Questions, answered.

Interactive Brokers ships a sample RTD server with the TWS API; per IBKR's own documentation it is "not intended to be used as production level trading tools," and it streams top-of-book market data only — the callbacks for account values, positions, and orders are left as empty stubs.

StreamXLS is an independent, production-grade implementation that uses the same native Excel =RTD() mechanism: it fills in account values, positions with streaming P&L, and order monitoring; adds order staging; and hardens the connection against disconnects, Excel UI blocking, and TWS rate limits. It registers its own short ProgID, Tws.Rtd; IBKR's sample uses Tws.TwsRtdServerCtrl, so the two install side by side with no conflict. StreamXLS is not affiliated with Interactive Brokers.

Yes — a 30-day, fully featured free trial. No credit card required. You download the installer and the trial begins automatically the first time StreamXLS runs in Excel — no key and no separate trial sign-up.

Windows, with Microsoft Excel and a Trader Workstation or IB Gateway installation. StreamXLS installs as a single component, and the installer handles registration. There is no Excel ribbon and no add-in to load — it runs only when an =RTD() formula asks for it, and it needs TWS or IB Gateway running to reach IBKR.

Any desktop Excel for Windows — Microsoft 365 or a perpetual Office license (2016 or later), 32-bit or 64-bit; one installer covers both. RTD is a Windows capability, so Excel for Mac, Excel on the web, and mobile Excel are not supported.

StreamXLS connects through your own TWS API installation, on your own machine. To enable API connections: In Trader Workstation or IB Gateway, open File → Global Configuration → API → Settings and:

• Enable "ActiveX and Socket Clients"
• Disable "Read-Only API" (if you want to allow order staging)
• Verify the "Socket Port"

Default ports are 7496 (TWS live) / 7497 (TWS paper) and 4001 (Gateway live) / 4002 (Gateway paper). IBKR documents the full procedure here.

Both. StreamXLS connects over the TWS API, which connects to both Trader Workstation and IB Gateway.

Yes to both. The account, position, and order topics accept an account filter, so you can monitor a single account or several. And more than one Excel instance can run at once, each with its own connection to TWS.

Yes — either enable the TWS_RTD_PRESERVE_ON_DISCONNECT setting, or put Excel in Manual Calculation mode (Formulas → Calculation Options → Manual) before opening the workbook. Excel then keeps the cell values saved with the workbook instead of re-evaluating the RTD formulas. Switch back to Automatic (or press F9) for live data.

Stocks, futures, options, and FX are supported and tested. StreamXLS works through IBKR's own contract conventions, so the instrument model is the one the TWS API already defines.

Because the optional Delayed-data annotation setting is on, and TWS sent a delayed data value. TWS serves delayed data — typically 15–20 minutes behind — when you don't have a realtime market-data subscription covering the request and when the Market data setting includes Delayed data. Both settings can be verified and changed in the StreamXLS Control Panel.

Before you rely on those cells, know the trap: the annotation makes the cell text, and Excel ranks any text as greater than any number. So comparison and aggregate formulas built on an annotated cell will not work the same as when the cells contain unannotated values — IF thresholds, stop-loss checks, MAX / AVERAGE / COUNTIF, an approximate-match VLOOKUP should not be used with annotated data.

To recover the number in a formula, strip the suffix: =VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(A1," (delayed)","")).

If you want delayed-awareness without turning prices into text, use the IsDelayed field instead — it returns 1 when TWS is sending delayed data and 0 when it's real-time (or frozen real-time), as plain numbers you can safely compare. See market-data fields in the documentation.

No, but it can stage orders in TWS. A dedicated StageOrder topic populates an order ticket in TWS. The staged order appears in your TWS Orders list with a Submit button you must click to transmit the order to the market. StreamXLS itself never sends an order.

One thing to understand: a StageOrder formula stages in TWS the instant the formula is entered. Editing an existing StageOrder formula will stage a new order, not change the previously staged order. Deleting a StageOrder formula does not delete or cancel the ticket in TWS. Change or cancel staged orders directly in TWS, and track working orders with the read-only Orders topic.

No, it's how RTD subscriptions work, and it's deliberate. A StageOrder formula populates an order ticket in TWS the moment it is entered in Excel. Excel identifies a formula by its exact arguments. So changing any argument makes it a new subscription, which stages a new order; the earlier one stays staged in TWS. StreamXLS will never silently cancel an order you placed, so it leaves the old one for you to handle.

Reopening a saved workbook is the one case that goes the other way: StreamXLS recognizes the reopen and disarms each StageOrder cell instead of re-staging, so a workbook full of old order formulas won't stage a batch of order tickets when it is opened. Edit or re-enter a formula (F2, Enter) to stage a disarmed subscription on purpose.

The takeaway: treat each StageOrder cell as a one-shot "stage this now" button, not a live order you edit in place. To watch and manage orders, use the read-only Orders topics. Edit and submit orders themselves in TWS.

Your trading data stays on your machine. Quotes, positions, orders, and account values move only between your Excel and your own TWS, under your own IBKR entitlements. StreamXLS does not send your market data, order flow, or trading activity to us; the only things exchanged with our systems are licensing data — a license key, a device fingerprint, your IP address, and a record of your license status — through a third-party licensing provider, to activate and validate your license, as described in our Privacy Policy.

A temporary licensing-service problem won't affect the software. After you activate, StreamXLS stores a license token on your machine. That token is updated periodically, and the software continues to operate for up to 30 days without a successful update — if it is blocked from contacting a license server, it will alert you well before the token expires, unless you have switched the reminders off (see below).

Yes — as Windows notifications raised by the StreamXLS Control Panel, before your trial ends and before a verification problem can stop your data. They appear as a free trial nears its end (roughly seven days out, then three, then one, then on the last day) and, once a paid license's stored token is running short of time to re-verify, about a week, three days and one day before it runs out — that is the case a reconnection, or allowlisting the license server through a firewall or VPN, resolves. At most one such notification appears per day, and a license that has already lapsed is announced once rather than repeatedly.

A healthy paid subscription is not counted down to: its stored date is the end of the current billing period, and it moves forward each time you renew. The reminders can be switched off in the Control Panel ("Remind me before my trial or license expires"), which takes effect immediately — switching them off also withdraws a reminder still sitting in the notification center, so the opt-out applies to what is showing now and not merely to tomorrow. Windows' own per-app notification settings apply to them like any other notification. For paid renewals, see How does renewal work?

A fair question to ask any small vendor. Three protections are written into the license agreement, not just this page: your workbooks and data are never deleted — everything StreamXLS writes stays on your machine; if we ever discontinue the product, we refund the unused, pro-rated portion of your current paid period; and the software keeps running for up to 30 days without reaching our licensing service, alerting you well before that grace runs out unless you turn the reminders off. Your spreadsheets themselves are ordinary Excel workbooks with =RTD() formulas — nothing about them is locked to us.

No. StreamXLS is closed-source commercial software. The public GitHub repository hosts the demo workbook and signed binary releases — it does not contain source. Source or OEM licensing is a separate conversation; reach out through the contact form.

A seat licenses StreamXLS on one machine. The same user can add a second machine at half the tier price. You manage your own activations — including moving a license to a new machine — yourself in the StreamXLS Control Panel (deactivate on the old machine, activate on the new); you don't need to email us to re-host a seat.

We draw the same line your IBKR market-data subscription already uses — Non-Professional vs Professional.

• Personal (non-business) use is trading your own money for your personal account — including a personal investment vehicle you wholly own and control (such as a single-member LLC or personal trust) that holds only your own assets.
• Professional (business) use is managing or trading with any other entity account or for any third party. You are also a professional if you are registered or licensed in the finance industry.

The quick test: if Interactive Brokers classifies you as Professional for market data, you're Professional here. Not sure? Ask us at sales@streamxls.com.

Subscriptions renew automatically (§3 of the license agreement). If your renewal rate is ever changing, we email you the new rate at least 30 days before it takes effect — otherwise your renewal is at the rate you last paid. That's a commitment in the license agreement, not just this page. Independently, Freemius (our merchant of record) sends a courtesy reminder before annual renewals, and your renewal date and amount are always visible in your account. You can cancel future renewals at any time there; cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you've already paid for, and if you later change your mind, nothing was deleted in the meantime (see the next question).

Live data stops at the end of the paid period — and that's all. StreamXLS doesn't uninstall itself, and your workbooks, formulas, and logged data are untouched. Renew and re-activate, and everything lights back up as it was. You can cancel future renewals at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you've paid for. See §3 of the license agreement.

Reach us at support@streamxls.com for support and sales@streamxls.com for licensing.

We aim to respond within one US business day — usually the same day. (That's a target, not a contractual SLA.) Updates and support are included in every subscription, and firms that need a contractual SLA can arrange one.

See the support page for what to check first and what to include in a report.