Alpaca Reviews 34

I don't even know where to start. This company has the worst customer service because they have NO customer service! ZERO phone support, ZERO online support as they're on-line chat is always down out of service, you're forced to talk to AI, who when it cannot answer or help you, it forces you to input your info and "someone will get back to you via email", which is only a transcript of what you just wrote. ive written 25 plus email, and have received ZERO response from a live person. I've been trying to cancel my API keys, from GEM Algo, BTW, don't fall for that company...ive had ZERO luck with them and now they won't return my money but that have a 365 day money back guaranty! ANYWAY...stay away from ALPACA!

My nightmare began when I met a so-called expert on Instagram discussing crypto arbitrage. Embarrassment washed over me. They fronted me 8.79 BTC to start. I deposited it, traded, and pulled out 13.1 BTC without a hitch. Hooked by the easy money, I was manipulated into investing $585,026 using a personal loan. The fake profits ballooned to $4,936,169. When I tried to cash out $4,454,240, the trap sprang: a mandatory 5% processing fee ($222,712). Blinded by the sunk cost, I paid it. But when they asked for an additional 29% secondary tax, the horrifying reality set in. I was being scammed. A financial advisor recommended a blockchain intelligence agency (Fiscop-Advisor). They meticulously traced the BTC ledger to Binance P2P, isolated the scammer's fiat off-ramp, and managed to reverse the transaction.

Recently forced to switch to Authenticator 2fa. But I don’t get the codes on Authenticator.

So, no way to access account, close it, and recapture my funds.

Writing to support is no help. Explained the problem, suggested solutions, but no response at all.

I don’t think this is an intentional scam to hold onto funds. But whether it is or not, they still have my money.

Overall Experience: Disappointing / Unreliable

I have been dealing with a failure in the SMS verification system for a long time. Despite contacting support (Ticket #286181), the only solution offered is to use an authenticator app. For users who prefer or require SMS-based access, this is not a viable long-term fix.

Technical Issues: SMS delivery for 2FA is consistently broken, a problem that has been reported by many users in various forums for an extended period.

Support Response: While the staff is polite, they provide "workarounds" rather than actual fixes for their own infrastructure.

Conclusion: If you rely on stable, flexible login options, be aware that this platform may force you into using apps you don't want. I am seriously considering switching to a different provider that maintains its systems better.

Wanted to withdraw all my funds but the processing time took 1 month with the cash not in my trading account, and the cash also not in my bank. It says "completed"... where did alpaca put my money??

Communication was polite but limited. When I asked specific questions, the responses did not fully address my concerns.

#ECHOMINES. Late starters in well structured networks experience measurable activity comparable to early adopters.

At first it was all smooth and responsive
I only made one successful withdrawal in my first 2wks.

Past 4 months and counting, all withdrawal request has failed.

This is a rug project in my honest opinion.
Mining investments will always be a better option, the likes of Cloud-Housemining platform

Alpaca – Where “Relationship Manager” Means “Your Account, Their Feelings”**

After three years and eight different brokers, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the… Alpaca. Let’s just say they didn’t exactly win the “Broker of the Year” award in my heart.

Sure, basic services are basic. But the real fun begins with the **fee structure** – a delightful treasure hunt for hidden costs! It’s like they took “transparency” and gently placed it in a shredder. Who doesn’t love a surprise fee? Keeps life spicy.

But the pièce de résistance is the **Relationship Manager™**. Oh, what power! One moment you’re trading, the next your account is frozen – not because of rules, not because of risk, but because someone’s *feelings got hurt*. That’s right. In a world of algorithms and compliance manuals, Alpaka gives you something truly special: **emotional banking**.

Did my daily $4 million trading volume protect me? Absolutely not. When the Relationship Manager is offended, the spreadsheet of your trading activity is no match for the spreadsheet of their grievances.

So, to **Daniel & Navad** – best of luck! That coveted 3.9-star rating is well within reach if you keep treating customers with this level of corporate arrogance. You’re almost there! 👏

**Final verdict:** If you enjoy mystery fees and accounts held hostage by mood-based decisions, Alpaca might just be your spirit animal. For the rest of us? There are seven other brokers. And counting.

This platform has the worse UX ever. Spent 30min looking for billing and couldn't find it, despite asking their AI.

’ve been using Alpaca for algorithmic and automated trading, and overall it’s been a solid experience. The API-first design makes it easy to connect my own strategies and execute trades without having to manage a traditional trading UI. I like that it supports stocks and crypto with commission-free execution and reliable real-time data — and so far withdrawals and operations have been smooth. For anyone building algo systems or just wanting a flexible trading backend, Alpaca is a dependable choice.

Very happy withe the Broker!
I am using it with Aconsus now for 1 week and it is very easy to use.

This was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I placed an order on ETH, and I lost money because of the trade pattern. I couldn’t contact support until they finally responded, and by then, I had lost more than 70 USD. Don’t put your money there!

I’ve been trying out Alpaca for trading and really like how simple it is to set up and automate strategies. The commission-free trades and easy API make it a great option if you’re into algo trading or just want more control over your investments. I’d recommend it!

very happy with this broker. I tried many but this is the best.

Until the end of this year, deposits can be withdrown, as officially announced on May. But My deposits reached BMO Harris, 10% was stolen and never transfer to trade account nor deposit history. I sent a lot of claim email with bank advice's, but support team never refund them to my account.

My position was market-sold without notification by Alpaca staff. I claimed but Support team ignored it.
Alpaca is a hacker, one of the worst scam in all over the world.

I will give no star.

Looking back, I now see the reviews were all false. If not for the help of those in the bio, I would have lost everything.

I've been using Alpaca for trading stocks since 2023, then a couple of years. Never had an issue and I'm quite surprised about the negative reviews. I really cannot complain: low fees, good API with a good documentation, the money withdrawn usually arrives the next day. I live in the UK and I know Alpaca is not regulated by the FCA, but it's registered with the SEC and is regulated by the FINRA. It is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC): it means protection for customers.
Really happy so far

1. No ACATs - ACH, wire, only.
2. Email only OFFSHORE customer support, that replies once a day, after market hours
3. ACH linking works intermittently.
4. ACH Success Requires Emailing Support – ACH may work only if you email customer support for assistance.

After one week of attempting to use their platform, I still do not trust their ability to move money in and out of my account. Funds could easily get stuck at any point, and other customer reviews reflect similar concerns.

For these reasons, I have refrained from trading with them. They initially invited me to test their software three years ago. Back then, they lacked margin and options trading, calling themselves a "brokerage" (which was laughable). While they now offer both features, they still struggle with reliable money transfers and account management.

I recommend checking back in five years, but for now, I suggest looking elsewhere.
One week later, I still do not trust that they could move my money in and out of their account. Money may get stuck at any stage - see other reviews

For the above reasons, I did not trade with them - they invited me to test their software - 3 years ago. Back then they had no margin or options trading, and they called themselves a "brokerage" LOL. Now they have both, but still cant move money, let alone accounts - reliably. Come back in 5 years, look elsewhere for now

Absolutely DO NOT USE Alpaca if you trade crypto!!!

Short Version: I have experienced multiple instances where I have set stop-limit orders 20-30% below the current market price and a price glitch on their end caused those stop-limit orders to execute despite being 20-30% below the current market price. I have reached out to their support to work with them to get this resolved, but they have been absolutely terrible to work with and left me out to dry for THOUSANDS of dollars.

Long Version:

Issue 1: Orders executed at the incorrect price
YFIUSD: My stop limit was set to $10,115. Looking at the minute chart on Alpaca’s website on 12/12/24 05:37, you can see that the price experienced an obvious pricing glitch where it opened at $11,469, dipped 14.25% down to $9,835, then rose back up 16.36% to close at $11,444, all in the span of 60 seconds. This was an obvious pricing glitch that triggered my stop limit order 14% below the current market price and caused my position to get incorrectly liquidated.

SUSHIUSD: My stop limit was set to $1.88. Looking at the minute chart on Alpaca’s website on 12/11/24 19:19, you can see that the price experienced an obvious pricing glitch where it opened at $2.5, dipped 24.8% down to $1.88, then rose back up 34.57% to close at $2.53, all in the span of 60 seconds. This was an obvious pricing glitch that triggered my stop limit order 25% below the current market price and caused my position to get incorrectly liquidated.

Issue 2: Incorrect positions reissued for both SUSHIUSD and YFISUD
After a week of continuously reaching out to their support team, they finally replied and reissued me shares of both SUSHIUSD and YFIUSD but this was not the resolution I asked for. I had asked that they honor the sale as if it had been executed at market price when the glitch occurred. And on top of that they were reissued at the incorrect sale price, which doesn't make any sense. Reissuing them a week later also doesn't make any sense as I was denied the opportunity to mange my position, and in the case of YFIUSD I was reissued ABOVE the current market price! Meaning that I was already down money when they appeared in my account. I would have been better off just placing a market order at the current price. I lost $1,391.73 due to the pricing glitch and their attempt to resolve it just made it worse.

After they acknowledged that they should not have reissued the shares in the manner they did, they went silent for another week before just reopening new positions in my account on Christmas Eve without telling me again at the incorrect price. Do you know how insane it is to open crypto positions in someone's account for thousands of dollars without telling them on Christmas Eve? I lost more money from them doing this because the price had dropped again by the time I had realized that they reissued these shares.

Again, I reached out to them, bringing up flagging that they clean up this mess and cover my losses for these reissued shares that I never asked for, but they refused and went silent again. After about another week of me reaching out to them, I got escalated to someone higher up who then opened SHORT positions in my account without telling me, which to me is even MORE DIABOLICAL. Luckily, I caught those pretty quickly and closed them. But it has been an absolute nightmare to deal with them for errors that they are 100% at fault for.

Finally, they credited my account $400, despite me losing upwards of $3,000 total between the error of the stop losses being executed way below market price, and the losses incurred from them reopening positions in my account without telling me, and the price plummeting before I realized what's going on and closed them out.

Absolutely DO NOT USE ALPACA IF YOU TRADE CRYPTO. This has happened multiple times, and there's not a doubt in my mind that it will happen again with them. You will lose money in the long run if you plan to use them.