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Alpaca Paper Trading API

Stocks Free key (no card)

AuthenticationFree key (no card)
Rate limitFree paper trading is rate-limited; current limits are published in Alpaca's docs and dashboard

Documentation: docs.alpaca.markets ยท Checked Sep 13, 2026

About

Alpaca lets you open a free account and trade stocks and crypto with virtual money through its paper trading API, exactly like real trading but with zero risk. You can use it to test a trading bot before risking a dollar, to learn how market and limit orders work, or to build a dashboard that tracks your simulated portfolio. Paper trading never needs a funded brokerage account, which makes it the safest way to learn the mechanics of an order API.

Details

Free to start. You may need a free key, but no credit card.

Auth: Free key (no card)

Rate limit: Free paper trading is rate-limited; current limits are published in Alpaca's docs and dashboard

Verified: 2026-09-13

Best for: developer fun

Read the docs Back to catalog

Setup

  1. Sign up for a free Alpaca account and verify your email.
  2. In the dashboard, switch to Paper Trading mode and generate your API key pair.
  3. Read the trading API docs to learn the orders and positions endpoints.
  4. Send a test request to https://paper-api.alpaca.markets/v2/account with your key headers.
  5. Place a small paper order and watch it show up in your simulated portfolio.
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