This post lists 3 stock price API free to get real-time stock market data with ease. Here using the APIs mentioned here, you can simply make simple requests and get the data in JSON format. These APIs also support historical data so if you want to query historical stocks then you can easily do that. To use these APIs, you just have to create a free account in order to get a key and then use that to make requests and fetch stock price data. You just specify symbol, interval like details in the API request, and then just make requests.
If you want to get stock data programmatically then you need some APIs for that. Maybe you are creating a mobile or web app that deals with the stock price then you can use the ones mentioned here. After getting the API key, you can request real-time data, intraday data, forex data, and historical data. The syntax for getting data for different scenarios is different and you just need to go through the API docs to fully understand all the functionality. Some of the APIs that I have sited here don’t give you unlimited access but some give and I will mention the limitation in the context of each one of them.
3 Stock Price API Free to get Real-time Stock Market Data
Alpha Vantage
Alpha Vantage provides one of the best free APIs for real-time stock exchange. This is a powerful API where you can just create a key after registration and then start making requests. You can use the browser to make the API request and get the response in JSON format. With this API, you can fetch real-time stock data, historical stocks data, forex exchange, and stock time series. In the API request, you only need to provide details such as symbol, function, time interval, etc. It returns the vast JSON data with full details then you can parse by creating some logic.
In order to use this API, you can sign up for free and create an API key. This is as simple as that. After getting the key, you can just construct the API request URL like below. Next, you just use it in the browser or with some command line Http client and get the JSON data.
Syntax: https://www.alphavantage.co/query?function=f&symbol=s&interval=i&apikey=Key
Example: https://www.alphavantage.co/query?function=TIME_SERIES_INTRADAY&symbol =IBM&interval=5min&apikey=djdjw*****
Above you can see how this simple API works. Just make a simple request and then you are all good t go. The above example is for the intraday time series. For other functions, you can see the syntax in the API docs and then construct the API request URL accordingly.
World Trading Data
World Trading Data is another free API that you can use to get real-time stock prices with ease. However, this API here n entirely free and there are some restrictions in the free plan. You can only make 250 requests per day. So the free plan of the API is kinda meant for personal use. With this API, you can request data from forex exchange, historical stock data, intraday market data, and real-time market data with ease. Just make a simple API request in a specified manner and then just get the results. This is as simple as that.
In order to make it work, you need to sign up and then get an API key. Next, you just build the request URL as shown below. The main parameters are symbol, API token, sort order, and output format. Other than JSON, you can opt to get the API data in CSV format.
Syntax: https://api.worldtradingdata.com/api/v1/stock?symbol=symbol&api_token=Key Example: https://api.worldtradingdata.com/api/v1/stock?symbol=SNAP,TWTR&api_token=4VK*****XRlTl
Just like the above API, you can use it in the browser to get the response. As you can see in the screenshot above in which it returned a JSON response for querying a SNAP stock.
IEX Cloud
IEX Cloud is yet another very nice financial data platform meant for developers. This is an enterprise-level API that offers are generous free plan for developers. With this API, you can get institutional-grade data, including fundamentals, ownership, international equities, mutual funds, options, real-time data, and alternative data. All by making simple API calls in the specified syntax. It comes with detailed API docs that you can go through and then simply start using it in your desktop or web applications with appropriate libraries.
Just like other APIs mentioned in the list, here you start by creating a free account. Next, you get the API token from the dashboard and then start building the API call syntax. See below how to use this API to get real-time stock exchange prices in JSON format.
Syntax: https://cloud.iexapis.com/stable/stock/market/batch?symbols=s&types= t&range=r&last=l&token=token Example: https://cloud.iexapis.com/stable/stock/market/batch?symbols=aapl ,fb&types=quote,news,chart&range=1m&last=5&token=sk_312389e990ff49af9d13a20cc770ec95
In this way, you can use this simple and powerful API to get real-time stock prices. There are some more complex API URLs you can create and you can see all of them in the API docs. This is as simple as that. After you have made the call, just record the JSON data and then simply parse that to use in your apps.
Closing thoughts
These are the best free APIs I could find to get real-time stock price exchange data. Use these to simply get the fresh stock market data in JSON or other formats they offer and then just do whatever you want. Some of the APIs are really powerful as they can be used in enterprise-level projects. If you ask me, then I will advise you to go with Alpha Vantage and IEX Cloud because they offer a very nice free plan and a lot of requests.
