Real-time market data streaming packages

When’s the last time you travelled to a new place and didn’t bother looking at a map at all? No directions, just guessing left or right until you get somewhere. The answer may be never (or, maybe, you’re more adventurous than us). Because, while you could get where you want to be eventually, the risk of wrong turns is significantly higher when you just guess based on gut feeling.

Trading without real-time market data is the same. Some guesses may be correct. But without the data to inform those decisions, their effectiveness—and likelihood of success—is hamstrung (and, unlike travelling abroad, there’s no cafe to stumble into accidentally in investing).

At Questrade, there’s a data package for every kind of trader and budget.

• A basic look at the markets, including:
  
  Free snap quotes. Just need a quick pulse check on the market? Questrade’s free snap quotes deliver real-time bid/ask/last prices on demand for major North American exchanges (TSX, NYSE, NASDAQ, and OPRA). Available on our Questrade Trading and QuestMobile platforms—it’s your instant market snapshot.
  
  Free streaming data. See real-time Level1 data from the TSX and TSXV, plus a limited view of Level 1 data for U.S. securities listed on AMEX, NASDAQ, NYSE, ARCA, and BATS exchanges provided by CBOE One. All this is streamed to your Edge platform of choice, so you see updates without having to hit the snap quote button.
  
  You get this just by being a Questrade customer. No costs, no sign up. Open an account now to take advantage.
  
• An expanded data package made for traders, including:
  
  More intel on US exchanges. Adding to what’s in the free package, this one includes data directly from US exchanges, providing more granular info than CBOE One’s free summary. Think of it like the difference between a detailed architectural blueprint and a sketch of a house—both show you the structure, but the insight into the structure they offer is different.
  
  Detailed options data. With OPRA data, you get a thorough look at the market landscape for options, showing you bid/ask spreads, volume, and open interest, across a wide range of underlying assets and expiration dates.
  
  Get this data by itself, or with Questrade Plus. Alone, this data package is $9.95/month, but for just $2 more, you’ll unlock benefits like unlimited free journaling and trade-finding tools that are exclusive to Questrade Plus.
  
• A comprehensive data package made for market analysis, including:
  
  Insight into the market’s moving parts. With Level 2 data, this package reveals the order book for exchanges, a record of every trade executed, and a distribution of the buy and sell orders at different price levels to show the liquidity of the market.
  
  Advanced tools. On top of all the exchanges provided in the other two data packages, this data package unlocks tools in your Edge Platform that help you put all that data to work. This includes advanced charting, custom alerts, a Market View heatmap widget, and a profit-and-loss calculator.
  
  Get this data by itself, and at a discount with Questrade Plus. Alone, this data package is $44.95/month USD. But, by signing up for Questrade Plus too, you’ll get a $9.95/month CAD rebate to cover the data you’re already getting. That means you’ll unlock benefits like unlimited free journaling for just $2 more per month.

What’s the difference between data levels?

For most markets, there are 3 levels of data available:

Snap quote: shows the current ask size, bid size, and last price when the quote is loaded. Market prices change constantly, and snap quotes do not automatically update, so you will need to click the snap quote button (or reload the screen on QuestMobile) to update the quote.

Level 1: shows real-time bid, ask, and last prices for securities trading on a stock exchange. Unlike snap quotes, real-time level 1 data updates automatically, giving you to-the-second updates without having to click or reload. Level 1 quotes provide “top of book” data, which refers to the execution price of the last trade and the best current bid/ask. This is usually enough for the average investor. There may be limitations if the data is sourced through CBOE One Summary instead of directly sourced from the individual exchanges. Level 1 streaming data will only display on Questrade Edge platforms.

Level 2: shows the full picture of what’s happening for exchange listed securities. You get access to markets’ bid/ask prices at multiple levels in the order book, giving you information about trade volumes, liquidity, and more. Level 2 streaming data will only display on Questrade Edge platforms.

To learn more about the data levels see our Basics of Market Data article, or follow the links to learn more about reading level 1 and level 2 data. 

How to sign up for market data packages

Just by being a Questrade customer, you’ll unlock the Free market data package that includes snap quotes and real-time streaming data for certain exchanges. Log into your Edge platform, and the data will be there waiting for you.

Upgrade your data to...

The Real-Time Streaming Package.
Included in Questrade Plus, or $9.95/month

Deepen your research with real-time streaming data from more exchanges, including OPRA for options. This data package is included in Questrade Plus, meaning that for just $2 more than the data package by itself, you’ll unlock advanced tools to put the data to use, unlimited free online journaling, and exclusive education opportunities that show you how to get the most out of your data. 

To get this data with Questrade Plus:

• Log in to Questrade
• From the top navigation bar, select Questrade Plus
• Sign up for a free 30-day trial

To get this data separately:

• Log in to Questrade
• From the top navigation bar, select Account Management > Market Data
• Choose the Real-Time Streaming package

The Advanced Streaming Package.
$44.95 USD/month, or discounted with Questrade Plus

Get the most comprehensive data available to fuel your trading research, and unlock Edge platform tools like advanced charting, a P&L calculator, and more. By signing up for Questrade Plus, you’ll get a $9.95/month CAD rebate on this data package, giving you Questrade Plus benefits like free online journaling for just $2/month.

To get this data:

• Log in to Questrade
• From the top navigation bar, select Account Management > Market Data
• Choose the Advanced Streaming package

If you want to subscribe to a different market data package, it's as simple as clicking the new market data package. Your market data will start streaming the next time you log in. If you are downgrading your market data package, you will keep your current data for the remainder of the month and step down to the new package at the start of the next billing cycle.

Available market data packages

At Questrade, we offer several market data packages. Click the accordion to learn more about each: