# Alpaca > API for Stock, Options, and Crypto Trading Alpaca is a financial technology company providing developer APIs for stock, options, and crypto trading. It offers brokerage infrastructure, market data, and tokenization tools for building trading and investment applications. Alpaca is a financial technology company that provides developer-facing APIs for stock, options, and cryptocurrency trading. It supplies brokerage infrastructure that fintechs, trading platforms, and individual developers use to build investing applications and automate trading strategies. Its offering spans brokerage services, market data, and tokenization tools for a range of financial applications. The company operates as a licensed broker-dealer, handling custody, clearing, and execution so that partner platforms do not need to build these functions themselves. Its infrastructure supports algorithmic trading, embedded brokerage features, and agent-based trading through programmatic access to market data and order execution across multiple asset classes. Alpaca's core products include the Broker API for building brokerage and investing applications, the Trading API for executing algorithmic strategies, and the Market Data API for real-time and historical pricing information. It also operates an Instant Tokenization Network supporting tokenized asset issuance. These tools are used by fintech startups, broker-dealers, hedge funds, and algorithmic traders building financial products. - Type: Company - Sector: Developer Tooling - Status: Active - Founded: 2015-01-01 - Profile: https://thegrid.id/profiles/alpaca ## Products - [Alpaca Trading API](https://thegrid.id/profiles/alpaca): Alpaca Trading API is a developer API for commission-free trading of stocks, options, and crypto through REST and WebSocket interfaces. It supports real-time order execution, portfolio management, and a paper trading simulation environment for strategy testing, alongside margin, fractional share, and automated order routing capabilities. An OAuth connection flow lets third-party applications link end-user Alpaca accounts for live trading, and a Model Context Protocol server exposes the same trading and market data functions to AI assistants through natural-language commands. (Developer Tooling, Live, Main Product) - [Broker API](https://thegrid.id/profiles/alpaca): Broker API is brokerage infrastructure that lets businesses embed stock, options, fixed income, and crypto investing into their own applications. It handles account opening, funding, trade execution, custody, and regulatory reporting for end users on behalf of the client business. The API supports local currency trading, funding wallets, omnibus sub-accounting, and white-label brokerage services for fintech companies and financial institutions across multiple jurisdictions. (Developer Tooling, Live) - [Market Data API](https://thegrid.id/profiles/alpaca): Market Data API delivers real-time and historical pricing data for stocks, options, and crypto assets through HTTP and WebSocket protocols. It provides trade, quote, and bar data along with options chains, drawing market coverage from multiple US data feeds. The API offers subscription tiers ranging from free data to premium feeds with historical coverage extending beyond six years, serving developers building data-driven financial applications. (Pricing Data API, Live) - [Instant Tokenization Network](https://thegrid.id/profiles/alpaca): Instant Tokenization Network enables institutions to mint and redeem tokenized US stocks through in-kind settlement on blockchain networks. The system provides 24/7 access for portfolio tokenization via single API calls, eliminating settlement delays and enabling direct conversion between traditional brokerage-held shares and tokenized variants. Instant Tokenization Network supports Solana as initial settlement layer with planned multi-chain compatibility, facilitating liquidity flows between traditional finance and decentralized finance markets through compliant infrastructure. (RWA Tokenisation Platform, Live) ## Links - [Main](https://alpaca.markets) - [Privacy policy](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.alpaca.markets/disclosures/PrivacyPolicy.pdf) - [Terms of Service](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.alpaca.markets/disclosures/library/TermsAndConditions.pdf) - [Blog](https://alpaca.markets/blog) - [Documentation](https://docs.alpaca.markets) - [Forum](https://forum.alpaca.markets) - [Media Kit/branding](https://alpaca.markets/newsroom) - [GitHub](https://github.com/alpacahq) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpacamarkets) - [Twitter / X](https://x.com/AlpacaHQ) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/9300556) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/alpacahq) - [Medium](https://medium.com/@AlpacaHQ) ## Legal This data is provided under two licensing models. Model 1 - open data. The open data core is licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL) — a copyleft/share-alike license allowing free use, modification, and sharing for any purpose. Attribution is required: include "Powered by The Grid" linking to https://thegrid.id wherever the data is used. Derivative databases must be shared under ODbL terms. Trademarks, logos, and brand names (marked "Special TPIP") are not covered by the ODbL. For ML/AI use: training datasets that substantially extract ODbL data are Derivative Databases and must be shared under ODbL if publicly used; models must be attributed in documentation. Model 2 - commercial licenses. The Grid Data Service (TGDS) is also available as a commercial license. See [Web Services Terms](https://about.thegrid.id/legal/web-services-terms) for commercial use that is not covered by the open data service. 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