Best Indian Stock Market APIs in 2026

Quick answer

How can you build AI agents on Indian equities?

Give the agent separate, permissioned tools for each job: licensed market data for prices, a broker API for account-linked orders, and Drishti APIs or MCP for supported announcements, earnings, news, concalls, and corporate events. Preserve timestamps and source links, validate every response, and keep investment decisions under human control.

What NSE and BSE data points do you need?

Before comparing vendors, write the record your application needs. A useful Indian stock market API specification usually falls into five groups.

1. Quotes and trading data

For a watchlist, chart, screener, or trading system, check for:

• exchange, segment, symbol, series, ISIN, and instrument token;
• last traded price, time, and quantity;
• open, high, low, close, and previous close;
• traded volume, traded value, and average traded price;
• total buy and sell quantities;
• best bid and ask, plus the number of depth levels;
• open interest and OI change for derivatives;
• upper and lower circuit limits;
• timestamp, timezone, sequence number, and whether the value is live or delayed.

“Market depth” is not one universal field. NSE’s real-time product documentation defines Level 1 as the best bid and ask, Level 2 as up to five bid/ask levels, Level 3 as up to 20, and tick-by-tick as the full order book. A broker’s “full” mode may expose a different subset.

2. Historical prices

For charting and backtests, confirm:

• the first available date for minute, hourly, and daily data;
• supported candle intervals;
• whether prices are raw or adjusted for splits, bonuses, and dividends;
• expired futures and options coverage;
• delisted securities and symbol-change history;
• correction and backfill policy;
• maximum date range and page size per request.

Two providers can both advertise “historical NSE data” while returning very different universes. A clean ten-year daily series is not the same product as three years of one-minute candles or order-level history.

3. Instrument and reference data

An instrument master should tell you what the price belongs to. Look for issuer name, ISIN, NSE and BSE listings, instrument type, series, expiry, strike, option type, lot size, tick size, trading status, and daily changes.

Do not join exchanges by symbol alone. One company can have separate NSE and BSE identifiers, symbols can change, and derivatives expire. ISIN helps with cash-market identity, but you still need an exchange-specific key for quotes and orders.

4. Corporate and event data

Investor products often need more than prices:

• corporate announcements and source documents;
• financial results;
• dividends, splits, bonuses, rights issues, mergers, and other corporate actions;
• board meetings and result calendars;
• shareholding patterns, pledge data, and voting results;
• block and bulk deals;
• earnings records and conference-call metadata or transcripts.

BSE’s information-products sheet lists announcements, shareholding patterns, financial results, corporate actions, corporate governance, board meetings, result calendars, pledge data, and voting results as separate corporate-data products. Treat this as its own data contract, not an extra column on a quote API.

5. Orders and account data

Only broker APIs belong in this category. If you need order placement, positions, holdings, margins, funds, or postbacks, choose an API tied to the customer’s brokerage account. An exchange data feed or research API does not replace a broker’s execution and account controls.

Direct NSE and BSE data products

NSE Data & Analytics: best for authoritative NSE feeds

NSE Data & Analytics is the direct source when your organisation needs contractual NSE data rather than a convenient retail JSON API.

Its official catalogue covers Capital Market, Futures and Options, Currency Derivatives, debt, indices, EOD files, history, corporate data, and analytical products. Direct real-time feeds use multicast over a dedicated leased line. Snapshot, delayed, EOD, and historical products can use internet delivery, SFTP, binary files, or other product-specific formats.

Choose NSE direct when:

• you require NSE Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, or tick-by-tick data;
• your system has a defined display or non-display use;
• provenance and exchange-level entitlements matter more than developer convenience;
• your team can operate feed handlers, leased-line connectivity, and reconciliation.

Main limitation: this is an enterprise data relationship, not an anonymous free REST endpoint. NSE’s data sharing and usage policy says use, transmission, display, and redistribution are governed by the relevant agreement.

BSE Self Data Feed: best for authoritative BSE products

BSE’s Self Data Feed portal exposes API-labelled products for equity, equity derivatives, corporate data, index OHLC, and delayed data. Its wider information-products catalogue also covers real-time and snapshot feeds, EOD bhavcopy, historical trading data, and corporate records.

The onboarding flow is explicit: register, complete KYC, select data plans, agree on pricing and terms, pay, and receive access. That makes BSE a good direct source for teams that need BSE-specific coverage and can define the product and rights they need.

Main limitation: “BSE API” is not one universal schema. Confirm the segment, latency, delivery method, history, user count, storage, public-display rights, and redistribution terms with BSE before designing around it.

Authorised NSE and BSE market-data vendors

TrueData: best authorised-vendor candidate for a combined feed

TrueData says it is an authorised market-data vendor for NSE, BSE, and MCX. Its market-data API page describes REST and WebSocket access for real-time data, charting, snapshots, EOD data, option chains and Greeks, corporate announcements, and other corporate or fundamental datasets.

This is the category to investigate when you are building a fintech product and want one vendor to help map several exchange products into a developer-facing interface.

Best for: live dashboards, internal trading systems, charting, and commercial applications that need documented exchange-authorised data.

Main limitation: TrueData’s documentation says public display and redistribution require prior written permission. Ask for a written matrix covering each exchange, segment, website or app, user group, derived field, cache, and downstream API before buying.

Global Datafeeds: best for personal and internal vendor APIs

Global Datafeeds documents NSE cash, indices, F&O and currency products, along with BSE cash, indices and F&O. It provides REST, WebSocket, .NET, and COM interfaces for real-time subscriptions, snapshots, historical data, option chains, and Greeks.

Its commercial boundary is unusually clear. The provider’s purchase guidance says the advertised APIs are for individual personal use. Commercial use requires agreements and fees with the relevant exchanges.

Best for: individual traders, internal analysis, desktop integrations, and teams that want several interface choices.

Main limitation: do not buy an individual key and assume you can put the feed inside a paid app. Get a commercial quote and exchange approval for that use.

Broker APIs for market data and execution

Upstox: best for modern history and instrument discovery

Upstox is a strong broker API when the application belongs to an authenticated trading workflow. Its Instrument Search can look up an ISIN and return separate NSE and BSE listings. Its V3 market feed provides live prices and richer modes through a Protobuf WebSocket.

The V3 historical candle API documents minute and hourly history from January 2022 and daily, weekly, and monthly history from January 2000. Candle records include timestamp, OHLC, volume, and open interest.

Best for: personal trading systems, broker-connected customer apps, technical analysis, and research that needs a documented historical range.

Main limitation: authenticated broker market data does not automatically grant public-display or resale rights. Confirm any customer-facing use separately.

Kite Connect: best for Zerodha users

Kite Connect combines instrument files, REST quote snapshots, WebSocket streaming, historical candles, orders, holdings, positions, and portfolio operations.

Its quote API returns snapshots with OHLC, volume, open interest, circuit limits, and five-level depth where applicable. The WebSocket documentation allows up to 3,000 instruments on one connection and up to three connections for one API key.

Best for: Zerodha users building their own trading terminal, alerts, portfolio automation, or strategy tooling.

Main limitation: Kite’s terms restrict displaying live market data to the public at large and unauthorised redistribution. It is not a general backend for an unrelated public quote product.

DhanHQ: best for depth and options-heavy trading workflows

DhanHQ’s official documentation covers NSE, BSE, and MCX quotes, orders, portfolios, option chains, and live WebSocket data. Its live-feed documentation lists up to five WebSocket connections with 5,000 instruments each, while release notes describe 20-level and 200-level depth features.

Best for: personal algo systems and broker-connected tools that need options, depth, and execution in one workflow.

Main limitation: Dhan separates individual and partner integrations, and some data APIs can carry separate charges. Confirm the current plan, token model, segments, depth entitlement, and partner requirements.

API and MCP for corporate intelligence

Drishti: best for structured events and AI agents

Drishti is for a different job from a raw tick feed. It gives applications and AI agents structured Indian-market context through REST, WebSockets, TypeScript and Python SDKs, OpenAPI, and a hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

The Drishti documentation covers symbol metadata, prices and volume, announcements, earnings, news, conference calls, transcripts, alerts, block deals, and portfolio summaries. Its announcement tools classify NSE and BSE disclosures, while the block-deals API normalises records from both exchanges.

Best for:

• an NSE/BSE corporate-announcement monitor;
• earnings, concall, or news workflows;
• research timelines that join market events to companies;
• Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex, or another MCP-compatible client;
• application teams that want REST for backfills and WebSockets for supported event streams.

Main limitation: Drishti is not a full-market Level 2/Level 3/tick-by-tick feed and does not execute trades. Use an exchange feed or authorised vendor for raw market depth, and a broker API for orders.

Which Indian stock market API should you choose?

The licensing questions to ask before paying

An API key proves access. It does not prove that your planned use is allowed.

Ask every provider these questions in writing:

1. Which NSE and BSE segments are included?
2. Is the feed real-time, snapshot, delayed, EOD, or historical?
3. Is use limited to one person, an internal team, or one legal entity?
4. May we display the data on a website, mobile app, terminal, or television channel?
5. May we use it in a non-display model, alerting system, or AI workflow?
6. May we cache raw values, and for how long?
7. May we publish derived values, charts, or indicators?
8. May customers download data or access it through our API?
9. Which per-user, per-device, per-app, or exchange fees apply?
10. What happens to stored data after cancellation?

SEBI’s May 2026 circular changed the permitted lag for market price data used in investor education and awareness to 30 days, with a stated exception for the National Institute of Securities Markets simulation lab. Do not treat “educational” as a blanket exemption for live data. Check the current SEBI circular and get advice for your exact use.

A five-minute API evaluation checklist

Test five representative instruments before you commit:

• one liquid NSE equity also listed on BSE;
• one less-liquid BSE security;
• one index;
• one current futures contract;
• one option contract near expiry.

For each, record the identifiers, latest timestamp, missing fields, depth, candle availability, corporate-action handling, error response, and licence scope. Then repeat the test after a symbol change, expiry, or corporate action. The edge cases will tell you more than a provider’s feature count.

Frequently asked questions

Does NSE have a free official stock market API?

NSE publishes website data and downloadable reports, but its production market-data catalogue is not a free anonymous REST API. Direct real-time products use contractual feeds such as multicast over leased lines, while snapshots, EOD, and historical products use their own delivery formats. Authorised vendors provide another access route.

Does BSE have an official API?

Yes. BSE’s Self Data Feed portal labels equity, equity-derivative, corporate, index-OHLC, and delayed products as API-accessible. Access still requires registration, KYC, plan selection, pricing, and agreements. Confirm the exact schema, latency, history, and permitted use for the product you select.

What is the best free Indian stock market API?

There is no universally free production API for every NSE and BSE use. Broker APIs may include data access for authenticated customers, and providers may offer trials or delayed tiers. Account requirements, exchange fees, rate limits, and usage rights still apply. Choose by contract, not by the word “free.”

Which API is best for live NSE and BSE prices?

For a public or commercial product, start with an authorised data vendor such as TrueData and confirm exchange permissions in writing. For your own broker-connected trading tool, compare Upstox, Kite Connect, and DhanHQ. For institutional depth or tick data, evaluate direct exchange products.

Which API is best for NSE and BSE corporate announcements?

Use BSE or NSE corporate-data products when you need exchange-direct delivery. Use Drishti when you want normalised announcements and related earnings, concall, news, block-deal, WebSocket, SDK, or MCP workflows. Verify exchange coverage, latency, document access, and downstream rights with the provider.

Can I redistribute data from a broker API?

Do not assume so. Broker authentication gives you technical access for an account workflow; it is not a general market-data resale licence. Kite’s terms explicitly restrict public display and unauthorised redistribution. Ask the broker and exchanges for written permission before exposing data to customers.

Choose the data contract before the provider

The best Indian stock market API in 2026 is the one that matches your data, latency, user, and licensing requirements.

Use NSE or BSE direct products when you need authoritative exchange feeds. Evaluate TrueData or another authorised vendor for a commercial NSE+BSE application. Use Upstox, Kite Connect, or DhanHQ for broker-connected trading. If the job is structured corporate events or an AI research workflow, start with the Drishti documentation or connect Drishti MCP and test one real company workflow before building the rest.