Form4API vs Quiver Quantitative
Updated 2026-09-03. By Theodor Nielsen, founder of Form4API. Pricing checked September 2026 directly from api.quiverquant.com/pricing/ — the subdomain that publishes it publicly.
Answer
Quiver Quantitative is a broader congressional and alternative-data platform — insider trades sit alongside lobbying, government contracts, executive comp, and patents. Its cheapest plan, Hobbyist ($25-30/mo), does not include Insider Trading data — that requires the next tier up, Trader, at $62.50-75/mo. Neither tier grants commercial-use rights. Form4API includes Form 4 data and post-trade return fields on every plan, including the free $0 tier, with commercial use included from $19/mo. See the tier gap on insider data below.
Insider data needs the second tier, not the first
Quiver Quantitative's cheapest self-serve plan, Hobbyist ($25/mo billed annually, $30/mo billed monthly), covers Congress Trading, Congress Stock Holdings, Politician Net Worth, Corporate Donors, Government Contracts, Corporate Lobbying, Off-Exchange Trading, and Trump Stock Trades — a real, useful dataset, but not Insider Trading. That dataset, along with Hedge Fund Activity, ETF/Top Shareholders, Corporate Patents, Executive Compensation, and Quiver's Newsfeed, is gated to the Trader tier: $62.50/mo billed annually, or $75/mo billed monthly.
That's a meaningful correction to keep in mind when comparing on price alone: a "starting from $25/mo" headline number doesn't reach the dataset this comparison is actually about. Form4API's Form 4 transaction data, amendment tracking, 10b5-1 flag, and post-trade return fields are all included on every tier, starting with the free $0 plan — no tier gate separates "some data" from "the insider data."
Why the main pricing page redirects to signup
An anonymous request to quiverquant.com/pricing returns an HTTP 302 to /register/?next=pricing — a sign-up form, not a price list. That behavior was confirmed independently (a direct HTTP request, not a rendering failure on this page's part). The dollar figures used throughout this comparison come instead from api.quiverquant.com/pricing/, a separate subdomain that does publish Hobbyist, Trader, and Commercial pricing without requiring a login.
Worth knowing before assuming pricing is hidden entirely: it isn't, it's just not on the page a first-time visitor would land on. Form4API's full price list is on its own /pricing page, reachable by anyone or any script with no redirect and no account.
MCP: 18 tools, tier-gated
Quiver Quantitative ships a genuine MCP server (mcp.quiverquant.com, using the same API key as its REST API) with 18 tools total, covering datasets like congressional trades, insider trading, lobbying, and government contracts. Access is tiered per its own pricing page: Hobbyist reaches 10 of the 18 tools, Trader and Commercial reach all 18. None are reachable on a free plan, since none exists.
Form4API's MCP server ships 35 tools plus 6 ready-made research prompts, and 22 of those 35 tools work on the free plan with no card required — a genuinely free, usable MCP subset Quiver Quantitative cannot offer without a paid plan.
When Quiver Quantitative is the better choice
- Congressional and political alt-data is the primary need, not just insider trades — lobbying disclosures, government contracts, election donors, and politician net worth have no Form4API equivalent.
- You want one API across a wide alt-data catalog — corporate patents, executive compensation, hedge fund 13F activity, and app-store ratings all sit behind the same key.
- A cheaper entry point for congress-only data is acceptable — Hobbyist at $25-30/mo undercuts Form4API's $19/mo Starter tier on congress-only access, if insider trading data isn't required.
- Institutional/commercial licensing is budgeted for — its Commercial tier bundles marketing placement (quiverquant.com's claimed ~2M monthly visitors, its newsletter's ~300K readers) alongside the data license itself.
Side-by-side
| Dimension | Form4API | Quiver Quantitative |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $0 free forever; $19/mo Starter for commercial use | $25/mo (Hobbyist, billed annually) or $30/mo (billed monthly) — but Hobbyist excludes Insider Trading data |
| Price to reach insider trading data specifically | $0 — return fields and Form 4 data are on every plan, including Free | $62.50/mo (Trader, billed annually) or $75/mo (billed monthly) — Insider Trading is a Trader-tier dataset, not Hobbyist |
| Free tier | 500 calls/day, ongoing, no credit card | None for the API. The consumer web app (screener, alerts, backtester) has free tools; the API itself has no free plan |
| MCP tooling | 35 tools + 6 research prompts, self-serve; 22 of 35 work free | 18 tools total; Hobbyist reaches 10 of 18, Trader and Commercial reach all 18 — none free |
| Commercial-use terms | Explicit commercial-use license included from Starter ($19/mo) | Hobbyist and Trader are both marked "No Commercial Use Rights"; a commercial license requires the separate, contact-priced Commercial tier |
| Data breadth | Form 4 + Form 144 + 13F-HR + Congress (STOCK Act) — insider-specialist | Congress trades, insider trades, hedge fund 13F activity, lobbying, government contracts, executive comp, patents, politician net worth, and more — broader alt-data platform |
| Pricing transparency for a first-time visitor | Full price list on /pricing, no account required | quiverquant.com/pricing redirects anonymous visitors to a signup page; dollar figures are only published on the separate api.quiverquant.com subdomain |
Sourced directly from api.quiverquant.com/pricing/ as of September 2026 — the subdomain that publishes Quiver Quantitative's API pricing without requiring an account. Vendors change pricing and features often; verify current terms directly before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Does Quiver Quantitative have a free API tier?
No. Checked directly at api.quiverquant.com/pricing/ on September 2026, the cheapest self-serve plan is Hobbyist at $25/mo (billed annually) or $30/mo (billed monthly) — a paid tier, not a free one. Quiver's consumer web app does offer free tools (a stock screener, alerts, a congressional-trading backtester), but the API itself has no free plan. Form4API's API free tier is 500 calls/day, ongoing, with no credit card required.
How much does Quiver Quantitative cost for insider trading data specifically?
More than its cheapest plan suggests. Quiver Quantitative's $25-30/mo Hobbyist tier does not include the Insider Trading dataset — its own pricing page lists Hobbyist as covering Congress Trading, Congress Stock Holdings, Politician Net Worth, Corporate Donors, Government Contracts, Corporate Lobbying, Off-Exchange Trading, and Trump Stock Trades, with Insider Trading appearing only on the next tier up: Trader, at $62.50/mo (billed annually) or $75/mo (billed monthly). An earlier pass at this research cited "$62.50/mo Hobbyist" — that number is accurate, but it describes the Trader tier, not Hobbyist, and Hobbyist alone will not return insider transaction data. Form4API includes Form 4 data and return fields on every plan, including the $0 tier.
Why doesn't Quiver Quantitative show pricing on its main site?
It does, just not on the page most visitors would expect. quiverquant.com/pricing 302-redirects an anonymous visitor to /register/?next=pricing — a signup form, not a price list — confirmed independently via a direct request, not a fetch failure on this page's part. The actual dollar figures are published, publicly and without a login, on a separate subdomain: api.quiverquant.com/pricing/. This page sources every Quiver number from that subdomain. Form4API's full price list is on its own /pricing page, reachable by anyone, including scripts, with no redirect.
Does Quiver Quantitative have an MCP server?
Yes. Its API docs list 18 total MCP tools, reachable via a hosted MCP endpoint (mcp.quiverquant.com) using the same API key as the REST API. Access is tiered: the Hobbyist plan reaches 10 of the 18 tools, while Trader and Commercial plans reach all 18. None are available for free, since there is no free plan. Form4API's MCP server ships 35 tools plus 6 research prompts, and 22 of those 35 tools work on the free plan at no cost.
Can I use Quiver Quantitative data commercially?
Not on its self-serve tiers. Both Hobbyist and Trader are explicitly marked "No Commercial Use Rights" on Quiver's own pricing page — a commercial license requires its separate Commercial tier, priced on contact and also including optional marketing placement on quiverquant.com and its newsletter. Form4API includes an explicit commercial-use license starting at its $19/mo Starter plan, with no separate sales conversation required.
When should I use Quiver Quantitative instead of Form4API?
If congressional trading, lobbying, government contracts, executive compensation, corporate patents, or politician net worth are as important to your work as insider transactions, Quiver Quantitative's broader alt-data catalog covers ground Form4API doesn't attempt. If insider/Form 4 data specifically is the priority — with a free tier that costs nothing to start, no dataset tier-gating to work around, and a commercial-use license included from the first paid plan — Form4API is the narrower, more direct fit.