Market Data Subscription

Learn the difference between SIP (paid) and IEX (free) data, how to change the data plan in Alpaca, etc.

HawkAlpha utilizes a users Alpaca’s market data subscription via a web-socket connection.

A SIP market data subscription is automatically preferred for faster order placement. If a SIP market data plan isn't detected then HawkAlpha will rely on IEX.

Alpaca offers market data access for its users via its Market Data API. Alpaca’s market data includes 100% market coverage for real-time and historical data for US stocks and ETFs. There are two options of obtaining data from Alpaca: SIP or IEX.

  • SIP market data includes all securities exchanges’ and alternative trading venues’ price and volume data, which provides a consolidated view of the U.S. stock market. SIP market data also underpins the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO), which shows the best available displayed buy and sell prices for each stock.

  • IEX market data only includes orders and executions on the IEX exchange, which account for about 2% of the total market.

Alpaca sells access for their SIP market data. Users may chose to subscribe to receive faster quote data, as well as better market data coverage for extended market hours.

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