Alpaca vs IEX Cloud (Discontinued)
Head-to-head comparison of two trading data providers. Updated 2026-05-24.
Overall winner: Alpaca — wins 3 of 6 comparison axes.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Alpaca | IEX Cloud (Discontinued) |
|---|---|---|
| API Quality | 4/5 ✓ | 3/5 |
| Doc Quality | 4/5 ✓ | 3/5 |
| Free Tier | Yes ✓ | No |
| Affiliate Program | No | No |
| Data Latency | second | second |
| SDK Languages | 4 languages | 5 languages ✓ |
| Asset Coverage | US Equities, US Options, Crypto | US Equities, US Options, Crypto, Forex, Commodities |
| Historical Depth | 2016–present (minute bars); limited tick | Service discontinued |
| Starting Price | $0/mo | N/A |
| Rate Limits | 200 req/min free; higher on paid plans | Service discontinued |
Alpaca: Best For
- Retail algo traders
- Python quants
- Paper trading bots
- US equity automation
Not Ideal For
- International markets
- Deep historical tick data
- Options analytics
IEX Cloud (Discontinued): Best For
- Historical reference only
Not Ideal For
- Any new project — service is shut down
More Comparisons
Alpaca vs Databento IEX Cloud (Discontinued) vs Databento Alpaca vs Polygon.io (now Massive) IEX Cloud (Discontinued) vs Polygon.io (now Massive) Alpaca vs Finnhub IEX Cloud (Discontinued) vs Finnhub Alpaca vs Alpha Vantage IEX Cloud (Discontinued) vs Alpha Vantage Alpaca vs Twelve Data IEX Cloud (Discontinued) vs Twelve Data Alpaca vs EOD Historical Data IEX Cloud (Discontinued) vs EOD Historical Data