# What to use instead of Quandl

Quandl became Nasdaq Data Link, and the free WIKI end-of-day dataset never came with it. Where its two very different audiences went.

*https://stockmarketstack.com/alternatives/quandl*

## The subject

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Product | Quandl |
| Status | restricted |
| Website | https://www.quandl.com |
| Category | Stock Market Data APIs |

A data marketplace and Python client that was acquired by Nasdaq in 2018, rebranded as Nasdaq Data Link, and whose free WIKI end-of-day stock dataset stopped being maintained years before that.

## Replacements

*Ordered by how much of the original’s job each one covers, closest first. Paid placement does not affect this order.*

1. [Nasdaq Data Link](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/nasdaq-data-link.md) — Where Quandl actually went. Same catalogue, same dataset codes in many cases, new domain and new commercial terms on the premium half.
2. [Norgate Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/norgate-data.md) — What WIKI users needed and WIKI never was — end-of-day history that keeps delisted stocks and index constituents, so a backtest is not survivorship-biased.
3. [Tiingo](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tiingo.md) — The closest thing to free WIKI with a licence attached. End-of-day equity history back to 1962 for 30 dollars a month.
4. [EODHD](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/eodhd.md) — For the part of Quandl's appeal that was breadth rather than depth — end-of-day and fundamentals across 60-plus exchanges at a hobbyist price.
5. [Alpha Vantage](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/alpha-vantage.md) — A free key for scripts that used Quandl's free tier as a convenience rather than as a data source, and can live inside a hard daily cap.
6. [OpenBB](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/openbb.md) — For the Python-notebook habit rather than the data. One client over thirty providers, so switching source becomes an argument rather than a rewrite.

## The product

Quandl was two things at once, which is why it is remembered two different ways.

It was a **marketplace**, where publishers sold alternative and financial datasets through one
API and one Python client. That half was acquired by Nasdaq in 2018 and became Nasdaq Data Link
in 2021 — new domain, renamed package, largely the same catalogue.

It was also, to a generation of tutorials, **the free WIKI dataset** of US end-of-day prices.
That half was community-maintained, stopped being updated in 2018, and was never part of what
Nasdaq bought. Most people who arrive looking for a Quandl replacement are looking for this one.

## What to use instead

If you were a **paying customer**, start at [Nasdaq Data Link](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/nasdaq-data-link). It is
not an alternative, it is the same service, and many dataset codes carry over unchanged.

If you were a **WIKI user**, you need a price history rather than a marketplace, and the honest
recommendation is to fix the flaw WIKI had rather than reproduce it.
[Norgate Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/norgate-data) keeps delisted stocks and index constituents, which is what
stops a backtest from quietly measuring only the survivors. [Tiingo](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tiingo) is the
cheaper licensed option with unusual depth of history.

If you were a **notebook user** who is really trying to stop having this problem,
[OpenBB](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/openbb) puts one Python interface over thirty providers, which turns the next
vendor change into a configuration argument.

## What you give up

**The impression of a commons.** Quandl felt like open data with a paid tier. Nasdaq Data Link is
a commercial catalogue with a free account, and the premium datasets carry their publishers'
terms. Nothing was taken away that was ever promised — but the reason so many courses used
Quandl was the feeling, and the feeling is gone.

**Free end-of-day US prices, unconditionally.** Everything on this list is either metered, capped
or paid. That is the trade for data somebody is contractually obliged to keep updating.

## Migration notes

Change the import and the host first, then audit the dataset codes one at a time — the failure
mode is a code that resolves but now returns a shorter history or a different adjustment
convention, which is silent until a result looks wrong.

Then take the survivorship question seriously. If you are moving off WIKI, you are moving off a
dataset that dropped delisted companies, and the first thing that will happen after you switch to
a bias-free source is that your best strategies will get worse. That is the point.

## FAQ

### Is Quandl gone?

The brand is. Nasdaq acquired Quandl in 2018 and folded it into Nasdaq Data Link in 2021; the API moved from quandl.com to data.nasdaq.com and the Python package was renamed, with the old repository archived in 2022. The catalogue and most dataset codes survived the move. What did not survive is the impression that it was a free, open data commons.

### What happened to the WIKI dataset?

Quandl's WIKI end-of-day US equity prices were community-maintained and stopped being updated in 2018, well before the Nasdaq rebrand. They are still referenced in an enormous number of tutorials, courses and GitHub repositories, which is why people keep arriving at a dead dataset years later and assuming the whole service died with it.

### Do my old Quandl dataset codes still work?

Many do, through Nasdaq Data Link, which is the main reason to start there rather than anywhere else. The import changes and the host changes, and some premium datasets have been repriced or withdrawn by their publishers. Check the specific codes you depend on before planning any larger migration.

### What should I use for survivorship-bias-free backtests?

Norgate Data, which is on this list specifically for that. A price history that silently drops delisted companies makes every long-horizon backtest look better than reality, and free end-of-day datasets almost always drop them. It is the one respect in which WIKI was never adequate even when it was maintained.