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

Alpaca is cheapest for real-time full-market US equities at $99/month (Algo Trader Plus, full SIP + OPRA), level with Databento's $199/month flat Standard plan and Polygon's $199/month Advanced tier, both of which sit $100/month above it. Databento's metered per-GB billing is cheapest for sporadic historical pulls but not the basis for a flat real-time feed comparison. Verified 2026-07-25.

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

Only Databento. It sells raw venue-level depth (MBP-10 Level-2 and full MBO Level-3) across 15+ venues including CME, Eurex, ICE, and Nasdaq. Polygon.io (Massive) and Alpaca do not sell exchange depth at any tier. Verified 2026-07-25.

How does Databento pricing work compared to Polygon and Alpaca?

Databento meters historical data by uncompressed gigabyte with $125 in free credits and no subscription required; flat plans sit alongside the meter — Standard $199/month (live + historical), Plus $1,750/month, Unlimited $4,500/month on annual contracts. Polygon charges a flat $199/month for real-time. Alpaca bundles data into a $99/month brokerage plan. Verified 2026-07-25.

Is Polygon.io now Massive?

Yes. Polygon.io rebranded to Massive on October 30, 2025. The api.polygon.io base URL and existing keys are unchanged; pricing now lives at massive.com/pricing.

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

The free Basic plan gives a real-time IEX feed (a subset of total volume), a 30-symbol WebSocket cap, and 200 requests/minute. Full SIP coverage and OPRA options require the $99/month Algo Trader Plus plan. Verified 2026-07-25.

Polygon.io vs Databento vs Alpaca Market Data API 2026

The short answer

For US-equity market data in 2026: Polygon.io (Massive) is flat-rate at $199/month for real-time SIP, Databento meters by the gigabyte ($125 free credits) or goes flat from $199/month Standard and is the only one selling Level-2/MBO order-book depth, and Alpaca is broker-bundled — free IEX or $99/month for full SIP plus OPRA options. The choice is data depth and usage shape, not a single cheapest. Verified 2026-07-25.

For US-equity market data in 2026, the three split by billing model and data depth: Polygon.io (now Massive) is flat-rate — $199/month Advanced for real-time SIP with unlimited calls; Databento is metered by the gigabyte ($125 in free credits) or flat from $199/month on its Standard plan, and is the only one of the three that sells Level-2 / MBO order-book depth; Alpaca is broker-bundled — free with the IEX feed, or $99/month for full SIP plus OPRA options as part of Algo Trader Plus. All figures re-verified 2026-07-25 against each vendor's pricing page. The choice is depth and usage shape, not a single "cheapest." The cross-vendor annual cost block at the foot of this page is computed live from the Data Vendor TCO engine.

TL;DR

Dimension	Polygon.io (Massive)	Databento	Alpaca
Billing	Flat monthly¹	Metered $/GB + flat plans²	Broker-bundled, flat³
Real-time US equities	$199/mo Advanced (SIP)¹	Standard $199/mo flat (live + historical)²	$99/mo Algo Trader Plus (SIP)³
Free entry	$0 Basic, 5 calls/min, delayed⁴	$125 free credits (historical)²	Free IEX feed, real-time subset³
Level-2 / MBO depth	No⁴	Yes (MBP-10, full MBO)²	No
Options data	Separate product line	Equity + futures options²	OPRA included at $99/mo³
Asset/venue breadth	US equities (Stocks plan)⁴	15+ venues incl. CME, Eurex, ICE, Nasdaq²	US equities + options

Every figure re-verified 2026-07-25 against the vendor's pricing or docs. Sources at the foot of the page.

Brand note: Polygon.io is now Massive

Polygon.io rebranded to Massive on October 30, 2025⁵. The api.polygon.io base URL still works and existing keys are unchanged, so the product most engineers call "Polygon" is intact; only the brand and pricing-page domain (massive.com/pricing) moved.

Polygon.io (Massive): flat-rate, real-time at $199

The Stocks plan ladder, verified on the official pricing page¹⁴:

Tier	Monthly	Feed	API calls	WebSocket
Basic	$0	15-min delayed	5 / min	No
Starter	$29	15-min delayed	Unlimited	No
Developer	$79	15-min delayed	Unlimited	Yes (delayed)
Advanced	$199	Real-time SIP	Unlimited	Yes (real-time)

The misconception to kill: real-time SIP starts at the $199 Advanced tier. Starter and Developer are both 15-minute-delayed; Developer's upgrade over Starter is deeper history and WebSocket access, not live quotes⁴. Polygon does not sell exchange depth (Level-2 / MBO) at any tier⁴. The Stocks plan covers US equities only; Options, Indices, Currencies, and (since 2026-05-28) Futures (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX) are separate product lines on their own ladders.

Databento: metered, and the only one with order-book depth

Databento meters historical data by uncompressed binary size in $/GB, with $125 in free credits (historical, expiring after six months) and no subscription required to start. The specific per-GB rate is not publicly displayed as a single number; Databento previews the fee per dataset in its catalog, so for a hard budget you price the exact symbols and date range you intend to pull. Flat-rate plans now sit alongside the meter: Standard at $199/month (live + historical, no license fees, 16+ years of L0 history, the last 12 months of L1, the last 1 month of L2/L3), with Plus at $1,750/month and Unlimited at $4,500/month on annual contracts².

Where Databento is alone among the three: it sells raw venue-level order-book data — MBP-10 (Level-2) and full MBO (Level-3) feeds — across 15+ venues including CME, NYMEX, COMEX, Eurex, ICE, and Nasdaq². If a strategy needs the book (microstructure research, queue-position modeling, depth-aware execution), Polygon and Alpaca are simply not options and Databento is the natural choice.

Alpaca: broker-bundled, free IEX or $99 for full SIP + OPRA

Alpaca's market data rides on the brokerage account³. The free Basic plan is a real-time IEX feed (a subset of total volume), a 30-symbol WebSocket cap, and 200 requests/minute. Algo Trader Plus at $99/month turns on the full SIP consolidated tape across all US exchanges, the OPRA options feed (1,000-symbol WebSocket cap for options quotes), unlimited equity WebSocket subscriptions, and a 10,000 requests/minute data limit³. That makes Alpaca the cheapest path to real-time full-market US equity data of the three ($99 vs Polygon's $199), with the trade-off that it is tied to an Alpaca account and offers no order-book depth.

The economics, computed live

The Data Vendor TCO engine models the all-in annual cost for a live, minute-resolution, medium-universe profile and ranks every vendor in its catalogue on annual total, flagging which tier clears the real-time requirement. The verified output block at the foot of this page is computed from the shipped engine bundle, not typed by hand. The engine's vendor snapshot and the spec tables above were both refreshed against the vendors' pages on 2026-07-25.

What changed as of 2026-07-25

All three vendors were re-verified on 2026-07-25. One real delta since the 2026-07-12 check:

Databento's flat-rate ladder moved up: Standard is now $199/mo (live + historical, no license fees), Plus $1,750/mo, and Unlimited $4,500/mo (the latter two on annual contracts)². This page previously published $179 / $1,500 / $4,000; those figures are retired. The displayed ladder now matches the CME Globex MDP 3.0 rates that took effect on June 22, 2026, so the pricing page and the per-dataset CME plan no longer diverge — see the Databento CME price increase (June 2026) for the grandfather terms that still hold $179 for pre-June-22 CME Standard subscribers. Metered per-GB billing remains available with no subscription.

Unchanged: Massive's Stocks ladder ($0 / $29 / $79 / $199, real-time SIP at Advanced) and Alpaca's data plans (free IEX Basic; Algo Trader Plus $99/mo with SIP + OPRA).

How to choose

Need Level-2 / order-book depth or non-US venues (CME, Eurex, ICE): Databento. The other two do not sell exchange depth and are US-equity-focused. Steady book-data workloads can now cap spend with the flat $199/mo Standard plan when its history windows fit.
Cheapest real-time full-market US equities, already on Alpaca: Alpaca Algo Trader Plus ($99/mo) bundles SIP + OPRA and beats Polygon's $199 if you do not need the book.
Predictable flat cost on steady high-call US-equity polling, broker-agnostic: Polygon Advanced ($199/mo flat) — unlimited calls regardless of volume.
Sporadic one-off historical pulls: Databento metered — the $125 credit covers a lot of experimentation before any subscription.

Databento vs Polygon.io 2026: the two-way metered-vs-flat deep dive.
Polygon.io vs Alpaca Market Data 2026: the flat-vs-bundled head-to-head.
Polygon.io Pricing Plans 2026: the full Stocks tier ladder.
Market Data APIs Compared 2026: the six-vendor survey.

Connects to

Data Vendor TCO: the engine behind this page's cost block.
Cheapest Stock Market Data API 2026: budget options below all three.

References

Polygon.io / Massive. "Pricing" (Stocks: Starter $29, Developer $79, Advanced $199; real-time SIP at Advanced). Verified 2026-07-25. https://massive.com/pricing ↩ ↩² ↩³
Databento. "Pricing" (usage-based $/GB; $125 free credits, six-month expiry; flat plans: Standard $199/mo live + historical, Plus $1,750/mo, Unlimited $4,500/mo on annual contracts; MBP-10 and full MBO order-book data; 15+ venues incl. CME, NYMEX, COMEX, Eurex, ICE, Nasdaq). Verified 2026-07-25. https://databento.com/pricing ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Alpaca. "About Market Data API" (Basic free: IEX feed, 30-symbol WebSocket, 200 req/min; Algo Trader Plus $99/month: full SIP, OPRA options, 10,000 req/min, unlimited equity WebSocket). Verified 2026-07-25. https://docs.alpaca.markets/us/docs/about-market-data-api ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Polygon.io / Massive. "Stocks plan tiers and limits" (Basic 5 calls/min and 15-min delayed; Starter/Developer 15-min delayed; Advanced real-time; no Level-2/MBO depth at any tier; Stocks = US equities only). Verified 2026-07-25. https://massive.com/pricing ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Massive. "Polygon.io is Now Massive" (effective October 30, 2025; api.polygon.io and keys unchanged). Verified 2026-07-12 (rebrand announcement, unchanged since). https://massive.com/blog/polygon-is-now-massive ↩

Verified engine output

Show the recompute-verified inputs and outputs

Live minute-bar, medium universe, real-time required — annual TCO ranked across the vendor catalogue

Inputs
universe	medium
resolution	minute
needs_live	true
needs_options	false
needs_futures	false

Result
scenario › universe	medium
scenario › resolution	minute
scenario › history	5-year
scenario › needs live	true
scenario › needs options	false
scenario › needs futures	false
ranked › row 1 › vendor › id	alpaca
ranked › row 1 › vendor › name	Alpaca Markets
ranked › row 1 › vendor › url	https://alpaca.markets
ranked › row 1 › vendor › short pitch	Broker-bundled market data. Generous free tier via IEX feed; SIP feed requires paid plan.
ranked › row 1 › vendor › has overage	false
ranked › row 1 › vendor › last checked	2026-07-12
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › name	Free (IEX feed)
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly	0
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live	true
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options	false
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1	IEX feed only (subset of volume)
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2	Free with Alpaca brokerage account
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › name	Algo Trader Plus (SIP feed)
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly	99
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes live	true
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes options	true
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 4	tick
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1	Full SIP consolidated tape
ranked › row 1 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2	Options chains included
ranked › row 1 › tier › name	Free (IEX feed)
ranked › row 1 › tier › monthly	0
ranked › row 1 › tier › includes live	true
ranked › row 1 › tier › includes options	false
ranked › row 1 › tier › includes futures	false
ranked › row 1 › tier › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 1 › tier › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 1 › tier › notes › row 1	IEX feed only (subset of volume)
ranked › row 1 › tier › notes › row 2	Free with Alpaca brokerage account
ranked › row 1 › monthly	0
ranked › row 1 › one time	0
ranked › row 1 › annual total	0
ranked › row 1 › meets resolution	true
ranked › row 1 › meets live	true
ranked › row 1 › meets options	true
ranked › row 1 › meets futures	true
ranked › row 1 › meets all	true
ranked › row 2 › vendor › id	tiingo
ranked › row 2 › vendor › name	Tiingo
ranked › row 2 › vendor › url	https://www.tiingo.com
ranked › row 2 › vendor › short pitch	EOD + 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 overage	false
ranked › row 2 › vendor › last checked	2026-07-12
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › name	Tiingo Starter (free)
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly	0
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live	true
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options	false
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1	Free tier: 50 req/hr, 1,000 req/day, 500 unique symbols/mo
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2	30+ years EOD equities; news API included
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 3	IEX-sourced real-time WebSocket on every plan (subset of consolidated volume)
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › name	Tiingo Power
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly	30
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes live	true
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes options	false
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2	minute
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 2	Intraday IEX bars + crypto
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 3	Fundamentals is a separate add-on (not included)
ranked › row 2 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 4	Commercial license (internal use, max 2 devs) is $50/mo ($499/yr)
ranked › row 2 › tier › name	Tiingo Power
ranked › row 2 › tier › monthly	30
ranked › row 2 › tier › includes live	true
ranked › row 2 › tier › includes options	false
ranked › row 2 › tier › includes futures	false
ranked › row 2 › tier › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 2 › tier › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 1	$30/mo ($300/yr): 10,000 req/hr, 100k req/day, 40 GB/mo bandwidth cap
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 2	Intraday IEX bars + crypto
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 3	Fundamentals is a separate add-on (not included)
ranked › row 2 › tier › notes › row 4	Commercial license (internal use, max 2 devs) is $50/mo ($499/yr)
ranked › row 2 › monthly	30
ranked › row 2 › one time	0
ranked › row 2 › annual total	360
ranked › row 2 › meets resolution	true
ranked › row 2 › meets live	true
ranked › row 2 › meets options	true
ranked › row 2 › meets futures	true
ranked › row 2 › meets all	true
ranked › row 3 › vendor › id	databento
ranked › row 3 › vendor › name	Databento
ranked › row 3 › vendor › url	https://databento.com
ranked › row 3 › vendor › short pitch	Per-unit metered pricing. Strong for institutional-quality tick + L2 data. No subscriptions on base offer.
ranked › row 3 › vendor › has overage	true
ranked › row 3 › vendor › last checked	2026-07-25
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › name	Databento metered (typical retail)
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly	125
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live	true
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options	false
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures	true
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 4	tick
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 5	level2
ranked › row 3 › 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 (6-month expiry)
ranked › row 3 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2	Flat plans: Standard $199/mo (live + historical; 16+ yrs L0, 12 mo L1, 1 mo L2-L3); Plus $1,750/mo and Unlimited $4,500/mo on annual contracts (verified 2026-07-25)
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 4	Per-GB cost scales aggressively with universe and resolution
ranked › row 3 › tier › name	Databento metered (typical retail)
ranked › row 3 › tier › monthly	125
ranked › row 3 › tier › includes live	true
ranked › row 3 › tier › includes options	false
ranked › row 3 › tier › includes futures	true
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 4	tick
ranked › row 3 › tier › resolutions › row 5	level2
ranked › row 3 › 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 (6-month expiry)
ranked › row 3 › tier › notes › row 2	Flat plans: Standard $199/mo (live + historical; 16+ yrs L0, 12 mo L1, 1 mo L2-L3); Plus $1,750/mo and Unlimited $4,500/mo on annual contracts (verified 2026-07-25)
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 4	Per-GB cost scales aggressively with universe and resolution
ranked › row 3 › monthly	125
ranked › row 3 › one time	0
ranked › row 3 › annual total	1500
ranked › row 3 › meets resolution	true
ranked › row 3 › meets live	true
ranked › row 3 › meets options	true
ranked › row 3 › meets futures	true
ranked › row 3 › meets all	true
ranked › row 4 › vendor › id	fmp
ranked › row 4 › vendor › name	Financial Modeling Prep
ranked › row 4 › vendor › url	https://site.financialmodelingprep.com
ranked › row 4 › vendor › short pitch	Fundamentals-heavy. Earnings, filings, transcripts. Price data is a secondary offer.
ranked › row 4 › vendor › has overage	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › last checked	2026-07-12
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › name	Starter
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly	22
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1	Billed annually ($22/mo equivalent)
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2	5 years history
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 3	300 API calls/min
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › name	Premium
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly	59
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes live	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes options	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1	Billed annually
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2	30+ years history
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 3	750 calls/min
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › name	Ultimate
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › monthly	149
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › includes live	true
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › includes options	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 1	Billed annually
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 2	Real-time
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 3	3,000 calls/min
ranked › row 4 › vendor › tiers › row 3 › notes › row 4	Earnings-call transcripts require this tier
ranked › row 4 › tier › name	Ultimate
ranked › row 4 › tier › monthly	149
ranked › row 4 › tier › includes live	true
ranked › row 4 › tier › includes options	false
ranked › row 4 › tier › includes futures	false
ranked › row 4 › tier › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 4 › tier › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 4 › tier › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 1	Billed annually
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 2	Real-time
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 3	3,000 calls/min
ranked › row 4 › tier › notes › row 4	Earnings-call transcripts require this tier
ranked › row 4 › monthly	149
ranked › row 4 › one time	0
ranked › row 4 › annual total	1788
ranked › row 4 › meets resolution	true
ranked › row 4 › meets live	true
ranked › row 4 › meets options	true
ranked › row 4 › meets futures	true
ranked › row 4 › meets all	true
ranked › row 5 › vendor › id	polygon
ranked › row 5 › vendor › name	Massive (formerly Polygon.io)
ranked › row 5 › vendor › url	https://massive.com
ranked › row 5 › 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.
ranked › row 5 › vendor › has overage	false
ranked › row 5 › vendor › last checked	2026-07-12
ranked › row 5 › vendor › tiers (7 items)	[...]
ranked › row 5 › tier › name	Stocks Advanced
ranked › row 5 › tier › monthly	199
ranked › row 5 › tier › includes live	true
ranked › row 5 › tier › includes options	false
ranked › row 5 › tier › includes futures	false
ranked › row 5 › tier › asset class	stocks
ranked › row 5 › tier › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 5 › tier › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 5 › tier › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 5 › tier › resolutions › row 4	tick
ranked › row 5 › tier › notes › row 1	Full real-time
ranked › row 5 › tier › notes › row 2	Unlimited API calls
ranked › row 5 › monthly	199
ranked › row 5 › one time	0
ranked › row 5 › annual total	2388
ranked › row 5 › meets resolution	true
ranked › row 5 › meets live	true
ranked › row 5 › meets options	true
ranked › row 5 › meets futures	true
ranked › row 5 › meets all	true
ranked › row 6 › vendor › id	alpha-vantage
ranked › row 6 › vendor › name	Alpha Vantage
ranked › row 6 › vendor › url	https://www.alphavantage.co
ranked › row 6 › vendor › short pitch	Budget tier with broad coverage. Rate limits tight. Workable for low-frequency research.
ranked › row 6 › vendor › has overage	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › last checked	2026-07-12
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › name	Premium 75
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › monthly	49.99
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes live	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes options	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 1	75 calls/min, no daily limit
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 1 › notes › row 2	Free key capped at 25 calls/day, 5/min
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › name	Premium 1200
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › monthly	249.99
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes live	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes options	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › includes futures	false
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › resolutions › row 3	second
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 1	1,200 calls/min, no daily limit
ranked › row 6 › vendor › tiers › row 2 › notes › row 2	Rate-tiered ladder: $99.99/150, $149.99/300, $199.99/600, $249.99/1200
ranked › row 6 › tier › name	Premium 75
ranked › row 6 › tier › monthly	49.99
ranked › row 6 › tier › includes live	false
ranked › row 6 › tier › includes options	false
ranked › row 6 › tier › includes futures	false
ranked › row 6 › tier › resolutions › row 1	daily
ranked › row 6 › tier › resolutions › row 2	minute
ranked › row 6 › tier › notes › row 1	75 calls/min, no daily limit
ranked › row 6 › tier › notes › row 2	Free key capped at 25 calls/day, 5/min
ranked › row 6 › monthly	49.99
ranked › row 6 › one time	0
ranked › row 6 › annual total	599.88
ranked › row 6 › meets resolution	true
ranked › row 6 › meets live	false
ranked › row 6 › meets options	true
ranked › row 6 › meets futures	true
ranked › row 6 › meets all	false

Computed live at build time.

Frequently asked questions

Is Polygon, Databento, or Alpaca cheapest for real-time US stock data in 2026?: Alpaca is cheapest for real-time full-market US equities at $99/month (Algo Trader Plus, full SIP + OPRA), level with Databento's $199/month flat Standard plan and Polygon's $199/month Advanced tier, both of which sit $100/month above it. Databento's metered per-GB billing is cheapest for sporadic historical pulls but not the basis for a flat real-time feed comparison. Verified 2026-07-25.
Which of these market-data APIs offers Level-2 order-book data?: Only Databento. It sells raw venue-level depth (MBP-10 Level-2 and full MBO Level-3) across 15+ venues including CME, Eurex, ICE, and Nasdaq. Polygon.io (Massive) and Alpaca do not sell exchange depth at any tier. Verified 2026-07-25.
How does Databento pricing work compared to Polygon and Alpaca?: Databento meters historical data by uncompressed gigabyte with $125 in free credits and no subscription required; flat plans sit alongside the meter — Standard $199/month (live + historical), Plus $1,750/month, Unlimited $4,500/month on annual contracts. Polygon charges a flat $199/month for real-time. Alpaca bundles data into a $99/month brokerage plan. Verified 2026-07-25.
Is Polygon.io now Massive?: Yes. Polygon.io rebranded to Massive on October 30, 2025. The api.polygon.io base URL and existing keys are unchanged; pricing now lives at massive.com/pricing.
What does Alpaca's free market-data tier include?: The free Basic plan gives a real-time IEX feed (a subset of total volume), a 30-symbol WebSocket cap, and 200 requests/minute. Full SIP coverage and OPRA options require the $99/month Algo Trader Plus plan. Verified 2026-07-25.