MarketXLS ranks first of the 14 ways to get stock data into Excel that we scored, so a marketxls alternative is worth it only for a specific reason: price, a free plan, or longer options history. We rank last on that ranking, because our Excel add-in has not shipped. We checked the 13 others on 26 September 2026.
We sell a Google Sheets add-on and a REST API, not an Excel product, so this page names better Excel choices first and explains our own gap after.
Why would you look for a marketxls alternative?
MarketXLS has no free tier at any price, forbids redistribution and resale on every plan, and sells no REST API: everything runs through Excel or Google Sheets formulas, so a developer who wants a plain HTTP endpoint has to look elsewhere. Its own $70-a-month entry plan carries no real-time data either; streaming only starts on the $125 Advanced plan.
Where does MarketXLS beat every alternative here, including us?
MarketXLS sells 1,284 spreadsheet formulas and 163 templates. Coverage runs from stocks and options to crypto and funds, streaming in real time from its $125-a-month Advanced plan, in Excel on Windows and Mac. It ranks first of the 14 providers in our Excel ranking, and its own npm-published MCP server lets an AI agent query the same formulas.
Its software license still forbids redistribution and resale on every published plan.
Which marketxls alternative ranks best for Excel?
Each option is scored 0 to 10 on six criteria, from whether it works natively inside Excel to which platforms it runs on, as our full Excel stock data ranking explains in detail. Sheets Finance ranks first of the 13 alternatives below; we rank last of all 14, because our Excel add-in, announced in April 2025, still has not shipped.
| Rank | Provider | Score | Best for | Paid plans from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Sheets Finance | 7.2 | 20+ years of options history in Excel | $10.95/mo |
| 3 | Wisesheets | 6.6 | Cheap Excel add-in, options on Elite | $5/mo |
| 4 | EODHD | 6.2 | Free Excel add-in, best reviews | $16.58/mo |
| 5 | Finsheet | 6.0 | Multi-asset Excel add-in, no options | $20/mo |
| 5 | ThetaData | 6.0 | OPRA options and Greeks in Excel | $40/mo |
| 7 | Financial Modeling Prep | 5.8 | Fundamentals and filings in Excel | $22/mo |
| 8 | Barchart | 5.5 | Real-time commodities in Excel | $8.25/mo |
| 9 | Microsoft Excel Stocks data type | 5.3 | Free built-in Excel data type | Bundled in Microsoft 365 |
| 9 | Twelve Data | 5.3 | 190,000+ symbols in Excel | $66/mo |
| 11 | Alpha Vantage | 4.6 | Beta Excel add-in, Windows only | $41.58/mo |
| 11 | Nasdaq Data Link | 4.6 | Tables API fundamentals in Excel | $9/mo |
| 13 | Intrinio | 4.0 | SEC fundamentals, stale Excel add-in | $150/mo |
| 14 | Market Data | 0.0 | Not available — add-in unreleased | $12/mo |
MarketXLS against the four alternatives most likely to replace part of it:
| Feature | MarketXLS | Sheets Finance | Wisesheets | EODHD | Market Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excel | Native add-in (Win/Mac) 1 | Native add-in 2 | Native add-in 3 | Native add-in, free 4 | Not yet (planned) |
| US options | Excellent, full chains 5 | Excellent, but 15m delayed 6 | Good, Elite plan ($120/yr) and up 3 | Good, EOD-only add-on 7 | Excellent, real-time OPRA (Trader+) |
| Greeks and IV | Good, all 5 greeks + IV 8 | Yes, incl. IV rank/surface 9 | Yes, IV not explicitly named | Good, EOD only, all 5 greeks 7 | Real-time only, no historical |
| Options history | Not published | 20+ yrs, incl. expired 6 | Yes, via date parameter 3 | Since Q4 2023 (2.5+ yrs) 7 | EOD chains since 2010, unadjusted |
| Real-time US stocks | Yes, from Advanced ($125/mo) up 5 | Claimed real-time, CTA/UTP feeds 10 | Claimed live, no delay stated 11 | Real-time on ALL-IN-ONE only ($99.99/mo) 12 | SmartMid (API); IEX quote (Sheets) |
| Free tier | None, no free tier 5 | None, 15-day trial only 13 | None for add-on; Stock API has one 14 | 20 calls/day, 1yr history 12 | 100 credits/day, 1yr history, delayed |
| Cheapest paid plan | $70/mo (Standard) 5 | $10.95/mo (Basic, annual) 13 | $5/mo (Pro, annual) | $16.58/mo (EOD, annual) 12 | $12/mo (Starter, annual) |
| Cost of real-time stocks + options | Not offered 15 | Not offered 16 | Not offered 14 | Not offered 7 | $30/mo (annual) 17 |
| Redistribution | No, forbidden on every tier 15 | Derived works only, no raw data 18 | No 19 | No priced tier; Custom only 20 | Commercial plan + OPRA deal only |
Sources for this table, checked 2026-09-26
- marketxls.com/
- sheetsfinance.com/
- wisesheets.io/pages/docs
- eodhd.com/financial-apis/excel-financial-add-on-fundamentals-end-of-day-charts
- marketxls.com/pricing/
- sheetsfinance.com/blog/how-to-get-historical-options-data-for-backtesting
- eodhd.com/lp/us-stock-options-api
- marketxls.com/real-time-stock-option-pricing-excel
- sheetsfinance.com/blog/how-to-build-an-implied-volatility-surface-in-google-sheets-and-excel
- sheetsfinance.com/market-data
- wisesheets.io/
- eodhd.com/pricing
- sheetsfinance.com/docs/pricing-and-plans-xgwqy
- wisesheets.io/api
- marketxls.com/software-license-agreement
- sheetsfinance.com/blog/how-to-get-options-data-in-google-sheets-and-excel
- marketdata.app/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md
- sheetsfinance.com/policy/terms
- wisesheets.io/terms-of-service
- eodhd.com/commercial-pricing
MarketXLS
7.6/10 1,284 formulas including full options chains, native to Excel on Windows and Mac, but no free tier.
- Works inside Excel ×1.5
- 9/10
- What you can pull ×1.5
- 9/10
- Options in Excel ×1
- 9/10
- Freshness ×1.5
- 8/10
- Price ×1.5
- 4/10
- Platforms ×1
- 7/10
Strengths
- Native Excel add-in, Windows and Mac/365
- 1,284 formulas incl. full options chains and Greeks
- Real-time streaming from $125/mo
Weaknesses
- No free tier, from $70/mo
- Redistribution forbidden on every tier
MarketXLS is the Excel specialist here: full options chains with all five greeks, streaming quotes, and templates for options income and portfolio analytics, all inside Excel. Nothing else in this ranking matches its formula count.
Sheets Finance
7.2/10 Native Excel add-in with 20+ years of options history, but no perpetual free tier.
- Works inside Excel ×1.5
- 8/10
- What you can pull ×1.5
- 9/10
- Options in Excel ×1
- 8/10
- Freshness ×1.5
- 7/10
- Price ×1.5
- 5/10
- Platforms ×1
- 6/10
Strengths
- Native Excel add-in
- 20+ years of historical options chains, including expired
Weaknesses
- No perpetual free tier, 15-day trial only
- Options still 15-minute delayed on the paid product
Sheets Finance runs an Excel add-in beside its Sheets add-on, with over 20 years of options history including expired contracts, for $10.95 a month billed annually. Its options data is 15 minutes delayed on every plan.
Wisesheets
6.6/10 Cheap native Excel add-in with Excel Online support, options gated to Elite.
- Works inside Excel ×1.5
- 8/10
- What you can pull ×1.5
- 7/10
- Options in Excel ×1
- 4/10
- Freshness ×1.5
- 5/10
- Price ×1.5
- 8/10
- Platforms ×1
- 7/10
Strengths
- Native Windows/macOS add-in, works in Excel Online too
- Cheap from $5/mo (Pro, annual)
Weaknesses
- Options gated to the $10/mo Elite tier and above
- No free tier for the add-on
Wisesheets is the cheapest add-in here at $5 a month billed annually, built for fundamentals and dividends rather than options, which need its $10-a-month Elite plan.
Market Data
0.0/10 The Excel add-in has been announced since April 2025 and still has not shipped.
- Works inside Excel ×1.5
- 0/10
- What you can pull ×1.5
- 0/10
- Options in Excel ×1
- 0/10
- Freshness ×1.5
- 0/10
- Price ×1.5
- 0/10
- Platforms ×1
- 0/10
Strengths
- Free Google Sheets add-on already live, as a preview of the planned formula design
- REST API with JSON/CSV output could be wired into Excel via Power Query today
Weaknesses
- No native Excel add-in has shipped
- Announced 2025-04-29, still 'Planned For Late 2026' as of this check
- Scored 0 here — there is nothing to install
We rank last of 14 on this hub, at 0.0, because we score 0 on every criterion that requires an Excel add-in to exist, and ours does not. We announced one in April 2025; as of 26 September 2026 it is still planned, not shipped. Three separate prospects have asked us for one, in nearly identical words, across 2024 and 2025. Our Google Sheets add-on has the formulas the Excel add-in will eventually carry.
Is there a free marketxls alternative for Excel?
Two, with limits. EODHD’s Excel add-in is free and reaches its whole catalogue of global prices and fundamentals, and Excel’s own built-in Stocks data type and STOCKHISTORY function are free with a Microsoft 365 subscription and always delayed. Neither gives you options chains or greeks the way MarketXLS does.
We have told people who asked for Excel the truth each time. In September 2025 a prospect asked for nothing more than a once-a-day refresh of closing prices in Excel, and our answer was: “We do not have an excel add-in at this time.” We offered Sheets or the API instead.
In March 2026 another asked for futures in Excel, “the only info I need.” We told him futures were a year away at least, and we still have no Excel add-in to put them in.
What if you need a commercial license for MarketXLS?
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.
Which MarketXLS alternative fits which need?
For the deepest Excel formula library and real-time streaming, MarketXLS. For the longest options history in Excel, Sheets Finance. For fundamentals and dividends at the lowest price, Wisesheets. For a free add-in with global fundamentals, EODHD.
None of them are ours: the financial data providers ranking compares every provider here beyond Excel, and MarketXLS’s own pricing page lists what each of its three plans includes.
If MarketXLS is one of several providers on your list, our pages on Wisesheets alternatives and yfinance alternatives use the same rankings.