Historical options data: 12 sources compared

The right source depends on how much data you need.

If you need the price of one contract or a few, you do not need a subscription. A free lookup, a free API tier, or free credits can be enough.
If you need end-of-day prices for many contracts, free files and low-cost bulk history exist. Some free files cover only a few underlyings.
If you need minute bars or every trade for a backtest, Massive gives 2 years of minute bars free, with a low rate limit. Paid plans start at $29 per month. The low-cost plans that state their terms are for personal use only.

TradeRecount is our product, and it is first in the list below. It is free, but it has a small scope. Its limits are in the table and in What TradeRecount does not have.

The sources at a glance

Prices are in US dollars and come from each provider's own pages on 26 October 2026. Prices change, so check them before you buy.

Source	Free data	Lowest paid price	History	Data type	How you get it
TradeRecount lookup (ours)	One contract at a time	Free	SPY, QQQ, IWM, and TSLA from June 2014. Most others from October 2021 or later. Ends 2 October 2026	Minute bars of trades	Web page
Massive	2 years, 5 API calls per minute	$29 per month	2 to 5+ years, by plan	Minute bars. Trades from $79. Quotes from $199	API, files from $29
ThetaData	End of day from June 2023, in its documentation	$40 per month	2012 on the $160 plan	1-minute on $40. Every trade and quote from $80	API
Databento	$125 in credits for new users	Pay per GB, or $199 per month	April 2013	Trades, quotes, and bars from 1 second to 1 day	API, files
Cboe DataShop	None	Shown after you select a product	January 2012	End of day, every trade	Files
OptionsDX	End-of-day files	Up to $50 per year for intraday	SPY 2010 to 2023	End of day and 1 to 30 minutes	CSV files
DoltHub options dataset	All	Free	February 2019	End-of-day bid and ask	SQL
historicaloptiondata.com	Sample files	$230 one time, 1 year	Equity options 2002. SPX 1990	End of day	Files
FirstRate Data	Sample file	History price not listed. Updates about $79 per month	January 2010	End of day	Files, API
ORATS	Sample files	$99 per month for daily files	End of day 2007. 1-minute August 2020, on higher-priced plans	Snapshot before the close, 1-minute	Files, API
EODHD	None for options	$29.99 per month add-on, a promotion	2 years	End of day	API
Market Chameleon	7-day trial	$99 per month	Chain history not stated	Option chain download	Web, CSV

The Cboe historical data page is free, but it gives trading volume and put/call ratios only. It has no prices.

Find the prices of one contract for free

Many traders need the price of one contract on one date. For example, you want to check the fill of an old trade. A bulk download is too much data for this.

The TradeRecount lookup shows the recorded minute bars of one US option contract, also after its expiry. A minute bar is the open, high, low, and close price and the traded volume for one minute. You need no account.

The lookup for a SPY 760 put with expiry 2 October 2026. It shows a daily summary for 5 trading days and the minute bars for 29 September 2026.

The example is a SPY put with a $760 strike that expired on 2 October 2026. On 29 September 2026, 13 of the 390 regular-session minutes had no trade record. The page lists those minutes and does not fill them with an estimate. Open this contract in the lookup.

For a step-by-step method with a complete lookup and examples of missing records, read How to find historical prices for an expired US option.

Three other free paths can give the prices of one contract:

The Massive Basic plan has 2 years of minute bars through its API. It permits 5 API calls per minute.
The ThetaData documentation lists a free tier with end-of-day data from June 2023, with a delay of 1 day. Its pricing page does not show this tier.
Databento gives new users $125 in credits for historical data. The credits expire after 6 months.

Each of these needs an account, and the data comes through an API.

Choose by the data that you need

Option data comes in different types. Check which type a plan includes before you pay.

Trades. A trade record shows a price at which a contract actually traded. Minute bars summarize the trades in each minute. A contract with no trade in a minute has no bar.
Quotes. A quote shows the bid, the highest price that a buyer offers, and the ask, the lowest price that a seller asks. A quote can exist in a minute with no trade. Massive includes quotes from $199 per month. ThetaData includes quote history from $40 per month and every quote from $80 per month.
End of day. One record for each contract and day. It cannot show the price at the time of an entry or an exit during the day.
Greeks and implied volatility. These are values calculated from the price. Greeks measure how the option price changes with the underlying price, time, and volatility. Many end-of-day sources include them. You can also calculate them yourself.

Check the use terms before you pay

Most low-cost plans are for personal use. The pages state these terms:

Massive states "Individual use" on each of its individual plans.
ThetaData states "no redistribution or business use" on its pricing page.
Databento Standard is for personal use on up to 2 devices.
FirstRate Data licenses its data for the private use of the subscriber.

We could not read the use terms of OptionsDX, historicaloptiondata.com, Market Chameleon, or the DoltHub dataset. Ask the provider before you use their data for more than private research.

If you want to show the data to other people or use it in a business, ask the provider for a commercial licence. Commercial plans cost more. For example, ThetaData lists commercial options data at $1,600 per month on annual billing.

Check the history and the gaps

The start date depends on the plan. ThetaData starts in 2020 on its $40 plan and in 2012 on its $160 plan. Massive gives 2 years on its $29 plan.
Underlyings can be missing. OptionsDX sells files for 10 underlyings. The TradeRecount archive has no options on AAPL.
Records can be missing. Many contracts do not trade every minute. A missing bar can also come from a gap in the source data. Ask how a source marks gaps before you use it for a backtest.
Time zones differ. Check the time zone of each source before you compare it with your broker records.

What TradeRecount does not have

No bulk download. The lookup shows one contract at a time.
No quotes, Greeks, or implied volatility. The records are trades only.
No options on AAPL, FB, or BRK.B.
No records after 2 October 2026.
A minute bar shows recorded trades. It does not show the price at which your order could fill.

Common questions

Is there a free source of historical options data?

Yes, with limits. The TradeRecount lookup is free for one contract at a time. Massive Basic, the ThetaData free tier, OptionsDX end-of-day files, and the DoltHub dataset are free. Each has limits on history, rate, or underlyings.

Does Cboe publish free historical prices?

Not on the pages that we checked. The free Cboe page gives trading volume and put/call ratios only. Cboe sells price history through Cboe DataShop.

Which source has the longest history?

For end-of-day data, historicaloptiondata.com states equity options from 2002 and SPX from 1990. ORATS states 2007. For minute data, OptionsDX sells SPY files from 2010. ThetaData Pro starts in June 2012, and Databento in April 2013. Cboe DataShop has every trade from January 2012.

Can I see the price of an expired option?

Yes. The TradeRecount lookup shows expired contracts without an account, when the archive has records for them. The other sources sell or give history for past dates. Ask each provider whether its history includes expired contracts before you pay. The expired-option price guide shows the steps for one contract.

Sources

Each page was read on 26 October 2026.