specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: SEC API
providerId: sec-api
created: '2026-07-11'
modified: '2026-07-11'
reconciled: false
tags:
- SEC Filings
- Regulatory Filings
- EDGAR
- Financial Data
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of SEC API (sec-api.io) spend. SEC API is a flat-rate subscription
  SaaS: predictable monthly (or discounted annual) fees per tier, rather than
  pure per-call metering. The dominant cost drivers are the chosen plan
  (Personal & Startups at $55/month, Business Internal Use at $239/month, or a
  custom Enterprise contract) and staying within each plan's per-second request
  limits and monthly free data-download allowance (50 GB Personal, 100 GB
  Business). Overuse pressures an upgrade to a higher tier or Enterprise terms
  rather than incurring granular per-call overage. The underlying SEC EDGAR data
  is free and public; the fee buys the query, full-text, XBRL, dataset, and
  real-time streaming layer.
notes: >-
  Per-unit overage rates and exact data-download overage handling are not fully
  published; verify on the sec-api.io pricing page. Redistribution of the data
  requires an Enterprise license.
sources:
- https://sec-api.io/pricing
- https://sec-api.io/docs
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: SEC API
serviceCategory: Financial Data and Regulatory Filings
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Purchase
  - Usage
meters:
- name: subscription
  description: Flat monthly or annual subscription fee for the chosen plan tier.
  unit: subscription
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: api_requests
  description: API requests made against the per-second plan rate limit.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - token
  - endpoint
- name: data_download
  description: Data downloaded against the monthly free allowance (50 GB Personal, 100 GB Business).
  unit: bytes
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track requests per token and endpoint against the per-second plan limit, and monitor monthly data download against the included allowance.
- name: Allocation
  description: Use separate tokens (Enterprise) or tag internal workloads so filing-query, full-text, and dataset usage map to teams and cost centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Cache filing metadata and XBRL JSON that rarely changes; scope Lucene queries and full-text searches tightly; use the WebSocket stream instead of polling to reduce request volume; right-size the plan tier to actual request rate and data volume.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign an owner for the SEC API subscription; review monthly whether request rate and data download justify the current tier versus an upgrade or Enterprise contract.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com