Allowing everyone around the world to participate in an open and free market is Alpaca's ultimate goal. We started off giving access to developers and traders across the United States to our Trading API so they could build and run their algorithms in the real world.
Today, as part of a much longer roadmap of providing and enabling access to the market to everyone, we are proud to announce that our trading APIs now support fractional trading. Fractional shares can allow you to take advantage of a newfound freedom in investments. But ultimately, a fractional trading capability enables everyone to participate in the market regardless of their economic capabilities and own as little as $1 worth of stock if they wanted to.
How It Works
You can now pass a notional or a fractional quantity value through
API
There are two ways you can buy fractional shares through an API request.
- You can simply pass in a notional (dollar) value in your requests.
- You can input a fractional amount of shares in the QTY field.
Both inputs are mutually exclusive, so make sure you pass the right type of market order. In the off chance you enter both a qty and notional value, the order will get rejected.
"Algodash" - The Alpaca Web Dashboard
- Navigate to
app.alpaca.markets - Type in the symbol you want to buy
- Choose Order Type > Market
- Choose Buy in Dollars or Buy in Shares
- Input the value you wish to buy
The Backend of It All
Our Fractional API is built in a compliant and approachable architecture to enable you to run your algorithms in more ways than you can imagine. We know that speed and reliability are important features in today’s market, so you can rest assured that notional and fractional orders will pass in the same way you have been used to with our ‘traditional’ market orders.
Over the next few weeks we will expand our fractional trading coverage to include different order types such as bracket orders, stop loss and take profit. We will also expand our list of fractional tradable shares beyond the current 2,000 equities and ETFs we currently offer.
Start Using Fractional Trading Today!
Fractional trading is enabled to everyone using Alpaca’ paper trading and live accounts. For more on how to use fractional trading you can view our tutorials here and for more info our docs are always updated.
Alpaca Team
Alpaca
Happy trading!
In case of additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us on our Alpaca Forum and the Alpaca Community Slack.
Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc. Brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Alpaca Securities LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc.
Please do note that this is for illustration only and is not a recommendation or suggestion of this trade or this stock.
You can find us @AlpacaHQ, if you use Twitter.
