Is Alpaca Good for Copy Trading?

Alpaca is a commission-free, API-first broker popular with active and systematic traders, and it works well for copy trading. With RelayTrades you connect your existing Alpaca account and copy strategies into it without handing over your login or custody. Here is what makes it a fit and what to keep in mind.

How Alpaca copy trading works

You link your Alpaca brokerage account to RelayTrades through SnapTrade, a secure connection layer, so your Alpaca credentials are never shared with RelayTrades. The strategies you choose to follow generate signals, and matching stock and ETF orders route into your own Alpaca account, scaled to your settings. Your funds never leave your account, and there is no pooled or managed money involved.

Why Alpaca is a strong fit

• Copy stocks and ETFs into your own commission-free Alpaca account.
• You keep custody: orders route to your own account and you can revoke the connection at any time.
• Risk controls you set: a sizing multiplier, a maximum dollar per trade, exposure and daily-loss limits, slippage protection, and a one-tap kill switch.
• Auto or manual: let copies route automatically within your limits, or approve each one within a short window.

Your Alpaca account stays yours. RelayTrades never holds your funds or takes discretionary control; it routes the trades you choose into your own account within the limits you set.

What to keep in mind

Copy trading on Alpaca covers stocks and ETFs. It does not change the nature of trading risk: the trader you copy can lose money, and so can you, even with risk limits in place. RelayTrades is automation software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alpaca; Alpaca is simply one of the brokerages you can connect. Past performance is not indicative of future results.