The stock market business has adopted technology at an unprecedented rate in recent years. In the modern financial sector, a paradigm change has been triggered by the lightning-fast evolution of the stock market. Fortunately, the spread of cutting-edge technology like cloud-based APIs is inevitable.
But do you ever wonder why Stock APIs are all of a sudden the topic of conversation? Let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture to see why stock APIs are so important for end users of financial market data.
Understanding Stock market APIs
Financial market APIs are useful for programmers, traders, and investors. Because common APIs can link those who consume data to reliable and timely resources. In addition, APIs provide a simple, consistent, and predictable mechanism for obtaining stock market data in a logically organized fashion.
APIs for stock markets are designed to make it easier for users to exchange information and conduct business with one another. Access real-time monetary data and share it with clients, partners, employees, and other service providers via application programming interfaces. More so, these APIs allow for expedited data synchronisation among programs. So, what happens without a stock API?
If this were the case, consumers of stock market data would need to develop elaborate scripts to scrape raw data from stock exchanges. And this is a challenging undertaking because there are so many different stock exchanges, each with its unique data transfer processes.
When it comes to building financial products, how can we best use stock market data?
Stock market application programming interfaces (APIs) are helpful in this situation since they streamline the process by transforming raw market data into a streamlined, user-friendly format.
A stock API could be quite helpful if you are developing financial solutions like a trading prediction tool. These application programming interfaces (APIs) can be used to get the latest market price and observe historical patterns for various products like stocks, currencies, and fixed-income securities.
If you want to make the most of the opportunities and minimize the risks, you must have a firm grasp on the state of things at all times, and that includes knowing what the current pricing and trends are.
The most recent bid, exchange code, trading venue, and instrument identity are all examples of necessary market data for a certain item. Extra data such as offer sizes, trading volume, etc., may also be provided. Through stock APIs, you can easily get this time-sensitive information, which can then be used to inform your financial solutions with actionable insights.
However, not all APIs are created equal, thus there are risks associated with using them. Accordingly, despite their seemingly magical ability to decipher raw stock market data, the following factors should be taken into account.
Kinds of API
There are a wide variety of application programming interfaces (APIs), such as Rest API, FTP, TCP, etc. It’s wise to pick one based on the amount of data you need and the speed it can provide. While a conventional Rest API provides you near-instantaneous access to data, TCP is an option for those who cannot settle for the average speed. TCP does not necessitate a request to retrieve data, unlike the Rest API.
But if you don’t mind waiting till the end of the day for your data, FTP is a viable option. You can spare some cash by doing things this way, too.
API calls
Most vendors of information place limits on how frequently an API can be called within a given time frame. That’s how they stay ahead of the competition. Thus, it is important to think about the appropriate frequency and to quote properly. If you provide a call frequency of 1Hz, for example, the database will be refreshed once per minute.
Latency
Some lag in between updates is possible. The lag could be counted in milliseconds or seconds. So, you should be sure of this before you buy an API, lest they secretly add data without your knowledge.
12 Best Stock Market APIs to Build Financial Products
In the following section, you can find a number of stock exchange APIs.
1. Marketstack
Marketstack gives you access to market data from the past, the present, and the future. It simplifies things by letting you make HTTP GET requests and getting results in JSON format. A premium edition is also available for a fee if you find the free one insufficient for your purposes.
When using Marketstack, you have access to precise historical data going back over 30 years, allowing you to draw meaningful conclusions. With this API, you can easily incorporate over 125,000 stock tickers from 72 major exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq, ENX, Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO), and Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
The REST API provided by Marketstack is easy to use, extensible, and reliable enough to guarantee uptime 100% of the time. In no more than five minutes, you can get going and discover uncharted territory. There is no need to provide your credit card information, make a payment, or make a long-term commitment to use its free plan. You can get end-of-day stock data quickly and make up to 1,000 API requests each month on the free plan.
Marketstack’s stock API is built using cutting-edge technologies and the scalability of cloud-based systems. As a result, it can easily handle hundreds to millions of requests per day. Marketstack’s 256-bit HTTPS encryption delivers a level of security comparable to that of a bank. Starting to use the API is simple because of the extensive documentation that comes with it.
2. Finnhub
FinHub Stock API is a powerful API for accessing the stock market, which may be used to gather information useful in creating financial products. Real-time access to stock data, cryptocurrency, and fiat cash is made possible via WebSocket and RESTful APIs.
To businesses all throughout the world, Finnhub has been providing in-depth financial records for over 30 years. A complete list of stockholders is available, divided down by institutional and individual ownership. Notifications of earnings, upgrades and downgrades, price targets, and past shocks can all be used in real time to inform the development of new financial products. Additionally, dividend information spanning 30 years is shown.
Gain access to over a dozen Forex brokers and fifteen different cryptocurrencies through a centralized platform, and view real-time stock market data going back 25 years. Also included are a precomputed technical analysis, pattern recognition, levels of support and resistance, and summative indications. Over 20 years of earnings call transcripts are available for reading and downloading.
It provides the most recent stock market news for better understanding of current events. Look at the real-time data from the pandemic to see how the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the economy. Finnhub also offers a SLA and automated scaling in addition to a guaranteed 99.99% uptime.
3. Barchart
More in-depth knowledge of the stock market can be integrated into your offerings with the help of Barchart OnDemand. It provides customisable APIs in the cloud to boost your processes, products, and software.
You may get powerful charts showing both past and present market data using Barchart. Adding data to a website is straightforward, and you may utilise the information to refine your present strategy. It’s very simple to create interactive programs and instruments.
Thanks to the cloud’s scalability, processes can be accelerated. Barchart uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) to manage its data centers in the United States and guarantee the best available data redundancy and reliability.
In order to meet the varying needs of its customers, Barchart operates both cloud and on-premises data centers. These are highly reliable, Equinox-based facilities, with latency of less than one millisecond and multiple copies of all data stored in multiple locations. As a result, it is up to you to choose amongst the many data center configurations.
Barchart accelerates the growth of its services by using in-built security solutions and server virtualisation. It’s versatile in that it can provide results in a number of different formats, including CSV, JSON, and XML, and supports the more common query methods of POST and GET.
Barchart OnDemand works on many different platforms. It works with various languages like Java, Python, PHP, ASP.NET, and R. Price at Barchart is based on how much data you consume. You can tailor a package to the needs of your company and pay only for the resources you really put to use.
4. Financial Modeling Prep
Use Financial Modeling Prep’s 30 years of historical data to make your apps better (FMP). Accurate data, such as financial statements, earnings schedules, market prices, and more can be provided. Over 15,000 equities from XETRA, TSX, SEHK, SEDAR, EURONEXT, and the whole U.S. market are supported by its application programming interface.
Both the JSON and CSV formats are offered at each of the endpoints. Currently, it has 50 different destinations, and more are being added every week. Furthermore, a custom endpoint will be provided for you. All information is obtained from SEC filings after FMP generates the series, and the stock price is updated in real time.
Balance sheets, cash flow statements (annual or quarterly), and income statements are all made available by FMP. Stock price history is offered on a daily basis, as well as for intervals of one minute, fifteen minutes, one hour, and twenty-four hours.
FMP is available at no cost with a daily limit of 250 requests. It is an excellent way to test your theories. Academics can take advantage of a $14/month membership option that includes full market coverage, 300 API calls per minute, and more.
5. EOD Historical Data
EOD Historical Data offers flexible and affordable services, so you can use it to learn about the stock market. It includes end-of-day, technical, fundamental, dividend, and split data in addition to historical and delayed data.
There are currently more than sixty stock markets that it serves. It includes basic information about the 20 largest stock markets in the United States and abroad. They also have information from other smaller markets covering the past decade or twenty quarters.
EOD History including indices, 45k+ mutual funds, US equities, and ETFs gives you access to superior data for analysis. It offers trustworthy information from over 15 sources covering a wide range of stock markets.
The data’s veracity is checked by comparing it across numerous sources, and only the most reliable information is provided to you. Immediately contact support via chat or email if you run into problems. Nearly all customer complaints are addressed and fixed within a day.
If you use EOD Historical Data, you can benefit from our usage-based pricing model. Monthly plans start at $19.99 and include access to 100,000 API requests per day, 1,000+ Forex pairs, 100+ indices, and more.
6. Alpha Vantage
For investors, Alpha Vantage provides access to over 50 technical indicators, as well as historical and real-time stock APIs, cryptocurrency, Forex, ETF, and mutual fund data feeds. It is funded by Y Combinator, is technology and product focused, and aims to expand people’s access to data.
API integration is a breeze with Alpha Vantage. In addition, it works with Python, PHP, Java, and Javascript. Spreadsheet users can take advantage of official add-ons for Google Sheets and Excel.
Data can also be sent to you in JSON format if you want. Get started on your financial solution creation using the raw and reliable data offered by Alpha Vantage. If you want to learn more about their API library, you may read the API documentation.
7. IEX Cloud API
As it provides straightforward access to accurate market data, the IEX Cloud API facilitates the development and scalability of financial products. Data at the institutional level, such as real-time, fundamentals, international equities, ownership, and mutual fund information, should be made available to your developers.
You’ll get complete access to the US market with 95,000+ assets, 100+ currencies, and 20+ exchanges. Quick data access frees you to focus on creating a faultless, user-friendly API. You just pay for what you use with IEX Cloud’s flexible and scalable pricing model. No contracts or hefty upfront payments are necessary. Don’t recreate the wheel; instead, include the API into the tools you already use.
Each day, the IEX Cloud API delivers over 2 billion messages with an average latency of about 28ms. All of your data is protected as long as you adhere to PCI and DSS standards. Its platform is reliable, with a service level agreement (SLA) of 99.95%, so you may make things without worrying about their quality. The best data for businesses is continuously provided by IEX Cloud’s prime partners. In addition, if you purchase a more expensive plan, you get access to higher-quality assistance.
8. Tiingo
If you are an independent programmer, a software firm, or a hedge fund, Tiingo can power your financial products. Error-checking software is utilised to gather flawless information, allowing for the provision of precise closing prices. They can use this architecture to help fill in the gaps of missed events and avoid creating the same feeds over and over. After years of investigation, the sixteen million articles in Tiingo News feeds have been approved for publication.
These papers cover more than two decades of market history, making them a gold mine of information. You can find both conventional news stories and more unusual ones in the news feed. Multiple exchanges, both historical and intraday, feed pertinent data into Tiingo’s Crypto API.
To make better use of the information at your disposal, you can divide up the various types of trades and currencies. Forex and FX feed provide access to institutional-grade liquidity and top-tier banks. Utilise their interconnection to get access to the IEX stock API in real-time, with high performance and low latency.
Tiingo’s servers have increased memory caching and reliable availability. In addition, it constantly verifies data to guarantee error-free data transfer. Top-of-book updates are available for both historical and intraday data via REST APIs, while real-time data via WebSockets is also available.
9. Intrinio
Financial products can take advantage of Intrinio’s end-of-day, historical, intraday, and real-time data. For a small fee, you may get your hands on reliable market data from the past five to fifty years.
When looking for market data on a subscription basis to construct investment strategies and develop applications, Intrinio offers a wide variety of solutions. You can get financial statement data and analysis, forecasts, predictions, and ratings in addition to pricing information for numerous asset classes.
You also gain access to economic, industrial, and aggregated statistics. Get ETF metrics, metadata, and details on holdings. However, Intrinio also caters to those who only need to download historical market data once in order to validate their backtesting theories or machine learning algorithms.
In addition, you will be provided with the US Municipality’s financial information for the year 2017, which includes entity identifiers, names, products, etc. In addition, it offers 18 years’ worth of historical Forex data, complete with market events and prices.
10. Quandl
Through a single API provided by Quandl, you can quickly and easily access data on more than 20 million stocks from 500+ different sources. Because of its ease of use, this API is ideal for gathering information in CSV format.
Every week, they add brand new content. Email data requests are an additional feature. In fact, you can even go from a structured data format like CSV or JSON to XML. You can also customize the number of columns and rows, as well as the start and end dates.
If possible, you should preprocess your data by sorting your time-series stock data by date, modifying your sample frequency, and running any fundamental data calculations. After you get your API key, you can use it without any limits to access free datasets and free trials of all premium services. Read all of the documentation to learn about how Quandl functions.
11. Polygon
With the Polygon API, you can give your developers access to raw and dependable financial data including Bitcoin, Forex, and stock data. You can freely view data from the past as well as data happening right now. Polygon offers full market coverage, including over 24,000 symbols, real-time WebSockets with aggregates, transactions, quotations, trading halts, and limit up/down, and real-time WebSockets.
Information about markets, locations, market status and holidays, stock splits, dividends, and financials; ticker kinds; and news can all be obtained using RESTful APIs. Polygon also provides currency APIs with information from 1,000+ Forex pairs and 10+ banks.
Java, C, C++, Javascript, Python, etc., are just some of the languages that can be used to build apps. Integration time is saved. Polygon makes things easier by giving you sample code in various languages. Data from Polygon is reliable and sent quickly, with a latency of less than 1 millisecond. It can send over a million messages per second and adds a great deal of redundancy to the Equinix New York data centers.
It costs $199 per month for complete individual coverage of all 16 stock exchanges and dark pools in the United States. Access to Level 1& 2 crypto data from major banking institutions and exchanges, as well as 1000+ Forex pairs with tick-by-tick updates, both cost $49 per month.
12. Alpaca
Build your financial products using the Alpaca API without paying any fees. Engineers don’t have to worry about stocks, algorithms, or money when using the unified system. Its trade application programming interface (API) is a RESTful interface that establishes a live connection between software and brokerage services.
Get entry to your various accounts, orders, assets, and positions. It has a paper trading API that lets you run tests on your code, algorithms, etc., and a Streaming API that uses WebSockets to send instantaneous updates on trades in real time.
As a result, your API will be protected by a double layer of defense. Advanced investment choices improve trading strategies and open up new opportunities, such as short selling and leveraged trading. Before releasing a product or putting changes into effect in a production setting, you can test the environment to ensure everything is working as expected.
With Alpaca, you can place trades without leaving the TradingView chart or opening a new tab. It offers powerful means of boosting productivity, such as the aforementioned advanced order types OCO, MOO, IOC, and MOC.
Conclusion
By utilising stock APIs, acquiring market data is simple, uncomplicated, and predictable. But you also need to make sure that you get accurate information at the right time. The aforementioned application programming interfaces can assist you in satisfying this need and giving your financial goods the form they should take.