How to choose a market data source: yfinance, AKShare, OpenBB, and EODHD APIs
A choosing guide. Four names that get compared are four different kinds of thing.
Disclosure: this site is an affiliate partner of EODHD APIs. If you sign up through a link on this page we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. The other three are free open-source projects, and this site has no relationship with them.
Short answer: these four are not substitutes. yfinance and AKShare are free libraries that read public websites, and they do not promise to keep working. OpenBB connects data sources you already have and does not produce data. EODHD APIs is a commercial data service you pay for once a free source is not enough. For personal research on US stocks, yfinance is usually enough.
How to choose: For personal research on US stocks, start with yfinance and do not pay yet. For China A-shares or Chinese macro data, use AKShare. When you already use several providers and want one code base, add OpenBB on top. OpenBB does not create data. When a pipeline must run every day, you need several markets, or you need commercial use, switch to a paid source such as EODHD APIs. yfinance's README says Yahoo's finance API is for personal use. AKShare says the data is for academic research. The EODHD free plan allows 20 API calls a day, and history is only the past year for prices and for dividends and splits. EODHD's standard plans are personal use. Commercial use needs a separate Commercial plan. Prove the idea on free data first, and keep the download step separate from the rest of the code. This page is not the tool-order guide, not the site FAQ, and not the Tushare versus AKShare fee comparison. Licences and the free-tier limit were checked on 12 Oct 2026.
Who it is for: Someone choosing a market-data source for a quant project: personal research on US stocks, China A-shares or Chinese macro data, one interface over several providers you already pay for, or a pipeline that has to keep running across markets. What you need is what each of the four actually is, the licence and the free-tier limit, and when it is time to pay.
Who it is not for: Someone who wants the Tushare points and published prices, the order of data then a backtest then paper trading, or the short answers on the site FAQ. This page also does not replace the EODHD setup steps or the AKShare SQLite walkthrough. yfinance and AKShare do not promise that an interface will keep working, and neither is a commercial data licence.
The same guide in Chinese is how to choose among yfinance, AKShare, OpenBB, and EODHD APIs. A worked AKShare download into SQLite is AKShare into SQLite. Fees, the free tier, and why an AKShare interface can fail are how to choose between Tushare and AKShare. That comparison is not this article. Attaching EODHD daily bars to that SQLite table is the EODHD walkthrough. A US pipeline that was run as its own script is the daily price pipeline.
Facts below follow the Chinese guide. Licences and the free-tier limit were checked on 12 Oct 2026 against each project's repository and the vendor site. This is not investment advice. Data from any source can be wrong or late. Check it before you rely on it. Terms and quotas follow each project's own site.
01 · One table
| Tool | What it is | Coverage | Cost and licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| yfinance | Free library that reads Yahoo Finance's public endpoints | Tickers Yahoo Finance lists | Free (Apache-2.0). Yahoo's terms say personal use |
| AKShare | Free library that aggregates public finance sites | China markets and macro data first | Free (MIT). The project says academic research only |
| OpenBB | Open-source connector that puts many vendors on one interface | Whatever the vendors you connect cover | Software is free (Apache-2.0). Some vendors charge |
| EODHD APIs | Hosted commercial data API | Prices, fundamentals, and news on global exchanges | Free plan: 20 calls a day, about one year of history. Paid plans split personal and commercial use |
Licences and the free-tier limit were checked on 12 Oct 2026.
02 · yfinance: the fastest way to start
A few lines of Python turn one ticker, or many, into a pandas table of history. The library also has WebSocket streaming, sector and industry information, and a screener. To check a US-stock idea, it is the path with the least friction.
Two limits are in its own README. Yahoo's finance API is for personal use, and the right to use the data follows Yahoo's terms. The library depends on endpoints it does not control, so a change at Yahoo can break it. A notebook is fine. A job that has to succeed every day is a risk.
03 · AKShare: the default for China A-shares
It wraps public sites such as Eastmoney and Sina as plain Python functions, and AKTools exposes an HTTP API for other languages. For China A-shares or Chinese macro data, start here. A walkthrough that stores the bars is AKShare into SQLite.
Its notice is equally direct: the data is for academic research and reference only, and some interfaces can be removed for reasons outside the project's control. An interface that works today is not promised next month.
The other library people use for the same market is Tushare Pro: an account, and access by points. Which to pick, and whether Tushare charges, is how to choose between Tushare and AKShare. That comparison is not this article.
04 · OpenBB: a connector, not a data source
The open-source platform describes itself as connect once, use everywhere. You plug in your own data, licensed data, and public data. The same connections serve Python, a REST API, Excel, and AI agents through MCP. The licence is Apache 2.0.
It does not produce data. What you can pull depends on the vendors you connect, and several of those need their own keys or subscriptions. It is worth adding when you already use more than one source and want one code base. The analyst interface, OpenBB Workspace, is a separate enterprise product.
05 · EODHD APIs: paying for coverage and a contract
It is not a library you install. It is a hosted service: one API for daily and intraday prices, fundamentals, dividends and splits, news, and more, across global exchanges, over REST and WebSocket. The difference from the two scraping libraries is that you are a customer of a company whose business is the data.
Read the free plan carefully: 20 API calls a day, and history is only the past year, for prices and for dividends and splits. That is enough to see that code runs, not enough to run a strategy. Paid plans are split by what you need (end-of-day only, intraday, fundamentals, or everything). The price is whatever the current pricing page shows. How to attach it to a SQLite table is the EODHD walkthrough.
06 · How to choose
- Personal research on US stocks. yfinance. Do not pay yet.
- China A-shares or Chinese macro data. AKShare.
- Several data sources, and you want one code base. Add OpenBB on top of what you already use.
- A pipeline that must succeed every day, several markets, or commercial use. A paid source such as EODHD APIs. Both free libraries say they are for personal or academic use. Check the plan type too: EODHD's standard plans are personal use, and commercial use needs its separate Commercial plan.
A steadier path is to prove the idea on free data, and to switch to a paid source only when reliability or coverage is the bottleneck. Keep the download step separate from the rest of the code, so changing source later is a small edit.
This guide is not investment advice. Data from any source can be wrong or late. Check it before you rely on it. Terms and quotas follow each project's own site.
Frequently asked questions
How to choose between yfinance, AKShare, OpenBB, and EODHD APIs?
For personal research on US stocks, start with yfinance and do not pay yet. For China A-shares or Chinese macro data, use AKShare. When you already use several providers and want one code base, add OpenBB on top. OpenBB does not create data. When a pipeline must run every day, you need several markets, or you need commercial use, switch to a paid source such as EODHD APIs. yfinance's README says Yahoo's finance API is for personal use. AKShare says the data is for academic research. The EODHD free plan allows 20 API calls a day, and history is only the past year for prices and for dividends and splits. EODHD's standard plans are personal use. Commercial use needs a separate Commercial plan. Prove the idea on free data first, and keep the download step separate from the rest of the code. This page is not the tool-order guide, not the site FAQ, and not the Tushare versus AKShare fee comparison. Licences and the free-tier limit were checked on 12 Oct 2026.
Who it is for?
Someone choosing a market-data source for a quant project: personal research on US stocks, China A-shares or Chinese macro data, one interface over several providers you already pay for, or a pipeline that has to keep running across markets. What you need is what each of the four actually is, the licence and the free-tier limit, and when it is time to pay.
Who it is not for?
Someone who wants the Tushare points and published prices, the order of data then a backtest then paper trading, or the short answers on the site FAQ. This page also does not replace the EODHD setup steps or the AKShare SQLite walkthrough. yfinance and AKShare do not promise that an interface will keep working, and neither is a commercial data licence.
Are yfinance, AKShare, OpenBB, and EODHD interchangeable?
No. yfinance and AKShare are free libraries that read public websites, with no guarantee they keep working. OpenBB is a connector over data providers you already have, and it does not create data. EODHD APIs is a hosted commercial service you pay for once free sources are not enough. For personal research on US stocks, yfinance is usually enough.
What does the EODHD free plan include?
The free plan allows 20 API calls a day. History on it is limited to the past year, for prices and for dividends and splits. That is enough to check that code runs, not to run a strategy. Paid plans split by what you need: end-of-day only, intraday, fundamentals, or everything. Standard plans are for personal use. Commercial use needs a separate Commercial plan. The live pricing page is the source for the current price. The free-tier limit was checked on 12 Oct 2026.
Can the free libraries be used commercially?
No. yfinance's README says Yahoo's finance API is for personal use, and rights to the data follow Yahoo's terms. The library is Apache-2.0. AKShare is MIT and says the data is for academic research and reference only. OpenBB's software is Apache-2.0, and some providers you connect still charge. EODHD's standard plans are also personal use. Commercial use of EODHD needs its Commercial plan. A free software licence is not a licence to the data.
Does OpenBB produce market data?
No. OpenBB's open-source platform connects proprietary, licensed, and public sources you plug in. The same connections serve Python, a REST API, Excel, and AI agents through MCP. The licence is Apache 2.0. What you can pull depends on those providers, and several need their own keys or subscriptions. It earns a place when you already use more than one provider and want one code base. OpenBB Workspace is a separate enterprise product.