Free Stock API Limits: Requests, Weighted Calls & Credits

Budget the exact quota units for the endpoints and symbols you intend to request.

Identify what the provider meters

A per-minute HTTP request limit, a daily weighted-call budget, a WebSocket subscription allowance and a bandwidth cap are different controls. Do not compare their numeric headlines as though each represented identical market-data capacity.

Use an explicit weighted example

Twelve Data lists Basic API credits and explains endpoint weights. If an authorized endpoint costs one credit per symbol, three symbols consume three credits even when a client batches them into one HTTP request. EODHD separately describes requests per minute and daily weighted calls. Twelve Data individual pricing and weighted credits · EODHD request versus call limits

Budget for actual refresh behaviour

Count symbols, endpoints, refresh intervals, pagination and retries. A dashboard tab left open can create more traffic than a one-off command. Use bounded retry handling for429 responses according to provider instructions; do not turn an exhausted daily allowance into an unbounded retry loop.

Check the named free entitlement

Alpha Vantage documents 25 standard free requests/day; Massive Stocks Basic lists 5 calls/minute with a specific historical/timing scope. FMP lists 250 calls/day and a bandwidth policy. These are separate plans and units, not a universal ranking of how much useful data each key supplies. Alpha Vantage support and free quota · Massive stock pricing · Financial Modeling Prep pricing and display agreement