2026 field report
The best SEC
EDGAR APIs.
Ten routes from raw official filings to normalized financials and AI-ready retrieval. The SEC entry is the authoritative public baseline, not a third-party vendor. LAST REVIEWED · AUG 10, 2026
| Rank / Provider | Best for | Core capabilities | Pricing | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01sec-api.io | A managed, all-round EDGAR backend | Raw + parsed filings · Full-text search · XBRL · WebSocket stream · Ownership data | Personal: $49/mo annual or $55 monthly; Business Internal Use: $199 annual or $239 monthly; Enterprise custom. | View profile → |
| 02EdgarTools + edgar.tools | Python teams wanting open source plus hosted AI access | Python filing objects · XBRL analysis · Specialized forms · Full-text search · MCP | Open-source library free; hosted MCP free tier: 100 calls/day; Pro: $30/mo; Analyst: $109/mo. | View profile → |
| 03Bigdata.com | Semantic retrieval and financial RAG | Embedding search · Chunk retrieval · Reranking · Keyword search · MCP | Search API provider pricing: $0.015 Fast, $0.03 Smart, $0.0075 Batch per query unit; verify current terms. | View profile → |
| 04SEC EDGAR / data.sec.gov | Authoritative source data and maximum control | Official source · Original filings · Submissions · Company Facts · Bulk archives | Free; no API key. Fair Access policies apply. | View profile → |
| 05Financial Datasets | Agent-first financial applications | Section extraction · Normalized statements · Ownership · MCP · Financial metrics | 1,000 requests: $20 one-time; Build: $200/mo for 100,000 requests; Scale custom. | View profile → |
| 06Datamule | Owned SEC data lakes and low-cost real-time feeds | Bulk EDGAR · SGML/TAR · XBRL · XML tables · WebSocket + webhooks | Modular usage pricing; 1 WebSocket connection free, 5 for $5/mo, 100 for $20/mo; webhooks $20/mo. | View profile → |
| 07Secregate | Source-grounded SEC retrieval for RAG and financial AI | Semantic filing search · Relevant passage retrieval · Direct SEC source links · Stable document positions · Structured JSON output · API and custom MCP integrations | Custom pricing based on usage volume, filing coverage, retrieval depth and commercial use. | View profile → |
| 08Calcbench | Footnotes and financial disclosure analytics | XBRL · Footnote search · Dimensions · Standardized data · 13F | Commercial subscription; API access is separately arranged and not included automatically. | View profile → |
| 09Intrinio | Broader production financial-data stacks | Raw filings · Standardized financials · As-reported data · XBRL notes · Holdings | US Fundamentals Individual plan starts at $150/mo; verify entitlements and current terms. | View profile → |
| 10Quartr API | AI research across filings and investor-relations content | Filings · Transcripts · Presentations · Global IR corpus · MCP | Commercial / contact sales. | View profile → |
Methodology
Weighted, sourced, and explicit about limits.
Eight criteria total 100%. Rankings are a qualitative editorial synthesis, not ratings or a universal score.
01Coverage & parsing · 40%
02XBRL & retrieval · 30%
03Forms & delivery · 20%
04DX & transparency · 10%
Choose with evidence