5 Best Stock Market APIs in 2024: A Guide for Data Scientists & Algorithmic Traders

Financial data is essential for making informed investing decisions. Without data, you cannot assess a company's financial health, determine valuations, or evaluate risk. It’s like shooting hoops blindfolded.

Throughout history, financial information has been safeguarded and only available to those who could afford it. Bloomberg, a leader in financial data since the early ’80s, charges nearly $25,000 per year to access their terminals. Because of this, institutions had a massive data advantage over individuals.

However, access to, and the availability of that financial information has changed dramatically in recent years with the emergence of APIs. Now, individuals can access the same financial information that has been available to institutions for decades, at a fraction of the cost.

Over the last twenty years, financial data APIs have quickly become popular for individuals looking to backtest strategies or conduct other research. Now, algorithmic trading represents nearly two-thirds of all trading volume on US exchanges, according to Select USA.

There is a good chance you’re reading this article because you’re looking to source financial data for a project you’re working on, so I will spare you any further details about how APIs work or why you may need them. However, I will caution you, not all APIs are “created equal.” The option that best suits you, may not be the best for someone else. So with that being said, here is a list of some of the best financial data APIs on the market, updated based on the financial market data landscape in 2024.

Alpha Vantage

Alpha Vantage is a popular financial data provider focused on delivering accessible and developer-friendly APIs. The platform is supported by a large community of software developers, tech-driven investors, and individual traders. Integration is simple, with over 750 open-source repositories across various programming languages. They deliver a massive data index with over a billion data points covering an extensive range of markets including stocks, crypto, commodities, and currencies, along with over 50 technical indicators. Additionally, they offer a generous free tier with access to 20 years of historical data, making it an attractive option for both hobbyist investors and serious professionals.

Coverage: Stocks, Fundamentals, Technicals, Forex, Crypto, Commodities, Financial News, Economic Data, Corporate Events, and more. 20+ years of historical data.

Barchart OnDemand

Barchart OnDemand offers a variety of cloud-based data services to strengthen your applications and workflows. With Barchart, you can access reliable real-time and historical data for stocks, options, futures, and forex, as well as market data, analytics, news, and other financial content. Their offerings are highly customizable and priced based on usage, allowing you to select certain data feeds and only pay for what you need.

Coverage: Stocks, ETFs, Fundamentals, Options, Futures, Forex, Crypto, Commodities, Financial News, Corporate Events, and more. 15 years of historical data.

Tradier

Tradier is one of the few platforms that combines market data with a trading API, allowing its users to build and test strategies, and also execute trades under the same roof. Opening a brokerage account with Tradier is free and can give you access to a range of market data such as real-time equity and option pricing as well as key company fundamentals. However, it should be known that if you only plan to use Tradier for market data and don’t plan to execute trades, they will charge “inactivity fees” so keep that in mind.

Coverage: Stocks, Fundamentals, Options (including greeks), and more.

Intrinio

Intrinio provides access to a variety of financial data and analytics through a unique pay-per-service model, allowing you to choose the specific data packages you need. They offer five separate packages (Stocks, Options, Fundamentals, ETFs, and ESG) each with three tiers (bronze, silver, gold) with varying access & limits. They also boast a massive archive of alternative data feeds, so if you’re looking for an API that offers alternative data, Intrinio is your best bet. Intrinio is on the more expensive side, but you surely get what you pay for; that’s why Intrinio is trusted by many reputable fintech firms & financial institutions.

Coverage: Stocks, ETFs, Fundamentals, Technicals, Options, Financial News, Economic Data, Corporate Events, and more. 50 years of historical data.

Xignite

Xignite is considered one of the leaders in the financial data industry as they power high-profile fintech and wealth management companies such as SoFi, Betterment, Wealthfront, and more. They source data from over 6,000 exchanges globally to provide institutional-grade, real-time, and historical data for a broad range of asset classes and markets with ultra-low latency. Xignite certainly caters its product to enterprise clients and therefore has some of the highest pricing in the industry.

Coverage: Stocks, ETFs, Fundamentals, Options, Futures, Forex, Crypto, Commodities, Swaps, Mutual Funds, Fixed Income, Corporate Events, and more.

Final Verdict (TL;DR)

There’s a lot to consider when selecting the market data provider for your project. Each of the APIs surveyed here (also summarized below) has its own advantages and disadvantages so I recommend you spend some time on each site to get a better understanding of which API best fits your information needs in 2024 and beyond:

1. Alpha Vantage is a popular provider among data-driven investors & traders due to its vast accessibility. They’re known for their clear documentation, affordable pricing, and generous free tier. A great option for investors looking to gain an edge!

   
   

2. Barchart OnDemand is another accessible financial data platform offering customizable plans that allow customers to pick & choose which data feeds they want to pay for. They cover a broad range of endpoints from equity pricing data to futures & options.

   
   

3. Tradier combines market data with a brokerage account to allow users to build & test trading strategies, and also execute those trades with just one integration. (Alpaca is another similar platform.)

   
   

4. Intrinio offers a unique pay-per-service model, allowing you to choose the specific data packages you need. A good option for sophisticated investors and app developers looking for a focused and deliberate approach to data services.

   
   

5. Xignite is one of the most expensive, yet powerful APIs available in the industry. They source institution-grade data from over 6,000 exchanges globally and power many high-profile fintech and wealth management companies such as SoFi & Betterment.

Last Updated in January 2024