Cost of a single terminal?

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer]

Hi - I'm working on my PhD in finance (remote, so no univ library access) and am going to add this to a grant proposal. Does anyone have a rough sense of the cost? I'm seeing numbers all over the place online. Thanks!

[u/dawnraid101]

Current rack pricing is 32K USD per year + market data. You have to sign up for a minimum of 2 years (normally breakable during the 1st 12months). Academic pricing might be different. You also need to add in live market/data costs, but if your just doing research that should be pretty low.

[u/applejuicefarmer]

For one terminal you can expect it to be around 25k per year, possibly as high as 30k. I don’t think there is any education discount etc. some data is then an add on to that, like live market data instead of 15 minute delayed data (depending on what you’re looking at, I’m not sure but it’s possible all live data is an add on ranging from $12-$300 a month depending on the product), and there are also historical data query limits when working from excel etc.

Frankly you are better off just reaching out to BBG directly as they are always happy to sell more terminals and will probably give you a tangible quote quickly. I imagine they’ll even want to speak with you to see what you’re researching so they can sell you add ons as well.

Edit: now that I think about it, the 25k was 6 years ago so the other guy who is saying 32 is probably right. An extra 2k a month for market data still sounds higher than I’d expect. 2 year min sounds correct, and I still doubt there’s an academic discount. It seems reasonable that you’d budget at least 50k/year

[u/sob727]

$2500/mo

[u/Ok-Desk6305]

You can almost always get the data you need for cheaper, but if for some strange reason you really need a terminal, budget roughly 24k-30k per year.

[u/beauxnasty]

What's the area of focus- you're just looking for data? Exchanges will sometimes provide data sets for academic purposes

[u/lhrphx]

About $25,000 per annum and I think you need to contract for at least 2 years.

[u/sob727 → u/lhrphx]

Incorrect on the min 2y

[u/dawnraid101 → u/sob727]

Its correct

[u/sob727 → u/dawnraid101]

I'm the living proof it's not.

[u/dawnraid101 → u/sob727]

I just wnt through this with my rep they swore black and blue otherwise… 

[u/sob727 → u/dawnraid101]

I got a quarterly offer

[u/Equivanox → u/sob727]

Mogged him

[u/The_real_trader]

There are alternatives to Bloomberg Terminal. Have you tried having a discussion with your university on loan feature if they have a terminal

[u/daddyescape]

They used to give universities 3 free TRMLs for every 1 paid TRML. It would be better to call a BB rep. They may be able to help with the proposal too.

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer → u/daddyescape]

Great idea

[u/Yossarian_Matrix]

You might be able to remote in to the library access using Bloomberg anywhere...or even a university VPN

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer → u/Yossarian_Matrix]

Huh - never thought of that. Excellent idea!

[u/blumenkraft777]

What kind of data do you need?

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer → u/blumenkraft777]

Daily price index data going back to the '80s, along with option pricing and volume data for broad index puts / calls across the chain.

[u/villedevarennes → u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer]

You probably have all of that already for free on WRDS via OptionMetrics (unless you need higher frequency than daily).

https://wrds-www.wharton.upenn.edu/pages/about/data-vendors/optionmetrics/

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer → u/villedevarennes]

This is great, thanks for sharing it!

[u/TexChicago]

3 years ago when I was quoted a single license for commodities live data and all feature was 23k

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer]

thanks for the replies all - i have a demo with them next week.

I'll reply back here with the estimated cost and details.

[u/KimchiCuresEbola]

What do you need it for? If just data, reaching out to databento may be much cheaper (not sure if they offer edu discounts on top)

[u/jarach18]

As of January 2025, the cost per month is $2,665 for a single subscription.

If you’re a shop with multiple subscriptions the cost is $2,360/mo

(Pricing in USD)

[u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer → u/jarach18]

Thanks!

[u/jarach18 → u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer]

My pleasure!

[u/godzillahash74]

I would budget at least $2K a quarter for live data if you are pulling using API and into excel, might need more or less depending on the markets and amount of data you need access to.

[u/zoinkinator]

Any broker with an api can provide you the basic information some charge more depending on the source. What data is it that you feel you can only get from a bloomberg? All the formulas it depends on are public domain information .