Comparator
Broker API Comparator
Alpaca vs IBKR vs Tradier vs Schwab vs Robinhood — auth, rate limits, order types, market data, MCP, fees. Pick the right broker before coding. Free.
- Inputs
- Scenario form
- Runtime
- Instant
- Privacy
- Client-side · no upload
- API key
- Not required
- Methodology
- Open →
Ranked brokers
Solo AI operator, paper-to-live parity
Fit-score
1/1
Auth
API Key + Secret complexity 1/5
Commission
$0 (PFOF on equities)
Rate limits
200 req/min (free), higher on paid tiers
MCP
Official Official MCP V2, 61 actions, idempotent order submission
Asset classes
Order types
Options-first retail, multi-leg strategies
Fit-score
1/1
Auth
OAuth 2.0 complexity 3/5
Commission
$0 equities (PFOF), $0.35/contract options Pro
Rate limits
120 req/min market data, 60 req/min trading
MCP
Community Community MCP; idempotency is a manual patch
Asset classes
Order types
Established retail, post-TDA API migration
Fit-score
1/1
Auth
OAuth 2.0 (3-legged) complexity 4/5
Commission
$0 equities, $0.65/contract options
Rate limits
120 req/min per endpoint (published tier)
MCP
None No official or listed community MCP server
Asset classes
Order types
Casual retail; not recommended for agents
Fit-score
1/1
Auth
OAuth 2.0 (unofficial endpoints) complexity 4/5
Commission
$0 (PFOF), $5/mo Gold for margin + extras
Rate limits
Not publicly documented; low throughput
MCP
None No MCP; unofficial SDKs only
Asset classes
Order types
Multi-asset-class, international, scale
Fit-score
1/1
Auth
OAuth + TWS/IB Gateway complexity 5/5
Commission
Tiered per-share or fixed; ~$0.0035/sh tiered
Rate limits
~50 msg/sec per connection; 50 orders/sec burst
MCP
Community Community CLI MCP; audit before production
Asset classes
Order types
How this ranking works
Each broker is scored against the filters you've enabled. Fit-score is an unweighted count of matching criteria. Brokers that fail any required criterion are pushed below qualifying ones and dimmed.
Auth complexity is subjective — 1 is a plain API-key header, 5 means a persistent gateway process on your machine. Rate limits shown are vendor-published tier rates; real-world limits may be lower under concurrent load. See the methodology for sources and caveats.
Data last checked 2026-04-22. Broker API terms drift; always verify on the broker's developer portal before committing.
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