Is CME sub-vendor requirement for API access is $290 per month

As you probably know this message is displayed when I try to add on API access from Tradovate desktop app:

“Warning: In order to access real-time Market Data via API, you will need to become a registered sub-vendor with the CME.”

Tech support said to contact CME to register and that it costs $290/month payable to CME.
Can someone here confirm this is correct. This may be acceptable down the line but just starting out seems prohibitively large.

I simply want the simplest type of access in order to do a few simple automated trades for myself.

Thanks,
Doug

I would also love some confirmation on this topic from Tradovate.

This is unfortunately true. As of September 30th 2022, new CME rulings state that in order for us to continue offering MD via API we would need to require users that want MD to register as sub-vendors. It is a hard barrier for most individuals, I agree, but there is nothing we can do about it. We patiently await the day that our users don’t have to do this, but for the foreseeable future it will be this way.

Thanks for the clarification!

Thanks for the confirmation.
Wonder why Interactive Brokers does not require this.
Thanks.

Alexander, can you elaborate? I signed up for the basic API access and haven’t had issues authenticating, querying my account, etc- but I am getting 404s on getChart like this:

a[{“s”:404,“i”:2,“d”:“Not found: md/getChart”}]

This thread is the first I’m hearing of the CME fee, so obviously I haven’t paid it (although it is turned on in my user permissions). Would this cause the 404 I am getting back?

It actually looks like this particular error is something else (maybe you’re trying to get a chart through the data socket?).

But even if you were doing it 100% correctly, you would still receive something like { s: 200, d: "The symbol is inaccessible." } until you pay the CME MD vendor fees and have our team members whitelist your user for MD access upon confirmation.

Is this still the case? In order to get live charts we need to pay that extra fee? Thanks for the clarification.

Just so everyone knows, the API works completely fine without the vendor license. You can make orders, query your account, auto-trade alerts from tradingview, etc.

The vendor license is required on for the md api access… this means websocket data… which means you receive futures price data from Tradovate. If you have a system where you are creating alerts somewhere else and want to execute orders, then you are fine without receiving price information from tradovate, and therefore do not need the vendor licence. Just remember that this means you’ll be communicating with the API in only one-direction. If you want to do something like make a breakeven stop if "X’ happens, it’s not really possible to get that price data from Tradovate.

Hi @Alexander,

My bot doesn’t need a live feed so i would like to place the orders without the CME subscription.

I have generated an API key with the checkmark box checked to allow sending without MD.
I assume my orderStrategy needs a timestamp field when i do this (i recall reading about that somewhere…)

Can you confirm if i need this, or explain how to send an order through the API without subscribing to market data

Do you have to include a timestamp field in the order when sending it without market data subscription?

No. You can if you want, but it’ll still accept it without timestamp.