An API (application programming interface), is a tool used to share content and data between software applications. APIs are used in a variety of contexts, but some examples include embedding content from one website into another, dynamically posting content from one application to display in another application, or extracting data from a database in a more programmatic way than a regular user interface might allow.
Many scholarly publishers, databases, and products offer APIs to allow users with programming skills to more powerfully extract data to serve a variety of research purposes. With an API, users might create programmatic searches of a citation database, extract statistical data, or dynamically query and post blog content. Refer to this stock API guide for more information on how APIs are used in the context of finance and economic research.
About: The Alpha Vantage Stock API Service offers pre-processed and normalized finance and economic data for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, foreign exchange rates, financial reports from SEC filings, and over 50 derived technical indicators. Alpha Vantage APIs are grouped into four categories: (1) Time Series Stock APIs, (2) Fundamental Data, (3) Physical and Digital/Crypto Currencies (e.g., Bitcoin), and (4) Technical Indicators. Refer to the official documentation for more information.
Access: API calls are made using any web-enabled client (e.g., a web browser) to make an HTTP GET request to an appropriate URL. API users can use the programming language of their choice. A free API key can be obtained here. Each free API key allows up to 500 API calls per day by default. Reach out to support@alphavantage.co if a higher rate limit is needed or for technical questions. Result formats include JSON and CSV.
Access: Available to everyone