A PRACTICAL API COMPARISON · CHECKED OCTOBER 27, 2026
Official SEC API
vs sec-api.dev
Use the SEC directly when its public endpoints meet your needs. Choose a managed layer when the integration work is what you want to avoid.
What you can use today
Our column describes shipping capabilities and their limits. The other column summarizes official documentation, not an independent correctness or speed benchmark.
| Decision | Official SEC API | sec-api.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Public submissions and Company Facts endpoints require no API key. | Bearer API key, account-level quotas, and a usage dashboard. |
| History | Submissions include recent records and references to additional history files. | Issuer-history traversal, with explicit source files and coverage metadata. |
| Bulk ownership | Download and process SEC quarterly source archives yourself. | Queryable insider extracts: 2025 Q4–2026 Q3; Form D: 2026 Q2–Q3. |
| Operations | You build request scheduling, caching, parsing, and error handling. | Managed API contracts, source metadata, read-only MCP, and polled filing replay. |
| Financial facts | Company Facts contains SEC-extracted XBRL observations. | Company Facts queries and filing-level extraction; not a complete normalized statements database. |
| Cost | Public source access is free; your infrastructure and engineering still have a cost. | Explore: free. Builder: $29/month. Scale: $99/month. Request limits apply. |
Choose Official SEC API when…
You need raw public company submissions or reported facts, can operate the integration yourself, and want direct control over downloads and source processing.
Evaluate sec-api.dev when…
You want to build a source-cited filing workflow with documented responses, account quotas, inspectable provenance, and read-only agent tools. Validate your exact companies, periods, and extraction requirements before choosing a paid plan.
Try the same real task
Start with Apple’s public submissions. Replace the User-Agent below with your own application and contact information.
curl 'https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000320193.json' -H 'User-Agent: YourApp contact@your-domain.com'The SEC response is source-native. Our endpoint below returns our documented response envelope; migrate field mappings deliberately.
curl 'https://sec-api.dev/api/v1/filings?cik=320193&form=10-K&limit=5' -H "Authorization: Bearer $SEC_API_KEY"Keep the API key on your server. Retain source URLs, periods, and snapshot identifiers with your results.
Sources and evaluation checklist
Checked October 27, 2026. Vendor claims are attributed to vendor documentation. Features, prices, and source availability can change.
Before migrating: test amendments, missing values, source periods, exact decimal strings, pagination, rate limits, licensing, and your largest expected response. We do not claim complete parity, guaranteed uptime, or universal accuracy.
Prove your workflow before paying.
Use the free allowance to test real data and inspect its source.
Get my free API key ↗Independent comparison by sec-api.dev. Not affiliated with the SEC or sec-api.io. No customer testimonials or unverified performance claims.