Is HistData really free?

Yes — HistData's forex downloads are free without an account (they accept donations). The cost is workflow, not money: data arrives as one ZIP per instrument per month, in its own timezone convention, and multi-year studies mean stitching many files.

Does HistData cover stocks, indices or crypto?

No — HistData is forex-focused (with a few metals). For multi-asset work (indices, commodities, crypto, bonds, shares alongside forex), you need a broader archive, which is exactly the case where the MarketData Hub client fits.

Is the underlying data the same?

No — different sources. HistData aggregates its own feed; the MarketData Hub client fetches the Dukascopy Bank SA archive. For liquid majors the series are very similar at candle level, but tick counts and exact prints differ between any two feeds, so don't mix sources inside one backtest.

Which should I use for MetaTrader backtesting?

Both work: HistData publishes MT4-format files for forex, and the client exports MetaTrader format on the Pro tier across the whole catalogue. For forex-only on a zero budget, HistData; for multi-asset or long ranges without file stitching, the client. The MetaTrader import guide covers both paths.

MarketData Hub vs HistData (2026)

By Martin Buessler · Published 31 July 2026 · Updated 1 August 2026 · 2 min read

HistData.com is the first stop for many people hunting free forex history, and for good reason: it costs nothing. MarketData Hub takes a different path — a paid desktop client over a broader multi-asset archive. Which fits depends on what you're building; here is the comparison, dimension by dimension, including where HistData is simply the better answer.

Get the app — €5.60 →

The short answer

Choose HistData if you need forex-only candles or ticks, your budget is zero, and you don't mind downloading and stitching monthly ZIP files. Choose the MarketData Hub client if you want one tool over forex and metals, indices, commodities, crypto, bonds and shares, with range-based downloads, a resumable queue and files that land ready to use.

What HistData is

A long-running free archive of forex price history — 1-minute bars and tick quotes for a large set of currency pairs, packaged as one ZIP file per instrument per month, in several platform-specific formats. Downloads are free without an account. It is forex-focused by design.

Head to head

Dimension	HistData	MarketData Hub client
Price	Free — its unbeatable argument	Software licence from €5.60, one-time
Asset coverage	Forex pairs (plus a few metals)	265+ instruments: forex, metals, indices, commodities, crypto, bonds, ETFs, shares
Granularity	1-minute bars and tick quotes	Tick to monthly — ten timeframes per instrument
Packaging	One ZIP per instrument per month; multi-year studies mean dozens of files to stitch	One request per date range; the app fetches, decodes and writes a single file
Resume / automation	Manual re-download	Resumable queue; headless CLI and scheduler on the Automation tier
Formats	Generic ASCII, MT4, NinjaTrader, MetaStock	CSV, JSON; MetaTrader, NinjaTrader, Parquet, SQLite on higher tiers
Timezone convention	Its own (documented on their site) — check before joining datasets	UTC throughout
Privacy	Browser downloads from their server	Retrieval runs on your machine, from the source archive; your selections never touch our servers

Where HistData wins

Price, plainly — free is free, and for a one-off forex study the monthly ZIPs are perfectly serviceable. It has also been around for many years and its file formats are widely understood by tutorials and tools. If your entire need is "EUR/USD 1-minute bars for 2019–2021, once", HistData answers it without spending a cent.

Where the client wins

Breadth and workflow. The moment your study crosses asset classes (gold against the dollar index, an equity index against a currency), HistData can't follow — and the moment you need many instrument-years, stitching monthly ZIPs becomes the real cost. The client turns that into one queued, resumable job per instrument with a single output file, over a 265+ instrument catalogue, current to the last completed session.

Facts about HistData checked mid-2026 against their public site; their offering can change — verify anything load-bearing there. HistData is an independent service with no connection to MarketData Hub.

Frequently asked questions

Is HistData really free?: Yes — HistData's forex downloads are free without an account (they accept donations). The cost is workflow, not money: data arrives as one ZIP per instrument per month, in its own timezone convention, and multi-year studies mean stitching many files.
Does HistData cover stocks, indices or crypto?: No — HistData is forex-focused (with a few metals). For multi-asset work (indices, commodities, crypto, bonds, shares alongside forex), you need a broader archive, which is exactly the case where the MarketData Hub client fits.
Is the underlying data the same?: No — different sources. HistData aggregates its own feed; the MarketData Hub client fetches the Dukascopy Bank SA archive. For liquid majors the series are very similar at candle level, but tick counts and exact prints differ between any two feeds, so don't mix sources inside one backtest.
Which should I use for MetaTrader backtesting?: Both work: HistData publishes MT4-format files for forex, and the client exports MetaTrader format on the Pro tier across the whole catalogue. For forex-only on a zero budget, HistData; for multi-asset or long ranges without file stitching, the client. The MetaTrader import guide covers both paths.