Alpaca Trading Review 2023

András I.
January 3, 2023

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 Pakistan

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

Interactive Brokers main highlights

Country of regulation	USA, Ireland, UK, Hungary, India, Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore
Trading fees class	Low
Inactivity fee charged	No
Withdrawal fee amount	$0
Minimum deposit	$0
Time to open an account	1-3 days
Deposit with bank card	Not available
Demo account provided	Yes
Products offered	Stock, ETF, Crypto

Our overall Interactive Brokers rating

Fees

9.6
Account opening

9.6
Deposit and withdrawal

3.6
Web Trading platform

7.4
Mobile trading platform

8.4
Markets and products

5.2
Research

10
Customer service

7.4
Education

10

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

**Alpaca Trading fees snapshot**
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 stock and ETF commission of a $2,000 trade**
	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 annual margin rates**
	Alpaca Trading	moomoo	Webull
US stock	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 non-trading fees**
	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

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.

Alpaca Trading review – Account opening

Our best alternatives to Alpaca Trading are:

The highest ranking competitors are:

moomoo full review
Webull full review
SoFi Invest full review
Robinhood full review

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.

**Interactive Brokers deposit options**
	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 review – Deposit and withdrawal – Deposit

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 withdrawal fees and options**
	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

**Alpaca Trading platforms to choose from**
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.

Alpaca Trading review – Web trading platform

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.

Alpaca Trading review – Web trading platform – Search

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.

Alpaca Trading review – Web trading platform – Order panel

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.