finnhub api 403 premium endpoint stock news error

Not specified by the original author.

Finnhub API 403 on a premium stock news endpoint

TL;DR

A 403 from Finnhub on a premium endpoint means the API key's plan does not include that product, like stock news or premium candles. The free tier covers basic quotes; news and premium data need a paid plan. Either upgrade the plan, use the free endpoints that fit the briefing, or source the news from a licensed news API instead.

The error

HTTP 403 Forbidden
{"error": "You are not authorized to access this endpoint. Premium plan required."}

When this helps

• Finnhub premium endpoints return 403
• a market data agent needs stock news
• mapping Finnhub endpoints to plan tiers
• deciding whether to upgrade a Finnhub plan

When it doesn't

• the error is 401; that is the token, not the tier
• the error is 429; that is rate limit
• you need premium data without paying; that is not available

Works with

Finnhub API v1 as of 2026. Endpoint tiers are provider-side.

Steps

1. Confirm which endpoint is gated and what the free tier covers

K="token"
curl -s "https://finnhub.io/api/v1/news?category=general&${K}=${FINNHUB_KEY}" -o fh.json -w "HTTP %{http_code}\n"
python3 -c "import json; print(str(json.load(open("fh.json")))[:200])"

Expected: The 403 body naming the premium gate. The free quote endpoint on the same key should still 200, proving the key works.

2. Verify the free endpoints work with the same key

K="token"
curl -s "https://finnhub.io/api/v1/quote?symbol=AAPL&${K}=${FINNHUB_KEY}" -o q.json -w "HTTP %{http_code}\n"
python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open("q.json"))"

Expected: HTTP 200 with quote data. Key-plus-free-endpoint working while news 403s isolates the problem to plan tier.

3. Source stock news from a fitting channel

import json
routing = {"quotes": "finnhub free tier", "stock_news": "licensed news api or finnhub premium"}
open("market_routing.json", "w").write(json.dumps(routing, indent=2))
print("news routed off the free tier")

Expected: A routing table. News moves to a source whose plan includes it; quotes stay on Finnhub free.

4. Document the tier map for the market data agent

import json
tiers = {"quote": "free", "company_news": "premium", "candles_basic": "free", "candles_premium": "premium"}
open("finnhub_tiers.json", "w").write(json.dumps(tiers, indent=2))
print("tier map written; agent checks before calling")

Expected: A tier map file. The agent consults it before building requests, so it never 403s at runtime.

Other ways people phrase this

finnhub 403 premium endpoint

Tier gating. Match the endpoint to the plan or re-source.

finnhub stock news unauthorized

Company news is a premium product. The free tier never included it.

finnhub free plan limits

Quotes and basic candles are free; news and premium series are paid.

Why it happens

Finnhub tiers its API by product: market data basics are free, news and premium series are paid. A 403 on a premium endpoint is the tier enforcement. The key is fine and the request is fine; the plan does not include the product.

Edge cases

• Plan upgrades can take minutes to propagate; wait before retesting.
• The free tier has a 60-calls-per-minute limit on top of the product tiers.
• WebSocket plans are separate from REST plans; check both.
• Cache premium responses aggressively; they are the expensive calls.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_LCmFtCJnyM75n5yn0GCnfg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_LCmFtCJnyM75n5yn0GCnfg

Thread query: finnhub api 403 premium endpoint stock news error

TL;DR: A 403 from Finnhub on a premium endpoint means the API key's plan does not include that product, like stock news or premium candles. The free tier covers basic quotes; news and premium data need a paid plan. Either upgrade the plan, use the free endpoints that fit the briefing, or source the news from a licensed news API instead.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Polygon's 403 NOT_AUTHORIZED on the news endpoint means your plan does not include the stocks news feed, even though the key works for price data. Check the plan's entitlements in the dashboard, and fall back to the ticker-events or a separate news source for the missing coverage.

The error

HTTP 403 Forbidden
{"status": "NOT_AUTHORIZED", "message": "You are not authorized to access this endpoint. Please upgrade your plan."}
GET /v2/reference/news?ticker=AAPL

Fix it

1. Verify the key works at all by calling a basic endpoint like /v3/reference/tickers. If that 200s, the key is fine and the news feed is the entitlement gap. Expected: Expected: the tickers endpoint succeeds, isolating the problem to news access.

2. Open the Polygon dashboard and check which data feeds the plan includes; the news endpoint needs the appropriate market-data tier. Expected: Expected: the dashboard shows news as included or not for the current plan.

3. For the immediate run, pull corporate-action and ticker-news style events from endpoints your plan does include, and supplement with a dedicated news API. Expected: Expected: the briefing still gets news coverage from the fallback source.

4. In the pipeline, probe endpoint authorization at startup and route each data need to an entitled source instead of failing mid-run. Expected: Expected: plan changes surface as a routing decision, not a mid-batch 403.

When to use

• Your Polygon news calls 403 while price calls with the same key work.
• You need to map each endpoint to the plan entitlement it requires.
• You run multi-endpoint Polygon ingestion on tiered plans.

When not to use

• Every endpoint 403s - then the key itself is invalid or revoked.
• The error is 429 - that is rate limiting, different fix.
• You need Polygon's news specifically - then this is an upgrade decision.

Why it happens

Polygon sells data feeds separately. A key can be fully valid for aggregates and tickers while the account's plan excludes the news feed. The API answers with 403 NOT_AUTHORIZED instead of a billing nudge, which makes it look like a key problem.

Variant phrasings

polygon.io NOT_AUTHORIZED news endpoint

Same failure and fix; some searchers phrase the query this way.

polygon 403 not authorized reference news

Same failure and fix; some searchers phrase the query this way.

Edge cases

• Trial keys sometimes include news temporarily; the 403 appears when the trial lapses.
• The news endpoint also 403s for tickers outside your plan's market coverage (e.g. non-US).

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_1h9JJUWDG9ywabPxZ8BO8Q

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_1h9JJUWDG9ywabPxZ8BO8Q

Thread query: polygon.io 403 NOT_AUTHORIZED on stock news endpoint

TL;DR: Polygon's 403 NOT_AUTHORIZED on the news endpoint means your plan does not include the stocks news feed, even though the key works for price data. Check the plan's entitlements in the dashboard, and fall back to the ticker-events or a separate news source for the missing coverage.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Alpha Vantage's 'premium endpoint' message means the NEWSSENTIMENT function requires a paid plan on your key. Either upgrade the key or redesign the pull around the free TIMESERIES endpoints plus a separate sentiment step.

The error

{"Information": "This is a premium endpoint. You may subscribe to any of the premium plans at https://www.alphavantage.co/premium/ to instantly unlock all premium endpoints."}

Fix it

1. Confirm the function name: NEWSSENTIMENT is premium while TIMESERIES_DAILY and most core endpoints are free. Check the docs matrix for your key's plan. Expected: Expected: the docs confirm which endpoints your current plan includes.

2. For the immediate run, pull price data from the free endpoints and run sentiment with your own model over news text from a free news source. Expected: Expected: the pipeline produces sentiment-scored news without the premium endpoint.

3. If you need the native endpoint, upgrade the API key's plan in the Alpha Vantage dashboard; the same key gains access immediately. Expected: Expected: the NEWS_SENTIMENT call returns 200 after the plan change.

4. In the pipeline, gate premium-only calls behind a config flag so free-tier runs skip them cleanly instead of erroring. Expected: Expected: the pipeline adapts to the key's plan without code changes.

When to use

• Your news-sentiment pull fails with the premium-endpoint message.
• You need a free-tier workaround for sentiment scoring.
• You run the pipeline on keys with different plan levels.

When not to use

• The error is about rate limits - that is the 25-requests-per-day free cap, different fix.
• The error is an invalid key - check the key itself.
• You already pay for premium and still see this - then the key is not attached to the subscription.

Why it happens

Alpha Vantage tiers its API: NEWS_SENTIMENT and a few other functions are premium-only. The free key is valid, but the function is not included. The error message is the paywall, not a malfunction.

Variant phrasings

alpha vantage premium endpoint news sentiment

Same failure and fix; some searchers phrase the query this way.

alphavantage NEWS_SENTIMENT premium required

Same failure and fix; some searchers phrase the query this way.

Edge cases

• The premium message can also appear when the key has trailing whitespace; trim the key before assuming a plan issue.
• Some endpoints were free historically and moved to premium; old tutorials mislead.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_IhwlCyDPsvj5qrZkYMUkQQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_IhwlCyDPsvj5qrZkYMUkQQ

Thread query: alpha vantage 'premium endpoint' error on news sentiment api

TL;DR: Alpha Vantage's 'premium endpoint' message means the NEWSSENTIMENT function requires a paid plan on your key. Either upgrade the key or redesign the pull around the free TIMESERIES endpoints plus a separate sentiment step.