Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find the most frequently asked questions, along with answers.

General

  • What is mediastack?

    mediastack is a free, powerful and easy-to-use REST API interface collecting news and blog articles from thousands of sources worldwide and delivering it within milliseconds in lightweight, programmatically usable JSON format. News data is gathered every minute from more than 7,500 popular sources across a variety of categories, including business, sports, education, and many more. The mediastack API is free to use for a limited number of monthly API requests, get started now and give it a try.

  • Who runs the API?

    The mediastack API is a product built and operated by apilayer, a global leader in microservice APIs running more than 15 data APIs, including interfaces for currency conversion, IP address geolocation, aviation data, stock market data, and many more. Visit www.apilayer.com for more information.

News Data & API

  • Where is mediastack's news data coming from?

    Every minute, the mediastack API interface is automatically collecting news articles from 7,500+ global news sources and blogs worldwide, parsing it and converting it into a standardized programmatic format for the purpose of ease of use. In order to ensure the highest possible level of accuracy and data consistency, each of the sources used is monitored closely and around the clock for technical or content anomalies. Additional news sources are added continously as they become available. Do you have a suggestion? Feel free to get in touch with our team.

  • How scalable is this service?

    This API service is hosted on the apilayer cloud, a rock-solid, scalable and highly available technical infrastructure capable of dealing with millions of API requests per minute. No matter which volume you are looking to process, our system has got you covered.

  • How are API requests counted?

    Each time the API is used to access or search news data, a minimum of 1 API request is counted towards your monthly allowed API request volume. Depending on the options you use, some qeries may consume more than 1 API request. For more information, please refer to our API documentation.

  • What happens if I exceed my API Request volume?

    Users will be automatically notified via e-mail and on their Account Dashboard once at least 75%, 90%, and 100% of their monthly API Request allowance has been reached. After reaching 100% of the allowance, overages fees will apply so we make sure you won’t experience any disruptions and your website/application will keep running smoothly. You can learn more about overages billing here.

  • What is the API's uptime?

    The mediastack API is built on top of a highly available cloud infrastructure, leading to an uptime of nearly 100%. For more information, feel free to take a quick look at our dedicated API status page, available at: status.mediastack.com.

Plans, Pricing & Payment

  • Which subscription plan is the right one for me?

    Your subscription plan requirements primarily depend on the monthly volume of API requests you would like to process through the mediastack API. If you are able to stay below 500 monthly API requests, you are fine staying on the Free Plan. If you require more advanced features, such as real-time news data and historical articles, the Standard or Professional Plan will be the way to go. In case you need a higher volume than what is offered on the website, you can always reach out to get a quote.

  • Which payment methods are supported?

    Payments can be made using any major credit card, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diner's Club, Discover. For large contracts with annual billing, payment via bank transfer is offered as well.

  • Can I also pay yearly?

    Yes. If you choose annual billing, the total price of your subscription plan will be up to 15% lower than the total amount you would pay with a monthly payment frequency.

  • How can I change my payment frequency?

    In order to change your billing frequency from monthly to yearly or from yearly to monthly, you will be required to downgrade your account back to the Free Plan.

    Step 1: Navigate to the Subscription page, click "Downgrade" in the Free Plan section and confirm your downgrade. Downgrades are not effective immediately, your premium subscription will remain active until the end of the current billing period.

    Step 2: Once your billing period ends and your account downgrade has become effective, navigate back to the Subscription page and click "Upgrade" in your preferred subscription plan's section. You will now be aked to choose a new billing frequency.

    If you need any assistance changing your billing frequency, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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