Comparator
Market Data API Cost Calculator
Compare Databento vs Massive (Polygon.io) vs Alpaca vs Tiingo vs FMP vs Alpha Vantage annual cost. Configure universe, bars, history, real-time.
Rates from Databento pricing, Massive (formerly Polygon.io) pricing, Alpaca data plans, Tiingo pricing, FMP pricing and Alpha Vantage premium, checked on October 11, 2026.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, and no account or API key is needed.
1. Describe your data needs
Every plan here is priced per plan, not per symbol, so size does not move a price.
Excludes tiers whose plan states less history; unstated depth is flagged.
Cheapest qualifying vendor
$0/mo
Alpaca Markets
Free (IEX feed), $0/yr, vs $30 for Tiingo (next-cheapest qualifying)
Up to $2,388/yr saved vs the most expensive qualifying vendor (Massive (formerly Polygon.io)).
2. Ranked vendors
Based on list pricing. No affiliate tags, no sponsored rows.
| Vendor | Recommended tier | Monthly | Annual | Live | Opts | History | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpaca Markets ↗best Broker-bundled market data. Generous free tier via IEX feed; SIP feed requires paid plan. Price checked 2026-10-11 | Free (IEX feed)
| $0 | $0 | ✓ | — | not stated | yes |
| Tiingo ↗ EOD + news at low cost, with IEX-sourced real-time on every plan. Fundamentals is a separate add-on. Favorite for long-horizon research. Price checked 2026-10-11 | Tiingo Power
| $30 | $360 | ✓ | — | not stated | yes |
| Financial Modeling Prep ↗ Fundamentals-heavy. Earnings, filings, transcripts. Price data is a secondary offer. Price checked 2026-10-11 | Ultimate
| $139 | $1,668 | ✓ | — | ✓ | yes |
| Databento ↗ Flat plans: Standard $199/mo (live data, 16+ years of trade and bar history), Unlimited $4,500/mo for years of order-book history. Strong for institutional-quality tick + L2 data. Usage-based historical is billed per GB. Price checked 2026-11-02 | Standard
| $199 | $2,388 | ✓ | — | ✓ | yes |
| Massive (formerly Polygon.io) ↗ 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. Price checked 2026-10-11 | Stocks Advanced
| $199 | $2,388 | ✓ | — | ✓ | yes |
| Alpha Vantage ↗ Budget tier with broad coverage. Rate limits tight. Workable for low-frequency research. Price checked 2026-10-11 | Premium 75
| $50 | $600 | ✗ | — | not stated | no |
How this ranking works
Each vendor is scored by picking its cheapest tier that satisfies every requirement in your scenario. Tiers that don't meet the requested bar resolution, real-time need, asset class (options / futures) or a stated history limit are skipped. History is "not stated" when the tier's plan in this snapshot gives no depth; check the vendor before relying on it. If no tier qualifies, the vendor is shown dimmed with "Fits: no."
Every price is a published plan. Databento is priced at its flat plans: Standard ($199/mo, live data and 16+ years of trade and bar history, but 1 month of order-book history) and Unlimited ($4,500/mo on an annual contract) when you need years of L2 depth. Its usage-based option bills historical data per GB with no subscription; Databento publishes no per-GB rates, so that route is not priced here: get a quote from its usage estimator.
Prices last checked October 11, 2026. Vendor rates change; check the vendor's pricing page before you commit.
How to use it
- Pick the bar resolution and history depth, tick whether you need real-time data, options or futures, and note the universe size (no plan here is priced per symbol, so it does not change a price).
- The tool computes per-vendor cost: every vendor (Databento, Massive, formerly Polygon, plus Alpaca, Tiingo, FMP and Alpha Vantage) is priced at its cheapest published plan that qualifies; Databento's per-GB usage billing publishes no rates and is not priced.
- Read the rank-ordered comparison. Lowest cost isn't always the right answer: check the Live, Opts, History and Fits columns and each tier's notes (feed coverage, rate limits) for gaps.
- Re-run with a different resolution, history depth or live/options/futures need to find where vendors switch positions: order-book (L2) data leaves Databento as the only vendor, and a year of L2 history needs its $4,500/mo Unlimited plan.
- Check the 'Prices last checked' date under the table. Pricing is refreshed when a vendor announces a material change, not on a fixed monthly schedule, so verify current invoice cost on the vendor's pricing page.
Questions people ask
How are the tier prices kept current?
Each vendor's pricing is verified against its official pricing page and stamped with a per-vendor last-checked date, shown under each vendor in the ranked table. Refreshes are event-driven — done when a vendor announces a material pricing change, not on a fixed monthly schedule — so a mid-cycle change can lag until the next verification. Confirm current invoice cost against the vendor directly.
How is Databento priced?
At its published flat plans, like every other vendor: Standard ($199/mo: live data, 16+ years of trade and bar history, 1 month of order-book history) and Unlimited ($4,500/mo on an annual contract, 16+ years in all schemas) when a scenario needs a year or more of L2 depth. Databento also bills historical data per GB with no subscription, but it publishes no per-GB rates, so that route is not priced here; get a quote from its usage estimator. For every vendor (Massive, formerly Polygon, plus Alpaca, Tiingo, FMP and Alpha Vantage) the tool selects the cheapest plan that satisfies your needs and skips plans that state less history than you asked for (FMP Starter's 5 years, for example).
What's not included in TCO?
Storage costs (your S3 or local disk), bandwidth costs (data egress), redistribution fees (only relevant if you offer the data to clients), and corporate-actions fees (some vendors charge separately). The tool computes vendor invoice cost only.
Why is Massive (formerly Polygon) ranked above Databento for some workloads?
Massive's stock plans start below Databento's $199 Standard plan, so delayed or lower-resolution workloads rank Massive first. Databento wins where only its plans qualify, such as order-book (L2) data. The tool reorders rankings per workload — there's no universal 'best vendor'.
Does the tool include free-tier vendors?
The tool scores Alpha Vantage's paid tiers (Premium 75 and Premium 1200 calls/min). Its free tier — about 25 calls/day, 5/min — is mentioned as a note only; it is not scored and no warning is emitted. Yahoo Finance is excluded entirely: its terms prohibit commercial automated use.
Related pages
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- Alternatives Finnhub Alternatives (2026)
- Alternatives Polygon.io (Massive) Alternatives (2026)
- Alternatives Tiingo Alternatives (2026)
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Use it from an agent or code
Any agent can run this calculator by URL: put the inputs in the query string and get JSON back, with the inputs that used defaults and a line to cite (add format=md for markdown). MCP clients reach it through https://aifinhub.io/mcp.
In code, import the same module; it runs where you import it, with no request or key.
import { compute } from "https://aifinhub.io/engines/data-vendor-tco.js";