The short version
Hold U.S. stocks, ETFs or mutual funds? Get these two.
Tiingo for reliable prices, mutual funds, 5 years of history and dividends, plus Finnhub for prices that move during the trading day. Both are free, need only an email address, and take a couple of minutes.
Crypto only? You don’t need any keys. In the app, Settings › Market data › Which keys do I need? looks at what you hold and tells you exactly which to add.
Which keys help most
| Key | What it adds | Free limit |
|---|---|---|
| Tiingo | U.S. stocks, ETFs and mutual funds, 5 years of past prices, and dividends. The single most useful key. | 50 an hour, 1,000 a day |
| Finnhub or Alpaca | Live U.S. stock and ETF prices during the trading day. Pick one. Finnhub is the easiest sign-up; Alpaca does 100 tickers per request and fills 5 years of history in seconds. | Finnhub 60 a minute; Alpaca 200 a minute |
Alpaca: use a paper trading account
Keys from a real-money account can place trades, and the app won’t accept them.
| Key | Add it if… | Free limit |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha Vantage | You hold stocks listed outside the U.S. (London, Toronto, Frankfurt, India, Shanghai…). The only free key that prices most of them. | 25 a day |
| EODHD | You hold several foreign listings, or ones on exchanges Alpha Vantage lacks (Paris, Hong Kong…). Adds to Alpha Vantage rather than repeating it. | 20 a day |
| Twelve Data | You follow foreign indexes, the Russell 2000 or VIX, or want past prices for metals. | 800 a day |
| Massive | You hold 50 or more U.S. stocks: one request a day gets every closing price. Not live during the day. | 5 a minute |
| Key | Why |
|---|---|
| FMP | Mostly repeats Tiingo; its free plan covers only some tickers. |
| CoinGecko | CoinPaprika already prices smaller coins without a key, and Coinbase and Kraken cover the big ones. |
| Finnhub and Alpaca | Both do live U.S. prices; two only help if you refresh very often. |
Picks by what you hold
- Index funds and ETFsA typical 401(k), IRA or brokerage account: Tiingo, plus Finnhub for prices that move during the day.
- Lots of mutual fundsTiingo.
- Big U.S. stock portfolioTiingo, Alpaca (paper account) and Massive.
- Foreign sharesAlpha Vantage and EODHD, plus Twelve Data for foreign indexes, and Tiingo for any U.S. funds.
- Crypto onlyNo keys needed.
- No sign-ups at allKeep the Yahoo backup on and type in a price yourself where needed.
Adding a key
- In the app, open Settings › Market data › Which keys do I need? It sorts the providers by what you hold.
- Tap a provider, then Get a free key. Its sign-up page opens in your browser.
- Sign up with an email address. None of these need a card.
- Find the API key on your dashboard (usually under “API”, “API key” or “Token”) and copy it.
- Back in the app, paste it and tap Check & save. The app makes one test request and tells you if the key is turned down.
Add any combination, in any order. The app asks each source only for what’s still missing, so extra keys never cost you anything; they’re a backup when one provider is busy or out of free requests. The app counts its own requests and stays just under each free limit.
Troubleshooting
“Turned down”
The key was mistyped or revoked. Copy it again from the provider’s dashboard and paste a new one.
“Free allowance used up”
The provider’s free limit for the hour or day is reached. Other sources fill in, and it picks up again on its own.
Same key on two phones
It works, but both phones share its free allowance.
New phone
Keys come back with a password-protected backup. A plain backup doesn’t include them, so add them again.
What works without keys
Crypto (Coinbase, Kraken, CoinPaprika), gold and silver, currency rates (European Central Bank), the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq (FRED), and inflation figures.
With the Yahoo backup on (you choose this in setup), most stocks and funds get prices too, but Yahoo is an unofficial source and can slow down or stop answering. A key adds reliable prices for stocks, ETFs and mutual funds, past prices for your charts, dividend suggestions, and stocks listed outside the U.S.
You don’t have to use market data at all: you can keep the app off the internet and type values in yourself, or use only the sources that need no key.
Why your own keys?
Worthwise has no server. Your finances stay on your phone, and we never see them. That also means there’s no company account fetching stock prices for everyone. Market data companies charge apps hundreds of dollars a month to share prices, and that cost would end up in a subscription.
Instead, the app gets prices directly from the source, using a free key in your name. Many market data companies give individuals a free personal key. You sign up on their site (no card), copy the key, and paste it into the app. From then on your phone asks that company for your prices, and only you use your key.
Safety and privacy
Is my key safe?
It stays on your phone and is sent only to the company it belongs to, over an encrypted connection. Only password-protected backups include it, encrypted. These free keys can’t spend money or touch any account: the worst a leaked key can do is use up that day’s free requests.
What do the providers see?
The ticker symbols you ask about and your phone’s internet address, the same as visiting their website. Not your balances, your accounts or anything else in the app. The Privacy Policy lists every source the app can contact.