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Chronicling America vs Currents

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

APIChronicling AmericaNEW—CurrentsNEW—
Uptime · 30d
Uptime · 90d—%—%
Uptime · 30d—%—%
P50 · ms——
P95 · ms——
AuthnoneapiKey
CORSnono
HTTPSyesyes
Card requirednono
Commercial useyesunclear
Data licensePublic domain / no known copyright (Library of Congress)Unverified
Free tierFree — public-domain collection dataFree tier — key may be required
Rate limitLoC throttles heavy crawling (see LoC API policy)Unpublished
In directory since2026-07-052026-07-05
operationalpartialdownno data

Chronicling America vs Currents: common questions

Which is more reliable, Chronicling America or Currents?

On our scheduled checks, Currents leads on measured uptime — Chronicling America at —% versus Currents 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 Chronicling America and Currents need an API key?

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

Can I call Chronicling America and Currents from the browser?

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

Are Chronicling America and Currents free for commercial use?

Chronicling America allows commercial use on its free tier, and Currents has unclear commercial terms. 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.