# Categories of alternative data

Canonical: https://altdataatlas.com/categories
JSON: https://altdataatlas.com/api/categories.json
As of: 2026-09-24
Licence: AltData Atlas Data Licence v1 (https://altdataatlas.com/agents#licence) — attribution required; no bulk redistribution. Not investment advice.

| # | Category | Providers | Verified | Free sample | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | [Card & Transactions](https://altdataatlas.com/category/card-transactions) | 17 | 17 | 1 | Card and transaction data is anonymised consumer payment activity — card swipes, bank transfers, and account records — aggregated into panels that estimate a company's revenue before it is reported. |
| II | [Web & Pricing Data](https://altdataatlas.com/category/web-pricing) | 34 | 34 | 6 | Web and pricing data is information collected from public websites at scale: product prices, assortment, stock status, and site traffic, captured daily and structured for analysis. |
| III | [News & Sentiment](https://altdataatlas.com/category/news-sentiment) | 41 | 38 | 0 | News and sentiment data is text — news articles, regulatory filings, earnings-call transcripts, and social media — scored by algorithms into structured measures of tone, relevance, and novelty for companies and markets. |
| IV | [Foot Traffic & Mobility](https://altdataatlas.com/category/foot-traffic) | 28 | 27 | 4 | Foot traffic and mobility data is anonymised location information from mobile devices, aggregated to measure visits to stores, venues, and regions over time. |
| V | [ESG & Climate](https://altdataatlas.com/category/esg-climate) | 9 | 8 | 2 | ESG and climate data is independent measurement of a company's environmental, social, and governance exposure — emissions, controversies, and physical climate risk — compiled from sources beyond the company's own disclosure. |
| VI | [Satellite & Geospatial](https://altdataatlas.com/category/satellite-geospatial) | 28 | 28 | 5 | Satellite and geospatial data is imagery of the Earth's surface and the measurements derived from it — ships in ports, cars in parking lots, crop health, construction activity — converted into countable investment signals. |
| VII | [Supply Chain & Shipping](https://altdataatlas.com/category/supply-chain) | 20 | 20 | 3 | Supply chain and shipping data is the record of goods in motion: vessel positions, port calls, bills of lading, and freight rates, assembled to show what is being shipped, where, and by whom. |
| VIII | [Jobs & Workforce](https://altdataatlas.com/category/jobs-workforce) | 14 | 14 | 4 | Jobs and workforce data is information on hiring and employment — job postings, employee profiles, headcount, and attrition — collected from public sources and read as a signal of a company's plans. |
| IX | [Weather & Agriculture](https://altdataatlas.com/category/weather-agriculture) | 13 | 13 | 3 | Weather and agriculture data is measurement and forecasting of physical conditions — temperature, rainfall, soil moisture, crop health — organised to predict commodity supply and weather-sensitive demand. |
| X | [App Usage & Downloads](https://altdataatlas.com/category/app-usage) | 14 | 14 | 1 | App usage data is estimated measurement of mobile application adoption — downloads, active users, engagement, and in-app revenue — derived from device panels and app-store statistics. |
| XI | [Email Receipts](https://altdataatlas.com/category/email-receipts) | 5 | 5 | 1 | Email receipt data is purchase information extracted from order confirmations in anonymised consumer email inboxes, aggregated into panels that track spending merchant by merchant. |
| XII | [Credit & Lending](https://altdataatlas.com/category/credit-lending) | 14 | 14 | 2 | Credit and lending data is information on borrowing: loan originations, delinquencies, consumer credit health, and private credit flows, aggregated from lenders, servicers, and credit files. |
| XIII | [Public Records & Filings](https://altdataatlas.com/category/public-records) | 34 | 34 | 12 | Public records and filings data is government-held information — regulatory filings, court dockets, lobbying disclosures, and contract awards — parsed into structured, searchable form. |
| XIV | [Expert Networks & Surveys](https://altdataatlas.com/category/expert-networks) | 24 | 23 | 0 | Expert network and survey data is primary research: paid consultations with industry practitioners, and the quantified surveys and transcript libraries built on that access. |
| XV | [Sensors & IoT](https://altdataatlas.com/category/sensors-iot) | 13 | 13 | 2 | Sensor and IoT data is telemetry from connected devices and industrial equipment — energy meters, machinery, vehicles — aggregated into measures of physical economic activity. |
| XVI | [Crypto & On-Chain](https://altdataatlas.com/category/crypto-onchain) | 14 | 14 | 4 | Crypto and on-chain data is the public record of blockchain activity — transactions, wallet flows, and exchange balances — combined with market data from digital-asset venues. |
| XVII | [Healthcare & Clinical](https://altdataatlas.com/category/healthcare-clinical) | 18 | 18 | 3 | Healthcare and clinical data is anonymised medical activity — insurance claims, prescription flows, and clinical-trial progress — aggregated to track drug uptake and healthcare demand. |
| XVIII | [Private Markets Signals](https://altdataatlas.com/category/private-markets) | 15 | 15 | 1 | Private markets data is information on companies that do not report publicly — funding rounds, valuations, revenue estimates, and operating metrics — assembled from filings, investors, and proprietary research. |
| XIX | [Auto & Vehicle Data](https://altdataatlas.com/category/auto-vehicle) | 3 | 3 | 0 | Auto and vehicle data is measurement of the car market: new- and used-vehicle prices, inventory, registrations, and valuations, tracked across dealers and registries. |
| XX | [Estimates, Events & Fund Flows](https://altdataatlas.com/category/estimates-events-flows) | 10 | 10 | 1 | Estimates, events, and fund-flow data is market metadata: analyst consensus, corporate-event and dividend calendars, and records of money moving in and out of funds. |

Cite as: AltData Atlas, Categories (https://altdataatlas.com/categories), as of 2026-09-24. AltData Atlas Data Licence v1.