Yes, Finnhub is free in 2026: it runs one of the more generous free tiers in financial data, widely documented at 60 API calls per minute, covering real-time US stock quotes, company news, basic fundamentals, SEC-filing access, and WebSocket streaming limited to 50 symbols. The catch is scope, not call volume: the free tier is positioned for personal/non-commercial use, and the data that costs real money (detailed financial statements, international markets, and the alternative-data feeds) sits behind the paid Market Data plans, which start at $49.99/month. For a research or learning project, the free tier is genuinely usable; for a commercial product, note that even the paid self-serve plans are personal-use — commercial use requires Finnhub's written approval. Compare it against the budget-data field with the Data Vendor TCO.

TL;DR

Question Answer
Is Finnhub free? Yes, a free tier, no card to start
Free rate limit 60 API calls/minute (widely documented)
WebSocket on free Yes, limited to 50 symbols
Free includes Real-time US quotes, company news, basic fundamentals, SEC filings
Free excludes Detailed financials, international markets, alternative data
Commercial use Free tier positioned for personal/non-commercial use
Paid entry Market Data Basic $49.99/mo (billed quarterly)

The honest summary: free for personal research, paid for depth — and commercial use needs Finnhub's written approval at any self-serve tier. Paid-tier prices below are read from the official pricing page's embedded plan data (accessed 2026-07-13).

What the free tier actually gives you

Finnhub's free tier is unusually generous on throughput. The widely-documented free rate limit is 60 API calls per minute, well above the typical free-API ceiling (Alpha Vantage's free tier, by contrast, is 25 calls per day). On the free plan you get real-time US stock quotes, company news, basic company fundamentals, SEC-filing access, and a WebSocket trade/quote feed limited to 50 symbols.12

For a single-user research project, a learning exercise, or prototyping a strategy on US equities, that is enough to do real work without paying. The 50-symbol WebSocket limit and the 60/min cap are the two ceilings you will hit first, and both are workable for a focused watchlist.

Verification note

Finnhub's pricing page renders client-side, but the plan figures ship in the page's embedded plan data — that is where the paid-tier prices below were read on 2026-07-13, superseding this page's earlier "not machine-readable" caveat. The 60-calls/minute free rate limit and the WebSocket symbol caps are documented in Finnhub's API docs (verified 2026-07-12)2. Still confirm the license terms in your Finnhub dashboard and terms of service before you build a commercial product on any self-serve tier.

What the free tier excludes

The free tier's limits are about data scope, not call volume:

  • Detailed financial statements. Basic fundamentals are free; full financial-statement depth is a paid endpoint.
  • International markets. Real-time international stock feeds are paid, often priced per market.
  • Alternative data. Finnhub's distinctive feeds (social sentiment, insider transactions, congressional/senate trading, earnings-call transcripts, ESG scores) are premium.

So the free tier is a complete US-equities research surface, and a teaser for the alternative-data products that are Finnhub's real differentiator.

Finnhub's paid Market Data plans add international coverage, detailed financials, higher rate limits, and larger WebSocket caps. The ladder, read from the official pricing page's embedded plan data on 2026-07-13: Market Data Basic at $49.99/month (billed quarterly), Standard at $129.99/month (billed quarterly), and Professional at $199.99/month (billed annually).1 Paid plans meter 150-900 calls/minute under a global 30 calls/second cap, and the WebSocket symbol cap rises from 50 (free) to 250 (Basic) to unlimited (Standard and up).2 The licensing catch survives the upgrade: every self-serve plan, free and paid, is licensed for personal use — commercial or professional use requires Finnhub's written approval, and redistribution is Enterprise-only. An earlier revision of this page cited "public pricing from ~$11.99/month, not machine-readable"; both the figure and the caveat are retired.

Where Finnhub's free tier sits in the budget field

The engine block below runs the Data Vendor TCO on a small-universe, daily-resolution, end-of-day scenario: the budget research profile Finnhub's free tier competes in. It ranks the genuinely-free and sub-$30 options (Alpaca's free IEX feed, Tiingo, and the cheap paid entries). Finnhub's free tier is a peer to the $0 end of that ranking, with the advantage of a 60/min limit and real-time US quotes that Alpaca's free IEX feed approximates from a different angle. The output is computed live from the shipped bundle, not typed by hand.

Decision guidance

  • Personal US-equities research or learning? Finnhub free tier: 60/min and real-time US quotes are plenty.
  • Need the alternative-data feeds (sentiment, insider, congressional)? That is Finnhub's paid differentiator; upgrade to a Market Data plan (from $49.99/mo).
  • Building a commercial product? All self-serve plans are personal-use; budget for Finnhub's written approval (or an Enterprise conversation) on top of the $49.99-$199.99/month ladder.
  • Comparing budget vendors head-to-head? See the standalone budget-data comparisons linked below.

Connects to

References

Footnotes

  1. Finnhub. "Pricing." finnhub.io, accessed 2026-07-13 (plan figures read from the page's embedded plan data: Market Data Basic $49.99/mo billed quarterly, Standard $129.99/mo quarterly, Professional $199.99/mo annual; page renders client-side). https://finnhub.io/pricing 2

  2. Finnhub. "API Documentation" (free rate limit 60 calls/minute; paid plans 150-900 calls/min with a global 30 calls/sec cap; WebSocket symbol caps 50 free / 250 Basic / unlimited from Standard). verified 2026-07-12. https://finnhub.io/docs/api 2 3

Verified engine output

Show the recompute-verified inputs and outputs
Budget research profile: small universe, daily bars, EOD (the field Finnhub's free tier competes in)
Inputs
universesmall
resolutiondaily
needs_live0
history2-year
Result
scenario › universesmall
scenario › resolutiondaily
scenario › history2-year
scenario › needs livefalse
scenario › needs optionsfalse
scenario › needs futuresfalse
ranked › row 1 › vendor › idalpaca
ranked › row 1 › vendor › nameAlpaca Markets
ranked › row 1 › vendor › urlhttps://alpaca.markets
ranked › row 1 › vendor › short pitchBroker-bundled market data. Generous free tier via IEX feed; SIP feed requires paid plan.
ranked › row 1 › vendor › has overagefalse
ranked › row 1 › vendor › last checked2026-07-12
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › nameFree (IEX feed)
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly0
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes livetrue
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1IEX feed only (subset of volume)
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2Free with Alpaca brokerage account
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › nameAlgo Trader Plus (SIP feed)
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly99
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes livetrue
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes optionstrue
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 3second
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 4tick
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1Full SIP consolidated tape
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2Options chains included
ranked › row 1 › tier › nameFree (IEX feed)
ranked › row 1 › tier › monthly0
ranked › row 1 › tier › includes livetrue
ranked › row 1 › tier › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 1 › tier › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 1 › tier › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 1 › tier › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 1 › tier › notes › row 1IEX feed only (subset of volume)
ranked › row 1 › tier › notes › row 2Free with Alpaca brokerage account
ranked › row 1 › monthly0
ranked › row 1 › one time0
ranked › row 1 › annual total0
ranked › row 1 › meets resolutiontrue
ranked › row 1 › meets livetrue
ranked › row 1 › meets optionstrue
ranked › row 1 › meets futurestrue
ranked › row 1 › meets alltrue
ranked › row 2 › vendor › idtiingo
ranked › row 2 › vendor › nameTiingo
ranked › row 2 › vendor › urlhttps://www.tiingo.com
ranked › row 2 › vendor › short pitchEOD + news at low cost, with IEX-sourced real-time on every plan. Fundamentals is a separate add-on. Favorite for long-horizon research.
ranked › row 2 › vendor › has overagefalse
ranked › row 2 › vendor › last checked2026-07-12
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › nameTiingo Starter (free)
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly0
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes livetrue
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1Free tier: 50 req/hr, 1,000 req/day, 500 unique symbols/mo
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 230+ years EOD equities; news API included
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 3IEX-sourced real-time WebSocket on every plan (subset of consolidated volume)
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › nameTiingo Power
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly30
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes livetrue
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1$30/mo ($300/yr): 10,000 req/hr, 100k req/day, 40 GB/mo bandwidth cap
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2Intraday IEX bars + crypto
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 3Fundamentals is a separate add-on (not included)
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 4Commercial license (internal use, max 2 devs) is $50/mo ($499/yr)
ranked › row 2 › tier › nameTiingo Starter (free)
ranked › row 2 › tier › monthly0
ranked › row 2 › tier › includes livetrue
ranked › row 2 › tier › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 2 › tier › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 2 › tier › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 1Free tier: 50 req/hr, 1,000 req/day, 500 unique symbols/mo
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 230+ years EOD equities; news API included
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 3IEX-sourced real-time WebSocket on every plan (subset of consolidated volume)
ranked › row 2 › monthly0
ranked › row 2 › one time0
ranked › row 2 › annual total0
ranked › row 2 › meets resolutiontrue
ranked › row 2 › meets livetrue
ranked › row 2 › meets optionstrue
ranked › row 2 › meets futurestrue
ranked › row 2 › meets alltrue
ranked › row 3 › vendor › iddatabento
ranked › row 3 › vendor › nameDatabento
ranked › row 3 › vendor › urlhttps://databento.com
ranked › row 3 › vendor › short pitchPer-unit metered pricing. Strong for institutional-quality tick + L2 data. No subscriptions on base offer.
ranked › row 3 › vendor › has overagetrue
ranked › row 3 › vendor › last checked2026-07-12
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › nameDatabento metered (typical retail)
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly125
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes livetrue
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futurestrue
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 3second
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 4tick
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 5level2
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1Usage-metered: historical is pay-as-you-go priced per GB (uncompressed binary), no subscription required; $125 free credits on signup (6-month expiry)
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2Flat plans: Standard $179/mo (live + historical; 16+ yrs L0, 1 yr L1, 1 mo L2-L3); Plus $1,500/mo and Unlimited $4,000/mo on annual contracts (verified 2026-07-12)
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 3$125/mo here models typical retail metered spend (medium universe, minute bars)
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 4Per-GB cost scales aggressively with universe and resolution
ranked › row 3 › tier › nameDatabento metered (typical retail)
ranked › row 3 › tier › monthly125
ranked › row 3 › tier › includes livetrue
ranked › row 3 › tier › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 3 › tier › includes futurestrue
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 3second
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 4tick
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 5level2
ranked › row 3 › tier › notes › row 1Usage-metered: historical is pay-as-you-go priced per GB (uncompressed binary), no subscription required; $125 free credits on signup (6-month expiry)
ranked › row 3 › tier › notes › row 2Flat plans: Standard $179/mo (live + historical; 16+ yrs L0, 1 yr L1, 1 mo L2-L3); Plus $1,500/mo and Unlimited $4,000/mo on annual contracts (verified 2026-07-12)
ranked › row 3 › tier › notes › row 3$125/mo here models typical retail metered spend (medium universe, minute bars)
ranked › row 3 › tier › notes › row 4Per-GB cost scales aggressively with universe and resolution
ranked › row 3 › monthly13
ranked › row 3 › one time0
ranked › row 3 › annual total150
ranked › row 3 › meets resolutiontrue
ranked › row 3 › meets livetrue
ranked › row 3 › meets optionstrue
ranked › row 3 › meets futurestrue
ranked › row 3 › meets alltrue
ranked › row 4 › vendor › idfmp
ranked › row 4 › vendor › nameFinancial Modeling Prep
ranked › row 4 › vendor › urlhttps://site.financialmodelingprep.com
ranked › row 4 › vendor › short pitchFundamentals-heavy. Earnings, filings, transcripts. Price data is a secondary offer.
ranked › row 4 › vendor › has overagefalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › last checked2026-07-12
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › nameStarter
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly22
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes livefalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1Billed annually ($22/mo equivalent)
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 25 years history
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 3300 API calls/min
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › namePremium
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly59
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes livefalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1Billed annually
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 230+ years history
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 3750 calls/min
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › nameUltimate
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › monthly149
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › includes livetrue
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › resolutions › row 3second
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 1Billed annually
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 2Real-time
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 33,000 calls/min
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 4Earnings-call transcripts require this tier
ranked › row 4 › tier › nameStarter
ranked › row 4 › tier › monthly22
ranked › row 4 › tier › includes livefalse
ranked › row 4 › tier › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 4 › tier › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 4 › tier › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 1Billed annually ($22/mo equivalent)
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 25 years history
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 3300 API calls/min
ranked › row 4 › monthly22
ranked › row 4 › one time0
ranked › row 4 › annual total264
ranked › row 4 › meets resolutiontrue
ranked › row 4 › meets livetrue
ranked › row 4 › meets optionstrue
ranked › row 4 › meets futurestrue
ranked › row 4 › meets alltrue
ranked › row 5 › vendor › idpolygon
ranked › row 5 › vendor › nameMassive (formerly Polygon.io)
ranked › row 5 › vendor › urlhttps://massive.com
ranked › row 5 › vendor › short pitchFlat-rate subscription. Real-time + historical for US equities, with a separate Futures product line. Popular retail default. Rebranded from Polygon.io on 2025-10-30.
ranked › row 5 › vendor › has overagefalse
ranked › row 5 › vendor › last checked2026-07-12
ranked › row 5 › vendor › tiers (7 items)[...]
ranked › row 5 › tier › nameStocks Starter
ranked › row 5 › tier › monthly29
ranked › row 5 › tier › includes livefalse
ranked › row 5 › tier › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 5 › tier › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 5 › tier › asset classstocks
ranked › row 5 › tier › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 5 › tier › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 5 › tier › notes › row 115-min delayed market data
ranked › row 5 › tier › notes › row 2Unlimited API calls
ranked › row 5 › monthly29
ranked › row 5 › one time0
ranked › row 5 › annual total348
ranked › row 5 › meets resolutiontrue
ranked › row 5 › meets livetrue
ranked › row 5 › meets optionstrue
ranked › row 5 › meets futurestrue
ranked › row 5 › meets alltrue
ranked › row 6 › vendor › idalpha-vantage
ranked › row 6 › vendor › nameAlpha Vantage
ranked › row 6 › vendor › urlhttps://www.alphavantage.co
ranked › row 6 › vendor › short pitchBudget tier with broad coverage. Rate limits tight. Workable for low-frequency research.
ranked › row 6 › vendor › has overagefalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › last checked2026-07-12
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › namePremium 75
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly49.99
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes livefalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 175 calls/min, no daily limit
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2Free key capped at 25 calls/day, 5/min
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › namePremium 1200
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly249.99
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes livefalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 3second
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 11,200 calls/min, no daily limit
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2Rate-tiered ladder: $99.99/150, $149.99/300, $199.99/600, $249.99/1200
ranked › row 6 › tier › namePremium 75
ranked › row 6 › tier › monthly49.99
ranked › row 6 › tier › includes livefalse
ranked › row 6 › tier › includes optionsfalse
ranked › row 6 › tier › includes futuresfalse
ranked › row 6 › tier › resolutions › row 1daily
ranked › row 6 › tier › resolutions › row 2minute
ranked › row 6 › tier › notes › row 175 calls/min, no daily limit
ranked › row 6 › tier › notes › row 2Free key capped at 25 calls/day, 5/min
ranked › row 6 › monthly50
ranked › row 6 › one time0
ranked › row 6 › annual total600
ranked › row 6 › meets resolutiontrue
ranked › row 6 › meets livetrue
ranked › row 6 › meets optionstrue
ranked › row 6 › meets futurestrue
ranked › row 6 › meets alltrue

Computed live at build time.

Frequently asked questions

Is Finnhub free in 2026?
Yes. Finnhub offers a free tier with a widely-documented 60 API calls/minute, covering real-time US stock quotes, company news, basic fundamentals, SEC filings, and a 50-symbol WebSocket feed.
What is the Finnhub free tier rate limit?
Widely reported as 60 API calls per minute. Because the official pages render client-side, confirm the exact current limit in your Finnhub dashboard before relying on it.
Can I use the Finnhub free tier commercially?
No — the free tier is positioned for personal/non-commercial use, and even the paid self-serve plans stay personal-use. Commercial or professional use requires Finnhub's written approval, and redistribution is Enterprise-only.
What does the free tier exclude?
Detailed financial statements, international markets, unlimited-symbol WebSocket, and the alternative-data feeds (sentiment, insider transactions, congressional trading, transcripts, ESG) are paid.
How much do Finnhub paid plans cost?
Market Data Basic is $49.99/month billed quarterly, Standard $129.99/month billed quarterly, and Professional $199.99/month billed annually — read from the official pricing page's embedded plan data, accessed 2026-07-13. All self-serve plans remain personal-use; commercial use requires Finnhub's written approval.