# Alpaca MCP vs CCXT MCP Server (2026) | TradingAgentStack

> Alpaca MCP vs CCXT MCP Server: assets, live vs paper, order approval and safety controls, pricing and rate limits, each with a source.

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# Alpaca MCP vs CCXT MCP Server

By [Ahsen (@satovinci)](https://tradingagentstack.com/about/)

Side-by-side facts with sources, last checked 2026-10-26.

**Verdict:** Both cover crypto. Alpaca MCP: can trade unattended; Safety 68%. CCXT MCP Server: approval is optional; Safety 85%. 8 of 11 sourced facts differ; the table below shows each with its source.

| Field | [Alpaca MCP Server](https://tradingagentstack.com/tool/alpaca-mcp-server/) | [CCXT MCP Server](https://tradingagentstack.com/tool/ccxt-mcp-server/) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Category | Broker MCP servers | Broker MCP servers |
| Assets | US stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, fixed income quotes | crypto spot and derivatives on 100+ exchanges via the unified ccxt API, prediction markets (e.g. Polymarket) |
| Live vs paper | live and paper (ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE defaults to true/paper; paper with simulated $100K) | live and sandbox/testnet accounts (per exchange); out of the box only public market data; trading must be enabled per account in the config file, and `"trading": true` works only on sandbox/demo accounts (live needs `"trading": "live"`) |
| Order approval / safety | local server; 65 tools incl. stocks/options/crypto orders; ALPACA_TOOLSETS can restrict (e.g. read-only market data); ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE defaults to paper; v2.4.0 (Oct 12) adds option stop and stop-limit orders and GTC for options, and marks locates tools as not available in paper | official local MCP server from the ccxt project (MIT), runs over stdio and keys never appear in tool parameters; capability tiers (market, read, trading, funds for withdrawals, raw write endpoints) are off until set in the config file, which no tool can edit; writes are previewed and confirmed by default on live accounts (confirm: always \| live \| never), checked against a per-order USD cap you set (maxOrderValue), optional daily cap and symbol allowlist, and logged to an append-only audit journal |
| Pricing / free tier | free paper Trading API account with Basic IEX data is enough to start; Algo Trader Plus $99/mo for broader real-time; docs note no separate ~$9 unlimited SIP-style plan for new Trading API subscribers | free, open source (MIT); exchange trading fees apply |
| Rate limits | 200 trading req/min | set by each exchange (ccxt's built-in rate limiter) |
| Official / community | official | official |
| Last checked | 2026-10-26 | 2026-10-26 |
| Source | [docs.alpaca.markets](https://docs.alpaca.markets/us/docs/trading-api-mcp) | [github.com](https://github.com/ccxt/ccxt/tree/master/mcp) |
| Website | [Visit Alpaca MCP Server](https://tradingagentstack.com/go/alpaca-mcp-server/?from=/compare/alpaca-mcp-vs-ccxt-mcp-server/) | [Visit CCXT MCP Server](https://tradingagentstack.com/go/ccxt-mcp-server/?from=/compare/alpaca-mcp-vs-ccxt-mcp-server/) |

Tool pages: [Alpaca MCP Server](https://tradingagentstack.com/tool/alpaca-mcp-server/) · [CCXT MCP Server](https://tradingagentstack.com/tool/ccxt-mcp-server/). Categories: [Broker MCP servers](https://tradingagentstack.com/category/broker-mcp/)

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