Free Options Data API
What You Actually Get免费期权数据 API
到底能拿到什么
Contract reference data may be free while live quotes, Greeks, and full history are paid. Compare the exact fields your strategy needs.
合约参考数据可能免费，但实时报价、Greeks 和完整历史通常收费。应按策略所需字段精确比较。
TL;DR
Massive includes contract-reference endpoints in its free options plan, while richer price and analytics endpoints depend on tier.
Alpaca and Tradier are practical when market data is tied to a brokerage workflow and account entitlements.
Reliable historical quotes and complete real-time NBBO are more difficult than current contract lists or previous-day bars.
Write down whether you need a contract catalog, a chain snapshot, tick quotes, Greeks, open interest, or backtest history.
Massive 免费期权套餐包含合约参考端点，更丰富的价格和分析字段取决于套餐。
Alpaca 和 Tradier 适合行情与券商账户、交易工作流绑定的场景。
可靠的历史买卖报价和完整实时 NBBO，比当前合约列表或前一日 K 线更难免费获得。
先明确需要合约目录、期权链快照、逐笔报价、Greeks、持仓量，还是回测历史。
What “free” and “real-time” mean for this API这个 API 中“免费”与“实时”分别意味着什么
Free options data is unusually easy to misunderstand because an option chain combines reference data, market data, and derived analytics. A free endpoint may list every active contract but provide no current bid or ask. Another may show delayed quotes but omit Greeks, open interest, or historical snapshots.
For US listed options, OPRA licensing and display rules matter. A website that manually displays delayed quotes is not automatically an API source, and exchange pages can prohibit automated extraction. Use documented APIs and verify the plan's market-data rights rather than scraping a quote table.
The useful unit of comparison is therefore a complete strategy input. A covered-call screener needs expirations, strikes, bid/ask, open interest, volume, underlying price, and a consistent timestamp. A volatility backtest needs point-in-time chains and must avoid using today's contract metadata or Greeks in past dates.
免费期权数据特别容易被误解，因为一条期权链同时包含参考数据、市场数据和衍生分析。有的免费接口能列出全部有效合约，却没有当前买卖价；有的提供延迟报价，但缺少 Greeks、持仓量或历史快照。
美国上市期权还涉及 OPRA 授权和展示规则。能手工查看延迟报价的网站，不等于允许作为 API 自动提取；交易所页面也可能明确禁止抓取。应使用有文档的 API，并核验套餐行情权利。
真正应比较的是完整策略输入。备兑开仓筛选器需要到期日、行权价、买卖价、持仓量、成交量、标的价格和一致时间戳；波动率回测则需要历史时点链，不能把今天的合约信息或 Greeks 带回过去。
Provider comparison: access, fields, and limits供应商对比：入口、字段与限制
| Provider供应商 | Free entry免费入口 | Useful fields可用字段 | Main caveat主要限制 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MassiveMassive | Options BasicOptions Basic | Contracts and selected reference/market endpoints by plan合约及按套餐开放的参考/行情端点 | Real-time, snapshots, and history vary by tier实时、快照和历史取决于套餐 |
| AlpacaAlpaca | Free market-data plan免费行情套餐 | US option contracts and indicative data美国期权合约与指示性数据 | Real-time OPRA is a paid entitlement实时 OPRA 属于付费权限 |
| TradierTradier | Developer/brokerage access开发者/券商接入 | Chains, expirations, quotes, Greeks in brokerage context券商场景下的链、到期日、报价和 Greeks | Entitlements and use depend on account context权限和用途依赖账户场景 |
| Cboe delayed pagesCboe 延迟页面 | Manual web display手工网页查看 | Delayed quote viewing延迟报价查看 | Automated extraction is explicitly prohibited明确禁止自动提取 |
Provider-by-provider notes: where the free tier stops逐供应商深挖：免费层在哪里结束
Massive makes the free-versus-paid boundary visible at endpoint level. Contract discovery and selected reference operations can support symbol lookup and chain construction, while snapshots, complete quotes, deeper history, and real-time analytics vary by tier. Test the exact endpoint matrix instead of assuming the Free plan unlocks every field shown in the documentation.
Alpaca is practical when the same application uses paper trading, stock data, and option contract discovery. Its free plan can support prototypes and indicative workflows, but official OPRA real-time coverage belongs to a higher entitlement. That distinction matters for spread-sensitive screens and any interface that presents current bid and ask values.
Tradier exposes options-oriented endpoints in a brokerage ecosystem, which can reduce the gap between research and order workflows. Developers should confirm whether quotes are delayed or real-time for the account, which Greeks are provider-computed, and whether the intended use is personal, internal, or customer-facing.
Cboe's delayed quote interface is valuable for manual validation, but the page explicitly prohibits automated extraction. This is an important architectural lesson: public visibility is not API permission. Use it as a human reference and obtain a documented data product for automation.
Massive 在端点层面清楚展示免费与付费边界。合约发现和部分参考端点可用于代码查询与链构建，但快照、完整报价、深度历史和实时分析取决于套餐。不能因为文档展示了字段，就假设免费层全部开放。
当同一应用需要模拟交易、股票行情和期权合约发现时，Alpaca 很实用。免费层可支持原型和指示性工作流，但官方 OPRA 实时覆盖属于更高权限，这对依赖点差的筛选和展示当前买卖价的界面非常关键。
Tradier 在券商生态中提供期权端点，可缩短研究与下单工作流之间的距离。开发者需要确认账户获得的是延迟还是真实时报价、Greeks 由谁计算，以及用途属于个人、内部还是面向客户。
Cboe 延迟报价界面适合人工核验，但页面明确禁止自动提取。这说明公开可见不等于获得 API 权限。可以把它作为人工参考，自动化则应使用有文档的数据产品。
The fields that decide whether the data is usable决定数据是否可用的关键字段
Underlying, expiration, strike, call/put, multiplier, style, and listing status describe the instrument but not its market value.
Bid/ask NBBO, sizes, last trade, conditions, and timestamps are distinct. A last trade can be stale in an illiquid contract.
Greeks and implied volatility depend on the pricing model, interest rate, dividend assumptions, underlying price, and timestamp.
A backtest needs contracts, quotes, corporate actions, and underlying values as they were known then—not a reconstructed current chain.
标的、到期日、行权价、认购认沽、乘数、行权方式和上市状态描述合约，但不代表市场价格。
买卖 NBBO、数量、最后成交、成交条件和时间戳各不相同；低流动性合约的最后成交可能很旧。
Greeks 和隐含波动率依赖定价模型、利率、股息假设、标的价格和时间戳。
回测需要当时已知的合约、报价、公司行动和标的值，而不是用当前链重建过去。
Which option fits your workload?哪一种选择适合你的工作负载？
Reference endpoints may be enough when users only filter by underlying, expiration, strike, type, or exercise style.
Require synchronized underlying price, bid/ask, volume, open interest, IV, Greeks, and timestamps. A contract list alone cannot rank executable opportunities.
Choose point-in-time chains and quotes with adjustment history. Reconstructing history from current contracts creates survivorship and look-ahead errors.
Confirm OPRA display, professional-user classification, derived analytics, caching, and redistribution before UI work begins.
如果用户只按标的、到期日、行权价、类型或行权方式筛选，参考端点可能已经足够。
需要同步的标的价格、买卖价、成交量、持仓量、IV、Greeks 和时间戳；只有合约列表无法排序可执行机会。
应选择带调整历史的时点期权链和报价；用当前合约重建历史会产生幸存者偏差和前视错误。
在开发 UI 前确认 OPRA 展示、专业用户分类、衍生分析、缓存和再分发条款。
A practical evaluation and implementation playbook可执行的评估与落地方法
Normalize OCC symbols, expirations, strikes, type, and multiplier while retaining the provider's native identifier.
Record the timestamp for the underlying, quote, trade, Greeks, and open interest independently. Do not label a mixed-age response real-time.
Splits, special dividends, adjusted contracts, symbol changes, and non-standard deliverables expose weak normalization quickly.
Store the provider payload and entitlement context before calculating screens or Greeks, so results can be reproduced.
统一 OCC 代码、到期日、行权价、类型和乘数，同时保留供应商原始 ID。
分别记录标的、报价、成交、Greeks 和持仓量时间，不能把不同新鲜度拼成的响应统称实时。
拆股、特别股息、调整合约、代码变更和非标准交割能快速暴露标准化问题。
计算筛选或 Greeks 前保留供应商原始响应和权限上下文，确保结果可复现。
Common mistakes that make a free API expensive让免费 API 变昂贵的常见错误
A usable chain also needs synchronized market and analytics fields.
Illiquid contracts can retain old trades while the current market has moved.
Different assumptions can produce different values even from the same quote.
A visible webpage may expressly forbid automated extraction and does not grant redistribution rights.
可用期权链还需要同步的行情与分析字段。
低流动性合约可能保留旧成交，而当前市场已经变化。
即使输入同一报价，不同假设也会产生不同数值。
公开可见页面可能明确禁止自动提取，也不会自动授予再分发权。
Where QVeris fits in the workflowQVeris 在工作流中的位置
QVeris is a capability discovery and routing layer for agents. It can help an agent find, inspect, and call financial capabilities, but it does not replace the underlying data provider's license, entitlement, or source-of-truth obligations.
QVeris 是面向 Agent 的能力发现与路由层，可帮助 Agent 找到、检查并调用金融能力，但不会替代底层数据供应商的许可、权限或真值来源责任。
- QVeris can help an agent discover an option-data capability and inspect its input/output contract before calling it.
- The underlying provider still governs OPRA entitlement, exchange terms, and whether data may be displayed or redistributed.
- Return timestamps and provenance alongside any screen, Greek, or chain summary so an agent never presents a derived value without context.
- QVeris 可帮助 Agent 发现期权数据能力，并在调用前检查输入输出契约。
- 底层供应商仍负责 OPRA 权限、交易所条款及是否允许展示或再分发。
- 任何筛选、Greek 或期权链摘要都应同时返回时间戳和来源，避免 Agent 脱离上下文展示衍生值。
FAQ
Sometimes in limited or brokerage-linked contexts. Complete OPRA quotes, broad streaming, commercial display, and historical tick data commonly require paid rights.
At minimum: contract identity, bid/ask and sizes, last trade, volume, open interest, underlying price, IV, Greeks, and timestamps for each data family.
They can be useful for screening, but reliability depends on quote freshness and model assumptions. Record the source and avoid treating them as universal truth.
Point-in-time historical chains and quotes with corporate-action handling matter more than a convenient current-chain endpoint.
有限或券商绑定场景下有可能，但完整 OPRA 报价、广泛流式、商业展示和历史逐笔通常需要付费权限。
至少应有合约标识、买卖价及数量、最后成交、成交量、持仓量、标的价格、IV、Greeks 和各类数据时间戳。
可用于筛选，但可靠性取决于报价新鲜度和模型假设，应记录来源，不要当作统一真值。
带公司行动处理的历史时点链和报价，比方便的当前期权链接口更重要。
Sources, methodology, and update policy来源、方法与更新政策
This guide compares public documentation and evaluates providers by workload, data freshness, structure, delivery, legal use, and upgrade path. It does not treat a marketing label as proof of real-time coverage.
Provider features and commercial terms can change. Official documentation linked below is the source of truth; run a representative data test and obtain appropriate rights before production deployment.
本文依据公开文档，按工作负载、数据新鲜度、结构、交付、合法用途和升级路径比较供应商，不把营销标签当作实时覆盖的证明。
供应商功能和商业条款可能变化。以下官方文档是最终依据；生产部署前应运行代表性数据测试并取得适当权利。