datasheet / research / polygon vs databento vs alpaca

Polygon vs Databento vs Alpaca: which market data API to use

Alpaca for real-time data on the whole US market ($99 a month, Algo Trader Plus). Databento for order books (live from $1,500 a month, years of them $4,000). Databento or Massive for CME-group futures ($199 a month each: CME Standard, Futures Advanced). Massive for unlimited calls on every paid plan (from $29 a month; real-time on Stocks Advanced at $199, individual use only).

Polygon.io is now Massivechecked Massive, Alpaca and Databento Nov 2, 2026updated Nov 2, 2026

Price ladderlist price, USD a month

Alpaca$0 Basic$99 Algo Trader Plus
Databento$199 US Equities Standard$1,500 US Equities Plus$4,000 US Equities Unlimited
Massive$0 Stocks Basic$29 Stocks Starter$79 Stocks Developer$199 Stocks Advanced

Figure 1. Every stock-data plan of the three vendors on one scale; the pick for each setup in Table 1 in signal orange, Databento's from the calculator's cheapest plan with live order-book data. Checked: Massive, Alpaca and Databento November 2, 2026.

Which market data API to pick, by setup
Setup	Alpacabroker-bundled · alpaca/algo-trader-plus	Databentometered, or plans per service · databento/us-equities	Massiveformerly Polygon.io · massive/stocks-advanced
Real-time data, whole US marketthe consolidated tape for many symbols	meets: Alpaca Algo Trader Pluspick$99 a monthStreams the full SIP feed (every US exchange) for every symbol. For personal use.	Databento's US Equities Standard, $199 a month, covers 15 US exchanges and 30 ATSs in its history; its live data comes only from Databento US Equities Mini and IEX TOPS. For personal use.	Massive's Stocks Advanced, $199 a month, streams real-time data. Its terms: “Individual use only”.
Order bookslive Level 2 and 3 for US stocks	Alpaca: No order-book (L2/L3) data.	meets: Databento US Equities Pluspick$1,500 a monthCarries live order books (L2/L3) and keeps 1 month of them. For personal or business use. Years of order-book history need US Equities Unlimited at $4,000 a month.	Massive: No order-book (L2/L3) data.
FuturesCME-group exchanges, live	Alpaca: No futures data.	meets: Databento CME Standardpick$199 a monthStreams real-time data. For personal use.	meets: Massive Futures Advancedpick$199 a monthStreams real-time data. For personal use.
A flat bill with unlimited callsbroker-agnostic, steady polling	Alpaca's Algo Trader Plus, $99 a month, allows 10,000 requests a minute. For personal use.	Databento's US Equities Standard, $199 a month, allows 100 requests a second. For personal use.	meets: Massive Stocks Advancedpick$199 a monthHas no cap on API calls and keeps 20+ years of history. Its terms: “Individual use only”.

Table 1. The pick for each setup, with what the other two offer instead. Sources in section 6.

1Free ways in

Free plans
Vendor	Free plan	What you get	Limits
Alpaca	Basic	Real-time IEX feed (one exchange), on every Alpaca account, paper or live	200 requests a minute, 30 streamed symbols
Massive	Stocks Basic	End-of-day data, 2 years of history	5 calls a minute
Databento	$125 of credits	Historical data, metered per GB	Credits expire after 6 months

2For your conditions

Your conditions, in plain wordsRanks the three vendors' plans as you type

5 plans meet every condition, assuming 5 years of history: Alpaca Algo Trader Plus at $99 a month and Databento US Equities Standard at $199 a month, then 3 more.

Market-data plans checked against your requirements
Status	Price	Bars, matched by your search	Timing, matched by your search	Symbols and limits, matched by your search	History, matched by your search	Also on record	Checked
Meets everything you asked5cheapest first
meets:	$99/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 10 yr	SIP · personal only	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 10 yr
meets:	$199/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 8 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 8 yr
meets:	$199/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 20+ yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 20+ yr
meets:	$1,500/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 8 yr	personal and business	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 8 yr
meets:	$4,000/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 8 yr	personal and business	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 8 yr
Misses at least one11fewest misses first, then cheapest
fails:	$0/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	fails: 30-symbol stream, 500 needed	meets: 10 yr	IEX only · personal only	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · 30-symbol stream, 500 needed · 10 yr
fails:	$29/mo	meets: 1 min	fails: 15-min delay	stream, all symbols	meets: 5 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · 15-min delay · stream, all symbols · 5 yr
fails:	$79/mo	meets: 1 min	fails: 15-min delay	stream, all symbols	meets: 10 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · 15-min delay · stream, all symbols · 10 yr
fails:	$199/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 16+ yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 16+ yr
fails:	$199/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: unlimited calls	meets: 7 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · unlimited calls · 7 yr
fails:	$1,750/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 16+ yr	personal and business	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 16+ yr
fails:	$4,500/mo	meets: 1 min	meets: real-time	meets: stream, all symbols	meets: 16+ yr	personal and business	Nov 2	1 min · real-time · stream, all symbols · 16+ yr
fails:	$0/mo	meets: 1 min	fails: end of day	5 calls/min	fails: 2 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · end of day · 5 calls/min · 2 yr
fails:	$79/mo	meets: 1 min	fails: not real-time	unlimited calls	meets: 5 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · not real-time · unlimited calls · 5 yr
fails:	$0/mo	meets: 1 min	fails: not real-time	5 calls/min	fails: 2 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · not real-time · 5 calls/min · 2 yr
fails:	$29/mo	meets: 1 min	fails: not real-time	unlimited calls	fails: 2 yr	personal only	Nov 2	1 min · not real-time · unlimited calls · 2 yr

Futures plans are separate products. Assumed, as futures are not mentioned: every plan is checked for US stocks, as the calculator does.

3Absolute maximum ratings

The limits your code runs into, as each vendor publishes them.

AlpacaMarket-data plans. Source, checked November 2, 2026.
Parameter	Basic (free)	Algo Trader Plus ($99)
Market-data requests	200 a minute	10,000 a minute
WebSocket stock symbols	30	unlimited
Feed	IEX, one exchange	SIP, every US exchange
Options quotes, WebSocket	200, indicative	1,000, OPRA
History	10 years	10 years
Who may use it	personal use	personal use

DatabentoUS equities plans; each service is sold separately. Source, checked November 2, 2026.
Parameter	US Equities Standard	US Equities Plus	US Equities Unlimited
Price	$199 a month, monthly	$1,500 a month, annual contract	$4,000 a month, annual contract
What it includes	15 US exchanges and 30 ATSs; live data from Databento US Equities Mini and IEX TOPS only, for personal use	live data from 12 venue feeds incl. L2 (MBP-10) and L3 (MBO), personal or commercial use	entire history (since May 2018) in all schemas, L2/L3 live data
Live order book (L2/L3)	no	yes	yes
Order-book history	1 month	1 month	entire history
Requests	100 a second	100 a second	100 a second
Who may use it	personal use	personal or business use	personal or business use

Also from Databento: CME plans at Standard $199, Plus $1,750 and Unlimited $4,500 a month, and a usage-based meter for historical data, priced per GB by dataset and schema, with $125 in free credits (valid 6 months).

Massive (Polygon.io)Stocks plans. Source, checked November 2, 2026.
Parameter	Basic	Starter	Developer	Advanced
Price a month	$0	$29	$79	$199
API calls	5 a minute	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
Timing	end-of-day	15-minute delayed	15-minute delayed	real-time
History	2 years	5 years	10 years	20+ years
Bars	daily, 1-min	daily, 1-min, 1-sec	daily, 1-min, 1-sec, tick	daily, 1-min, 1-sec, tick
Who may use it	personal use	personal use	personal use	“Individual use only”

4How to choose

Depth decides first. If a strategy needs the order book (queue position, microstructure, depth-aware execution), only Databento sells it among the three: live order books start with US Equities Plus at $1,500 a month, and years of order-book history need US Equities Unlimited at $4,000. Alpaca and Massive: no order-book (L2/L3) data.

Then coverage and price. For real-time data on the whole US market, Alpaca Algo Trader Plus at $99 a month is the cheapest fit; Databento US Equities Standard and Massive Stocks Advanced both cost $199 a month, $100 more. Alpaca offers it to “individual traders and developers using Alpaca's Trading API”. Massive Stocks Advanced is the flat bill with unlimited calls, for individual use only.

Sporadic history pulls can go on Databento's meter ($125 in free credits, valid 6 months); it prices per GB by dataset and schema rather than as one number, so this page does not price usage billing.

Is Polygon, Databento, or Alpaca cheapest for real-time US stock data in 2026?

Alpaca, at $99 a month (Algo Trader Plus: the SIP feed (every US exchange), with OPRA options). Databento US Equities Standard and Massive Stocks Advanced both cost $199 a month, $100 more. Databento also meters historical data per GB, with $125 in free credits; that suits sporadic history pulls, not a flat real-time feed. Checked November 2, 2026.

Which of these market-data APIs offers Level-2 order-book data?

Only Databento. Live order books start with US Equities Plus at $1,500 a month, and years of order-book history need US Equities Unlimited at $4,000; US Equities Standard keeps 1 month of order-book history and no live depth. Alpaca and Massive: no order-book (L2/L3) data on the plans on record. Checked November 2, 2026.

How does Databento pricing work compared to Polygon and Alpaca?

Databento sells flat plans per service: for US equities Standard $199, Plus $1,500 and Unlimited $4,000 a month; for CME $199, $1,750 and $4,500. US Equities Plus, US Equities Unlimited, CME Plus and CME Unlimited are on annual contracts. Historical data can also be bought per GB by dataset and schema, with $125 in free credits. Massive charges $199 a month for real-time (Stocks Advanced); Alpaca's real-time SIP plan, Algo Trader Plus, is $99 a month. Checked November 2, 2026.

Is Polygon.io now Massive?

Yes. Polygon.io rebranded to Massive on October 30, 2025. Existing keys are unchanged, api.polygon.io stays supported beside the new api.massive.com base, and pricing now lives at massive.com/pricing.

What does Alpaca's free market-data tier include?

The free Basic plan streams real-time data from the IEX feed (one exchange) for up to 30 symbols, with 200 historical API calls a minute; options come as an indicative feed (200 quotes on the stream). The full SIP feed and OPRA options need Algo Trader Plus at $99 a month. Checked November 2, 2026.

5For agents

Your conditions from section 2, as one call to the hub's market-data cost calculator.

RequestMarket Data API Cost Calculator

GET https://aifinhub.io/api/run/data-vendor-tco
  ?universe=medium  the calculator's size band (51 to 1,000); your exact count goes in symbols
  &symbols=500  your 500 symbols, checked against each plan's caps
  &resolution=minute  1-minute bars
  &needs_live=true  real-time, as asked

curl -s 'https://aifinhub.io/api/run/data-vendor-tco?universe=medium&symbols=500&resolution=minute&needs_live=true'
# Markdown instead of JSON:
curl -s 'https://aifinhub.io/api/run/data-vendor-tco?universe=medium&symbols=500&resolution=minute&needs_live=true&format=md'

# MCP over Streamable HTTP, no sign-in: one JSON-RPC 2.0 call to the run_calculator tool
curl -s https://aifinhub.io/mcp \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  --data-binary @- <<'JSON'
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "run_calculator",
    "arguments": {
      "calculator": "data-vendor-tco",
      "input": {
        "universe": "medium",
        "symbols": 500,
        "resolution": "minute",
        "needs_live": true
      }
    }
  }
}
JSON

Inputs that fell back to a default

business_usefalse
market"us-equities"
needs_depthfalse
needs_futuresfalse
needs_optionsfalse

Open in Claude Open in ChatGPT

Every agent surface

GET /api/toolsevery calculator, its inputs, defaults and run URL
https://aifinhub.io/mcpMCP server (POST, for MCP clients): find_calculator, run_calculator, list_calculators
/.well-known/webmcp.jsonWebMCP manifest
/engines/data-vendor-tco.jsthis engine as an ES module
/llms.txtthe map for AI crawlers

Response200 application/json · 85.2 KB, large parts folded

"calculator": "data-vendor-tco",

"title": "Market Data API Cost Calculator",

"site": "AI Fin Hub",

"input":

"universe": "medium",

"symbols": 500,

"resolution": "minute",

"needs_live": true

"defaults_used":

"business_use": false,

"market": "us-equities",

"needs_depth": false,

"needs_futures": false,

"needs_options": false

"result":

"scenario":

"universe": "medium",

"resolution": "minute",

"history": "5-year",

"historyAssumed": true,

"needsLive": true,

"needsOptions": false,

"needsFutures": false,

"needsDepth": false,

"market": "us-equities",

"businessUse": false,

"symbols": 500

"ranked":

"vendor": 10 keys},

"tier":

"name": "Algo Trader Plus (SIP feed)",

"use":

"terms": "personal",

"source": "docs.alpaca.markets about-market-data-api: \"For individual traders and developers …" +61 characters

"monthly": 99,

"includesLive": true,

"includesOptions": true,

"options":

"feed": "opra",

"streamQuotes": 1000

"includesFutures": false,

"resolutions": ["daily", "minute", "tick"],

"historyYears": 10,

"limits":

"requestsPerMinute": 10000

"access":

"stream":

"carries": ["daily", "minute", "tick"],

"allSymbols": true

}

"notes": 4 items]

"monthly": 99,

"oneTime": 0,

"annualTotal": 1188,

"meetsResolution": true,

"meetsLive": true,

"meetsOptions": true,

"meetsFutures": true,

"meetsHistory": true,

"historyVerified": true,

"meetsSymbols": true,

"meetsDepth": true,

"meetsRate": true,

"rateVerified": true,

"meetsAll": true,

"fit": "fits",

"reasons": [],

"unverified": [],

"condition": null,

"conditions": [],

"outOfCoverage": false,

"coverageNote": null,

"rate":

"status": "fits",

"via": "stream",

"text": "its real-time stream carries 1-min bars for every symbol, so no polling is needed"

"plans":

"tier": "Free (IEX feed)",

"monthly": 0,

"annualTotal": 0,

"fits": false,

"fit": "does-not-fit",

"reasons": ["streams 30 symbols in real time; the scenario needs 500"],

"unverified": [],

"condition": null,

"conditions": [],

"outOfCoverage": false,

"rate":

"status": "does-not-fit",

"via": "stream",

"text": "streams 30 symbols in real time; the scenario needs 500"

}

"tier": "Algo Trader Plus (SIP feed)",

"monthly": 99,

"annualTotal": 1188,

"fits": true,

"fit": "fits",

"reasons": [],

"unverified": [],

"condition": null,

"conditions": [],

"outOfCoverage": false,

"rate":

"status": "fits",

"via": "stream",

"text": "its real-time stream carries 1-min bars for every symbol, so no polling is needed"

}

]

"vendor": 9 keys},

"tier":

"name": "Ultimate",

"use":

"terms": "personal",

"source": "FMP pricing plan data: \"planUse\":\"Individual\", \"use\":\"Licence - Personal\" (…" +21 characters

"monthly": 139,

"includesLive": true,

"includesOptions": false,

"includesFutures": false,

"resolutions": ["daily", "minute"],

"historyYears": 30,

"limits":

"requestsPerMinute": 3000

"access":

"symbolsPerRequest":

"minute": 1

}

"notes": 4 items]

"monthly": 139,

"oneTime": 0,

"annualTotal": 1668,

"meetsResolution": true,

"meetsLive": true,

"meetsOptions": true,

"meetsFutures": true,

"meetsHistory": true,

"historyVerified": true,

"meetsSymbols": true,

"meetsDepth": true,

"meetsRate": true,

"rateVerified": true,

"meetsAll": true,

"fit": "fits",

"reasons": [],

"unverified": [],

"condition": null,

"conditions": [],

"outOfCoverage": false,

"coverageNote": null,

"rate":

"via": "requests",

"requestsPerMinute": 500,

"requestsPerDay": 195000,

"status": "fits",

"text": "polling 1-min bars for 500 symbols takes 500 requests a minute (one symbol per requ…" +40 characters

"plans": 4 items]

25 keys},

25 keys}

"coverage":

"outOfCoverage": false,

"text": "This dataset prices US equities (all six vendors), US equity options (Alpaca: OPRA …" +180 characters

}

"provenance":

"run": "https://aifinhub.io/api/run/data-vendor-tco?universe=medium&symbols=500&resolution=…" +22 characters,

"page": "https://aifinhub.io/data-vendor-tco/",

"methodology": "https://aifinhub.io/data-vendor-tco/",

"contract": "https://aifinhub.io/contracts/data-vendor-tco.json",

"engine": "https://aifinhub.io/engines/data-vendor-tco.js",

"engine_sha256": "f11055cf0d8203416ba2d54a2f262019b961664816148287443780ade610a21f",

"build": "ee29afaa39c002cc7d8f407ed5f76805b5178ebb"

"disclaimer": "Planning estimates only — not financial, tax, or investment advice.",

"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",

"cite": "AI Fin Hub, Market Data API Cost Calculator (engine f11055cf0d82), https://aifinhub…" +89 characters

}

Listing 1. What that URL returns, computed in your browser by the calculator's engine from the hub repo (build ee29afa), which matched the live API at build time. The API picks the same plan: Alpaca Algo Trader Plus, $99 a month, the cheapest of the 5 plans that meet.

6Sources

Massive (Polygon.io). Plan data: Stocks Basic $0, Futures Basic $0, Stocks Starter $29, Futures Starter $29, Stocks Developer $79, Futures Developer $79, Stocks Advanced $199 and Futures Advanced $199 a month. Checked November 2, 2026. massive.com/pricing
Databento. Plan data: US Equities Standard $199, CME Standard $199, US Equities Plus $1,500, CME Plus $1,750, US Equities Unlimited $4,000 and CME Unlimited $4,500 a month. Checked November 2, 2026. databento.com/pricing · api.databento.com/v0/dataset/service_offerings/us-equities · api.databento.com/v0/dataset/service_offerings/cme · databento.com/docs/portal/live-data · databento.com/docs/api-historical/basics
Alpaca. Plan data: Basic $0 and Algo Trader Plus $99 a month. Checked November 2, 2026. docs.alpaca.markets/us/docs/about-market-data-api · docs.alpaca.markets/reference/stockbars
Massive. Polygon.io is now Massive, effective October 30, 2025. massive.com/blog/polygon-is-now-massive