Alpaca Trading review summary
Alpaca Securities LLC is US-based broker providing commission-free API stock trading. Alpaca Trading provides great API tools for algorithmic trading, zero-commission stock and ETF trading, and great charting tools through a web platform. Users dedicated to learning how to use the API and the programs will find that Alpaca provides a unique service. It is a good choice for beginner investors. On the other hand, Alpaca Trading relies heavily on its GitHub/Slack/other community forums for user support, as there is only extremely limited customer service. Furthermore, deposit or withdrawal is only possible via bank transfer. Finally, the product selection covers only US stocks and ETFs. BrokerChooser gave Alpaca Trading a 4.7/5 rating based on analyzing 500+ criteria and testing via opening a live account.
Alpaca Trading is a regulated broker, it is overseen by a top-tier financial regulator in the USA . Alpaca Trading is also covered by investor protection and it offers negative balance protection in selected jurisdictions. We at BrokerChooser always test brokers with real money, including the withdrawal process.
Alpaca Trading is available in United States
Alpaca Trading pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Great API trading service | • Customer support limited to email |
• Free stock & ETF trading | • Limited deposit and withdrawal options |
• Fantastic charting tools | • Only US stocks and ETFs available |
Alpaca Trading main highlights
🗺️ Country of regulation | USA |
💰 Trading fees class | Low |
💰 Inactivity fee charged | No |
💰 Withdrawal fee amount | $0 |
💰 Minimum deposit | $0 |
🕖 Time to open an account | 1 day |
🎮 Demo account provided | Yes |
🛍️ Products offered | Stock, ETF, Crypto |
Alpaca Trading review
Fees
Alpaca Trading offers zero-commission stock and ETF trading and low margin rates. Non-trading fees are also competitive as no fee is charged for inactivity or most withdrawals.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Commission-free Stock and ETF Trading | None |
• No inactivity fee | |
• No withdrawal fee |
Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
---|---|---|
US stock | Low | Commission-free stock trading |
EURUSD | - | Not available |
Mutual fund | - | Not available |
Inactivity fee | Low | No inactivity fee |
How we ranked fees
We ranked Alpaca Trading's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.
First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.
- Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
- Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.
In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Alpaca Trading for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing the most important fees are commissions.
We also compared Alpaca Trading's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, moomoo and Webull. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Alpaca Trading alternatives.
To have a clear overview of Alpaca Trading, let's start with the trading fees.
Alpaca trading fees
Joining an increasing number of US stockbrokers, Alpaca Trading charges zero commission for US stock and ETF trading.
Stock fees and ETF fees
Alpaca Trading offers zero-commission stock and ETF trading, similarly to US stockbrokers moomoo and Webull. None of these brokers offer international stocks, though.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
US stock | $0.0 | $0.0 | $0.0 |
If you prefer stock trading on margin, you should check Alpaca Trading financing rates.
The margin rate is charged when you trade on margin. This basically means that you borrow money or stocks from your broker to trade. For this borrowed money/stock, you have to pay interest. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.
Alpaca Trading's margin rates are average.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
USD margin rate | 6.3% | 6.8% | 7.0% |
Non-trading fees
Alpaca Trading has low non-trading fees. There are no fees for inactivity or account maintenance, and deposits are also free.
ACH withdrawals are free of charge, but wire withdrawals will cost $25 for domestic and $50 for international transfers.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
Account fee | No | No | No |
Inactivity fee | No | No | No |
Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Alpaca Trading review
Account opening
Opening an account with Alpaca is quick, and requires no minimum deposit. Integrating your account with third-party softwares can be tricky, but Alpaca offers great guidance.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Fast | • Bit complex process for integrating third-party tools |
• Fully digital | |
• No minimum deposit |
Can you open an account?
Alpaca Trading accepts clients from all over the world.
What is the minimum deposit at Alpaca Trading?
The required Alpaca Trading minimum deposit is $0 for individual accounts. This is great for those wanting to try out the broker first before committing large sums of money.
Business Trading Accounts require a minimum deposit of $30,000.
In addition, if you would like to trade on margin or short sell, you need to maintain a balance of $2,000, as per US regulations on margin trading.
Account types
Alpaca Trading provides different account types based on the account's ownership:
- Individual Account - account is owned by an individual.
- Business Trading Account - account is owned by a legal entity. This account type is in the beta version; you can read about business accounts in detail here.
Unfortunately, tax-advantaged accounts, like IRA, are not available.
How to open your account
Alpaca Trading's account opening is easy and quick. Our account was verified within 1 business day. On the other hand, setting up various third-party tools is a bit cumbersome.
To open your Alpaca account, you need to go through the following steps:
- Enter your email and chosen password.
- Verify your email address with Alpaca's six-digit code.
- Click whether you are a US resident or not (providing access to the available accounts by residence).
- Fill in additional information, including social security number, home address, phone number, etc.
- Your account is opened, you can go ahead and fund it.

Our best alternatives to Alpaca Trading are:
The highest ranking competitors are:
Alpaca Trading review
Deposit and withdrawal
Bank transfer deposit/withdrawal is easy and free, but like other US brokers, Alpaca doesn't support multiple currencies or credit/debit card funding, and wire withdrawal is costly. Crypto transfer is available.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Free withdrawal | • Credit/Debit card not available |
• No deposit fee | • Only one account base currency |
• User-friendly | • High withdrawal fee for wire transfers |
Account base currencies
At Alpaca Trading, you can hold your cash only in USD.
If you have a personal bank account in a currency other than USD, then you will be charged a conversion fee.
A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.
Deposit fees and options
Alpaca Trading charges no deposit fees. Like at other US brokers, credit/debit cards and electronic wallets are not accepted.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Credit/debit card | No | No | No |
Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
A bank transfer can take several business days, and you can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.
Once you deposit funds, 6 business days must pass before you can withdraw them.

Alpaca Trading withdrawal fees and options
Alpaca Trading charges no withdrawal fees for ACH withdrawals. If you prefer wire withdrawals, it will cost $25 domestically and $50 internationally.
Similarly to deposits, withdrawal to credit/debit cards and electronic wallets is not supported.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Credit/debit card | No | No | No |
Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
How long does it take to withdraw money from Alpaca Trading? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took less than 3 days.
You can only withdraw money to accounts that are in your name.
How do you withdraw money from Alpaca Trading?
- Navigate to your Alpaca Homepage.
- Choose the banking icon from the left navigation panel.
- Make sure your bank account is linked; if not, fill in your username and password and allow your bank to authorize Alpaca.
- Choose 'Transfer Money'.
- In the pop-up box, select 'Withdrawal'.
- Fill in the amount you would like to withdraw; your total withdrawable balance is shown in the right side of the box.
Crypto transfer is available at Alpaca Markets.It lets you deposit or withdraw cryptocurrencies from/to certain crypto wallets. It is only accessible from 13 US states though.
Alpaca Trading review
Web trading platform
Alpaca's web trading platform feels safe, user-friendly, and visually pleasing. However, it does not allow customization, there are no price alerts, and the search function is limited.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• User-friendly | • Poor search function |
• Two-step (safer) login | • Limited customizability (for charts, workspace) |
• Modern design | • No price alerts |
Trading platform | Score | Available |
---|---|---|
Web | 3.7 stars | Yes |
Mobile | 4.2 stars | Yes |
Desktop | - | No |
Alpaca's web trading platform functions as a 'side-kick' to the Alpaca API. It is simple and easy to use. When you implement trades using code, you can easily check on them, cancel them, or duplicate them on the web platform.
Alpaca focuses on simplicity for its web platform, which is balanced by the many uses and complex functions that the API provides. The web trading platform is available in English.
Look and feel
The Alpaca Trading web trading platform is user-friendly. The navigation bar on the left lists all relevant pages, and there are links to the Alpaca Slack channel and the Alpaca developers' community on GitHub. However, the platform itself is not customizable.

Login and security
Alpaca Trading provides a safe two-step login that can be activated using codes from a mobile device.
Because Alpaca provides an API, the platform keeps users signed in unless they manually sign out, which is useful from the API standpoint. However, users on public devices should make sure to always sign out manually.
Search functions
The search functions are OK. You can only search by ticker symbol, so you must first search for the stock's ticker on the web if you only know the company name or industry. We wish there were options to search by name and industry on Alpaca's page.
Furthermore, once you navigate to a stock, the name of the stock is only shown in the bottom description. It would be more convenient if the stock name was in the title so that users could tell if they've searched for the right instrument.

Placing orders
You can use the following order types:
- Market
- Limit
- Stop Limit
- Stop
- OCO (one-cancels-the-other) with TradingView integration
To get a better understanding of these terms, read this overview of order types.
There are also order time limits you can use: Good 'til Canceled, Fill or Kill, Immediate or Cancel, At the Open, At the Close.

Alerts and notifications
You cannot set price alerts and notifications. Instead, there is a 'Watchlist' that you can add stocks and ETFs to that will allow you to quickly see daily changes in the stock price. Futhermore, by using the API you can push market data through to your algorithm. We still wish that there were price alerts in the web platform itself.
Portfolio and fee reports
Alpaca Trading has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can access them by clicking 'Account Activities'.
Alpaca Trading review
Mobile trading platform
The mobile platform is even simpler than the web platform. It is similarly easy to use, but likewise has a poor search function and no price alerts. Logging in can also be complicated.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• User-friendly | • Poor search function |
• Two-step (safer) login | • No price alerts |
• Order confirmation | • No Touch/Face ID login |
Similarly to Alpaca Trading's web platform, you can use Alpaca Trading's own mobile trading platform. The app is available for both iOS and Android. In this review, we tested it on iOS.
Overall, the app is designed to be paired with the API. There are emergency buttons, for example to stop all trades, that are helpful for users using codes to execute trades automatically.
Look and feel
The Alpaca Trading mobile trading platform is user-friendly and very simple. You will easily find all features.

Login and security
Alpaca Trading provides a safe login with 2-step authentication. Signing in is not easy; the app directs you to the mobile website to fill in your username and password, which is not saved for subsequent logins. However, once you sign in on your device, you remain signed in as long as you don't manually sign out.
You can't log in using biometric authentication. Providing this feature would create a more convenient login experience.
Search functions
The search functions are OK; you can only search by ticker symbol. On the app, it is even harder to tell which stocks are which, because there is less information on each page compared with the web platform.

Placing orders
You can use the same order types and order terms as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications
You cannot set alerts and notifications on the Alpaca Trading mobile platform.
Alpaca Trading review
Desktop trading platform
Alpaca Trading does not offer a desktop trading platform.
Alpaca Trading review
Markets and products
Alpaca Trading currently only provides access to US stocks and ETFs. Other asset classes, like options or bonds, as well as international market coverage, are not available.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
Stocks | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ETFs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Forex | No | No | No |
Funds | No | Yes | No |
Bonds | No | No | No |
Options | No | Yes | Yes |
Futures | No | Yes | No |
CFDs | No | No | No |
Crypto | Yes | No | Yes |
Unlike its closest competitors, there are only stocks, ETFs and crypto available at Alpaca Trading.
Stocks and ETFs
You can invest in stocks and ETFs listed on the biggest US markets, like the NYSE or NASDAQ. This selection is similar to Alpaca's main competitors.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
Stock markets (#) | 5 | 5 | 5 |
ETFs (#) | 2,300 | 3,100 | 2,300 |
You can also trade with fractional shares. Short selling of shares is also available.q
Pre-market and after-market trading is also an option.
Cryptos
You can invest in a wide range of cryptos.
Alpaca Trading | moomoo | Webull | |
---|---|---|---|
Cryptos (#) | 34 | - | 62 |
Alpaca Trading review
Research
Alpaca provides a highly capable API and great charting tools. You can also find some fundamental data, but unfortunately no trading recommendations.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Access to highly functional API | • No trading ideas |
• Great charting tools | |
• Data on asset fundamentals |
Overall, we felt that Alpaca Trading provides excellent research tools because of the capabilities of the API and the information on the web platform.
Alpaca's API (Application Programming Interface)
Alpaca was among the first to open up space for retail traders to use technology to create their own algorithms that institutional traders have had access to for years. The Alpaca API is available in programming languages Python, Javascript, C#, Go, and Node.
There are three API types you can use:
- Trading API - you can build algos to execute your orders
- Market Data API - you can access market data when building or using algos, e.g. for backtesting
- Broker API - you can connect other brokerage platforms to Alpaca Trading, e.g. brokerage accounts at Midas or Gotrade and robo-advisor accounts at Investore.
When you use Market Data API, you can select among the following plans.
Free plan | Unlimited plan | Business | |
---|---|---|---|
Monthly fee | $0 | $9 | $99 per device |
Real-time data? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Market coverage | IEX | All US exchanges | All US exchanges |
Symbols | 30 | Unlimited symbols | Unlimited symbols |
API calls per minute | Max 200 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
We also liked that It is easy to use your paper trading (demo) account to test Alpaca capabilities, and there is plenty of good documentation available about how to begin.

Most users that come to the Alpaca API will have some coding experience, which helps greatly because a lot of learning will need to be done to master the API's wide-ranging functionalities and learn the fundamentals of algo trading.
When we tested the Alpaca API using Python, we used web resources as well as official Alpaca documentation to set up basic functions. We found that grabbing basic historical data and implementing trades were simple and easy. Overall, we felt that especially for users using Python, Alpaca provides an excellent platform.
Some competitors of Alpaca's API include Interactive Brokers API for R, Python, or C++ users; Quantopian for Python users; or QuantConnect for Python and C#.
Third-party integrations
We really liked that Alpaca gives access to a lot of third-party integrations and these tools can be used for backtesting, charting, sharing trade ideas,and so on.
At the time of the review, the following integrations were available:
Third-party tool | You can use it for |
---|---|
TradingView | Charting and checking fundamental data |
Blueshift | Backtesting |
Streak | Building algos without coding knowledge |
IFTTT | Building algos without coidng knowledge. You have to use words, like "if", "then" |
Tradeton | Building algos without coding knowledge |
Slack | Communicating with other developers and using basic commands, e.g. checking orders or positions |
Zapier | Connecting Alpaca with many other apps, e.g. spreadsheets, Gmail, twitter, etc. |
QuantoRocket | Researching and trading automated trading strategies on QuantoRocket's platform |
Passiv | Building your personalized portfolio |
Alexa | Placing orders with your Amazon device |
MetaTrader 5 | Trading on MetaTrader platform |
Arcade Trader | Using advanced algorithmic trading tools |
PredicNow.ai | Applying machine learning tools |
AlgoBulls | Building and testing algos on AlgoBull's platform |
Trellis | Building a trade bot without coidng knowledge |

Fundamental data
Alpaca Trading offers fundamental data on the web platform when you search by ticker. This is provided by TradingView, the software integration that is installed when you set up the account.

Charting
Alpaca Trading has high-quality charting tools on the web platform, provided by TradingView. You can use about 90 technical indicators.

Trading ideas
Alpaca Trading does not provide trading ideas. However, Alpaca instead has a community of algo-traders on Slack and GitHub, who are often available to recommend strategies or stocks to one another.
Alpaca Trading review
Customer service
Alpaca Trading has great user community forums where developers can easily get help, but its own email support is mediocre, while phone support and live chat are missing entirely.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Great Slack and community forums | • No phone support |
• No live chat | |
• Mediocre email support |
You can contact Alpaca Trading only via email. In addition, you can use Alpaca's Slack or other community forums, where users can easily get help from one another.
In email, we got quick and OK answers.;If you are looking for detailed responses, this is not the best channel for you, as it is mostly limited to sorting out technical issues.
When we asked for more general investing help and questions about their service, responses were short and not always useful. We were pointed to general links like Alpaca's FAQ page and the API Documentation page, which didn't necessarily have the relevant information.

Alpaca Trading review
Education
Alpaca offers videos and step-by-step guides for investing, algorithm trading and use of their API, including detailed manuals and FAQs for beginners.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Demo account | None |
• Trading platform tutorial | |
• Educational videos |
Alpaca Trading may not provide decent customer support, but they are investing in thorough and helpful API Documentation, educational videos, and FAQ pages. This is especially helpful for self-starters.
Alpaca also provides a very useful paper trading (demo) account, not only for US residents but for anyone worldwide. The paper account can help test your algorithm and train it before risking your money.
At Alpaca Trading you can learn in the following ways:
- Demo account
- Platform tutorial videos
- General educational videos
- Quality educational articles

Alpaca Trading review
Safety
Alpaca Trading is overseen by top-tier US regulators and comes with strong investor protection, but its lack of a banking license or a public listing means less transparency.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
• Majority of clients belong to a top-tier financial authority | • Does not hold a banking license |
• High level of investor protection | • Not listed on stock exchange |
• Financial information is not publicly available |
Is Alpaca Trading regulated?
Yes, it is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Is Alpaca Trading safe?
To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:
- how you are protected if something goes wrong
- what the background of the broker is
How you are protected
At Alpaca Trading, all customers are served by Alpaca Securities LLC and covered by the US investor protection scheme, called SIPC.
The SIPC investor protection scheme protects against the loss of cash and securities in case the broker goes bust. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash. This amount is substantially higher than what most other investor protection schemes provide.
Alpaca Trading does not provide negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will not be protected. This is important because Alpaca provides margin trading, which means that if your investment falls too much, your account can be wiped out and you can potentially end up owing more money than you initially invested.
Background
Alpaca Trading was established in 2015. The longer the track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.
Alpaca Trading review
Bottom line
Alpaca Trading is a great broker for traders looking to build their own algorithms and focusing on the US market.
Its API tools are outstanding, and fees are low: zero stock/ETF commission, and no inactivity or deposit fees. In addition, Alpaca provides free access to software such as Polygon, Alpha Vantage and TradingView, all of which have great research capabilities.
On the negative side, Alpaca has limited customer support, meaning that users must often turn to GitHub and other community forums for suggestions or peer help to debug code. Among other shortcomings, you can use only bank transfer to deposit or withdraw, while Alpaca only provides access to US stocks and ETFs.
Overall, Alpaca is an up-and-coming broker that is unique in its current space and provides a great product for traders from all experience levels who are interested in algo trading. If you are looking for a strong and savvy API stockbroker, try Alpaca and see what the hype is about.
Alpaca Trading review
FAQ
We recommend Alpaca Trading for traders interested in algorithmic stock trading.
Below you can find links to all aspects of Alpaca Trading in this comprehensive collection.
Lower fees, lower costs?
We detailed this in our Alpaca Trading fees article.
What about the minimum deposit?
Our ultimate guide to the Alpaca Trading minimum deposit is updated regularly.
How to start your Alpaca Trading account?
Look no further than our evaluation of the Alpaca Trading account opening.
How's their trading app?
Here's our expert view after checking the Alpaca Trading trading app.
Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?
All you need to know about the Alpaca Trading customer service.
Legit or scam?
Is Alpaca Trading legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.
Free or premium? Or both?
A glance at actual costs and whether Alpaca Trading is really free.
Is this broker good for beginners?
We checked it in Is Alpaca Trading good for beginners.
Should you buy your silver bullets on Alpaca Trading?
Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Alpaca Trading guide
I want to trade options, are they available at Alpaca Trading?
We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Alpaca Trading?
What is the minimum account balance at Alpaca Trading?
Check out the current account balance requirements at Alpaca Trading in our What is the minimum account balance at Alpaca Trading article.
Looking for commission and fees data for Alpaca Trading?
We collected them in Alpaca Trading commission and fees.
How do you withdraw money from Alpaca Trading?
We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Alpaca Trading.