Alpaca

Name: Alpaca
Price: 99.00 USD
Author: Alpaca

Open SourceFree Tier

API-first trading platform for AI-powered finance apps

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About Alpaca

Alpaca is an API-first financial technology platform designed for developers and businesses building sophisticated algorithmic trading systems. It provides commission-free access to stock and cryptocurrency markets, supported by robust market data APIs and paper trading environments for risk-free testing. The platform's key differentiator is its developer-centric infrastructure, which facilitates the seamless integration of machine learning models into live trading workflows. By offering scalable execution services and comprehensive documentation, Alpaca empowers engineers to deploy AI-driven financial applications without the overhead of traditional brokerage complexities.

Type:AI Tool

API:Available

Free Tier:Available

Source:Open Source

Pros & Cons

Pros

Offers commission-free trading for both US equities and major cryptocurrencies via a unified API.
Provides a dedicated paper trading environment to test algorithmic strategies without risking real capital.
Supports fractional shares, allowing for more precise portfolio rebalancing and smaller initial investments.
Features extensive documentation and SDKs for popular programming languages like Python and Node.js.
Delivers real-time and historical market data through high-performance WebSocket and REST interfaces.

Cons

Limited asset class variety as it currently focuses primarily on stocks and crypto rather than options or futures.
Customer support is primarily digital-based, which may be slow for urgent execution issues.
Advanced market data feeds often require a paid subscription beyond the basic free tier.

Who Is This For?

Best For

Quantitative Developers

They need reliable API access to execute complex mathematical models in real-time markets.

Fintech Startups

The platform provides the necessary brokerage infrastructure to launch new investment apps quickly.

AI Researchers

The integration of historical data and paper trading is ideal for training and validating financial ML models.

Not Ideal For

Manual Day Traders

The interface is optimized for programmatic access rather than high-speed manual chart trading.

Institutional Bond Traders

The platform lacks support for fixed-income securities and complex debt instruments.

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Pricing

Alpaca offers a freemium model featuring commission-free trading and basic data access, with premium tiers available for professional-grade market data and advanced API features.