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BuyWhere vs Chronicling America

Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.

APIBuyWhereNEW—Chronicling AmericaNEW—
Uptime · 30d
Uptime · 90d—%—%
Uptime · 30d—%—%
P50 · ms——
P95 · ms——
AuthapiKeynone
CORSnono
HTTPSyesyes
Card requirednono
Commercial useunclearyes
Data licenseUnverifiedPublic domain / no known copyright (Library of Congress)
Free tierFree tier — key may be requiredFree — public-domain collection data
Rate limitUnpublishedLoC throttles heavy crawling (see LoC API policy)
In directory since2026-07-052026-07-05
operationalpartialdownno data

BuyWhere vs Chronicling America: common questions

Which is more reliable, BuyWhere or Chronicling America?

On our scheduled checks, Chronicling America leads on measured uptime — BuyWhere at —% versus Chronicling America at —% over 90 days. These are our own probe results, not provider claims; the uptime bars above show the day-by-day record for both.

Do BuyWhere and Chronicling America need an API key?

Chronicling America needs no key, while BuyWhere requires a free API key. If you want to start calling without signup, reach for Chronicling America first.

Can I call BuyWhere and Chronicling America from the browser?

Neither sends browser-friendly CORS headers reliably, so call BuyWhere and Chronicling America from a server or proxy rather than client-side. The CORS and HTTPS rows above show exactly what we detected for each.

Are BuyWhere and Chronicling America free for commercial use?

BuyWhere has unclear commercial terms, and Chronicling America allows commercial use on its free tier. We track service terms and the data license as separate fields — see the Commercial use and Data license rows above, and confirm both before shipping either in a paid product.