# Real Time Stock API: 19 Ranked (2026)

> A real time stock API sells one of three feeds: full SIP, one exchange, or a derived price. We ranked 19 providers and priced what each actually costs.

Source: https://www.marketdata.app/alternatives/real-time-stock-api/

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(image: Rows of green and magenta prices beside six-figure volumes on an angled market quote board.)

-   [Alternatives](/alternatives/)

# Real Time Stock API: 19 Providers of Live Prices, Ranked

A real time stock API sells one of three feeds: full SIP, one exchange, or a derived price. We ranked 19 providers and priced what each actually costs.

-   [Max Nowak](/about/), Operations Manager
-   Last updated September 26, 2026

A real time stock API sells one of three things: the full consolidated SIP tape, one exchange’s own feed such as IEX, or a price derived from one of those, the way our own SmartMid is. We ranked 19 real-time stock APIs and priced what each one actually costs to reach, not just its cheapest plan.

We sell the derived kind. Our API’s real-time stock price is SmartMid, an IEX-based midpoint, from the Starter plan at $12 a month billed annually. The scorecards below show where that trade-off costs us points against a raw exchange feed.

A developer wiring up a real time stock market API for the first time usually starts by asking which of those three feeds a given provider actually sells, since that answer decides both the price and the license.

## How did we rank the real-time stock APIs?

Each provider was scored from 0 to 10 on six criteria: the feed itself, its cost, how it’s delivered, the breadth of markets it reaches, its licensing terms, and independent review quality. Feed and cost count double, because price swings from free to $825 a month across these 19 providers once the data itself is live.

A 10 is the best offering among these 19 providers, and a 0 means a provider doesn’t sell it at all. Alpaca ranks first here on a free IEX feed; we rank fourth.

## Which real time stock API ranks best?

| Rank | Provider | Score | Best for | Cost of real-time US stocks, API |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Alpaca | 7.6 | Free real-time IEX quotes with a brokerage | Free |
| 2 | Databento | 6.2 | Nanosecond tick-level real-time for quants | $825/mo |
| 2 | Tradier | 6.2 | Free real-time stocks and options via a broker | Free |
| 4 | Market Data | 6.1 | Cheap derived real-time US stock quotes | $12/mo (annual) |
| 5 | Finnhub | 5.8 | Real-time US SIP websocket, undocumented limits | Free |
| 5 | Massive | 5.8 | One $199/mo plan for real-time everything | $159.2/mo (annual) |
| 7 | EODHD | 5.5 | Best-reviewed provider, real-time at the top tier | $83.33/mo (annual) |
| 8 | ThetaData | 5.4 | Sub-second real-time via a local terminal | Price not published |
| 8 | Twelve Data | 5.4 | Broad global real-time via REST or websocket | $66/mo (annual) |
| 10 | Unusual Whales | 5.2 | Real-time options flow and dark pool data | $150/mo |
| 11 | Barchart | 4.9 | Sales-assisted real-time with deep futures/options | Price not published |
| 11 | Financial Modeling Prep | 4.9 | Cheap claimed real-time with fundamentals | $22/mo |
| 11 | Tiingo | 4.9 | Cheap IEX real-time, no options | $25/mo (annual) |
| 14 | Yahoo Finance | 4.8 | Free real-time quotes, unofficial | Not offered |
| 15 | Intrinio | 4.5 | Derived real-time without exchange paperwork | $150/mo |
| 16 | ORATS | 3.7 | Real-time smoothed options Greeks for quants | $299/mo |
| 17 | Alpha Vantage | 3.4 | Global-symbol real-time on a budget | $41.58/mo (annual) |
| 18 | Marketstack | 3.1 | Cheap international EOD, real-time extra | $43.99/mo (annual) |
| 19 | Nasdaq Data Link | 2.2 | Enterprise contact-sales real-time only | Price not published |

The six highest-ranked providers, side by side:

| Feature | Alpaca | Databento | Tradier | Market Data | Finnhub | Massive |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Real-time US stocks | Free: IEX only. Paid: full-SIP 1 | Yes, real-time consolidated 2 | Yes, free with any account 3 | SmartMid (API); IEX quote (Sheets) | Real-time via websocket (US SIP) 4 | Real-time from Advanced ($199/mo) 5 |
| Real-time options | No on free (indicative); yes on paid 6 | Yes 7 | Yes, free with any account 3 | OPRA real-time on Trader plan+ | No | Real-time from Advanced ($199/mo) 8 |
| WebSocket streaming | Yes, both tiers 9 | Yes, proprietary binary protocol 2 | Yes 10 | No 11 | Yes (trades, news, press releases) 12 | Yes 8 |
| Google Sheets | No 13 | None 2 | No 14 | Native add-on, free | Third-party (Finsheet) 12 | None found 15 |
| Free tier | Yes, IEX equities + indicative options 9 | No; $125 signup credit, 6mo 16 | Yes, $0 min., real-time data included 17 | 100 credits/day, 1yr history, delayed | Undocumented; ~60 calls/min (3rd-party) 18 | 5 calls/min, 2yr history, EOD only 5 |
| Cost of real-time US stocks, API | Free 9 | $825/mo 16 | Free 17 | $12/mo (annual) 19 | Free 4 | $159.2/mo (annual) 5 |
| Cost of real-time stocks + options | $99/mo 9 | Price not published, partial 16 | Free, partial 17 | $30/mo (annual) 19 | Not offered 4 | $318.4/mo (annual) 5 |

Sources for this table, checked 2026-09-26

1.  [alpaca.markets/support/data-provider-alpaca](https://alpaca.markets/support/data-provider-alpaca)
2.  [databento.com/](https://databento.com/)
3.  [docs.tradier.com/docs/market-data.md](https://docs.tradier.com/docs/market-data.md)
4.  [finnhub.io/static/swagger.json](https://finnhub.io/static/swagger.json)
5.  [massive.com/pricing](https://massive.com/pricing)
6.  [docs.alpaca.markets/us/docs/about-market-data-api](https://docs.alpaca.markets/us/docs/about-market-data-api)
7.  [databento.com/options](https://databento.com/options)
8.  [massive.com/pricing?product=options](https://massive.com/pricing?product=options)
9.  [alpaca.markets/data](https://alpaca.markets/data)
10.  [docs.tradier.com/docs/streaming-data.md](https://docs.tradier.com/docs/streaming-data.md)
11.  [marketdata.app/llms.txt](/llms.txt)
12.  [finnhub.io/docs/api](https://finnhub.io/docs/api)
13.  [docs.alpaca.markets/us/llms.txt](https://docs.alpaca.markets/us/llms.txt)
14.  [docs.tradier.com/llms.txt](https://docs.tradier.com/llms.txt)
15.  [massive.com](https://massive.com)
16.  [databento.com/pricing](https://databento.com/pricing)
17.  [tradier.com/pricing](https://tradier.com/pricing)
18.  [apicostcalc.com/finnhub.html](https://apicostcalc.com/finnhub.html)
19.  [marketdata.app/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md](/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md)

**Alpaca**

7.6/10 Free real-time IEX equities on Basic, but full-SIP and real OPRA options both need the $99/mo Algo Trader Plus plan.

The real-time feed ×2

8/10

Cost of real-time access ×2

10/10

Delivery ×1.5

10/10

What else is real-time ×1

6/10

Terms ×1

5/10

Reliability and reputation ×1

3/10

Strengths

-   Free real-time IEX equities on the Basic plan, no card required beyond account opening
-   Full-SIP equities and real OPRA options both on one $99/mo plan
-   WebSocket streaming on both tiers, unlimited symbols on Algo Trader Plus

Weaknesses

-   Free tier is IEX-only, not consolidated SIP
-   Trustpilot 2.2/5 (41 reviews)
-   No redistribution on any published individual plan

Alpaca’s Basic brokerage plan gives free, real-time IEX equities with websocket streaming, no card required beyond opening the account. Full-SIP equities and real OPRA options both live on the $99-a-month Algo Trader Plus plan, one price for both.

**Databento**

6.2/10 Real-time nanosecond consolidated tick data, but the flat entry plan for it is $825/mo (DBEQ Basic).

The real-time feed ×2

9/10

Cost of real-time access ×2

1/10

Delivery ×1.5

9/10

What else is real-time ×1

8/10

Terms ×1

6/10

Reliability and reputation ×1

5/10

Strengths

-   Real-time consolidated tick data across 15 US equity exchanges plus 30 ATSs
-   DBEQ Basic carries zero distribution/non-display licensing fees
-   REST, WebSocket, and PCAP/flat-file delivery all included

Weaknesses

-   DBEQ Basic flat real-time plan is $825/month, no free tier
-   States plainly it does not calculate options Greeks or IV
-   Trustpilot: not published, 0 reviews, unclaimed

Databento sells the real thing: consolidated real-time quotes and trades across 15 exchanges and 30 ATSs, nanosecond timestamped. DBEQ Basic, its flat real-time plan, is $825 a month, and it states plainly that it does not compute options greeks.

**Tradier**

6.2/10 Real-time US equities and OPRA options are free with any brokerage account, but the reviews are the weakest of any provider here.

The real-time feed ×2

6/10

Cost of real-time access ×2

9/10

Delivery ×1.5

8/10

What else is real-time ×1

7/10

Terms ×1

3/10

Reliability and reputation ×1

1/10

Strengths

-   Real-time US equities and OPRA options free with any Tradier brokerage account
-   ORATS-computed options Greeks refreshed hourly, included
-   WebSocket streaming plus an official MCP server

Weaknesses

-   Trustpilot 2.0/5 (28 reviews), the weakest here
-   Requires opening and funding a Tradier brokerage account
-   No official SDK, only community-maintained client libraries

Tradier is a broker. Real-time equities and OPRA options, with ORATS greeks refreshed hourly, come free with any Tradier brokerage account, $0 minimum deposit. That undercuts every API on this list, provided you’re willing to open one.

**Market Data**

6.1/10 SmartMid is a derived IEX midpoint, not raw NBBO, and there is no websocket streaming at any plan.

The real-time feed ×2

5/10

Cost of real-time access ×2

9/10

Delivery ×1.5

2/10

What else is real-time ×1

7/10

Terms ×1

5/10

Reliability and reputation ×1

9/10

Strengths

-   Real-time SmartMid stock price from $12/mo Starter (annual)
-   Trustpilot 4.5/5 (110 reviews)
-   Free Google Sheets add-on reuses the same account plan

Weaknesses

-   SmartMid is a derived midpoint sourced from IEX, not raw SIP/NBBO
-   No websocket streaming, REST poll only
-   Real-time options need the higher $75/mo Trader plan

Our SmartMid price starts at $12 a month billed annually, on the Starter plan, and it’s the cheapest way onto this list to a real-time US stock price. It’s a derived midpoint sourced from IEX, not raw NBBO, and we have no websocket: every call is a poll.

**Finnhub**

5.8/10 Real-time US SIP quotes via websocket with no paid SKU required, but no options endpoint exists at all and reviews are the worst here.

The real-time feed ×2

7/10

Cost of real-time access ×2

8/10

Delivery ×1.5

8/10

What else is real-time ×1

2/10

Terms ×1

4/10

Reliability and reputation ×1

1/10

Strengths

-   Real-time via websocket (US SIP), 116 REST paths, no dedicated real-time paid SKU found
-   6 official SDK languages plus an official MCP server

Weaknesses

-   No free-tier limit published on finnhub.io/pricing itself
-   Zero options endpoints (0 of 116 Swagger paths)
-   1.5/5 on SourceForge and Slashdot (2 reviews each)

Finnhub streams real-time US SIP quotes over websocket with no separate real-time SKU, but it sells zero options endpoints of any kind, and its published reviews are the weakest here.

**Massive**

5.8/10 Real-time stocks, options, indices and futures all land on the same $199/mo Advanced tier, but reviews are the worst here.

The real-time feed ×2

8/10

Cost of real-time access ×2

2/10

Delivery ×1.5

10/10

What else is real-time ×1

8/10

Terms ×1

4/10

Reliability and reputation ×1

2/10

Strengths

-   Real-time stocks, options, indices, and futures all reachable from the $199/mo Advanced tier
-   REST, WebSocket, and S3 flat-file delivery together
-   4 official SDKs plus a dedicated MCP server

Weaknesses

-   Real-time gated to the $199/mo Advanced tier, no free real-time
-   Trustpilot 2.3/5 (6 reviews, all one-star)
-   Redistribution barred below the $2,499/mo Business tier

Massive, formerly Polygon.io, puts real-time stocks, options, indices and futures all on one $199-a-month Advanced plan. It’s the broadest single plan on this list if you need more than US equities.

## What does real-time access cost, stocks alone and stocks with options?

Comparable access, the sum of every plan an account actually needs:

| Provider | What you must buy | Per month, billed monthly | Per month, billed annually | What it includes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Alpaca 1 | Free / Basic | Free | Free | Free plan: real-time IEX-only stocks, capped at 30 websocket symbols. |
| Finnhub 2 | Free (no paid SKU) | Free | Free | Free tier gives real-time US stock quotes, under a 30-calls-per-second cap. |
| Tradier 3 | Lite | Free | No annual plan | Free with any Tradier brokerage account, no minimum deposit required. |
| Market Data 4 | Starter | $30/mo | $12/mo | Real-time stock price (SmartMid, a derived IEX midpoint); personal use only. |
| Financial Modeling Prep 5 | Starter | Not published | $22/mo | Starter is the cheapest real-time (US-only) tier; only an annual price is shown. |
| Tiingo 6 | Power (individual) | $30/mo | $25/mo | Power plan includes a derived real-time price (tngoLast); TOPS needs an IEX agreement. |
| Alpha Vantage 7 | Premium 1 (or any higher premium tier) | $49.99/mo | $41.58/mo | Premium 1 unlocks real-time or 15-min-delayed stock quotes for personal use. |
| Marketstack 8 | Professional | $49.99/mo | $43.99/mo | Professional gives real-time US stock prices; an open issue reports gaps in intraday data. |
| Twelve Data 9 | Grow (Individual) | $79/mo | $66/mo | Grow gives non-delayed real-time US stocks; free Basic is limited to trial symbols only. |
| EODHD 10 | ALL-IN-ONE | $99.99/mo | $83.33/mo | ALL-IN-ONE is the only tier with real-time websocket stock data; others are delayed. |
| Intrinio 11 | Individual | $150/mo | No annual plan | Individual plan includes EquitiesEdge, a derived real-time price, not a licensed feed. |
| Unusual Whales 12 | API Basic | $150/mo | No annual plan | API Basic ($150/mo) includes real-time Nasdaq-sourced stock data, not the full SIP tape. |
| Massive 13 | Stocks Advanced | $199/mo | $159.2/mo | Stocks Advanced is the cheapest real-time tier; personal, non-business use only. |
| ORATS 14 | Live Data API | $299/mo | No annual plan | Live Data API gives real-time (under 10s delay) stock prices as an options byproduct. |
| Databento 15 | DBEQ Basic | $825/mo | No annual plan | DBEQ Basic ($825/mo flat): real-time quotes from 4 venues, not the full SIP tape. |
| Barchart 16 | OnDemand (API), package tailored per customer | Not published | Not published | OnDemand can include real-time quotes; price is sales-assisted, not published. |
| Nasdaq Data Link 17 | Streaming API (Nasdaq feeds) | Not published | Not published | Real-time equities are enterprise, contact-sales products; no public price is shown. |
| ThetaData 18 | Stocks retail tier | Not published | Not published | Stocks retail tier gives real-time Nasdaq Basic stock data; price is not published. |

Price sources for this table

1.  [alpaca.markets/data](https://alpaca.markets/data)
2.  [finnhub.io/static/swagger.json](https://finnhub.io/static/swagger.json)
3.  [tradier.com/pricing](https://tradier.com/pricing)
4.  [marketdata.app/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md](/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md)
5.  [site.financialmodelingprep.com/developer/docs/pricing](https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/developer/docs/pricing)
6.  [tiingo.com/about/pricing](https://www.tiingo.com/about/pricing)
7.  [alphavantage.co/documentation/](https://www.alphavantage.co/documentation/)
8.  [marketstack.com/pricing](https://marketstack.com/pricing)
9.  [twelvedata.com/pricing](https://twelvedata.com/pricing)
10.  [eodhd.com/pricing](https://eodhd.com/pricing)
11.  [intrinio.com/financial-market-data/equitiesedge](https://intrinio.com/financial-market-data/equitiesedge)
12.  [unusualwhales.com/pricing?product=api](https://unusualwhales.com/pricing?product=api)
13.  [massive.com/pricing](https://massive.com/pricing)
14.  [orats.com/data-api](https://orats.com/data-api)
15.  [databento.com/pricing](https://databento.com/pricing)
16.  [barchart.com/ondemand/api](https://www.barchart.com/ondemand/api)
17.  [data.nasdaq.com/](https://data.nasdaq.com/)
18.  [thetadata.net/pricing](https://thetadata.net/pricing)

Alpaca’s IEX feed is free; ours is the cheapest paid one, at $12 a month billed annually. Adding real-time options changes the ranking:

| Provider | What you must buy | Per month, billed monthly | Per month, billed annually | What it includes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Tradier 1 | Lite (partial) | Free | No annual plan | Free with any account: real-time stocks and OPRA options; greeks refresh hourly. |
| Market Data 2 | Trader | $75/mo | $30/mo | Real-time stocks (SmartMid) and OPRA options with greeks; personal use only. |
| Alpaca 3 | Algo Trader Plus | $99/mo | No annual plan | One $99/mo plan bundles full-SIP real-time stocks and OPRA options with greeks. |
| Intrinio 4 | Individual | $150/mo | No annual plan | One $150/mo plan bundles derived real-time stocks and options (EquitiesEdge, OptionsEdge). |
| Unusual Whales 5 | API Basic | $150/mo | No annual plan | One $150/mo API Basic account includes real-time stocks and options flow with greeks. |
| Alpha Vantage 6 | Premium 4 (600 requests a minute) | $199.99/mo | $166.58/mo | Premium 4 covers real-time stocks and options in one subscription; no add-on. |
| ORATS 7 | Live Data API | $299/mo | No annual plan | One $299/mo plan covers real-time stocks and real-time OPRA options with greeks. |
| Massive 8 | Stocks Advanced plus Options Advanced | $398/mo | $318.4/mo | Two separate plans: Stocks Advanced plus Options Advanced. |
| Barchart 9 | OnDemand (API) (partial) | Not published | Not published | One OnDemand contract can cover both; greeks unconfirmed, price not published. |
| Databento 10 | DBEQ Basic plus OPRA.PILLAR (partial) | Not published | Not published | Stocks ($825/mo flat) plus options (price unpublished); neither includes greeks. |
| ThetaData 11 | Options Value + Stocks retail tier (partial) | Not published | Not published | Options Value ($40/mo) covers options; the stocks tier needed too is unpriced. |

Price sources for this table

1.  [tradier.com/pricing](https://tradier.com/pricing)
2.  [marketdata.app/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md](/docs/account/plan-limits/index.md)
3.  [alpaca.markets/data](https://alpaca.markets/data)
4.  [intrinio.com/pricing](https://intrinio.com/pricing)
5.  [unusualwhales.com/pricing?product=api](https://unusualwhales.com/pricing?product=api)
6.  [alphavantage.co/documentation/](https://www.alphavantage.co/documentation/)
7.  [orats.com/data-api](https://orats.com/data-api)
8.  [massive.com/pricing](https://massive.com/pricing)
9.  [barchart.com/ondemand](https://www.barchart.com/ondemand)
10.  [databento.com/pricing](https://databento.com/pricing)
11.  [thetadata.net/pricing](https://thetadata.net/pricing)

Tradier’s brokerage account still wins on price. Past that, our Trader plan, $30 a month billed annually, is the cheapest way to combine real-time stocks and OPRA options with greeks in one account.

## Why does one exchange’s feed cost so much less than the full tape?

Because it covers less. A single-exchange feed like IEX reports one venue’s own quotes; the full SIP tape consolidates every exchange’s quotes into the official NBBO, and exchanges charge accordingly.

A commercial Android app developer, already on our Trader plan, told us in February 2025 he’d found Nasdaq’s own last-sale feed quoted at $1,500 a month, offered to him at $500 with a trial, plus $1 per retail user, and that adding bid/ask roughly doubled the base fee. That’s the SIP-adjacent tier priced directly by an exchange, not through a reseller.

Real-time access on any of these plans, ours included, is priced for one non-professional person or app, not a business serving other people’s users. Turning ours on, even after paying, still takes the OPRA subscriber agreement and a Data Use Interview self-certifying non-professional status, typically cleared within a business day.

## Why is our real-time API limited to one IP address?

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 do we do when a real-time app shows prices to other people?

We stopped selling to business customers ourselves in February 2025, when IEX ended free redistribution of real-time stock prices for business use. From then on, every business plan carried exchange fees per customer and compliance work our small team could not carry.

So we refer commercial buyers to our partner Intrinio. Between 1 and 25 September 2026 we sent it 22 commercial enquiries, about one a day. The test we apply is display: if other people see the prices, or scores built from them, the use is commercial.

## Which real-time feed would we buy for a personal dashboard?

For one person’s dashboard, we would buy a derived or single-exchange price and spend the difference elsewhere. The consolidated SIP matters when an order depends on the national best bid and offer, and a chart that refreshes every few seconds rarely does.

That is the reasoning behind our own SmartMid, and it is also why Alpaca’s free IEX feed ranks first here.

## When should you not use Market Data for real-time stock prices?

Use another provider if you need the raw consolidated tape, websocket streaming, or a feed licensed for redistribution to your own users. Alpaca, Databento and Massive fit those jobs better here. Our commercial customers go through our partner Intrinio instead, a routing we set up after IEX ended free redistribution of real-time prices for business use.

Our own [real-time stock data page](/data/stocks/) details what SmartMid does and doesn’t cover, and the [overall ranking of financial data providers](/alternatives/financial-data-providers/) compares all 19 on more than freshness. For a narrower budget question, our [free stock API ranking](/alternatives/free-stock-api/) covers what’s free before you need real-time at all. Alpaca’s own [market data page](https://alpaca.markets/data) lists the exact plans named above.