A financial data API is a documented interface that returns market and company data - quotes, financial statements, SEC filings, news, and calendars - so software can read markets without scraping a website. Teams use REST for request/response, WebSockets for push updates, and MCP so AI assistants call typed tools instead of inventing numbers.
A useful financial data API covers more than a last price. Typical payloads include company identifiers, OHLCV or snapshot quotes, income/balance/cash-flow rows, SEC filing metadata, earnings dates, and news. Vantafin also exposes a stock screener with 80+ metrics across 12K+ US equities and 23 MCP tools for agents.
| Access | Use it when |
|---|---|
| REST | You pull a quote, filing list, or screener row on demand. |
| WebSocket | You want news, filings, or quotes pushed as they happen (Vantafin: Ultimate). |
| MCP | Claude, Cursor, or another agent should call typed tools instead of scraping. |
Public Vantafin facts: 20K+ entities, SEC filings since 1994, live quotes on 9,000+ tickers on Pro. See pricing and alternatives.
A documented HTTP, stream, or MCP interface that returns quotes, fundamentals, filings, and related market datasets so applications and AI assistants do not scrape websites.
A website is for humans. An API is for software. Vantafin ships both: the same books in the browser and over REST, WebSocket, and MCP.
REST for on-demand quotes, filings, or screener rows. WebSocket when news or filings should push as they happen (Vantafin: Ultimate). MCP when Claude, Cursor, or another agent should call typed tools instead of scraping.
Quotes, company profiles, financials, SEC filings since 1994, transcripts, news, ownership, a screener with 80+ metrics, and 23 MCP tools. WebSocket streaming is on Ultimate.
No. REST and MCP are on Pro ($25/mo or $20/mo annual). Ultimate ($50/mo or $40/mo annual) adds WebSocket and higher limits. See pricing.
No. Scraping breaks, often violates terms, and is not documented. A financial data API has auth, schemas, and a contract you can put in production.
Call one documented route or MCP tool, then open the same ticker in the Vantafin app and compare the payload to the profile. If you cannot open the source, do not treat the number as a fact.
The alternatives hub and the vs pages (Alpha Vantage, Finnhub, Yahoo Finance, TradingView, Koyfin, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha). Plan limits live on pricing.
Free to start. $20 or $40 a month unlocks live data, AI chat, and full API access.