Historical Market Data Guides
Practical, no-fluff guides on getting and using historical market data with a local downloader — from your first run to a trustworthy backtest.
Get the app — €5.60 →Getting started
- How to Use MarketData Hub — The Complete Guide
The complete MarketData Hub manual: install and activate the app, browse the catalogue, configure a download, run the queue, find your files on disk, and use the export formats, batch queueing, headless CLI, scheduler and watch mode — every feature, with screenshots.
Updated · 8 min read - How to Download Historical Market Data
Step-by-step guide to downloading historical OHLC and tick price data for forex, crypto, stocks, indices and commodities with a local desktop app. Pick an instrument, timeframe and date range, and it writes CSV or JSON on your own machine.
Updated · 2 min read - Download Gold (XAU/USD) Price History
How to download spot gold (XAU/USD) price history to your own machine: tick to monthly OHLC, CSV/JSON, daily candles from 1999 and tick data from 2003 — plus what makes gold data different from equity data.
Updated · 2 min read
Data format
- Historical Market Data CSV & JSON Format Explained
What columns are in a historical market data CSV file? OHLC and tick layouts explained, with examples and how to import the data into Excel, Python pandas, R and MetaTrader.
Updated · 1 min read - Tick Data vs OHLC Candles
Tick data vs OHLC candles explained: what each one is, how file sizes and history length compare, and when to use ticks versus 1-minute, hourly or daily candles for backtesting and research.
Updated · 1 min read - How Big Is Tick Data? File Sizes by Timeframe
How large historical market data files really get: tick vs 1-minute vs daily CSV sizes with worked EUR/USD and BTC/USD numbers, a bytes-per-row rule of thumb, and how to keep downloads manageable.
Updated · 3 min read
Using the data
- Backtesting a Trading Strategy with Historical Data
A practical guide to backtesting trading strategies with free historical data — choosing the right timeframe, avoiding look-ahead and survivorship bias, and which tools (Backtrader, VectorBT, MetaTrader) to use.
Updated · 1 min read - Loading Historical Market Data in Python (pandas, Backtrader & VectorBT)
Load free historical forex, crypto and stock CSV data into Python: read_csv with a datetime index, resampling timeframes, and feeding the data into Backtrader and VectorBT for backtesting.
Updated · 1 min read - Querying Historical Market Data with SQL (DuckDB)
Skip the CSV-loading step: query historical tick and OHLC data directly with SQL using DuckDB over Parquet or SQLite — resample candles, compute returns and correlations in seconds, no pipeline required.
Updated · 2 min read - How to Import Historical Data into MetaTrader 4 & 5
Step-by-step guide to importing CSV historical data into MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 — using the History Center, custom symbols and the Strategy Tester for backtesting EAs.
Updated · 1 min read - Importing Historical Data into NinjaTrader 8
Step-by-step: import historical tick, minute and daily data into NinjaTrader 8 — the text format it expects, the UTC timezone setting that trips everyone, and how to verify the series after import.
Updated · 2 min read - Historical Market Data in Excel & Google Sheets
Import free historical forex, stock, crypto and index price data into Excel or Google Sheets: download the CSV, import it cleanly, handle timestamps, and build charts and simple analyses.
Updated · 2 min read
Coverage & comparisons
- How Far Back Does Historical Market Data Go?
The real history depth of 265 instruments, mapped from per-timeframe metadata: the deepest daily series, depth by asset class, the tick-vs-daily gap table, and when each decade's series begin.
Updated · 4 min read - Best Free Sources of Historical Market Data (2026)
An honest comparison of free historical market data sources in 2026 — Dukascopy, HistData, TrueFX, Stooq, Yahoo Finance and more — covering asset coverage, timeframes, tick data and ease of access.
Updated · 2 min read - MarketData Hub vs HistData (2026)
HistData's free forex ZIP downloads against the MarketData Hub desktop client: asset coverage, granularity, packaging, formats, price and privacy — an honest comparison including what HistData does better.
Updated · 2 min read - MarketData Hub vs Dukascopy's Own Historical Export
Dukascopy's free browser export and the MarketData Hub desktop client pull from the same archive. The comparison is pure workflow: per-request browser exports vs a queued, resumable, multi-format local client.
Updated · 2 min read - MarketData Hub vs TrueFX (2026)
TrueFX's free registered tick downloads against the MarketData Hub desktop client: pair coverage, candle support, packaging and workflow — an honest comparison including where TrueFX wins.
Updated · 2 min read