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Why Raw NASDAQ TotalView-ITCH Data Is Costly and Restricted

Article Quant Q&A · Author: user16631
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Summary

The document answers whether a trader can obtain a low-cost, raw NASDAQ TotalView-ITCH real-time feed. Its response says that a basic single-port feed without redistribution rights costs more than the stated budget, while historical data also carries a substantial monthly cost and a long initial contract requirement.

The explanation points to exchange pricing and licensing restrictions as the reason inexpensive sublicensing is not readily available. It gives no vendor comparison or technical details about the feed itself, and its prices reflect the answer’s stated context rather than guaranteed current rates. The practical takeaway is to account for exchange fees, contract terms, and redistribution rights when budgeting for order-level data.

Key ideas

  • Raw TotalView-ITCH access may exceed a modest monthly data budget.
  • Historical data can involve both recurring fees and a minimum contract term.
  • Redistribution rights add substantial cost and restrict resale or sublicensing.
  • The cited prices are claims in the response and may not represent current fees.

Tags

EquitiesMarket microstructureExecutionUS markets
Full text
# Availability of TotalView-ITCH data


# Availability of TotalView-ITCH data












I am looking for a cheap (< $500) NASDAQ TotalView-ITCH real-time streaming data feed.

Are there any cheap and (relatively) good market vendors out there that offer this? It seems as if the TotalView feed is rather difficult to come by as many vendors offer it only as an add-on to their own visualisation tool. I am looking specifically for the raw data feed itself.

## Answer by par (score 3)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/18486

Simply put, no, you won't find this. The most basic one-port ITCH feed with no redistribution rights runs \$750/mo. Historical ITCH data which is useful for backtesting is \$1,000/mo. with a 12 month initial minimum contract. Fees for distributors are much, much more expensive (all costs can be found on the NASDAQ OMX website), and the restrictions on redistribution are quite prohibitive so no one can simply sublicense it cheap.

Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.