{"id":1270,"slug":"fred-api-free-no-cost","title":"FRED API (St. Louis Fed) — free with API key; covers GDP, inflation, employment, interest rates","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["open-data","data-infrastructure"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data, St. Louis Fed) provides free programmatic access to ~800,000+ economic time series — GDP, inflation, employment, interest rates. Free with an API key, no cost.\n\n**Source:** https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/fred/\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** A small financial-consulting firm building a FRED-powered dashboard pays **$0 data cost** (per apispine.com worked example). For any Candid client whose audience cares about macro indicators (lenders, financial planners, contractors quoting in inflation-sensitive markets), this is the free first input.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-data-driven-tools-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: live data and data-driven tools for SMBs — when it's an edge, when it's overkill (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"bank-of-canada-valet-api-stats","title":"Bank of Canada Valet API — free, no key required; ~500,000 daily public requests across ~12,500 series and ~4.5M observations","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-rent-or-use-free-for-data-about-the-world","title":"R1 — Rent (or use free) for data ABOUT THE OUTSIDE WORLD; you will never out-collect the Census Bureau","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-20T16:57:38.844Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T16:57:38.844Z"}