Mediastack vs Finnhub: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Mediastack (3.8/5) edges ahead of Finnhub (3.6/5) overall. Mediastack is the better choice for hobby projects and low-volume apps on a tight budget. Finnhub is the stronger option for developers who need market data and news from one key. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
Mediastack vs Finnhub: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Mediastack | Finnhub |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 | 2018 |
| HQ | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera | New York, USA |
| Team size | Part of Idera | Not publicly disclosed |
| Rating | 3.8 / 5 | 3.6 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data | Company news bundled with quotes, fundamentals and estimates |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Free key; paid market-data bundles |
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | Varies by data bundle |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON | REST API, JSON, WebSocket |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | Financial services, Research & academia |
Mediastack vs Finnhub: overview
Mediastack
Mediastack is one of the apilayer products, alongside ipstack and weatherstack. apilayer was founded in Vienna in 2015 by Julian and Paul Zehetmayr and acquired by the US software group Idera in January 2021. The API aggregates live and historical news from 7,500+ sources in 13 languages, filtered by country, category, language and keyword. The free plan allows 100 requests a month, and paid plans run from $24.99 for 10,000 requests to $249.99 for 250,000. Its source list is far smaller than the big crawlers here, and it adds no enrichment beyond basic metadata.
Finnhub
Finnhub is a New York fintech founded in 2018, according to CB Insights, that sells stock, forex and crypto data over REST and WebSocket, with staff reported in New York, Mumbai, Sydney and Ho Chi Minh City. News is one feature among many. A free key returns a year of North American company news and general market headlines at up to 60 calls a minute, but it is meant for personal, non-commercial use, and low-latency news streaming is a premium feature. Commercial data bundles are priced on Finnhub's site, with the All-in-One plan listed at $1,000 a month.
Features: Mediastack vs Finnhub
| Capability | Mediastack | Finnhub |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✗ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✗ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: Mediastack vs Finnhub
| Format / SDK | Mediastack | Finnhub |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | N/A | ✓ |
| Node.js SDK | N/A | ✓ |
| Webhooks | N/A | N/A |
| WebSocket | N/A | ✓ |
| MCP server | N/A | N/A |
| S3/bulk delivery | N/A | N/A |
| BigQuery | N/A | N/A |
Pricing comparison: Mediastack vs Finnhub
| Criterion | Mediastack | Finnhub |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | Varies by data bundle |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Free key; paid market-data bundles |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans | Free tier, Monthly plans |
| Price transparency | Public price | Quote only |
| Price tier | Budget | Enterprise / quote |
Who each API suits: Mediastack vs Finnhub
| Dimension | Mediastack | Finnhub |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | Financial services, Research & academia |
| Example use cases | A news ticker or category feed for a small website. A learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. | Fintech prototypes that show news beside charts. Student and personal investing projects. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
Mediastack vs Finnhub: pros and cons
| Mediastack | |
|---|---|
| + | One of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month |
| + | Same conventions as other apilayer APIs, which helps if you already use one |
| + | Historical news included on paid plans |
| + | Short docs with copy-paste examples |
| - | Only 7,500 sources and 13 languages |
| - | The free plan is 100 requests a month, which runs out in a day of testing |
| - | Descriptions only, with no full text, sentiment or entities |
| Finnhub | |
|---|---|
| + | A generous free rate limit of 60 calls a minute |
| + | One key for prices, fundamentals and news keeps fintech prototypes simple |
| + | Official SDKs in many languages |
| + | WebSocket support for streaming quotes |
| - | News is basic, with headlines and summaries but no full text |
| - | The free key is non-commercial |
| - | The low-latency news stream is a premium add-on |
Who should choose Mediastack?
A typical fit: a news ticker or category feed for a small website.
Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. Paid access starts at $24.99/mo. Typical uses: News & content apps, Marketing & PR.
Who should choose Finnhub?
A typical fit: fintech prototypes that show news beside charts.
Company news bundled with quotes, fundamentals and estimates. Paid access is quote-based. Typical uses: Financial services, Research & academia.
Decision matrix: Mediastack vs Finnhub
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | Mediastack |
| You need full article text in the response | Neither returns full text |
| You need years of historical news | Mediastack |
| You need licensed premium or wire content | Neither; look at Factiva, AP or LexisNexis |
| You are wiring news into an LLM agent | Both work through plain REST calls |
Use case fit: Mediastack vs Finnhub
| Use case | Mediastack fit | Finnhub fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Limited | Mediastack |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Limited | Mediastack |
| Financial services | Limited | Strong | Finnhub |
| Research & academia | Limited | Strong | Finnhub |
Verdict: Mediastack vs Finnhub
Mediastack (3.8/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data.
Finnhub (3.6/5) is worth a look if you need student and personal investing projects. If your situation matches that, Finnhub is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
Mediastack vs Finnhub FAQ
Is Mediastack better than Finnhub?
Mediastack (3.8/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. Mediastack's strongest advantage: one of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month. Finnhub's strongest advantage: a generous free rate limit of 60 calls a minute.
How do Mediastack and Finnhub differ in pricing?
Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. Finnhub: free key; paid market-data bundles, priced by quote. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: Mediastack or Finnhub?
Neither sells an enterprise contract. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between Mediastack and Finnhub?
What sets Mediastack apart: paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. What sets Finnhub apart: company news bundled with quotes, fundamentals and estimates. They also differ on entry price ($24.99/mo vs Varies by data bundle) and typical uses (News & content apps, Marketing & PR vs Financial services, Research & academia).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.