Polygon.io's free tier, now the Massive Basic plan, allows 5 API calls per minute on end-of-day data with 2 years of history, and it has no WebSockets, snapshots or flat-file downloads. Those limits were re-read from the official pricing page on 2026-10-111. They apply per asset class: Stocks, Options, Indices, Currencies and Futures each have their own free Basic tier. Polygon.io rebranded to Massive on October 30, 2025, and free keys issued under the old brand keep working2. Size the paid step with the Data Vendor TCO.
What does the Polygon.io free tier include in 2026?
| Constraint | Free Stocks Basic |
|---|---|
| Price | $0/month |
| API calls | 5 per minute |
| Data timing | End-of-day (not intraday delayed) |
| History | 2 years |
| Endpoints included | Reference data, corporate actions, technical indicators, minute aggregates |
| WebSockets | Not included (Starter and up) |
| Flat files | Not included (Starter and up) |
| Snapshots | Not included (Starter and up) |
| Licence | Individual use only |
Every row is taken from the Stocks Basic card on massive.com/pricing, read 2026-10-111.
Is Polygon.io free data delayed 15 minutes?
No, and this is the most common error about the plan. Basic is labelled "End of Day Data". The 15-minute-delayed feed begins at the $29 Starter tier, and real-time data begins at the $199 Advanced tier1. Minute aggregates are available on Basic, so a free key can backfill historical intraday bars for completed sessions within the 2-year window; it cannot watch the current session.
What does 5 calls per minute rule out?
Five calls a minute is 300 an hour. A loop that refreshes 20 symbols once a minute breaches it on the first pass, and a nightly backfill of a 500-symbol universe at one request per symbol takes about 100 minutes. The workable pattern is aggregate requests over long date ranges, a local cache, and a token bucket that never exceeds five requests in any 60-second window. Starter removes the cap entirely ("Unlimited API Calls")1.
Do the free tiers differ by asset class?
Yes. Each product has its own Basic tier, all at 5 calls per minute1:
| Free tier | Timing | History | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks Basic | End-of-day | 2 years | All US stock tickers |
| Options Basic | End-of-day | 2 years | All US options tickers |
| Indices Basic | End-of-day | 1+ year | A limited set of index tickers |
| Currencies Basic | End-of-day | 2 years | All forex and crypto tickers |
| Futures Basic | Historical data | 2 years | CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX |
A free Stocks key does not grant free options data unless the account also holds Options Basic, because entitlements are per product.
Can an AI agent use the free tier?
Yes. Massive's hosted MCP server at mcp.massive.com follows the account's plan, and Massive states that "a free Basic account is enough to connect"3. The same 5-calls-per-minute and end-of-day limits then apply to the agent's tool calls, so a chat session that fans out across many tickers hits the cap quickly. For the agent-access options, including per-request payment without an account, see Massive for AI Agents 2026.
When is the free tier enough?
- Enough: learning the API, end-of-day research on a small watchlist, integration tests, backtests inside a 2-year window.
- Not enough: anything that reads the current session, streaming, bulk downloads, backtests longer than two years.
The cheapest exit is Starter at $29/month ($288 billed annually), which adds unlimited calls, 15-minute-delayed intraday data, 5 years of history, WebSockets and flat files1. The full ladder is in Polygon.io Pricing 2026.
Verified figures
All Basic-tier limits for the five products were read from massive.com/pricing on 2026-10-111; the MCP statement comes from Massive's September 15, 2026 announcement3.
Connects to
- Polygon.io Pricing 2026: the paid Stocks ladder.
- Polygon.io to Massive Migration 2026: keys, hosts and SDKs after the rebrand.
- Data Vendor TCO: cost the upgrade path.
References
Footnotes
-
Massive (formerly Polygon.io). "Pricing" (Basic tiers for Stocks, Options, Indices, Currencies and Futures; Starter features). Read 2026-10-11. https://massive.com/pricing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
-
Massive. "Polygon.io is Now Massive" (October 30, 2025; existing keys and accounts unchanged). Read 2026-10-11. https://massive.com/blog/polygon-is-now-massive ↩
-
Massive. "Give Your AI Live Market Data with Massive" (hosted MCP server at mcp.massive.com; access follows the account plan; free Basic account can connect). September 15, 2026, read 2026-10-11. https://massive.com/blog/give-your-ai-live-market-data-with-massive ↩ ↩2
Verified engine output
Show the recompute-verified inputs and outputs
| vendor_id | polygon |
|---|---|
| universe | small |
| resolution | daily |
| needs_live | 0 |
| vendor › id | polygon |
|---|---|
| vendor › name | Massive (formerly Polygon.io) |
| 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. Rebranded from Polygon.io on 2025-10-30. |
| vendor › has overage | false |
| vendor › last checked | 2026-10-11 |
| vendor › tiers (7 items) | [...] |
| tier › name | Stocks Starter |
| tier › monthly | 29 |
| tier › includes live | false |
| 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 › history years | 5 |
| tier › notes › row 1 | 15-min delayed market data |
| tier › notes › row 2 | Unlimited API calls |
| tier › notes › row 3 | 5 years history; WebSockets, flat files, second aggregates |
| tier › notes › row 4 | $288/yr billed annually |
| monthly | 29 |
| one time | 0 |
| annual total | 348 |
| meets resolution | true |
| meets live | true |
| meets options | true |
| meets futures | true |
| meets history | true |
| history verified | true |
| meets all | true |
Computed live at build time.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Polygon.io free tier rate limit in 2026?
- The free Massive Basic plan allows 5 API calls per minute on each product (Stocks, Options, Indices, Currencies, Futures). Paid tiers from Starter up are unlimited (read from massive.com/pricing on 2026-10-11).
- Is Polygon.io free tier data real-time or delayed?
- Neither. The free Basic tier serves end-of-day data. 15-minute-delayed intraday data starts at the $29 Starter tier and real-time data at the $199 Advanced tier.
- How much history does the Polygon.io free tier include?
- Two years for Stocks, Options, Currencies and Futures, and one year or more for a limited set of indices. Paid Stocks tiers extend this to 5, 10 and 20+ years.
- Does the Polygon.io free tier include WebSockets or flat files?
- No. WebSockets, flat-file downloads and snapshots all start at the $29 Starter tier. Basic is REST-only.
- Is Polygon.io still free now that it is Massive?
- Yes. The rebrand on October 30, 2025 kept the free Basic tier and existing keys. Massive's hosted MCP server also accepts a free Basic account, subject to the same limits.