What Is Nasdaq Data Link?

Updated

Nasdaq Data Link is Nasdaq's platform for financial, economic, and alternative datasets, aimed at investment professionals and others who need programmatic access to market and reference data. It is a data marketplace and delivery layer rather than a trading venue or brokerage: you use it to find, subscribe to, and pull datasets via APIs and tools. The site itself is a JavaScript application, so a browser with JavaScript enabled is required to use the web interface.

What the platform is

Nasdaq Data Link (historically associated with the Quandl brand) aggregates datasets from Nasdaq and third-party providers into one catalog. Its stated purpose is to serve as a source for financial, economic, and alternative data for investment professionals.

Two things follow from that positioning:

  • It is a distribution and access layer. The value is in the catalog, the API, and the delivery formats, not in a single proprietary feed.
  • It is built for professional workflows. Expect API keys, usage limits, and subscription terms rather than a consumer-facing quote page.

Types of data available

The catalog is organized around three broad categories named on the site:

Category What it typically covers
Financial Market prices, fundamentals, and related securities data
Economic Macro indicators and economic time series
Alternative Non-traditional datasets used to complement standard market and macro data

Because datasets come from many providers, coverage, history depth, update frequency, and licensing differ from one dataset to the next. Always check the individual dataset page rather than assuming uniform terms across the catalog.

Who it is for

The site states it serves investment professionals. In practice that means:

  • Quants and analysts who need time series they can pull into code.
  • Developers building data pipelines or research tools on top of an API.
  • Research teams comparing multiple vendors' datasets in one place.

If you only need occasional lookups of a single indicator, a lighter source may be enough. If you need repeatable, scripted access across several datasets, a platform like this is the more natural fit.

How you would typically use it

  1. Find a dataset. Browse or search the catalog for the series you need.
  2. Check its terms. Confirm the provider, history, frequency, and any subscription or access requirements on the dataset page.
  3. Get access credentials. API-based access generally requires an account and an API key.
  4. Pull the data. Query through the API or the platform's tools and load the result into your analysis environment.
  5. Verify the result. Confirm row counts, date ranges, and units against the dataset documentation before relying on it.

The exact menu locations and endpoint formats are not documented in the material available here, so treat the steps above as the general flow rather than a click-by-click guide.

Practical caveats

  • JavaScript is required for the web app; without it, the page will not render.
  • Pricing and access terms are not stated on the landing page. Do not assume any dataset is free or requires no login — check the specific dataset and your account terms.
  • Quality varies by provider. Alternative datasets in particular can have short histories, irregular updates, or restrictive licenses.

Bottom line

Nasdaq Data Link is best understood as a catalog-and-API platform for financial, economic, and alternative data, built for professional and programmatic use. Choose it when you need scripted access to multiple datasets from one place; verify per-dataset terms before committing, since coverage and access conditions are set provider by provider.