# CME Group vs FRED Economic Data

The clearest difference is rating: CME Group at 4.7 against FRED Economic Data's 3.4. CME Group also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (58% vs 37%). FRED Economic Data's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

CME Group holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CME Group has 4K ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of CME Group's written reviews are positive against 37% of FRED Economic Data's.

CME Group ships an update fortnightly, FRED Economic Data every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | CME Group | FRED Economic Data |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cme-group/id373569003/reviews)** | [3.4 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fred-economic-data/id451715489/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4K** | 87 |
| Positive reviews | **57.9% of reviews** | 37.1% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 4 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 33 MB | 26 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [CME Group, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/373569006) | [Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis](https://appshunter.io/developer/451715492) |

## What reviewers say

### CME Group

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cme-group/id373569003)

This app provides access to a diverse derivatives marketplace, offering tools for market insight and strategic planning. Track futures and options, practice with a trading simulator, and receive alerts on market movements and block trades.

**Highlights:** Product watchlists, Simulated trading environment, Trading challenges, Push notifications for trades and price moves, Delayed market data, Economic research and analysis, Block trade viewing, Interactive charts

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 💡 Valuable data and insights
- 🔒 Secure platform

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Bugs and crashes
- 📉 Declining user experience after updates
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate
- 💤 Slow data updates

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on launch
- Quotes and watchlists disappearing
- Forced portrait mode on iPad
- Errors when signing up

**Requested features**

- Add multi-language support
- Improve widget functionality
- Enhance charting capabilities
- Introduce customization options


### FRED Economic Data

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fred-economic-data/id451715489)

Access a vast collection of economic data from numerous sources on the go. Visualize trends with custom graphs and easily share insights. Stay updated with the latest economic news and research.

**Highlights:** Access 149,000+ economic data series, Browse data by category, source, or popularity, Create custom data graphs, Store favorite data series, Share data series and graphs, Receive economic news and updates

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Access to economic data
- 👍 Useful for fact-checking
- 👍 Comprehensive data source
- 👍 Handy for quick conversations
- 👍 Great content

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App is non-functional
- 🐛 Broken experience
- 🐛 Web slop or React Native
- 🐛 Cropped graph images
- 🐛 Unreadable charts

**Reported bugs**

- App is non-functional
- Graph images are cropped
- Graph images are cropped, only top half visible
- Saving photo only saves top half of graph
- Cannot login with Apple account

**Requested features**

- Include widgets for favorites
- Include all web version edit graph features
- Allow saving and sharing in multiple formats (PDF, Excel)
- View saved dashboards
- Use graphing editor tool


## Frequently asked questions

### Is CME Group free?

CME Group is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is FRED Economic Data free?

FRED Economic Data is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, CME Group or FRED Economic Data?

CME Group is rated higher. CME Group averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4K ratings, while FRED Economic Data averages 3.4 from 87 ratings.

### Do CME Group or FRED Economic Data have ads?

Neither CME Group nor FRED Economic Data shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, CME Group or FRED Economic Data?

CME Group ships an update fortnightly, and FRED Economic Data every 4 months. Most recently, CME Group was updated on September 24, 2026 and FRED Economic Data on September 19, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*