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Chronicling America vs Wikipedia REST

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

APIChronicling AmericaNEW—Wikipedia RESTHEALTHY—
Uptime · 30d
Uptime · 90d—%—%
Uptime · 30d—%—%
P50 · ms——
P95 · ms——
Authnonenone
CORSnoyes
HTTPSyesyes
Card requirednono
Commercial useyesyes
Data licensePublic domain / no known copyright (Library of Congress)CC BY-SA 4.0
Free tierFree — public-domain collection dataUnlimited within etiquette
Rate limitLoC throttles heavy crawling (see LoC API policy)200/sec global courtesy cap
In directory since2026-07-052026-05-09
operationalpartialdownno data

Chronicling America vs Wikipedia REST: common questions

Which is more reliable, Chronicling America or Wikipedia REST?

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

Neither needs a paid key — Chronicling America is callable with no signup, and Wikipedia REST is callable with no signup. Both are quick to prototype with; rate limits still apply.

Can I call Chronicling America and Wikipedia REST from the browser?

Only Wikipedia REST is browser-friendly — it returns CORS headers over HTTPS. Chronicling America needs a server-side call or proxy, so factor that into which one fits a front-end project.

Are Chronicling America and Wikipedia REST free for commercial use?

Chronicling America allows commercial use on its free tier, and Wikipedia REST 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.