LearnBrokers › Alpaca

Automated trading on Alpaca

Alpaca is the retail market's most automation-native broker — API-first, with an excellent paper-trading environment. DeployQuant removes the last barrier: strategies deploy to Alpaca paper or live accounts without you writing a line of API code.

How it works

  1. Connect Alpaca with your API keys — paper and live accounts are both supported.
  2. Validate any strategy against Alpaca paper first: same rules, simulated money, live data.
  3. Promote to the live account when paper behavior matches the backtest.
  4. Each deployed strategy runs in its own sleeve with independent cash.
  5. Guardrails check every order: price bands, notional caps, and a global pause.

Alpaca's paper environment is the ideal rehearsal space: strategies exercise the exact production order path with zero capital at risk before you flip to live.

Run a strategy on Alpaca yourself — free →

Build it from blocks (or type it in English), backtest it on 5.5 years of minute data in seconds, tweak any parameter, then paper trade it on live data. No card, no broker needed to start.

Frequently asked questions

Can you automate trading on Alpaca?

Yes — connect Alpaca to DeployQuant and strategies you build (from blocks or plain English) trade in your existing Alpaca account. The connection is trade & read only, your assets stay at Alpaca, and live trading requires an explicit typed confirmation.

Does my money move to DeployQuant?

No. Cash and shares stay in your Alpaca account in your name. DeployQuant sends orders and reads fills — it cannot withdraw, and you can disconnect anytime.

Strategies to deploy on Alpaca

RSI(14) Mean Reversion on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsRSI(2) Dip Snapback on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsGolden Cross (SMA 50/200) on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsSMA 10/50 Trend on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsEMA 12/26 Trend on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtests200-Day SMA Regime Filter on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsWeekly Entry + 7% Target on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsDrawdown Dip Buyer + 8% Target on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtests20-Day Momentum + Trailing Stop on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsSMA-200 Trend + 15% Trailing Stop on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtests3-Month Momentum Switch on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtestsFirst-to-Last Day of Month on Alpacasetup + 5.5-year backtests

Backtests are hypothetical, computed by DeployQuant's engine on minute-resolution consolidated US market data (2021-01-04 to 2026-07-17, $10,000 starting capital, no margin, fees and slippage not modeled) and do not guarantee future results. Nothing on this page is investment advice. Live trading involves risk of loss.