edgarkit

EdgarKit vs Finnhub

Finnhub is a broad market-data API covering stocks, FX, crypto, sentiment, and SEC filings under one subscription. EdgarKit is a specialized SEC EDGAR API. The right choice depends on whether you need the breadth or just the SEC layer.

Want this data via API instead of reading about it? Get a free API key →

The short answer

Finnhub is the right choice if SEC filings are one of many endpoints you'll consume, alongside real-time quotes, fundamentals, social sentiment, economic data, and alternative datasets. The free tier is generous (50 calls per minute for many endpoints) and the bundle is unusually broad.

EdgarKit is the right choice if you're building specifically on SEC EDGAR data: insider trading alerts, 8-K event detection, 13F holdings analysis, real-time webhooks on new filings. The form coverage is deeper, the latency is shorter, and the API surface is purpose-built for SEC use cases.

Side-by-side

| | Finnhub | EdgarKit | |---|---|---| | Primary focus | All-in-one market data | SEC EDGAR specialist | | SEC form coverage | Form 3/4, 8-K, 10-K, 10-Q via filings endpoint | All major forms | | Insider transactions | Yes, monthly granularity returned | Yes, ~30s real-time | | Insider sentiment score | Yes (proprietary MSPR -100 to 100) | No (we return raw data) | | Webhooks for SEC | None | Yes, paid tiers | | Real-time SEC filings | Limited; relies on polling | ~30 seconds | | Other data | Quotes, fundamentals, FX, crypto, social sentiment, news | None | | Free tier | 60 calls/min on many endpoints; premium gates on others | 1,000 calls/month | | CUSIP/ticker mapping | Yes | Yes | | Form 4 footnote text | Often abbreviated | Full text included |

Where Finnhub shines

  • Breadth. One subscription covers quotes, fundamentals, SEC, news, sentiment, FX, crypto. Useful for a generalist fintech product.
  • The free tier is unusually generous on rate. 60 requests per minute on many endpoints (vs the 10/sec SEC limit on EDGAR-direct or our 10/min on EdgarKit free).
  • Insider sentiment score (MSPR). A proprietary -100 to 100 sentiment metric over a window. Not the same as raw Form 4 data but a useful pre-computed signal for sentiment-driven strategies.
  • WebSocket support for real-time price ticks. Not SEC-related but valuable if you also need market data.

Where EdgarKit shines

  • Real-time on SEC. Form 4 filings within ~30 seconds of SEC acceptance. Finnhub's insider data is returned in monthly intervals, not real-time.
  • Form coverage depth. Form 3, Form 5, Form 144, 13D/G, DEF 14A, 8-K item filtering, S-1, Finnhub touches some of these but not as first-class.
  • Webhook push. EdgarKit pushes filings to your endpoint. Finnhub is REST polling for SEC data.
  • Raw data, not pre-scored. EdgarKit returns the underlying Form 4 transactions. If you want to compute your own sentiment, cluster detection, or roll-up, you have the source material.
  • Footnotes preserved. Form 4 footnote text (10b5-1 plan references, indirect ownership explanations) is in the response, not stripped.

The monthly-aggregated trap

Finnhub's stock/insider-transactions endpoint returns insider transactions, but the granularity is at the monthly level for the sentiment score. If you're building anything event-driven, "alert me when an officer files a $1M+ open-market purchase", monthly aggregation is too coarse.

The raw Form 4 data is available on Finnhub for paid tiers, but real-time delivery is not the design center of that endpoint. For real-time strategies, the EdgarKit approach (push within 30 seconds of SEC acceptance) is materially faster.

# Real-time Form 4 P-code alerts via EdgarKit webhook
curl -X POST "https://api.edgarkit.com/v1/webhooks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://your-server.com/edgarkit-events",
    "filters": {
      "form_types": ["4"],
      "transaction_codes": ["P"],
      "min_value": 1000000
    }
  }'

Sentiment score: build vs buy

Finnhub's MSPR (Monthly Share Purchase Ratio) is one approach to insider sentiment. EdgarKit doesn't ship a pre-computed sentiment score because the right formulation depends on your strategy:

  • Some traders weight officer purchases more than director purchases.
  • Some weight by dollar value, others by percentage of post-transaction holdings.
  • Some include 10b5-1 sales (Finnhub does), some discount them heavily (most quants do).

If Finnhub's sentiment formulation matches what you'd compute anyway, the pre-built score saves effort. If not, you want raw Form 4 data, which EdgarKit returns by default.

See insider trading data for the trade-offs in formulating these signals.

Pricing perspective

Finnhub's free tier is generous on rate (60 calls/minute on many endpoints), gated on data behind premium tiers ($50/month and up for some SEC-specific access).

EdgarKit's free tier is 1,000 calls/month, lower rate but no data gating, every SEC form type and every field is available on the free tier, just within the request budget.

If you'll burn 5,000+ calls per month on SEC data alone, EdgarKit's Basic tier ($19/month for 60 calls per minute and 50,000 calls per month) is usually cheaper than the equivalent Finnhub premium access.

Using them together

Common pattern: Finnhub for market data + sentiment + news, EdgarKit specifically for the raw, real-time SEC filings layer. Many production teams subscribe to both because the strengths don't overlap much.

FAQ

Does Finnhub have real-time SEC filings?

Not in the same sense EdgarKit does. Finnhub's insider transactions and SEC filings endpoints work on polling and return data on monthly-to-hourly granularity. EdgarKit polls EDGAR continuously and pushes new filings to your endpoint within roughly 30 seconds.

Is Finnhub's MSPR a good signal?

For broad insider sentiment, it's a reasonable starting point. For tight Form 4 strategies (cluster buy detection, officer-only purchases above a threshold), you want raw data and your own formulation.

Can I get historical Form 4 data from Finnhub?

Yes, in monthly aggregated form. For tick-level Form 4 history, EdgarKit's archive goes back to 2003 with full transaction granularity.

Do I need both Finnhub and EdgarKit?

Only if you need broad market data (prices, fundamentals, FX, crypto) plus real-time SEC filings. For SEC-centric products, EdgarKit alone covers it. For broad fintech products without real-time SEC needs, Finnhub alone covers it.

What about Finnhub's WebSocket for real-time?

The WebSocket is for price/quote data, not SEC filings. EdgarKit's webhook system is the equivalent push channel for SEC events.