BUSINESS TRADING ACCOUNTS Open Business Accounts Quickly

Apply in less than 5 minutes. Our business account onboarding is built for speed so that you can focus on what matters: deploying your trading strategy.

Open a Business Account

$0.0005*

per share traded

*As low as with Elite Smart Router

5.0%*

Margin rate

*When using Alpaca Elite

Borrow fees on ETB

5,000+ Easy-to-Borrow (ETB) securities available

1.5ms

Order processing

99.98%

System Uptime

Since January 2024

A Platform Built for Institutional Traders

Asset Class Diversification

Trade stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto—all in one place. Earn interest on your idle cash and increase buying power with our High Yield Cash* program.

Developer-First API

Start trading in hours (not weeks). Connect to Alpaca's Trading API and start executing your strategies across paper or live environments.

FIX Messaging + Next-Gen OMS

Easily integrate with our APIs and execute multiple strategies at low latency with our FIX messaging and next-gen OMS.

Low Latency Execution

Tap into high-speed infrastructure engineered for real-time decision-making and rapid order routing.

Frictionless Onboarding

Upload documents directly in-browser with a streamlined interface that saves time and eliminates back-and-forth communication.

White-Glove Support

Receive dedicated, account-based support from a team of experts who provide hands-on guidance with our Alpaca Elite offering.

Global Coverage, Seamless Connection

From LLCs to international firms, we support sophisticated and institutional traders across 196 countries and regions. Whether you're building in the US, deploying in the Cayman or British Virgin Islands, or executing in Thailand, our infrastructure ensures low-latency connectivity and seamless compliance at scale. See all available countries.

Map of the world showing Alpaca's global infrastructure

Licensed, secure and fully self-clearing

Self-Clearing Operations

We clear and custody as members of DTCC, FICC, and OCC to provide trade processing, settlement, and security at reduced costs for our global partners.

Direct Market Access

Our Nasdaq membership provides us low-latency, direct order book connectivity and comprehensive order types for precise execution.

Regulated & Protected

We're a FINRA-regulated entity with SIPC protection up to $500,000 per customer (cash sub-limits apply) and optional excess coverage where applicable.

Security & Privacy by Design

We adhere to the highest standards in security and privacy protection: ISO 27001:2022 certified, SOC 2 Type II controls, MFA, GDPR, and ICO standards.

Order Privacy

We protect institutional order flow to prevent front-running, reduce market impact, and safeguard trading—ensuring execution and confidentiality at scale.

Take Your Business Account Further With Alpaca

Join hundreds of hedge funds, prop firms, and businesses leveraging Alpaca's ultra-low latency APIs and competitive fees.

Open a Business Account

Disclosures

Brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities, member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc.

Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.

Brokerage services are provided to customers who can write automated investment code and self-direct their own investments. Alpaca brokerage services are only provided to customers who agree to electronically sign agreements and agree to receive messages, confirmations, and statements electronically. Is Alpaca right for me?

This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or cryptocurrencies, or open a brokerage account or cryptocurrency account in any jurisdiction where Alpaca Securities or Alpaca Crypto respectively, are not registered or licensed, as applicable.

The Paper Trading API is offered by AlpacaDB, Inc. and does not require real money or permit a user to transact in real securities in the market. Providing use of the Paper Trading API is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, securities derivative or futures products of any kind, or any type of trading or investment advice, recommendation or strategy, given or in any manner endorsed by AlpacaDB, Inc. or any AlpacaDB, Inc. affiliate and the information made available through the Paper Trading API is not an offer or solicitation of any kind in any jurisdiction where AlpacaDB, Inc. or any AlpacaDB, Inc. affiliate (collectively, "Alpaca") is not authorized to do business.

You should know that the use or granting of any third party access to your account information or place transactions in your account at your direction is solely at your risk. Alpaca does not warrant against loss of use or any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses to you caused by your assent, expressed or implied, to a third party accessing your account or information, including access provided through any other third party apps, systems, or sites.

Market prices, data and other information available through Alpaca are not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and are subject to change without notice. System response and account access times may vary due to a variety of factors, including trading volumes, market conditions, system performance, and other factors. A more complete description of the impact these factors may have can be found in our risks of automated trading systems section.

All investments involve risk and the past performance of a security, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Keep in mind that while diversification may help spread risk it does not assure a profit, or protect against loss, in a down market. There is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities, or other financial products. Investors should consider their investment objectives and risks carefully before investing.

There are risks unique to automated trading algorithms that you should know about and plan for. You should setup a method or system of continuous monitoring or alerting to let you know if there is a mechanical failure, such as connectivity issues, power loss, a computer crash, or system quirk. You should also monitor for instances where your automated trading system experiences anomalies that could result in errant, missing, or duplicated orders. A more complete description of these and other risks can be found in our FAQ section.

Conditional orders may have increased risk as a result of their reliance on trigger processing, market data, and other internal and external systems. Such orders are not sent to the market until specified conditions are met. During that time, issues such as system outages with downstream technologies or third parties may occur. Conditional orders triggering near the market close may fail to execute that day. Furthermore, our executing partner may impose controls on conditional orders to limit erroneous trades triggering downstream orders. Alpaca Securities may not always be made aware of such changes to external controls immediately, which may lead to some conditional orders not being executed. As such, it is important to monitor conditional orders for reasonability. Conditional orders are “Not Held” orders whose execution instructions are on a best efforts basis upon being triggered. Furthermore, conditional orders may be subject to the increased risks of stop orders and market orders outlined above. Given the increased potential risk of using conditional orders, the client agrees that Alpaca Securities cannot be held responsible for losses, damages, or missed opportunity costs associated with market data problems, systems issues, and user error, among other factors. By using conditional orders the client understands and accepts the risks outlined above. Alpaca Securities encourages leveraging the use of Paper accounts to become more comfortable with the intricacies associated with these orders.

ETFs can entail risks similar to direct stock ownership, including market, sector, or industry risks. Some ETFs may involve international risk, currency risk, commodity risk, and interest rate risk. Trading prices may not reflect the net asset value of the underlying securities.

All accounts are opened as limited purpose margin accounts. You should know that margin trading involves interest charges and risks, including the potential to lose more than deposited or the need to deposit additional collateral in a falling market. Before using margin, customers must determine whether this type of trading strategy is right for them given their specific investment objectives, experience, risk tolerance, and financial situation. For more information please see Alpaca's Margin Disclosure Statement and Margin Agreement. These disclosures contain information on Alpaca Securities's lending policies, interest charges, and the risks associated with margin accounts.

Any fee you pay is based on the specific transaction and not the value of your account. In general, we do not charge a commission for trades. However, certain arrangements with authorized business partners may preclude commission free trades by Alpaca Securities. If your account is established via an authorized business partner, please refer to the fee schedule provided through your authorized partner’s website or platform. Customers of Alpaca Securities should refer to the Alpaca Securities Brokerage Fee Schedule. Please ensure you review the fees and costs identified on any confirmations and statements you receive.

Cryptocurrency is highly speculative in nature, involves a high degree of risks, such as volatile market price swings, market manipulation, flash crashes, and cybersecurity risks. Cryptocurrency is not regulated or is lightly regulated in most countries. Cryptocurrency trading can lead to large, immediate and permanent loss of financial value. You should have appropriate knowledge and experience before engaging in cryptocurrency trading. For additional information please click here.

Cryptocurrency services are made available by Alpaca Crypto, a FinCEN registered money services business (NMLS # 2160858), and a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Alpaca Crypto is not a member of SIPC or FINRA. Cryptocurrencies are not stocks and your cryptocurrency investments are not protected by either FDIC or SIPC. Please see the Disclosure Library for more information.