Mediastack vs Benzinga: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Mediastack (3.8/5) edges ahead of Benzinga (3.7/5) overall. Mediastack is the better choice for hobby projects and low-volume apps on a tight budget. Benzinga is the stronger option for brokerages and trading apps needing fast market headlines. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
Mediastack vs Benzinga: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Mediastack | Benzinga |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 | 2010 |
| HQ | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera | Detroit, Michigan, USA |
| Team size | Part of Idera | Not publicly disclosed |
| Rating | 3.8 / 5 | 3.7 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data | Original market newswire plus ratings and earnings events in one feed |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Custom quote; six-month low-cost start |
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | Custom quote |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON | REST API, JSON, WebSocket |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | Financial services, News & content apps |
Mediastack vs Benzinga: 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.
Benzinga
Benzinga was founded in 2010 in Detroit by Jason Raznick and was majority acquired by the private-equity firm Beringer Capital in late 2021. Its APIs deliver Benzinga's own newswire alongside analyst ratings, earnings and other corporate events, and the news reaches traders through many brokerages and trading platforms. A basic news API with headlines and teasers is listed free on AWS Marketplace. The full real-time feed is sold by quote, and Benzinga advertises six months of low-cost production access in place of a short trial. Coverage stays focused on markets and listed companies.
Features: Mediastack vs Benzinga
| Capability | Mediastack | Benzinga |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✗ | ✓ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✗ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: Mediastack vs Benzinga
| Format / SDK | Mediastack | Benzinga |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | N/A | ✓ |
| Node.js SDK | N/A | 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 Benzinga
| Criterion | Mediastack | Benzinga |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | Custom quote |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Custom quote; six-month low-cost start |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans | Free tier, Enterprise contract |
| Price transparency | Public price | Quote only |
| Price tier | Budget | Enterprise / quote |
Who each API suits: Mediastack vs Benzinga
| Dimension | Mediastack | Benzinga |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | Financial services, News & content apps |
| Example use cases | A news ticker or category feed for a small website. A learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. | News panels in brokerage and trading apps. Alerting on analyst rating changes. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
Mediastack vs Benzinga: 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 |
| Benzinga | |
|---|---|
| + | Original reporting aimed at market-moving headlines |
| + | Analyst ratings, earnings and guidance data sit beside the news |
| + | Formats are proven through wide use in brokerage apps |
| + | The six-month production start avoids a long contract up front |
| - | Covers markets and companies only |
| - | Pricing for the full feed requires a sales conversation |
| - | Private-equity ownership since 2021 may change commercial terms over time |
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 Benzinga?
A typical fit: news panels in brokerage and trading apps.
Original market newswire plus ratings and earnings events in one feed. Paid access is quote-based. Typical uses: Financial services, News & content apps.
Decision matrix: Mediastack vs Benzinga
| 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 | Benzinga |
| 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 Benzinga
| Use case | Mediastack fit | Benzinga fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Limited | Mediastack |
| Financial services | Limited | Strong | Benzinga |
Verdict: Mediastack vs Benzinga
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.
Benzinga (3.7/5) is worth a look if you need alerting on analyst rating changes. If your situation matches that, Benzinga is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
Mediastack vs Benzinga FAQ
Is Mediastack better than Benzinga?
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. Benzinga's strongest advantage: original reporting aimed at market-moving headlines.
How do Mediastack and Benzinga differ in pricing?
Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. Benzinga: custom quote; six-month low-cost start, priced by quote. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: Mediastack or Benzinga?
Benzinga sells enterprise contracts with negotiated volume and SLA terms. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between Mediastack and Benzinga?
What sets Mediastack apart: paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. What sets Benzinga apart: original market newswire plus ratings and earnings events in one feed. They also differ on entry price ($24.99/mo vs Custom quote) and typical uses (News & content apps, Marketing & PR vs Financial services, News & content apps).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.