Is the Refinitiv API the same as the LSEG API?

Yes. The London Stock Exchange Group acquired Refinitiv and sells it as LSEG Data & Analytics. The Eikon Data API, Refinitiv Data Platform and DataScope Select all continue to work, but the branding and documentation moved to LSEG.

How much does the LSEG API cost?

No official pricing is published. Content sets are licensed individually - real-time entitlements, I/B/E/S estimates, fixed-income pricing and Reuters news each carry their own line item. Reported engagements run from $25,000 a year into six figures. Workspace desktop seats are separately reported at $12,000-$24,000 per user per year.

Do I need to update my code for the LSEG domain change?

Yes, if it calls Refinitiv hostnames. DataScope Select and Tick History moved to LSEG domains, and application code, configuration files and bookmarks must use the new domains by 15 April 2026.

What is the difference between the LSEG Data Platform and DataScope Select?

The Data Platform (formerly the Refinitiv Data Platform) is the REST and streaming layer for on-demand and live data. DataScope Select is bulk extraction - prices, corporate actions, reference, historical and entity data.

Does DataScope Select use REST or SOAP?

Both. The SOAP API launched with DataScope Select in 2006 and the REST API arrived in 2015. LSEG has said "all future functionality is designed around REST".

What is the Eikon Data API?

The Python library for pulling prices, fundamentals, reference data and time series from the desktop. Eikon itself became LSEG Workspace, and LSEG now publishes Python, TypeScript and JavaScript libraries covering streaming and non-streaming data on the LSEG Data Platform.

Does the LSEG API carry M&A or private company data?

Only partly, and it is not what the platform is bought for. For private data, choose PitchBook or Multiples, which carries 165,000+ M&A deals and 330,000+ funding rounds.

What is the cheapest alternative to the LSEG API?

Depends which "line item" you are replacing. For US market data, Massive from $29 a month, but it is not an investment-grade platform. For high quality comps data, choose Multiples, starting at $1,499 a month. For Lipper-style fund data, consider Morningstar. None of them covers FX, fixed income and Reuters news the way one LSEG contract does.

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Compare LSEG (Refinitiv) API pricing and alternatives

Last verified: Aug 20, 2026

LSEG (Refinitiv/Eikon Data API) is an institutional provider of financial markets data APIs.LSEG licenses each dataset separately (real-time prices, I/B/E/S estimates, pricing and Reuters news). Reported pricing starts around $25,000 a year.This page compares LSEG API offering to close competition, like FactSet, Capital IQ, Multiples, PitchBook/Morningstar.

Try Multiples - LSEG Data & Analytics alternative See more LSEG Data & Analytics alternatives

What is the LSEG API, and what happened to Refinitiv?

LSEG APIs, offered through its Data & Analytics division (building on the former Refinitiv platform), provide programmatic access to a broad range of financial market data, analytics, news, and reference content. These include the LSEG Data Platform, Real-Time SDKs and WebSocket APIs, DataScope Select, Knowledge Direct, Historical Pricing, Tick History, and specialized services for evaluated pricing, research, ESG, and quantitative analytics. Various delivery options: request-response, streaming, bulk feeds, and cloud or on-premises deployments.

Core features cover real-time and delayed pricing across more than 80 million instruments on over 500 exchanges and OTC venues, historical tick data dating back to 1996, company fundamentals and estimates, fixed-income and derivatives analytics, economic indicators, news feeds, and screening tools.

Pricing is set up by dataset rather than by the whole product. Real-time entitlements, I/B/E/S consensus estimates, evaluated fixed-income pricing and Reuters news are separate line items, which is why reported pricing runs from $25,000 a year into six figures.

Typical use cases for LSEG API range from powering trading workflows and price-discovery systems, middle-office risk and compliance processes, and back-office reporting, to quantitative research, portfolio construction, KYC screening, and integration into internal applications.

Compare LSEG (Refinitiv) API cost and features vs alternatives

	LSEG	Bloomberg	FactSet	Capital IQ	Multiples	Massive
License cost	$25k-$100k+/yr*	$32k/yr; API quoted*	$30k-$100k+/yr*	$30k-$100k+/yr*	from $1,499/mo	From $29/mo
Type	REST · SOAP	SDK	REST	REST · bulk file	REST	REST · WebSocket · flat files
Geo coverage	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	US
Public companies	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Private companies	Partial	Yes	PartialAdd-on	Yes	Yes	No
Cross asset coverage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Consensus estimates	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	YesLicensed from FactSet	No
Metrics coverage	Fundamentals, estimates, prices, news	Fundamentals, estimates, prices, news	Fundamentals, estimates, prices, news	Fundamentals, estimates, prices, news	Basic fundamentals, estimates, prices, valuation ratios	Prices, financials, ratios, corporate actions, news
Pre-computed ratios	No	No	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes
Real-time prices	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Time to first call	Weeks+	Weeks+	Weeks+	Weeks+	Minutes	Minutes

* = reported figure, vendor does not publish pricing. Refinitiv products are sold as LSEG Data & Analytics. Workspace desktop seats are separately reported at $12k-$24k per user per year. Prices are stated as they stand in August 2026.

Overview of LSEG (Refinitiv) API alternatives

Product	Overview	Pricing	Strengths	Limitations
Bloomberg	Bloomberg's APIs allow for 'gold standard' programmatic access to real-time market data, history, content, and analytics. LSEG’s APIs cover much of the same ground: prices, fundamentals, estimates, and news. Bloomberg is commonly chosen by clients who already use Terminal and need the biggest real-time depth.	$31,980/seat/yr single seat $28,320 multi-seat (as of 2026) 2-year minimum contract Data License priced separately	Streaming, reference breadth Bloomberg News and the IB chat network FIGI symbology	May be a major overkill for simple use cases API feed quoted separately from the seat Very steep learning curve
FactSet	FactSet is a good API alternative to LSEG when consensus estimates matter the most. FactSet estimates carry deeper analyst revision history than I/B/E/S. Outside of that, LSEG APIs cover similar company data plus real-time and historical market prices and news. Consider also Multiples API that licenses FactSet data, with much more affordable pricing starting at $1,499 a month.	Custom quote Reported $12k-$40k per seat per year, depending on add-on packages	Deepest estimates and revision history One of the best coverage of the major platforms Gold standard for buy-side research	Limited data on FX and fixed income Limited private markets coverage
S&P Capital IQ	Cap IQ API is a good financial data API alternative when you need deep company fundamentals, deal history and more, rather than live data. LSEG and Capital IQ overlap on public company fundamentals. LSEG is typically used more for real-time and cross-asset markets, Capital IQ more for filing-linked public comps and deal analysis.	Custom quote Reported $13k-$30k per seat per yr Add-ons needed for M&A and VC data	Brand name across investment banking industry Deep public comps data, on par with FactSet and Multiples Decent private markets coverage	No real-time data No FX or fixed income depth M&A/transactions feed is a separate module
Multiples	Investment-grade financial data API provider. Offers both public comps (historical and consensus estimates data), and private transactions. Officially licenses public markets data from FactSet and Morningstar. 130+ pre-calculated financial metrics, multiples and ratios. Affordable pricing vs. LSEG starting at $1,499 a month.	Pro: $239/mo (billed annually) or $299 (monthly) Pro Max: $399/mo (billed annually) or $499 (monthly) API: from $1,499/mo Free 3-day trial	Enterprise-grade API for both public comps and precedent transactions Highest quality data (licensed from FactSet and Morningstar) Affordable pricing vs. enterprise providers	No FX, fixed income or news No real-time prices
Massive	Formerly Polygon.io, rebranded to Massive in October 2025. US market data over REST, WebSocket and flat files across stocks, options, indices, FX, crypto and futures, from $29 a month. Company financials and daily ratios - including trailing P/E and EV/EBITDA - are a $29 add-on or bundled at $199.	Stocks: free Basic tier, Starter $29/mo, Developer $79/mo, Advanced $199/mo Financials & Ratios $29/mo add-on, or bundled into Advanced	Live and historical US prices Much cheaper than institutional providers	US markets only No consensus estimates No news or FX Quality and coverage not at institutional level
Morningstar	Morningstar APIs focus on funds and ETFs: holdings, performance, star and Medalist ratings, Style Box analysis, and portfolio tools for wealth and research workflows. Bit of a different use case to LSEG APIs that also include history, Reuters news, Datastream economic time series, I/B/E/S estimates etc.	Custom quote Reported ~$17k/user/yr for the first seat	Deep fund and ETF coverage Global fund coverage	Very limited private markets coverage

Which LSEG (Refinitiv) API alternative fits your use case?

Platform	Best For	Institutional grade	Equity coverage	Deals coverage	Geo coverage	Real-time data	Ease of implementation
LSEG Data & Analytics	Investment banks, trading firms, treasury and macro teams	High	High	Medium	High	High	Low
Bloomberg Terminal	Trading desks, investment banks, hedge funds	High	High	Medium	High	High	Low
FactSet	Investment banks, buy-side firms, asset managers, equity research	High	High	Medium	High	Medium	Low
S&P Capital IQ Pro	Bulge bracket banks, hedge funds, large PE/VC firms	High	High	Medium	High	Medium	Low
Multiples	M&A advisors, VC and PE funds, corp dev teams and CFOs	High	High	High	High	Low	High
Massive	Developers, individual investors, small-scale data products	Medium	High	Low	Low	High	High
Morningstar Direct	Equity research teams, fund analysts, asset managers	High	High	Low	High	Medium	Low

Should you choose LSEG Data & Analytics or look for an alternative?

LSEG Data & Analytics strengths

Strong API workflows across FX, commodities, economics. Datastream history for research desks

Real-Time Optimized and RTDS options for clients that need highest quality market-data feeds

Usually cheaper than a Bloomberg seat for a similar multi-asset terminal + API setup

LSEG Data & Analytics trade-offs

Every content set is priced separately, so quotes are hard to compare

Difficult integration - Legacy Eikon/Refinitiv naming and connectors confuse onboarding, docs still split across Refinitiv and LSEG names

No or very limited M&A or VC deal data (choose PitchBook or Multiples instead)

Why teams look for alternatives to LSEG / Refinitiv APIs

LSEG/Refinitiv migration headaches

DataScope Select and Tick History moved to LSEG domains. Applications, configuration files and bookmarks still pointing at Refinitiv hostnames have to be updated, which makes integration testing and deployment more complex.

Weaker private company and deal data

The stack is built for public markets, FX, commodities, economics, and Reuters news. Private company and mid-market M&A coverage is thinner than PitchBook or Multiples.

Various legacy names and connectors

Eikon, Refinitiv, and LSEG names still sit on the same products. Older connectors are being retired, so some teams rebuild integrations or split the feed across vendors.

Quotes are hard to compare

With every dataset priced on its own, two vendor quotes rarely cover the same scope. Fixing the use case first is the only way to make them comparable, and LSEG publishes no prices to anchor against.