Databento vs Polygon is really Databento vs Massive today: Polygon.io renamed to Massive on 30 October 2025, with the same keys and pricing carried over. Databento wins on nanosecond tick data and futures order books; Massive wins on a cheaper, self-serve real-time stocks and options API with websockets, an MCP server, and a free tier Databento does not offer.
Databento vs Polygon: the head-to-head
Both APIs sell US market data by the call or the flat plan, but they were built for different buyers. This databento vs massive comparison is really about scale: Massive’s ladder runs from a free, rate-limited tier up to a $199-a-month Advanced plan with real-time stocks and options. Databento has no perpetual free tier, and its cheapest flat real-time plan is also $199 a month, priced for a quant desk rather than a hobbyist. The table below lines up the two against our own numbers.
| Feature | Databento | Massive | Market Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real-time US stocks | Yes, real-time consolidated 1 | Real-time from Advanced ($199/mo) 2 | SmartMid (API); IEX quote (Sheets) |
| Stock price history | 16+ yrs L0; 1yr L1 3 | 2yr free; 20+yr (to 2003) Advanced+ 2 | 2010 onward; 1-5yr free, unlimited paid |
| US options | Excellent, OPRA + futures options 4 | Excellent, real-time OPRA (Advanced) 5 | Excellent, real-time OPRA (Trader+) |
| Fundamentals | No 1 | Good, ratios add-on $29/mo flat | Earnings only, no financials |
| WebSocket streaming | Yes, proprietary binary protocol 1 | Yes 5 | No 6 |
| Official SDKs | Python, Rust, C++ 7 | Python, JS/TS, Go, Java/Kotlin 8 | Python, JS, TS, Java, C#, Go, PHP |
| Google Sheets | None 1 | None found 9 | Native add-on, free |
| Excel | None 1 | None found 9 | Not yet (planned) |
| AI agents and MCP | Unofficial community project only 10 | Yes, dedicated MCP server 11 | No |
| Free tier | No; $125 signup credit, 6mo 3 | 5 calls/min, 2yr history, EOD only 2 | 100 credits/day, 1yr history, delayed |
| Cheapest paid plan | $199/mo (CME Standard) 3 | $23.20/mo (Stocks Starter, annual) 2 | $12/mo (Starter, annual) |
| Cost of real-time stocks + options | Price not published, partial 3 | $318.4/mo (annual) 2 | $30/mo (annual) 12 |
| Trustpilot | Not published (0 reviews, unclaimed) | 2.3 of 5 (6 reviews) 13 | 4.5 of 5 (110 reviews) 14 |
Sources for this table, checked 2026-09-26
- databento.com/
- massive.com/pricing
- databento.com/pricing
- databento.com/options
- massive.com/pricing?product=options
- marketdata.app/llms.txt
- github.com/databento
- github.com/massive-com
- massive.com
- news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47768969
- massive.com/docs
- marketdata.app/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md
- trustpilot.com/review/polygon.io
- trustpilot.com/review/www.marketdata.app
Why did Polygon rename itself to Massive?
Polygon.io became Massive on 30 October 2025. Its API keys and pricing stayed the same, and so did every SDK, so an integration built against Polygon.io still works under the new name. A developer moving off Polygon in June 2026 asked if our annual price would jump the following year — it doesn’t, for any customer, ever.
Databento
5.4/10 Nanosecond real-time and 16+ years of tick data, at a $199/month floor with no free tier.
- Real-time stock prices ×2
- 7/10
- Historical depth ×1.5
- 7/10
- Breadth ×1
- 3/10
- Price for value ×2
- 2/10
- Developer experience ×1.5
- 7/10
- Reliability and reputation ×1.5
- 6/10
Strengths
- Real-time consolidated tick data
- 16+ years of Level 0 history
- $97M Series B, July 2026
Weaknesses
- No free tier, cheapest flat plan is $199/mo
- No Google Sheets or Excel product
Databento sells raw, nanosecond-timestamped order-book data to quant funds and prop shops, not app builders. Its cheapest flat plan is $199 a month for CME Globex, and its historical options data reaches back to 2013. It states plainly that it does not calculate options greeks or implied volatility. That is a real gap next to Massive and Market Data, both of which compute greeks on every quote. There is no perpetual free tier; new signups get a $125 credit for historical data only, good for six months. Databento’s own Trustpilot page shows zero reviews, unclaimed.
Massive
6.3/10 Full-SIP real-time and 20+ years of history, but real-time starts at $199/month.
- Real-time stock prices ×2
- 6/10
- Historical depth ×1.5
- 9/10
- Breadth ×1
- 6/10
- Price for value ×2
- 5/10
- Developer experience ×1.5
- 9/10
- Reliability and reputation ×1.5
- 3/10
Strengths
- Full-SIP real-time equities from $199/mo
- 20+ years of history back to 2003
- 4 official SDKs plus an MCP server
Weaknesses
- Real-time gated to the $199/mo Advanced tier
- Trustpilot 2.3/5 (6 reviews)
Massive is the broader, cheaper self-serve choice: real-time full-SIP stocks and OPRA options from its $199-a-month Advanced plan, a free tier with 5 calls a minute, and options greeks included from the $29-a-month Starter tier up, though their freshness follows the plan’s own quote delay. It ships websocket streaming and flat files, plus a dedicated MCP server that Databento does not have. A Google Apps Script user hit Market Data’s single-IP limit on a rotating-IP setup, trialed Massive the same afternoon, and it worked — then cancelled Market Data within the hour. That is a real sign of Massive’s pull on a script-driven developer. Its Trustpilot rating is 2.3 out of 5 on 6 reviews, the weakest of the three providers here.
Why does our API accept one IP address at a time?
The exchanges treat a data product as controlled when the vendor can show that one customer device at a time reads the data and none of it is passed on. That status is what keeps our real-time prices low, so each account accepts one IP address and no serverless functions.
The rule has a cost, and we have watched it. In September 2026 a customer calling our API from Google Apps Script, whose outbound IP addresses rotate, hit the limit. We explained why and pointed him to our Sheets add-on, which refreshes safely. Thirty-three minutes later he wrote that Massive allowed his setup, and asked us to cancel.
What if you need a commercial license for Databento and Massive?
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.
Should you choose Databento or Massive?
Choose Databento if you need tick-level order books or futures across CME and ICE, and your budget starts at $199 a month with no greeks included. Choose Massive if you want one API for US equities and options, plus other asset classes, with websockets and an MCP server, and can work within a personal-use license below its $1,999-a-month Business tier.
Neither sells a Google Sheets or Excel add-on. Market Data is a narrower fit: US stocks and options only, with real-time options from the $30-a-month Trader plan billed annually and free Greeks and IV on every real-time quote, and it is the wrong choice for tick-level history, futures, or any asset class outside US equities and options. Real-time options cost one credit per contract returned, on the Trader plan and above, and the 30-day trial never includes them. Our own stock data API and options data API pages cover what we do offer.
For the full picture on price and coverage, see our ranking of financial data providers and, for stock APIs specifically, the best stock API comparison.