It does not copy nor redistribute data. Most places don't allow it and thus i'm probably never going down that road. The data comes direct from the sources (that's why you have to input your quandl or tiingo API). It is YOUR data. "Just" bundled in one .CSV file so that metastock can convert it in one fell swoop. That and being user friendly to non-programmers ;-) All history of S&P 100 stocks takes around 2 minutes to download using Tiingo and the mass download option, and another 2 minutes for metastock to convert!! If you just want to update "old" graphs you just convert the files to the same folder as the "old" graphs are and metastock will take care of the rest.
Tiingo isn't that good either. See my post here: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/bring-back-yahoo-api.313050/page-2
Guess that any free data provider is not as good as a good (paid) provider or some companies would go bankrupt. My idea posting here was to exchange ideas as to what are the free providers are good (or not) and what are people using. The software only uses free data. I'm thinking of adding IEX next. They have free EOD data for up to 5 years and are thinking about extending that to 20 years. One of the key things of the software is freedom to choose. If one person preferes yahoo finance than they should go for it. Any good free data providers you recommend?
Any time a new vendor comes along (free or not) I give them a go if I can fit into my workflow. I use alternative sources to highlight any possible issues on trade signals I'm taking, so I can review prior to placing orders. I can't recommend any of the free ones - they just generate too many false positives of data errors. I also tried IEX - not that good either. The data may seem good, until it's not. If that causes a missed trade (or erroneous trade) that results in a several hundred or thousands of dollars of loss (or lost opportunity), why would you even bother with free? I guess if you don't have enough capital to trade then free may be all you can afford. But perhaps it's time to reconsider trading and spend time building up your capital base instead (or alternative career paths).