robinhood-options-mobile

Databento vs Twelve Data: Can Databento Replace Twelve Data?

Analysis of whether Databento can serve as an alternative (or replacement) for Twelve Data, based on the functional groups defined in docs/twelve-data-migration.md.

Executive Summary

Databento is a strong alternative for market data (historical OHLCV, real-time quotes, options chains) but cannot replace Twelve Data for fundamental data (company profiles, insider transactions, institutional ownership, ESG scores, symbol search). The two providers serve different niches: Databento excels at low-latency, exchange-level tick/bar data; Twelve Data excels at higher-level financial data APIs with fundamentals.

Verdict: Databento is a complement to Twelve Data, not a full replacement. However, Databento can replace Twelve Data for specific high-value use cases (options chains, futures data, real-time streaming) while Twelve Data remains necessary for fundamentals.

Functional Group Comparison

1. Historical OHLCV Data

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Endpoint	`GET /time_series`	`GET /v0/timeseries.get_range` (schema: `ohlcv-1d`, `ohlcv-1h`, `ohlcv-1m`)
Coverage	Global stocks, ETFs, forex, crypto, commodities	US equities only (20,000+ stocks/ETFs across 15 exchanges)
History depth	30+ years	Up to 7 years (since 2018 for equities)
Intervals	1min to 1month	1sec, 1min, 1hour, 1day
Credit cost	1 credit/symbol	Usage-based ($/GB) or included in subscription
Commercial use	Pro plan ($229/mo)	Standard plan ($199/mo for equities)

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? Partially.

✅ US equities OHLCV — yes, with better granularity (tick-level available)
❌ Global stocks — no, Databento only covers US exchanges
❌ Forex — no
❌ Crypto — no
❌ Commodities — no (Databento has CME futures, but not the same as Twelve Data’s commodity indices)
⚠️ History depth — Databento has ~7 years vs Twelve Data’s 30+ years

Verdict: ⚠️ Partial replacement for US equities only. Twelve Data still needed for global coverage and deep history.

2. Real-Time Quotes

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
REST endpoint	`GET /quote` or `GET /price`	`GET /v0/timeseries.get_range` with recent range
WebSocket	`wss://ws.twelvedata.com/v1/quotes/price`	Native WebSocket streaming API
Latency	Not specified	590 μs median latency
Coverage	Global stocks, forex, crypto	US equities, options, futures
Credit cost	1 credit/symbol (REST), 1 WS credit/symbol	Included in subscription

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? Partially.

✅ US equities real-time — yes, with significantly lower latency
✅ Options real-time — yes (OPRA feed, $199/mo)
✅ Futures real-time — yes (CME feed, $179/mo)
❌ Forex — no
❌ Crypto — no
❌ Global stocks — no

Verdict: ⚠️ Superior for US market data, but cannot cover forex/crypto/global.

3. Options Chains ⭐ KEY ADVANTAGE

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Options chain	❌ NOT AVAILABLE	✅ Full OPRA feed
Greeks	❌	✅ (via instrument definitions)
Real-time quotes	❌	✅
Historical	❌	✅ (since 2019)
Unusual activity	❌	⚠️ Can be derived from volume/OI data
Cost	N/A	$199/mo (OPRA Standard)

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? N/A — Twelve Data doesn’t have options.

Verdict: ✅ Databento fills the biggest gap in Twelve Data’s coverage. This is the primary reason to add Databento.

4. Symbol Search

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Endpoint	`GET /symbol_search?symbol={query}`	`GET /v0/metadata.list_publishers` + symbology API
Fuzzy search	✅	❌ No fuzzy text search
Returns	symbol, name, exchange, country, type	instrument_id, raw_symbol, dataset
Coverage	Global	US only

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? No.

❌ Databento’s symbology API is designed for instrument ID resolution, not user-facing search
❌ No fuzzy/text search capability
❌ US only

Verdict: ❌ Twelve Data (or another provider) needed for symbol search.

5. Company Profile / Fundamentals

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Company profile	`GET /profile` — name, sector, industry, CEO, description	❌ NOT AVAILABLE
Statistics	`GET /statistics` — market cap, PE, EPS, beta, 52-week	❌ NOT AVAILABLE
Credit cost	10 credits/symbol	N/A

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? No.

❌ Databento is a market data provider, not a fundamentals provider
❌ No company profiles, financial ratios, or fundamental metrics

Verdict: ❌ Twelve Data (or another fundamentals provider) required.

6. Stock Screeners

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Screener	❌ NOT AVAILABLE	❌ NOT AVAILABLE
Alternative	Build custom with `/stocks` + `/quote`	Build custom with real-time screener (see their blog tutorial)

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? Neither has a screener API.

✅ Databento has a blog tutorial for building a real-time stock screener using their tick data
⚠️ Both require custom implementation

Verdict: ➖ Neither provider has this. Both require custom work.

7. Insider Transactions

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Endpoint	`GET /insider_transactions`	❌ NOT AVAILABLE
Credit cost	200 credits/symbol	N/A

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? No.

❌ Databento does not provide SEC filing data or insider transaction data

Verdict: ❌ Twelve Data required.

8. Institutional Ownership

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Endpoint	`GET /institutional_holders`	❌ NOT AVAILABLE
Credit cost	1,500 credits/symbol (Ultra plan)	N/A

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? No.

Verdict: ❌ Twelve Data required (or keep Yahoo Finance for this).

9. ESG Scores

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Endpoint	`GET /mutual_funds/world/sustainability`	❌ NOT AVAILABLE
Coverage	Mutual funds only (not stocks)	N/A

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? No. Neither provider has good stock ESG coverage.

Verdict: ❌ Neither provider covers this well.

10. Put/Call Ratios (CBOE)

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Source	N/A (uses CBOE directly)	❌ NOT AVAILABLE

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? N/A — this uses CBOE’s free public endpoint directly.

Verdict: ➖ No change needed. Keep CBOE.

11. Futures Data ⭐ KEY ADVANTAGE

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Coverage	⚠️ Commodities only (gold, oil via `/commodities`)	✅ Full CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX
Contracts	Generic commodity symbols	Actual futures contract IDs (ES, CL, NQ, etc.)
Real-time	✅ (Pro+)	✅ ($179/mo CME Standard)
Historical	✅	✅ (since 2010 for CME)
Order book	❌	✅ Full book depth

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? Yes, and it’s significantly better.

✅ Actual CME futures contracts vs generic commodity prices
✅ Full order book depth
✅ 15+ years of history

Verdict: ✅ Databento is far superior for futures data.

12. Corporate Actions / Reference Data

Aspect	Twelve Data	Databento
Corporate actions	❌	✅ 215 exchanges, 310,000+ securities, 60+ event types
Security master	❌	✅ Security identifiers and mappings

Can Databento replace Twelve Data? Yes, for corporate actions specifically.

Verdict: ✅ Databento has corporate actions that Twelve Data lacks.

Coverage Gap Summary

Functional Group	Twelve Data	Databento	Winner	Notes
Historical OHLCV (US)	✅	✅	Databento	Lower latency, tick-level, but shorter history
Historical OHLCV (Global)	✅	❌	Twelve Data	Databento is US-only
Real-Time Quotes (US)	✅	✅	Databento	590 μs median latency
Real-Time Quotes (Global/Forex/Crypto)	✅	❌	Twelve Data	Databento is US-only
Options Chains	❌	✅	Databento	Twelve Data’s biggest gap
Futures (CME)	⚠️ Commodities	✅	Databento	Actual contracts vs generic
Symbol Search	✅	❌	Twelve Data	Databento has no text search
Company Profile	✅	❌	Twelve Data	Fundamentals not in Databento
Statistics / Ratios	✅	❌	Twelve Data
Insider Transactions	✅	❌	Twelve Data
Institutional Ownership	✅	❌	Twelve Data
ESG Scores	⚠️ Mutual funds only	❌	Neither
Stock Screeners	❌	❌	Neither
Corporate Actions	❌	✅	Databento
WebSocket Streaming	✅	✅	Databento	Native, lower latency

Pricing Comparison

Scenario	Twelve Data	Databento	Savings
US equities (historical + real-time)	$229/mo (Pro)	$199/mo (Equities Standard)	$30/mo
Options chains	❌ Not available	$199/mo (OPRA Standard)	N/A
Futures (CME)	⚠️ Commodities only	$179/mo (CME Standard)	N/A
All three combined	$229/mo (no options/futures)	$577/mo (Equities + OPRA + CME)	N/A
Fundamentals + search + insider	✅ Included in Pro	❌ Not available	N/A

Pros and Cons of Databento as Alternative

Pros

Fills Twelve Data’s biggest gaps — options chains (OPRA) and real-time CME futures are exactly what Twelve Data cannot provide
OPRA licensing handled — Databento manages the OPRA vendor agreement, eliminating the $1,500/mo redistributor fee and compliance burden
CME licensing handled — same for futures, no separate CME data license needed
App Store redistribution confirmed — Standard plans explicitly allow commercial redistribution
Lower latency — 590 μs median vs unspecified for Twelve Data; direct exchange feeds vs aggregated
No exchange license fees — US Equities Mini dataset allows real-time stock data redistribution without per-user exchange fees
Tick-level granularity — full order book depth available (L1/L2/L3), not just OHLCV bars
Pay-as-you-go historical — only pay for historical data you actually download, no monthly minimum
Corporate actions — covers 215 exchanges, 60+ event types (Twelve Data doesn’t have this)
Normalized data format — single API for equities, options, and futures with consistent schema

Cons

No fundamentals data — no company profiles, financial ratios, PE, EPS, market cap, beta, sector/industry
No insider transactions — SEC filing data not available
No institutional ownership — holder data not available
No symbol search — no user-facing fuzzy text search API
No ESG data — not available
US-only coverage — no global stocks, forex, or crypto
Shorter history — ~7 years for equities (since 2018) vs 30+ years on Twelve Data
More complex integration — DBN (Databento Binary Notation) format requires their SDK; not simple JSON REST like Twelve Data
Higher combined cost — if you need equities + options + futures, it’s $577/mo vs $229/mo for Twelve Data Pro (but Twelve Data doesn’t cover options/futures properly)
Newer provider — less community resources, tutorials, and third-party integrations compared to Twelve Data
No simple REST quote endpoint — getting a single stock price requires understanding datasets, schemas, and symbology (vs Twelve Data’s simple GET /price?symbol=AAPL)

Recommended Strategy: Use Both

Rather than replacing Twelve Data with Databento, use them together for complementary coverage:

Data Need	Provider	Cost
US equities historicals, quotes, search	Twelve Data Pro	$229/mo
Company profiles, fundamentals, statistics	Twelve Data Pro	(included)
Insider transactions	Twelve Data Pro	(included)
Institutional ownership (summary)	Twelve Data Pro	(included)
Options chains (OPRA)	Databento OPRA Standard	$199/mo
CME Futures	Databento CME Standard	$179/mo
Put/Call ratios	CBOE (free)	$0
ESG scores	Keep Yahoo (server-side) or remove	$0
Stock screeners	Keep Yahoo (server-side) or build custom	$0

Total estimated cost: ~$607/mo

Alternative: Databento for Everything (Drop Twelve Data)

If you wanted to consolidate on Databento only:

Data Need	Databento	Gap?
US equities historicals	✅ Equities Standard ($199/mo)	Shorter history (7yr vs 30yr)
Real-time quotes	✅ Equities Mini (included)	✅
Options chains	✅ OPRA Standard ($199/mo)	✅
CME Futures	✅ CME Standard ($179/mo)	✅
Symbol search	❌	Need alternative (build custom or keep Yahoo)
Company profiles	❌	Need alternative
Insider transactions	❌	Need alternative
Institutional ownership	❌	Need alternative
ESG	❌	Need alternative

Total Databento cost: ~$577/mo (but you’d still need another provider for fundamentals, search, etc.)

This approach saves ~$30/mo over the combined strategy but creates gaps that would need to be filled by yet another provider (e.g., Financial Modeling Prep at $29/mo, or EODHD at $60/mo for fundamentals).

Impact on Twelve Data Migration Plan

If Databento is adopted alongside Twelve Data, the migration plan in docs/twelve-data-migration.md would change as follows:

Migration Phase	Original Plan	With Databento
Phase 1: Server-side historicals	Twelve Data `/time_series`	No change — keep Twelve Data
Phase 2: Server-side quotes	Twelve Data `/quote`	No change — keep Twelve Data
Phase 3: Client-side migration	Create `twelve_data_service.dart`	No change — keep Twelve Data
Phase 4: Cleanup	Remove Yahoo where possible	Remove Yahoo for options chains → use Databento OPRA
NEW: Options chains	Keep Yahoo (fragile) or Tradier	Databento OPRA Standard ($199/mo)
NEW: Futures data	Robinhood API only	Databento CME Standard ($179/mo) for standalone futures

The key change: instead of keeping Yahoo Finance for options chains (as noted in the “Endpoints That Must Stay on Yahoo” section), Databento replaces Yahoo entirely for options data with a compliant, App Store-ready solution.

Sources

Databento Stocks — US equities coverage and features
Databento US Equities Mini — no-license-fee real-time equities
Databento US Equities Service — $199/mo Standard plan, 15 exchanges
Databento OPRA Pricing — $199/mo Standard plan
Databento CME Pricing — $179/mo Standard plan
Databento Corporate Actions — 215 exchanges, 60+ event types
Twelve Data Pricing — verified plan pricing
docs/twelve-data-migration.md — existing migration plan