# Massive vs Alpaca

Updated October 2026. Written by Massive. Canonical page: https://massive.com/compare/massive-vs-alpaca

Massive has US stock history back to 2003, futures, indices, and forex, flat files, and works with any broker. If you already trade on Alpaca and only need real-time stocks and options, its $99/mo data plan covers that.

- Massive leads on: Stock history, Asset classes, Bulk downloads, Fundamentals
- Alpaca leads on: Price, Free IEX data
- Even on: Rate limits, SDKs, AI agents, Brokerage

## What each one is

**Massive.** Massive is a market data API for US stocks, options, indices, and futures, plus forex and crypto. It delivers data over REST, WebSockets, S3 flat files, and an MCP server.

**Alpaca.** Alpaca is a brokerage API that also sells a market data API for US stocks, options, and crypto, with a free IEX feed and a $99/mo plan for all US exchanges.

## Choose Massive if

- You backtest on US stock data from before 2016.
- You need futures, indices, or forex.
- You want bulk history as flat files instead of paged API calls.
- Your app is not tied to one broker.

## Choose Alpaca if

- You place orders through Alpaca and want data and trading in one account.
- You want real-time stocks and options for $99/mo.
- You want a free real-time stream and IEX-only prices are enough.
- You want one MCP server for both market data and trading.

## Feature by feature

| Feature | Massive | Alpaca | Leads |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $199/mo per market for real-time stocks or options (Advanced), unlimited calls | $99/mo (Algo Trader Plus) for all US exchanges and real-time OPRA options [1] | Alpaca |
| Free IEX data | Free plan per market: end-of-day data, 2 years of history, 5 calls/min | Real-time IEX, or all exchanges 15 minutes delayed. 200 calls/min, 30 WebSocket symbols, indicative options [1] | Alpaca |
| Rate limits | Unlimited on every paid plan | 10,000 historical calls/min in the docs. The data page says unlimited [2] | Even |
| Stock history | 20+ years, with trades and quotes back to 2003 | Since 2016 [2] | Massive |
| Asset classes | US stocks, options, indices, and futures, plus forex and crypto | US stocks, options, crypto, and fixed income [2] | Massive |
| Bulk downloads | S3-compatible flat files on every paid plan | Not listed [2] | Massive |
| Fundamentals | Financials and ratios on Stocks Advanced or a $29/mo add-on. SEC filings, insider trades, 13-F holdings, short interest, and economic data on every Stocks plan, including the free one. Analyst estimates, Benzinga news ($99/mo), and ETF holdings as add-ons | Not listed. Benzinga news since 2015 [3] | Massive |
| SDKs | Python, JavaScript, Go, and Kotlin/JVM, which also works from Java | Python, Go, Node, C#, and Java [2] | Even |
| AI agents | Official MCP server at mcp.massive.com | Official MCP server for market data and trading [4] | Even |
| Brokerage | Data only. Works with any broker | Brokerage and data in one account [1] | Even |

## Where they differ

### The free real-time feed is one exchange

Free Alpaca real-time data comes from IEX alone. One exchange, so its last price and quote can drift from the national best bid and offer. All-exchange data is free at a 15-minute delay, and real-time all-exchange data is $99/mo.

### History depth

Alpaca stock history starts in 2016. Massive goes back to 2003, so your backtests can include the 2008 financial crisis.

### Price for real-time data

Massive is $199/mo per market, with stock history back to 2003, flat files, and futures, indices, and forex when you need them. If you only need real-time stocks and options, Alpaca can cost less: $99/mo for both, against $398/mo on Massive.

## Pricing

Prices in USD per month, from public pricing pages on October 23, 2026.

| What you need | Massive | Alpaca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Real-time US stocks | $199/mo (Stocks Advanced) | $99/mo (Algo Trader Plus) [1] |
| Real-time US stocks and options | $398/mo (Stocks Advanced and Options Advanced) | $99/mo (Algo Trader Plus) [1] |
| US stock trades from 2010 | Included in Stocks Advanced, $199/mo | Not available. History starts in 2016 [2] |

## Moving from Alpaca

### Example: daily AAPL bars for January 2024

Alpaca:

```bash
curl "https://data.alpaca.markets/v2/stocks/bars?symbols=AAPL&timeframe=1Day&start=2024-01-02&end=2024-02-01&feed=sip" \
  -H "APCA-API-KEY-ID: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "APCA-API-SECRET-KEY: YOUR_SECRET_KEY"
```

Massive:

```bash
curl "https://api.massive.com/v2/aggs/ticker/AAPL/range/1/day/2024-01-02/2024-01-31" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
```

| Field | Alpaca | Massive |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Timestamp | t (RFC 3339 string) | t (Unix milliseconds, bar start) |
| Open | o | o |
| High | h | h |
| Low | l | l |
| Close | c | c |
| Volume | v | v |
| VWAP | vw | vw |
| Trade count | n | n |

- The two bar shapes match field for field. The timestamp is the only change: Alpaca sends an RFC 3339 string, and Massive sends Unix milliseconds.
- Alpaca reads a bare end date as midnight UTC, so January ends at 2024-02-01. Massive end dates are inclusive.
- On the free Alpaca plan, SIP data from the last 15 minutes returns an error. Use feed=iex or the $99/mo plan.
- You can keep Alpaca as your broker and use Massive for data. Your order code does not change.

### Switch with an agent

Paste this into any coding agent:

> Find every place my project calls Alpaca. Switch those calls to the Massive REST API. Read https://massive.com/docs/llms.txt for endpoints and auth, and read the API key from the MASSIVE_API_KEY environment variable. Keep my function signatures and data shapes the same, and list anything Massive does not cover.

The ported code calls the REST API directly. The Massive MCP server is optional, for checking real responses while the agent works: https://massive.com/docs/ai-tools/quickstart. Skills and plugins for coding agents: https://github.com/massive-com/ai

## Questions

### What is the difference between the Alpaca IEX and SIP feeds?

IEX is one exchange. SIP is the consolidated feed from all of them. Free Alpaca gives you IEX in real time and SIP 15 minutes late. Real-time SIP is $99/mo.

### Why does the Alpaca price differ from other sources?

On the free plan, real-time prices come from IEX alone, so they can miss the national best bid and offer. Compare prices from the same feed.

### Massive vs Alpaca: which data plan costs less?

Massive is $199/mo per market, with stock history back to 2003, flat files, and futures, indices, and forex when you need them. If you only need real-time stocks and options, Alpaca can cost less: $99/mo for both, against $398/mo on Massive.

### Can I trade with Alpaca and use Massive data?

Yes. Massive is data only and works with any broker.

## Sources

Alpaca details come from Alpaca's own public pages, checked on October 23, 2026, and may have changed since. Massive details come from the Massive plans API on October 22, 2026. "Not listed" means we did not find it on Alpaca's site. Massive wrote this page. If something is wrong, tell us at https://massive.com/contact and we will fix it. Alpaca is a trademark of its owner, and Massive is not affiliated with Alpaca.

1. [Alpaca market data](https://alpaca.markets/data)
2. [Alpaca market data API documentation](https://docs.alpaca.markets/docs/about-market-data-api)
3. [Alpaca historical news data](https://docs.alpaca.markets/docs/historical-news-data)
4. [Alpaca MCP server](https://docs.alpaca.markets/docs/alpaca-mcp-server)
5. [Alpaca historical bars API](https://docs.alpaca.markets/reference/stockbars)