---
title: "FundFacts API vs LSEG (Refinitiv / Lipper) for fund data"
description: "LSEG's Lipper fund data and Workspace versus a self-serve ISIN-to-JSON API built from issuer documents: scope, classification, delivery and onboarding."
canonical: https://fundfactsapi.com/compare/fundfacts-api-vs-lseg-refinitiv-lipper
published: 2026-09-04
updated: 2026-09-09
publisher: FundFacts API
---

# FundFacts API vs LSEG (Refinitiv / Lipper) for fund data

> LSEG's Lipper fund data and Workspace versus a self-serve ISIN-to-JSON API built from issuer documents: scope, classification, delivery and onboarding.

LSEG Data & Analytics (formerly Refinitiv) owns Lipper, one of the oldest fund databases, and delivers it through Workspace and enterprise feeds. FundFacts API is a narrow, self-serve alternative for teams that need issuer-published fund facts rather than a global fund database.

## At a glance

| Criterion | FundFacts API | LSEG Data & Analytics (Refinitiv, Lipper) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scope | Fund and ETF factsheet data only: key facts, fees, holdings, exposures, risk indicator, performance, risk metrics | Global fund database (Lipper) with classifications, performance, fees and awards, inside a multi-asset market data platform |
| Classification | Transparent profile computed from the payload with published rules | Lipper Global Classification and Lipper Leader scores (proprietary) |
| Input key | Any fund or ETF ISIN, one REST call | RIC and Lipper identifiers, plus ISIN and other standard codes |
| Refresh | Reloaded from the issuer's current documents every 24 hours; response carries dataAsOf | Daily prices; fund data updated on the vendor's schedule |
| Delivery | REST JSON, OpenAPI spec, TypeScript types | Workspace desktop and web, Data Platform APIs, bulk feeds |
| Onboarding | Self-serve: free key in a minute, no contract, card only for paid plans | Sales-led enterprise contract |
| Pricing | Published: Free $0 (5 lookups/month), Starter $9.99/month, Pro $49/month, Scale $249/month, metered enterprise $0.01/request | Quoted by LSEG sales; not published as a self-serve price list |
| AI tooling | AI companion kit (AGENTS.md, Cursor rule, Claude Code skill, OpenAPI, TypeScript types) on paid plans | Vendor AI features inside Workspace; developer libraries for licensed APIs |

## The enterprise database

Lipper's value is breadth and history: tens of thousands of share classes across every domicile, consistent classification, decades of performance, and integration with the rest of LSEG's market data. If you need to rank a fund against its global peer group over twenty years, that is the class of product to license.

## The narrow API

FundFacts API answers a different question: "what does this fund's management company currently say about it?" One ISIN returns the document set as JSON, with the [KID](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/kid) risk indicator, the [ongoing charges](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/ongoing-charges), holdings, exposures and returns as printed. The trade-offs are deliberate:

- Coverage follows the issuers whose documents are public and readable; see [coverage](https://fundfactsapi.com/coverage).
- History is what the document set carries, plus a daily [NAV](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/nav) series where the issuer publishes one.
- No peer groups; `profile.category` is a composed label, not a ranking universe.

## Building on it

```ts
const res = await fetch("https://fundfactsapi.com/api/v1/funds/LU0106235293", {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FUNDFACTS_API_KEY}` },
});
const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data.riskRating, data.headlineMetrics.ter, data.topHoldings.length);
```

The [use-case pages](https://fundfactsapi.com/use-cases) show how screeners, look-through tools and client reports are assembled from these fields.

## Verdict

Choose LSEG when you need a global, classified fund database with deep history inside an enterprise platform. Choose FundFacts API when a product needs current issuer-published facts per ISIN, integrated in a day, at a published price.

_Descriptions of other providers are based on their public websites and documentation as of September 2026 and may be out of date; check the vendor for current features and pricing. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners. FundFacts API is not affiliated with any of them. Nothing here is investment advice._

## About FundFacts API

FundFacts turns any fund or ETF ISIN into one dated factsheet (fees and KID costs, the 1–7 risk indicator, holdings, sector and country exposure, returns) read from the fund house's own documents: as a client-ready PDF under your firm's name for advisers and wealth managers, as JSON through its API for developers, or inside ChatGPT and Claude through its MCP server.

FundFacts works inside ChatGPT and Claude as a connector (a remote MCP server): ask about any fund or ETF by ISIN, ticker or name and the assistant answers from FundFacts' dated figures, fees, risk, holdings, exposure and returns, with fund cards, side-by-side comparisons, holdings overlap and portfolio look-through.

- Free API key, no card: https://fundfactsapi.com/signup
- Documentation: https://fundfactsapi.com/docs (OpenAPI: https://fundfactsapi.com/openapi.json)
- MCP server: https://fundfactsapi.com/api/mcp (set-up for every client: https://fundfactsapi.com/mcp-server)
- Pricing: https://fundfactsapi.com/pricing
- Site index for AI assistants: https://fundfactsapi.com/llms.txt
- Informational data, not investment advice.