specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Market Data
providerId: marketdata-app
created: '2026-07-11'
modified: '2026-07-11'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Market Data
- Financial Data
- Stocks
- Options
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Market Data spend. Market Data is a SaaS market-data API billed
  on a subscription plan that grants a daily (or per-minute) allocation of API
  credits. The dominant cost driver is credit consumption: every call spends at
  least one credit, and multi-symbol responses - bulk quotes, bulk candles, and
  especially large options chains - spend one credit per symbol returned. Cost
  is therefore controlled less by request count than by how wide each response
  is. Plans range from Free Forever through Starter, Trader, Quant, and Prime,
  with a 30-day trial up front.
notes: >-
  The single largest optimization lever is filtering options chains (by
  expiration, strike range, side, or moneyness) so responses return fewer
  contracts and consume fewer credits. Verify per-plan credit allowances and
  prices on the Market Data pricing page during reconciliation.
sources:
- https://www.marketdata.app/pricing/
- https://www.marketdata.app/docs/account/plan-limits/
- https://www.marketdata.app/docs/api/
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Market Data
serviceCategory: Financial Market Data
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Purchase
  - Usage
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Market Data API
  ServiceCategory: Financial Market Data
  ProviderName: Market Data
  PublisherName: Market Data
  InvoiceIssuerName: Market Data
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Purchase
  PricingCategory: Subscription-Based
meters:
- name: api_credits
  description: API credits consumed by successful requests; one credit per request minimum, one per symbol on multi-symbol responses.
  unit: credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - endpoint
  - plan
- name: symbols_returned
  description: Count of symbols in multi-symbol responses (bulk quotes, bulk candles, options chains), each of which spends a credit.
  unit: symbols
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - endpoint
- name: subscription_fee
  description: Recurring plan subscription charge (Starter, Trader, Quant, Prime).
  unit: months
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track daily credit burn against the plan allowance and attribute it per endpoint; watch options-chain calls, which can spend thousands of credits each.
- name: Allocation
  description: Map API tokens or accounts to workloads/teams so credit consumption and the monthly subscription map to internal cost centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Filter options chains and use single-symbol quotes over broad bulk requests where possible; right-size the plan (Free/Starter/Trader daily cap vs Quant/Prime per-minute) to the actual burn pattern.
- name: Accountability
  description: Review monthly credit usage against the chosen plan and downgrade or upgrade tiers as the daily/per-minute burn stabilizes.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com