 and $99 per month billed annually, with 300, 750 and 3,000 calls per minute. The free Basic plan allows 250 calls per day.
Which is better for fundamentals data, FMP or Alpha Vantage?
FMP. Its plans step up fundamentals depth, history and coverage, and Ultimate adds earnings call transcripts and 13F holdings. Alpha Vantage's tiers change throughput, not datasets.