How To Get NinjaTrader Live Data For Free

ninjatrader free data on screen

How do I get live data on NinjaTrader 8?

When you download and install NinjaTrader - that is just the software program. You now have to setup your data. We'll show you below how to set that all up and configure it.
A full list of all supported data providers can be found below.
You can get both Real-Time Futures Data and Real-Time Forex Data without any cost to you. There are two ways to do this:

Futures / Stocks Data

Free Data Options
Futures + Stock for free is for 2 weeks maximum. This isn't a "ninjatrader" fee, this is an exchange fee which is a part of trading futures and stocks for everyone regardless of your trading platform.
If you would rather not pay monthly exchange fees your only option is to look at forex or crypto. If you already pay for data, and its with one of NinjaTraders supporting brokers or data feed providers, then you can bring that into NinjaTrader 8 without any additional charge.

Forex / Crypto

Free Data Options
Forex and Crypto do not run on centralized exchanges, so there should not be any cost in adding forex or crypto to NinjaTrader.
A list of providers below indicate where you can get free FX quotes.
free fx data for ninjatrader

What Data Providers Can I Use?

There are currently 15 data providers that can be used with NinjaTrader 8. The market data for each provider is different on if they support Forex, Futures, Indexes, Equities, Crypto, CFD's and if they support Options on any of those instrument types.

Kinetick (Owned by NinjaTrader)

Trial Available
Equities, Futures, Forex and Indexes. Options supported on equities and futures.

BarChart

Equities, Forex, Futures and Indexes

Coinbase

Free Crypto Data
Crypto Currencies

Continuum

Futures and Indexes

CQG

Futures and Indexes

cTrader

CFD's

eSignal

Equities, Futures, Forex and Indexes

FOREX.com

Free FX Data
Forex and CFD's

FXCM

Free FX Data
Forex and CFD's

Rithmic

Futures

IQFeed

Trial Available
Equities, Futures, Forex, Indexes. Options supported on equities and futures.

Oanda

Free FX Data
Forex

Interactive Brokers

CFDs, Equities, Futures, Forex and Indexes. Options supported on equities and futures.

TD Ameritrade

Equities, Indexes. Options supported on equities.
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What Data Provider Should I Use?

You first need to figure out all the markets you want to trade, then look at the chart above and see which ones provide the data you require. Once you have that narrowed down, there is no correct answer for everyone. Data providers are like brokers. It really depends on what providers will suit your needs. Some might have restrictions based on what country you are living in. So it will be up to you to determine what one will fit your needs.

How Much Does Paid NinjaTrader 8 Data Cost?

What is Non-Professional Data?

You probably do qualify for much cheaper data than what you see quoted on most data providers websites. This is because non-professional traders qualify for non-professional data. This does not mean the data is any different, it just means its cheaper. Think of it as non-professional pricing.

Do I Qualify for Non-Professional Data?

Each data provider will probably have their own questionnaire to qualify. If you are a retail trader at home trying to learn how to trade, you probably qualify. You won't qualify if you are using the data for commercial purposes, or acting as a broker, managing accounts for others or if what your using the data for is not your own account or for your own use.
where to get cheap data for nt8

Free and Trial Options for NinjaTrader Live Data

CQG - Futures Data (Free NinjaTrader Live Data)

You can get futures data from CQG that will get you live data (not delayed data) for a period of 2 weeks. We have noticed that sometimes it can take up to an hour before the account information will be delivered to your email. However, in more recent times we've seen this speed increased to about 5 minutes.

FXCM - Forex Data (Free NinjaTrader Live Data)

The forex data is also in real time and provides you to access for FX live real-time quotes for forex traders. This account data is delivered within 5 minutes of signing up and so far from what we have seen this will never expire. It also works great if you're going to be using our XABCD Pattern software for NinjaTrader 8.

Paid Options for NinjaTrader Live Data

IQFeed - Forex Data (Paid NinjaTrader Live Data)

  • Cost: Varies but starts at $30/month with a $50 startup fee
  • Duration: Month by Month Fees
  • Provider: IQFeed
  • NinjaTrader Live Data: Yes

They offer the most symbols that we've seen in the most markets right down to some of the obscure instruments. However, this comes at a cost. The more symbols you also scan at once, the more you can expect to pay depending on how many exchanges you need. The cost could be reasonable, all the way to pretty expensive. They do have a calculator where you can figure out what your monthly fees will be in total.

Bring Your Existing Data into NinjaTrader 8

You can bring your existing paid data inside of NinjaTrader 8. All you have to do is setup a "Connection" between the two. NinjaTrader has "Connection guides" for each supported broker or data provider you can connect too. There are some interesting limitations on some that we will discuss below.

Interactive Brokers and NinjaTrader 8

Limitations

Interactive brokers limits how many queries you can access. So if you plan on scanning a large number of symbols, interactive brokers might not be the way to go. You will get what you think is delayed data, but that is only because they are stopping you from getting more until your 5 minute limit has been lifted.

Cost

Varies a lot depending on which markets you want and they also have live and delayed fee pricing. Pricing Details on Interactive Brokers

Provider

Interactive Brokers is a broker and not a data feed provider only. They provide data feeds to their existing customers. You would need a broker account with them to access their data.
Like IQ feed, what ever symbols you can trade in interactive brokers (which i've never seen a market you couldn't trade) you can get data. However they have their own structure and like IQFeed you will also pay for the markets you need only.
The big thing to caution traders about is Interactive brokers limits the amount of API calls and what this basically means is you're going to be limited to the amount of data you can scan in the market analyzer. Because of this a lot of people will use a service like IQFeed or a free service if they trade FX or Futures like the ones mentioned above and only submit their orders through to interactive brokers.

TD Ameritrade and NinjaTrader 8

Limitations

Futures data can not be brought into NinjaTrader 8. So only stock data you'll be able to get into NinjaTrader 8. The good news is that the stock data that you bring in will be free. There are no minimums to open up nan account although they do say a 2,000 deposit is required to be considered for margin and certain option privileges.

Cost

Getting quotes for stocks on TDA is actually free!

Provider

TDA is not just providing data services but also broker services. A lot of their other fees can be higher even though they do not charge their users for stock data. This is probably a good reason of why their fees are higher because someone is paying the exchange the money that you are not.
TD Ameritrade will let you bring in your stock quotes but won't let you bring in futures. This is however a popular way for existing TDA users to get stock quotes without having to setup a new data provider.