# Finnhub

Real-time US quotes and a live trade stream on a free key. OHLC candles are not free.

*https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/finnhub · Stock Market Data APIs*

## Facts

### At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Vendor | Finnhub |
| Category | Stock Market Data APIs |
| Job | realtime |
| Website | https://finnhub.io |
| Pricing model | subscription |
| Free tier | true |
| Open source | false |
| Licence | none |
| Self-hosted | false |
| Tested hands-on | false |
| Last updated | 2026-09-14 |

### Pricing

| Tier | USD | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | 0 USD | month |
| Basic | 49.99 USD | month |
| Standard | 129.99 USD | month |
| Professional | 199.99 USD | month |
| Enterprise | on request | month |

### Coverage

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Asset classes | stocks, etf, forex, crypto, bonds, mutual_funds, indices |
| Markets | us, ca, uk, eu |
| Works outside the US | true |
| Data latency | realtime |
| Platforms | web, library |
| AI features | research |

### Interfaces

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| API | true |
| Webhooks | true |
| Scripting | none |
| Python | true |
| Spreadsheet add-in | false |
| MCP server | true |
| Export | json |

### Capabilities

Yes: news

No: charting, screening, scanning, backtesting, automation, live_trading, paper_trading, portfolio_tracking, broker_import, tax_reporting, alerts, options_analysis

*Verified: pricing 2026-09-14; capabilities 2026-09-13; coverage 2026-09-14.*

## What it is

Finnhub is a REST and WebSocket API covering quotes, global fundamentals, analyst estimates and
a long tail of alternative data — insider transactions, congressional trading, USPTO patents.
The documentation lists 116 endpoints; roughly a quarter are open to a free key.

That free key is generous in an unusual shape: real-time US quotes, live trades over WebSocket
for up to 50 symbols, a year of company news with real-time updates, SEC filings, key metrics
and as-reported financials. What it will not return is a single OHLC candle, and no tick data
either. Finnhub gives away the current price and charges for the history behind it — the reverse
of most free tiers, and the thing that catches anyone who assumed a free real-time API would
also backfill a chart. Free fundamentals are US-only and thin: standardised statements,
dividends, ownership, press releases and executives are all paid rows.

## Pricing

Free is 60 calls per minute. Market data then runs Basic at $49.99 a month for 150 calls per
minute, Standard at $129.99 for 300, Professional at $199.99 for 900. Watch the billing
frequency rather than the monthly figure: Basic and Standard bill quarterly — $149.97 and
$389.97 taken up front — and Professional annually at $2,399.88, so none of them is
month-to-month. There are no refunds, cancelling by email wants 30 days' notice, and API access
is cut the moment a subscription ends.

Fundamentals, estimates, ETFs, bonds and economic data are separate products rather than tiers
of this one, and each carries its own price: fundamentals from $50 a month, estimates from $75,
economic data $50, bonds $99.99, ETFs from $500, and the All-In-One bundle that carries
everything at $3,500. Stacking them buys no headroom — the terms give you one rate limit for
fundamental data and one for market data however many plans you hold, and a hard 30 calls per
second sits above every plan's per-minute figure.

## Data & coverage

Real-time means US. Professional adds TSX, LSE, Euronext and Deutsche Börse, but the footnote
matters more than the logos: LSE is delayed 15 minutes and the other international markets are
end-of-day. History scales with the tier — 10 years of daily and 1-minute bars on Basic, 25 on
Standard, and on Professional 40-plus years of daily bars but 30-plus of 1-minute. Tick history
runs 5, 10 and 30-plus years across the same three tiers, and all three include bulk tick
download. The WebSocket caps symbols at 50 on the free key and 250 on Basic; Standard and
Professional lift the cap.

## Integrations

Official client libraries for Python, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, PHP and Kotlin, plus Finnhub's own
MCP server for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini Enterprise. Spreadsheet access runs through Finsheet,
a partner plugin sold separately.

## Limitations

- No OHLC or tick data on the free tier at all.
- Every self-serve plan is licensed for personal use, including All-In-One at $3,500 a month.
  Commercial use and redistribution need an Enterprise contract — a call, not a checkout.
- The terms forbid redistributing or sharing access to the data *or derived results from it*
  with any third party without written approval, and say a personal plan may not be used by a
  business even internally.
- You do not qualify for a personal plan at all if you are registered with FINRA, the SEC or the
  CFTC, if you use the data for your business or sign up under a business name in any industry,
  or if you deduct the subscription as a business expense. Signing up certifies you as a
  non-professional subscriber on a form Finnhub files with its data partners.
- No options data anywhere in the API.
- Intraday candles are not split-adjusted; only daily bars are. Quiet backtest errors start here.
- Intraday requests return one month at a time, so a real backfill is a paging loop.
- One WebSocket connection per API key.
- Company news covers North American companies only, on every plan.

## Alternatives

[Massive](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/massive) (formerly Polygon.io) sells full tick history and flat files for US markets. [Twelve Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/twelve-data) and [EODHD](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/eodhd) cover
more non-US exchanges in real time. [Databento](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/databento) is the one to look at when tick data and a
redistribution licence are the real requirement.

See the rest of the [market data APIs](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/market-data-apis).

## FAQ

### Does the Finnhub free tier include historical price data?

No. The candles endpoint that returns OHLCV bars is marked premium in the documentation, and the pricing table shows a cross against OHLC and tick data for the free plan. A free key gives you the live price and the news, not the chart behind it.

### Can I use Finnhub data in a commercial product?

Not on a self-serve plan. Every tier the site sells online, from the free key up to the $3,500-a-month All-In-One bundle, is licensed for personal use, and the terms say a personal plan may not be used by a business even internally. They also forbid redistributing or sharing access to the data, or to results derived from it, with any third party without written approval. You are disqualified from a personal plan outright if you are registered with FINRA, the SEC or the CFTC, sign up under a business name, or expense the subscription. Commercial use with redistribution rights is an Enterprise contract quoted by sales.

### Does Finnhub have an MCP server?

Yes. Finnhub publishes its own MCP server, which connects from ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini Enterprise. It is the vendor's, not a community wrapper, though the data it can reach is still whatever your plan covers.

### Does Finnhub cover options?

No. There is no options endpoint anywhere in the API — no chains, no greeks, no implied volatility. If options are the job, this is the wrong provider and no tier changes that.

## Also worth comparing

- [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.
- [IQFeed](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/iqfeed.md) — Tick-by-tick data into a local Windows socket, with exchange fees billed on top.
- [Massive](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/massive.md) — Full-tick US equities, options and futures from a direct exchange feed.
- [Twelve Data](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/twelve-data.md) — Global stocks, forex and crypto over REST and WebSocket, billed in credits per minute.
- [Barchart OnDemand](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/barchart-ondemand.md) — Seventy-odd REST endpoints covering equities, options and physical commodities.
- [AlgoSeek](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/algoseek.md) — Lossless SIP, OPRA and CME tick history with published per-asset-class lease pricing.

## Named as a replacement for

- [IEX Cloud](https://stockmarketstack.com/alternatives/iex-cloud.md)