Alpha Vantage is the API most people learn on: a free key, every asset class, and a set of US economic indicators from Treasury yields to payrolls. The free key is 25 requests a day and the paid plans are priced by requests per minute, from $49.99. The data is a series to pull; the reading is yours.
Alpha Vantage gives you the indicators as series, updated on a schedule, for free at 25 requests a day or from $49.99 a month for 75 a minute. It does not carry a calendar with forecasts, it does not score a release, and it does not know what a Treasury auction is. Helious reads the US print the second it crosses, scores it against its own history, reads the auction within seconds, names the curve regime and serves all of it to an AI through an MCP server, from a free key with 100 credits a month, $14.99 on Starter or $39.99 on Pro.
| Helious | Alpha Vantage | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price for the data a macro trader needs | Free key $0; Starter $14.99; Pro $39.99 a month | Free at 25 requests a day; premium from $49.99 a month |
| Cost per year | About $180 on Starter or $480 on Pro paid monthly, 25% off paid yearly | From about $600; up to $3,000 at 1,200 a minute |
| Free tier | Yes, 100 credits a month on a free key, no card | Yes, 25 requests a day |
| Economic calendar with forecast, prior and live result | Yes, every US release with forecast, prior and the actual the second it lands | No calendar; indicator series only |
| Releases scored on print, in standard deviations | Yes, every US release, against its own history | No |
| Treasury auction results with the tail and bidders | Yes, within seconds: tail, bid to cover, bidder split and a verdict | Not covered |
| Treasury curve and regime | Yes, 3 month bill to 30 year bond, 2s10s, and the regime named | Treasury yield by maturity as a series, no regime |
| Answers open with a plain sentence | Yes, every answer opens with the finished sentence, then the numbers | No, numbers only |
| MCP server for AI agents | Yes, 24 tools at one address, no glue code | Yes, an official hosted server |
| History | 7 days free, 12 months Starter, 24 months Pro, 10 years Ultimate | Full series history |
| Calls a minute | 60 free, 90 Starter, 120 Pro, 300 Ultimate, per key | 75 to 1,200 by plan |
| Live stream | Yes, a WebSocket on Pro and Ultimate | No |
| Redistribution | Personal on Free to Pro; Ultimate at $99 allows redistribution | Personal; commercial use on request |
Go with Alpha Vantage if you want one free key across every asset class for a side project, and you only need the indicators as monthly series.
Go with Helious if you trade the release itself, you need the calendar, the auctions and the curve, and you want the surprise measured for you.
There is a longer piece on what is the best financial news source if you want the whole category. Or go and look at the live news feed, the economic calendar and the Treasury auction results.
Competitor names are the trademarks of their respective owners. Prices shown are approximate list prices as of October 2026 and change without notice. Check each provider for current pricing. This is our own view of the market, offered as general information and not financial advice.
