What Nasdaq Data Link is
Nasdaq Data Link is Nasdaq's platform for financial, economic and alternative data, the platform once known as Quandl. Its datasets come through a RESTful API with official Python and R packages, and its real-time exchange data through streaming and REST APIs.
For stocks, those APIs deliver Nasdaq's own feeds, such as Nasdaq Basic and Nasdaq Last Sale+, in real-time and delayed versions, with bars for charts and symbol reference data. It is built for investing apps, from retail brokerages to information portals, which is why it is one of the stock data providers our market data module connects to.
What it does in your platform
Market data
Supplies real-time and delayed US stock prices from Nasdaq's feeds, bars for charts and symbol reference data. The module shows each user real-time or delayed prices, as your Nasdaq licences allow.
How the connection works
One connector in the market data module talks to Nasdaq Data Link: the streaming API for live prices, and REST for bars and reference data. Both use OAuth 2.0 client credentials, which stay in the platform's secrets.
Credentials are issued
Nasdaq provides the API credentials during onboarding, for the products in your agreement.
The stream opens
The module subscribes to the streams for your products, such as Nasdaq Basic for best bid, best offer and last sale.
Charts get their bars
Bars from the REST API back the candles and history for US-listed securities, real-time, delayed or historical.
Symbols stay current
The All Symbols and Symbol Details endpoints keep the instrument list, company names and issue types up to date.
Licences are applied
Real-time prices go only to the users your licence covers; everyone else sees delayed data.
Gaps are flagged
If a stream stops, prices fail over to the next source, and a stale price is flagged instead of shown.
Next to other providers
Nasdaq Data Link sits next to LSEG, Twelve Data and Alpha Vantage in the module. It can cover US stocks while another vendor covers other markets and currencies: the module chooses sources per asset, filters bad ticks and fails over when one goes quiet.
Real-time licences stay in your name, and the module enforces them user by user. Replacing a vendor later changes the configuration, not your apps.
When Nasdaq Data Link fits best
A strong fit when
- Your investors trade US stocks and you want prices straight from Nasdaq.
- You need real-time prices for some users and delayed prices for others.
- You want chart bars and symbol data from the same source as your quotes.
Also worth a look
- Twelve Data, when one API should cover US, European and FX data together.
- LSEG, when you need broad global coverage from one institutional vendor.
How we get you live
The contract
We help you get your Nasdaq Data Link account and contract in place, for the Nasdaq products your users will see.
The products
We choose the feeds with you, such as Nasdaq Basic for quotes, and set which users see real-time and which see delayed prices.
The keys
The OAuth client ID and secret go into your platform's secrets and nowhere else; apps never connect to Nasdaq directly.
A full test run
Streams, bars and reference data run in staging against your instrument list before any investor sees a price.
