The short answer
On Monday, June 22, 2026, Databento raises its CME Standard plan from $179 to $199 per month (verified 2026-06-17). Existing CME Standard customers are grandfathered at $179 for 12 months, then renew at $199, but only if the plan stays continuously active. Existing Plus and Unlimited plans are unaffected; metered per-GB historical pricing and the $125 credit do not change.
On Monday, June 22, 2026, Databento raises the CME Standard plan from $179 to $199 per month, and lifts several enterprise CME, ICE, and US-equities tiers at the same time — all confirmed on its pricing-update blog (verified 2026-06-17)1. Existing CME Standard subscribers are grandfathered at $179 for 12 months, then renew at $199, but only if the plan stays continuously active; cancel and restart and the new rate applies1. Databento cites higher exchange license fees and expanded historical coverage as the reason1. If you are weighing Databento against a flat-tier vendor, model the effective annual cost in the Data Vendor TCO.
TL;DR
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What changes | CME Standard subscription rate |
| Old price | $179/month |
| New price | $199/month |
| Effective | Monday, June 22, 2026 |
| Grandfathered | Existing customers keep $179 for 12 months |
| Catch | Plan must stay continuously active |
| Unaffected | Existing Plus and Unlimited plans |
All figures verified against Databento's official pricing-update post on 2026-06-171.
What is actually changing
Databento's June 22 update touches its CME-anchored subscription ladder, not its metered historical model. The headline is the CME Standard plan moving from $179 to $199 per month1. Several enterprise CME (Globex MDP 3.0), ICE, and US-equities tiers also rise on the same date, reflecting per-exchange license costs rather than a flat Databento markup1.
The metered, pay-per-GB historical pricing and the $125 in free credits for new sign-ups are not part of this announcement — they were verified separately on 2026-05-25 and continue as the entry path for sporadic, one-off pulls2. The change is narrowly about the recurring subscription rate, so a builder who only buys historical data by the gigabyte is not directly affected.
The grandfather clause, exactly
If you already hold a CME Standard plan, Databento keeps you at $179/month for 12 months, after which the plan renews at $1991. The condition is continuity: the plan "must remain continuously active," and "if it's canceled and later restarted, the new rate will apply"1. There is no partial credit for a lapse — a single cancel-and-resubscribe resets you to the $199 rate immediately.
For a quant running an always-on CME feed, the practical move is to avoid pausing the subscription over a quiet research month. The $20/month gap is small in absolute terms, but the grandfather window only pays off if the plan is never interrupted across the next year.
Why Databento raised it
Databento attributes the increase to two forces: "higher license fees introduced by several exchanges" and "the growing historical coverage included in these plans"1. The first is a pass-through — exchanges like CME set the underlying market-data license fees, and a redistributor's subscription has to absorb them. The second is a value argument: the included historical depth has grown since the CME Standard plan launched at $179 on April 16, 20253.
That framing matters for budgeting. This is not a one-off promotional reset; it tracks exchange licensing, which trends upward. A team planning multi-year data spend should treat $199 as the current floor for CME Standard, not a ceiling, and revisit at renewal.
Who is not affected
Databento is explicit that "existing Plus and Unlimited customers are not affected by these changes and their plans will remain at their current pricing"1. The CME Standard plan was introduced on April 16, 2025 to bridge usage-based and enterprise pricing, and the former Enterprise tiers were renamed Plus and Unlimited at that time3.
So the people who feel this are CME Standard subscribers and prospective buyers of the affected enterprise CME, ICE, and US-equities tiers. Pure metered historical users, and existing Plus and Unlimited holders, see no change. If you are net-new and only need occasional historical pulls, the $125 credit and per-GB billing remain the cheapest on-ramp2.
How this changes the Databento-vs-Polygon math
At $179, CME Standard undercut Polygon.io's flat $199/month Advanced tier; at $199, the two headline numbers converge14. Polygon (rebranded to Massive on October 30, 2025, with api.polygon.io unchanged) still does not sell exchange depth — no Level-2 or MBO — so the comparison was never purely about price4.
The decision logic holds: pick Databento when you need venue-level depth or bursty metered historical pulls, and Polygon's flat Advanced tier when you want predictable, unlimited real-time US-equity calls4. What June 22 removes is Databento's $20/month price advantage on the CME Standard line for new subscribers. Feed your universe and resolution into the Data Vendor TCO to see which model is cheaper for your actual usage shape.
What to do before June 22
- Existing CME Standard, want $179: keep the plan continuously active; do not cancel-and-restart, or you forfeit the 12-month grandfather rate1.
- About to subscribe to CME Standard: subscribing before June 22 still lands you in the grandfather pool at $179 for 12 months1.
- Only need occasional history: the metered per-GB model plus $125 credit is unaffected — no subscription decision needed2.
- Comparing vendors: the price gap with Polygon narrows to zero at the headline; decide on depth and usage shape, not the sticker. See Databento vs Polygon.io 2026.
Verified figures
The $179-to-$199 CME Standard change, the June 22 2026 effective date, the 12-month grandfather term, the continuity condition, and the "Plus and Unlimited unaffected" statement were all read from Databento's official "Updates to subscription pricing" post on 2026-06-171. The $179 launch price and the Enterprise-to-Plus/Unlimited rename come from the April 16 2025 CME-plans post3. Metered pricing, the $125 credit, and Polygon's $199 flat tier carry the 2026-05-25 verification from the sibling comparison24. Where a per-GB rate was not publicly displayed, it is omitted rather than estimated.
Connects to
- Databento vs Polygon.io 2026: the head-to-head the new price reshapes.
- Is Databento Worth It in 2026: the worth-it question after the increase.
- Cheapest Stock Market Data API 2026: budget options below both tiers.
- Data Vendor TCO: model metered versus flat for your universe.
References
Footnotes
-
Databento. "Updates to subscription pricing." (CME Standard $179→$199/month, effective Monday June 22 2026; 12-month grandfather for existing customers, continuity condition; reason = higher exchange license fees + growing historical coverage; existing Plus and Unlimited unaffected). verified 2026-06-17. https://databento.com/blog/updates-to-subscription-pricing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14
-
Databento. "Pricing" (metered $/GB historical, $125 free credits for new sign-ups). verified 2026-05-25. https://databento.com/pricing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
-
Databento. "Introducing new CME pricing plans" (CME Standard launched $179/month on April 16 2025; existing Enterprise plans renamed Plus and Unlimited). verified 2026-06-16. https://databento.com/blog/introducing-new-cme-pricing-plans ↩ ↩2 ↩3
-
Polygon.io / Massive. "Pricing" (flat $199/month Advanced, unlimited real-time SIP US equities; no Level-2/MBO depth) and "Polygon.io is Now Massive" (rebrand October 30 2025, api.polygon.io unchanged). verified 2026-05-25. https://massive.com/pricing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
Verified engine output
Show the recompute-verified inputs and outputs
| vendor_id | databento |
|---|---|
| universe | medium |
| resolution | minute |
| needs_live | 1 |
| vendor › id | databento |
|---|---|
| vendor › name | Databento |
| vendor › url | https://databento.com |
| vendor › short pitch | Per-unit metered pricing. Strong for institutional-quality tick + L2 data. No subscriptions on base offer. |
| vendor › has overage | true |
| vendor › last checked | 2026-05-25 |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › name | Databento metered (typical retail) |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly | 125 |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live | true |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options | false |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures | true |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1 | daily |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2 | minute |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 3 | second |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 4 | tick |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 5 | level2 |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1 | Usage-metered: historical is pay-as-you-go priced per GB (uncompressed binary), no subscription required; $125 free credits on signup |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2 | Subscription option: Standard $199/mo (historical core schemas + 1yr L1 / 1mo L2-L3); $125/mo modeled typical retail metered spend |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 3 | Live data + dedicated support on Plus ($1,399/mo, annual); Unlimited $3,500/mo (verified 2026-05-25) |
| vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 4 | Per-GB cost scales aggressively with universe and resolution |
| tier › name | Databento metered (typical retail) |
| tier › monthly | 125 |
| tier › includes live | true |
| tier › includes options | false |
| tier › includes futures | true |
| tier › resolutions › row 1 | daily |
| tier › resolutions › row 2 | minute |
| tier › resolutions › row 3 | second |
| tier › resolutions › row 4 | tick |
| tier › resolutions › row 5 | level2 |
| tier › notes › row 1 | Usage-metered: historical is pay-as-you-go priced per GB (uncompressed binary), no subscription required; $125 free credits on signup |
| tier › notes › row 2 | Subscription option: Standard $199/mo (historical core schemas + 1yr L1 / 1mo L2-L3); $125/mo modeled typical retail metered spend |
| tier › notes › row 3 | Live data + dedicated support on Plus ($1,399/mo, annual); Unlimited $3,500/mo (verified 2026-05-25) |
| tier › notes › row 4 | Per-GB cost scales aggressively with universe and resolution |
| monthly | 125 |
| one time | 0 |
| annual total | 1500 |
| meets resolution | true |
| meets live | true |
| meets options | true |
| meets futures | true |
| meets all | true |
Computed live at build time.
| vendor_id | polygon |
|---|---|
| universe | medium |
| resolution | minute |
| needs_live | 1 |
| vendor › id | polygon |
|---|---|
| vendor › name | Polygon.io (Massive) |
| vendor › url | https://massive.com |
| vendor › short pitch | Flat-rate subscription. Real-time + historical for US equities, with a separate Futures product line. Popular retail default. |
| vendor › has overage | false |
| vendor › last checked | 2026-06-12 |
| vendor › tiers (7 items) | [...] |
| tier › name | Stocks Advanced |
| tier › monthly | 199 |
| tier › includes live | true |
| tier › includes options | false |
| tier › includes futures | false |
| tier › asset class | stocks |
| tier › resolutions › row 1 | daily |
| tier › resolutions › row 2 | minute |
| tier › resolutions › row 3 | second |
| tier › resolutions › row 4 | tick |
| tier › notes › row 1 | Full real-time |
| tier › notes › row 2 | Unlimited API calls |
| monthly | 199 |
| one time | 0 |
| annual total | 2388 |
| meets resolution | true |
| meets live | true |
| meets options | true |
| meets futures | true |
| meets all | true |
Computed live at build time.
Frequently asked questions
- When does the Databento price increase take effect?
- Monday, June 22, 2026. On that date the CME Standard subscription moves from $179 to $199 per month, and several enterprise CME, ICE, and US-equities tiers also rise. The metered per-GB historical model and the $125 sign-up credit are not part of this change.
- Are existing Databento customers grandfathered?
- Yes, for the CME Standard plan. Existing subscribers keep $179 per month for 12 months, after which the plan renews at $199. The catch is continuity: the plan must stay continuously active. If it is canceled and later restarted, the new $199 rate applies right away.
- Why is Databento raising its prices?
- Databento attributes the increase to higher license fees introduced by several exchanges, plus the growing historical coverage now included in these plans. The exchange-fee portion is a pass-through, so the $199 rate tracks underlying CME licensing rather than a one-off markup.
- Does the increase change Databento vs Polygon?
- It narrows the headline gap. At $179, CME Standard undercut Polygon's flat $199 Advanced tier; at $199 the two match. Polygon (now Massive) still sells no Level-2 depth, so the choice stays about data depth and usage shape, not the sticker price.