A databento alternative makes sense once you weigh Databento’s $199-a-month entry price and its explicit refusal to calculate options greeks against what a retail-priced options API already includes. We ranked 17 options data providers on the same six criteria we use throughout this series.
Databento is built for a different buyer than most names on this list. It sells nanosecond-timestamped order books and raw PCAP capture for market replay, priced by the gigabyte or by a flat monthly plan, plus futures data from exchanges most retail APIs never touch. It raised a $97 million Series B in July 2026. Nobody here matches that depth. This page is for the reader Databento’s own pricing prices out.
Is Databento worth it for a solo developer?
Usually not. Databento has no perpetual free tier, only a $125 signup credit that expires after six months, and its cheapest flat real-time plan is $199 a month for one dataset. A retail options trader or a small app rarely needs tick-level order books at that price.
Which options data provider is the best databento alternative?
The options data providers ranking scores all 17, Databento included; this table leaves it out.
| Rank | Provider | Score | Best for | Cost of real-time US options, API |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ThetaData | 8.6 | 3rd-order Greeks at low cost | $40/mo |
| 2 | Market Data | 7.1 | Real-time OPRA chains with Greeks | $30/mo (annual) |
| 3 | ORATS | 6.9 | Smoothed volatility surfaces for options | $299/mo |
| 4 | Tradier | 6.8 | Free real-time OPRA with Greeks | Free, partial |
| 5 | Unusual Whales | 6.1 | Real-time options flow and GEX | $150/mo |
| 6 | Massive | 5.8 | Real-time OPRA with computed Greeks | $159.2/mo (annual) |
| 7 | EODHD | 5.6 | Cheap EOD options with Greeks | Not offered |
| 8 | Intrinio | 5.5 | Full Greeks, Enterprise-priced OPRA | $150/mo |
| 8 | Sheets Finance | 5.5 | 20+ years of options history in Sheets | Not offered |
| 10 | Barchart | 5.4 | Equity and futures options with GEX | Price not published, partial |
| 12 | Alpaca | 5.1 | Free indicative options data | $99/mo |
| 13 | Cboe DataShop | 4.9 | Exchange-of-record OPRA history | $2,499/mo |
| 14 | MarketXLS | 4.8 | Full Excel options chains with Greeks | Not offered |
| 15 | Wisesheets | 4.7 | Cheap options access in Sheets | Not offered |
| 16 | Alpha Vantage | 3.3 | Basic real-time options endpoint | $166.58/mo (annual) |
| 17 | Yahoo Finance | 2.1 | Free but always-delayed options | Not offered |
| Feature | ThetaData | Market Data | ORATS | Massive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US options | Excellent, full OPRA 1 | Excellent, real-time OPRA (Trader+) | Excellent, full US options 2 | Excellent, real-time OPRA (Advanced) 3 |
| Real-time options | Yes, unlimited requests 4 | OPRA real-time on Trader plan+ | Yes, <10s delay, live tiers 5 | Real-time from Advanced ($199/mo) 3 |
| Greeks and IV | Excellent, up to 3rd order 1 | Real-time only, no historical | Excellent, SMV-smoothed Greeks 5 | Computed; latency follows quote tier 3 |
| Options history | Excellent, tick-level since 2012 1 | EOD chains since 2010, unadjusted | Excellent, EOD 2007, 1-min 2020 6 | Up to 5+yr (Advanced), shallower 3 |
| Free tier | $0, EOD only, 1yr history 7 | 100 credits/day, 1yr history, delayed | None; $29/14-day paid trial only 5 | 5 calls/min, 2yr history, EOD only 8 |
| Cheapest paid plan | $40/mo (Options Value) 4 | $12/mo (Starter, annual) | $99/mo (Trading Tools Individual) 5 | $23.20/mo (Stocks Starter, annual) 8 |
| Cost of real-time stocks + options | Price not published, partial 4 | $30/mo (annual) 9 | $299/mo 5 | $318.4/mo (annual) 8 |
| Cost of real-time US stocks, API | Price not published 4 | $12/mo (annual) 9 | $299/mo 5 | $159.2/mo (annual) 8 |
| Cost of real-time US options, API | $40/mo 4 | $30/mo (annual) 9 | $299/mo 5 | $159.2/mo (annual) 3 |
Sources for this table, checked 2026-09-26
ThetaData
8.6/10 Up to 3rd-order Greeks and tick-level history since 2012, the deepest options analytics here for $40/month.
- Option chains, and how fresh ×2
- 9/10
- Greeks and implied volatility ×1.5
- 10/10
- Historical options data ×1.5
- 10/10
- Price for value ×2
- 9/10
- Ease of use ×1
- 4/10
- Commercial path ×0.5
- 6/10
Strengths
- Up to 3rd-order Greeks (Vanna, Charm, Speed, Zomma, Color)
- Tick-level options history since 2012-06-01
- $40/mo Options Value plan, real-time included
Weaknesses
- REST API and Excel add-in both need a local Java Terminal
ThetaData ranks first here and sells the closest thing to Databento’s own tick-level options history, back to June 2012, at $40 a month instead of $199. Its REST API and Excel add-in run through a local Theta Terminal, though a Python library shipped in May 2026 connects straight to ThetaData’s servers and skips the Terminal entirely.
Market Data
7.1/10 Real-time OPRA chains with free Greeks/IV, but no historical Greeks and coverage stops at US options.
- Option chains, and how fresh ×2
- 8/10
- Greeks and implied volatility ×1.5
- 6/10
- Historical options data ×1.5
- 6/10
- Price for value ×2
- 8/10
- Ease of use ×1
- 7/10
- Commercial path ×0.5
- 6/10
Strengths
- Real-time OPRA on the Trader plan and above
- Full Greeks and IV on every real-time quote, no extra cost
- EOD chains back to 2010, including expired contracts
Weaknesses
- No historical Greeks/IV for backtesting
- No websocket streaming for options
Our options API returns full OPRA chains with first-order greeks and implied volatility on every real-time quote, the exact calculation Databento states it does not provide. Real-time options start on the $30-a-month Trader plan, billed per contract returned, one credit each; the 30-day trial never includes real-time options.
ORATS
6.9/10 Proprietary SMV-smoothed Greeks and surfaces back to 2007, with no free tier.
- Option chains, and how fresh ×2
- 8/10
- Greeks and implied volatility ×1.5
- 9/10
- Historical options data ×1.5
- 9/10
- Price for value ×2
- 5/10
- Ease of use ×1
- 5/10
- Commercial path ×0.5
- 1/10
Strengths
- SMV-smoothed Greeks and IV surfaces, methodology named
- EOD history to 2007, 1-minute intraday since 2020
- Hosted backtester (Trading Tools)
Weaknesses
- No free tier, $29 paid trial only
- Redistribution forbidden
ORATS layers smoothed volatility surfaces and greeks on top of its data, exactly what Databento leaves to the buyer to compute with its own published Black-76 tutorial. The Data API starts at $199 a month for delayed data, the same entry price as Databento’s cheapest real-time plan.
Massive
5.8/10 Real-time OPRA from $199/mo, with computed Greeks and up to 5+ years of history.
- Option chains, and how fresh ×2
- 8/10
- Greeks and implied volatility ×1.5
- 6/10
- Historical options data ×1.5
- 5/10
- Price for value ×2
- 3/10
- Ease of use ×1
- 8/10
- Commercial path ×0.5
- 6/10
Strengths
- Real-time OPRA options from $199/mo
- Up to 5+ years of options history on Advanced+
Weaknesses
- Trustpilot 2.3/5 (6 reviews)
- Real-time gated behind the $199/mo Advanced tier
Massive is the closer match to Databento’s own developer experience: a REST and WebSocket API, first-party SDKs, and options alongside stocks, forex, crypto and futures in one account. Real-time OPRA options need the $199 Advanced plan, the same as Databento’s cheapest flat plan.
Does any databento alternative compute options greeks?
Yes, most of them. Databento states plainly that it does not calculate greeks or implied volatility, and publishes a tutorial for computing them yourself with the Black-76 model. ThetaData and Market Data return greeks with each quote, and ORATS adds full volatility surfaces.
Which databento alternative fits which need?
Databento also sells raw US equities data, and it ranks 11th of 17 on our best stock API list, well behind EODHD and Financial Modeling Prep on price and breadth. It has no fundamentals data and no Sheets or Excel integration; there is nothing free to try, either.
For the cheapest real tick-level options history, ThetaData. For pre-built volatility surfaces instead of raw quotes, ORATS. For one account that also covers everything outside options, forex, crypto and futures included, Massive. For OPRA chains with greeks included at no extra cost and a Google Sheets add-on, ours, from the $12-a-month Starter plan. Commercial redistribution through our partner Intrinio starts at $333 a month; Databento’s cheapest bundle with redistribution, its DBEQ equities feed, is $825 a month. The ranking of financial data providers compares all of them on more than options.
What if you need a commercial license for Databento?
We refer you to our partner Intrinio. We made that change in February 2025, after IEX ended free redistribution of real-time stock prices for business use, because exchange compliance for business customers was more than our small team could handle.
The volume is steady: from 1 to 25 September 2026 we passed on 22 commercial enquiries. Each one described a product that would show prices, or something built from them, to other people.
How much does a full options chain cost on our plans?
It depends on the chain, because we bill real-time options at one credit per contract returned. The Trader plan’s 100,000 daily credits cover polling a few contracts all session.
A full SPX chain is another matter: at more than 22,000 contracts, pulling it every minute needs the Quant or Prime plan. We gave a developer exactly that answer in September 2026.
When should you stick with Databento?
Institutional buyers with a compliance team and a real use for raw order-book replay are the one group this page does not serve well. For them, Databento’s own pricing page is the next stop, not this ranking. Most other buyers pay less with the providers above, and our options data page describes what we sell instead.
If Databento is one of several providers on your list, our pages on ThetaData alternatives and Polygon alternatives use the same rankings.
For Databento against Massive alone, read Databento vs Polygon.