# Bloomberg Professional vs FRED Economic Data

The clearest difference is update cadence: Bloomberg Professional at every 2 weeks against FRED Economic Data's every 4 months. Bloomberg Professional also leads on rating (3.7 vs 3.4) and ratings volume (459 vs 87). FRED Economic Data's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.1). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

Bloomberg Professional holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bloomberg Professional has 459 ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Bloomberg Professional's written reviews are positive against 37% of FRED Economic Data's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Bloomberg Professional ships an update every 2 weeks, FRED Economic Data every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bloomberg Professional | FRED Economic Data |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.7 (459 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bloomberg-professional/id407761767/reviews)** | [3.4 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fred-economic-data/id451715489/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **459** | 87 |
| Positive reviews | 33.5% of reviews | **37.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 4 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 159 MB | 26 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bloomberg Finance LP](https://appshunter.io/developer/281941100) | [Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis](https://appshunter.io/developer/451715492) |

## What reviewers say

### Bloomberg Professional

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bloomberg-professional/id407761767)

Access key Bloomberg Terminal functions on your mobile device. Stay updated with breaking news, market data, and communicate with colleagues and clients. Requires a Bloomberg Terminal and Bloomberg Anywhere subscription.

**Highlights:** Breaking news updates, Market data access, Instant Bloomberg messaging, Security data and research, Portfolio tracking, Customizable alerts

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Productive on the go
- 🚀 Frequently updated
- 💡 Great for research and preset monitors
- 🚀 Versatile and replicates terminal functions

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔍 Lacking key terminal functionality
- 🔍 Clunky and counterintuitive UI
- 🔍 Slow performance and refresh issues
- 🔍 Forced updates and device compatibility issues

**Reported bugs**

- Search function not working
- Worksheet views and column widths issues
- Portfolios not loading properly
- Incompatibility with older iOS versions

**Requested features**

- Add IB chat functionality
- Improve portfolio management features
- Allow offline content access
- Provide more customization options
- Integrate with iPhone calendar for events


### 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 Bloomberg Professional free?

Bloomberg Professional 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, Bloomberg Professional or FRED Economic Data?

Bloomberg Professional is rated higher. Bloomberg Professional averages 3.7 out of 5 from 459 ratings, while FRED Economic Data averages 3.4 from 87 ratings.

### Do Bloomberg Professional or FRED Economic Data have ads?

Neither Bloomberg Professional nor FRED Economic Data shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bloomberg Professional or FRED Economic Data?

Bloomberg Professional ships an update every 2 weeks, and FRED Economic Data every 4 months. Most recently, Bloomberg Professional was updated on October 20, 2026 and FRED Economic Data on October 12, 2026.

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