# Real-time market data tools

Exchange-live prices rather than delayed or end-of-day — and the three very different things vendors mean by "real-time".

*https://stockmarketstack.com/collections/real-time-data*

## Three things called real-time

Every tool on this page ships prices that are live rather than delayed or end-of-day. That is one
field — `data_latency: realtime` — and it hides a distinction worth more than most of the others
on a card.

**One venue.** [Alpaca's](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/alpaca-market-data) free tier is real-time IEX data. It is
genuinely live and genuinely from an exchange; it is also one venue out of many, so the last price
you see is the last price *there*.

**The consolidated tape.** Every trade and quote from every US venue, through the SIP. This is
what most people mean by real-time and it is where the price steps up — on
[Alpaca](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/alpaca-market-data), [Massive](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/massive) and
[Twelve Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/twelve-data) alike, the full-tape plan is a different plan.

**A direct exchange feed.** [Databento](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/databento) sells per dataset, straight from the
venue, with the order book rather than a summary of it. Different product, different bill, and
the only one of the three that answers questions about queue position.

## Platforms bundle it; APIs sell it

Roughly half this page is [charting platforms and
screeners](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/charting-screeners) — [TradingView](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tradingview),
[Bookmap](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/bookmap), [Sierra Chart](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/sierra-chart),
[NinjaTrader](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/ninjatrader) — where real-time comes bundled with the software and the
exchange fees arrive as a separate line you agree to inside the product.

The other half is [market data APIs](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/market-data-apis), where real-time is the
product and the licence is the fine print. The practical difference: a platform's real-time is
for your eyes, and an API's real-time may or may not be, depending on what you signed.

## The question before the price

Redistribution. Showing live prices to anyone but yourself is licensed separately, per venue and
often per end user, and it is the clause that stops more side projects than any rate limit does.
Every card here states the vendor's terms as the vendor states them; where a plan is explicitly
display-only, the card says so.

## Cards

- [AlgoSeek](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/algoseek.md) — Lossless SIP, OPRA and CME tick history with published per-asset-class lease pricing.
- [Alpaca Market Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/alpaca-market-data.md) — Free IEX data forever, full SIP and OPRA for a flat $99 a month.
- [ATAS](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/atas.md) — Footprint charts and a market-by-order DOM for futures, with data bought separately.
- [Barchart OnDemand](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/barchart-ondemand.md) — Seventy-odd REST endpoints covering equities, options and physical commodities.
- [Benzinga News API](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/benzinga-news-api.md) — Licensed US stock newswire over REST, TCP, WebSocket or webhook, priced by contract.
- [Bookmap](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/bookmap.md) — The limit order book as a heatmap, with full-depth DOM for futures and stocks.
- [ChartExchange](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/chartexchange.md) — The official short interest, IBKR's borrow fee and SEC fails, sold feature by feature.
- [Composer](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/composer.md) — No-code rule-based stock and ETF strategies, backtested and then traded for real.
- [Databento](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/databento.md) — Full order book and tick history from exchange feeds, billed by the gigabyte.
- [Exocharts](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/exocharts.md) — Crypto-native footprint and DOM order flow, with CME and Nasdaq on a separate dxFeed plan.
- [Financial Modeling Prep](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/financial-modeling-prep.md) — Financial statements, ratios and filings for 70,000+ securities across 60+ exchanges.
- [Finnhub](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/finnhub.md) — Real-time US quotes and a live trade stream on a free key. OHLC candles are not free.
- [Fintel](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/fintel.md) — Ownership, insider and short-interest filings across thirty markets, none of it free.
- [Finviz Elite](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/finviz-elite.md) — Real-time quotes, advanced filters and CSV export on top of the free Finviz screener.
- [getquin](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/getquin.md) — EU-first portfolio tracker with open-banking broker imports and a social feed.
- [Intrinio](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/intrinio.md) — XBRL-standardised US financials, options analytics and an MCP server.
- [IQFeed](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/iqfeed.md) — Tick-by-tick data into a local Windows socket, with exchange fees billed on top.
- [Jigsaw daytradr](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/jigsaw-trading.md) — Windows DOM and order-flow platform for futures, bought once rather than monthly.
- [Massive](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/massive.md) — Full-tick US equities, options and futures from a direct exchange feed.
- [MultiCharts](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/multicharts.md) — Windows charting, backtesting and order routing on EasyLanguage, sold outright or monthly.
- [Nasdaq Data Link](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/nasdaq-data-link.md) — What Quandl became — Nasdaq's own exchange feeds plus a curated data catalogue.
- [NinjaTrader](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/ninjatrader.md) — Windows futures platform with C# strategy scripting and order-flow charting.
- [OneTick](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/onetick.md) — Enterprise tick capture, storage and streaming analytics, sold only by quote.
- [ORATS](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/orats.md) — Smoothed options greeks and IV surfaces over REST, end-of-day back to 2007.
- [ORTEX](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/ortex.md) — Short interest estimated daily from the lending pool, with cost to borrow beside it.
- [QuantConnect](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/quantconnect.md) — The open-source LEAN engine, plus a hosted cloud that runs it against real brokers.
- [Quantower](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/quantower.md) — Windows order-flow terminal for 60+ connections, with an open C# API and a real free tier.
- [Quartr API](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/quartr-api.md) — Earnings-call audio, live transcripts, filings and decks over REST, webhooks or Snowflake.
- [Quartr](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/quartr.md) — Live earnings calls, transcripts, filings and decks — free on mobile, paid on the web.
- [Sierra Chart](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/sierra-chart.md) — Windows-native charts, order flow and DOM trading, priced as packages plus exchange fees.
- [SnapTrade](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/snaptrade.md) — One API for reading brokerage holdings and placing orders at supported brokers.
- [Stock Events](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/stock-events.md) — A dividend and earnings calendar wrapped around your holdings, phone first.
- [Stock Analysis](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/stockanalysis.md) — Five years of financials and a working screener, free and without an account.
- [TC2000](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tc2000.md) — Real-time charting and EasyScan screening for US and Canadian stocks and options.
- [Trade Ideas](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/trade-ideas.md) — Real-time US equity scanning on Windows, with an AI signal engine on the top tier.
- [TradingView](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tradingview.md) — Charting across 50-plus markets, with Pine Script, server-side alerts and broker trading.
- [TrendSpider](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/trendspider.md) — Automated technical analysis, real-time scanning and no-code backtesting in one web app.
- [Twelve Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/twelve-data.md) — Global stocks, forex and crypto over REST and WebSocket, billed in credits per minute.
- [Unusual Whales](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/unusual-whales.md) — US options tape, dark pool prints and congressional trades over one REST API.
- [Wisesheets](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/wisesheets.md) — Financials, estimates and live prices as worksheet functions in Excel and Google Sheets.

## FAQ

### What does "real-time" mean on a pricing page?

One of three things, and the gap between them is two orders of magnitude in price. It can mean one venue — Alpaca's free tier is real-time IEX, which is genuine live data from an exchange carrying a small share of volume. It can mean the consolidated tape, every trade and quote from every US venue through the SIP. Or it can mean a direct feed from a single exchange, billed per dataset. All three are truthfully called real-time and none is a substitute for another.

### Why does the same data cost more for some users?

Because exchanges charge per user, and they charge professionals more. Whether you are professional is the exchange's definition, not yours — registered advisers, anyone trading for a firm, and in several cases anyone who redistributes the data. Vendors pass those fees through, which is why a plan can list one price and bill another. The cards carry the vendor's own price; the exchange fee sits underneath it.

### Can I show real-time prices to my own users?

Usually not on the plan you bought. Displaying data to third parties is redistribution and it is licensed separately, per venue, and often per end user — the single most common reason a project that works fine in testing cannot ship. Check the redistribution terms before the latency numbers, because that is the clause that decides whether a plan is usable at all.

### Do I need real-time at all?

For backtesting, screening on daily bars, portfolio valuation or fundamental research — no, and paying for it is the most common avoidable cost in this catalogue. End-of-day data is cheaper by an order of magnitude and is what most strategies are actually tested on. Real-time earns its price when a decision happens inside the trading day.