Starter trading bot
One strategy, one broker, rules you have already written down. We turn them into a bot that runs on its own through your broker's API. About ten days, a fixed fee quoted in INR or USD, and code you can own.
Since 2012 · 350+ projects · US, Canada, Europe, India and beyond
What a starter build includes
- Your logic, as you wrote it
- Entry, exit, sizing and stops implemented exactly to your rules, in Python or the language your platform needs.
- Orders through your broker
- Placing, modifying and cancelling orders through your broker's official API, with the order types your rules actually use.
- Risk limits in code
- Position size, maximum exposure and stops enforced before an order goes out, not after a surprise.
- A paper-account run, together
- You watch it place test orders on a paper or simulated account before it touches a live one.
- One month of support
- For the edge cases that only show up against a live market: disconnects, partial fills, a holiday you forgot.
- Ownership, if you want it
- A full licence to the source code, yours to keep and modify, for an additional 30% of the project cost.
What it does not include, said plainly
- A strategy from us. We implement yours; we never supply rules, signals or tips.
- "Make it profitable." We can tell you where your rules are ambiguous; we do not tune them for results.
- A dashboard, several accounts or a second broker. That is a platform build, and we do those too, just not as a starter.
- A custom data feed. If your rules need tick data, we will say so, and it becomes a bigger project.
If you need the bigger version, that is our custom trading software work, and for several strategies, accounts or brokers in one system, the multi-broker platform page.
Is yours a starter build?
It is if all of these are true:
- Your rules are written down: entry, exit, sizing, stops. No "I will know it when I see it".
- One broker, and it has an official API (or it is MetaTrader).
- One market and one instrument type.
- Your broker's own data is enough for the rules.
- No dashboard, no multiple accounts, no second broker, for now.
Two or more do not apply? Still send the brief. We will tell you what it actually is and quote for that instead.
How to brief us
Send these six things, by the contact form or by email to [email protected]. We reply with our questions, then a fixed quote. A brief beats a chat message with a strategy attached: we can quote from a brief, and we cannot quote from a chat. If you want to know what will move the number before you write, read what a custom trading bot costs; if your strategy lives in TradingView, read how we turn a TradingView strategy into a bot.
- The market and the broker or platform
- Your rules in plain words: entry, exit, sizing, risk limits
- Timeframe and instruments
- Data source, if you already have one
- Whether you want to own the code
- The budget you have in mind, any currency
Market and broker: US stocks and ETFs, Interactive Brokers, I already have TWS and API access enabled.
Rules: entry when price closes above a level my indicator computes (the settings are in my sheet), exit on a fixed percentage stop or at a profit target, whichever comes first. Up to three positions at a time, from a watchlist of about forty names I maintain.
Timeframe: 15-minute bars during the regular session, no overnight holds.
Data: IBKR's own market data subscription is enough.
Ownership: yes, I want the code.
Budget in mind: your figure, any currency.
Market and broker: NSE cash equities, Zerodha, I already have Kite Connect.
Rules: entry when my two moving averages cross (the lengths are in my sheet), exit on a fixed percentage stop or after a set number of trading days, whichever comes first. One position at a time, from a list of stocks I keep in a CSV.
Timeframe: daily bars, orders placed shortly after the open next day.
Data: Kite's historical API is enough.
Ownership: yes, I want the code.
Budget in mind: your figure, any currency.
Brokers and platforms we build starter bots on
Most starter builds come from individual traders in the US, Canada, Europe and India. We have built on all of these:
US, Canada, Europe and global
- Interactive Brokers (TWS API, IB Gateway)
- TradeStation
- Charles Schwab (TD Ameritrade API)
- Tastytrade
- Lightspeed
- Saxo Bank
- Dukascopy
- XTB (xStation 5)
- MetaTrader 4 and 5 (Expert Advisors)
- NinjaTrader
- TradingView alerts into your broker
- cTrader
India
- Zerodha (Kite Connect)
- Angel One (SmartAPI)
- ICICI Direct (Breeze API)
- Kotak Securities (Neo API)
- 5paisa (Open API)
- Motilal Oswal (Open API)
- Groww (Trading API)
- Upstox
- FYERS
- Dhan
And many more. The full list of platforms, brokers and languages is on the technology page; Indian brokers, broker by broker, on the Indian broker API page, US brokers on the US page.
Common questions
- What does a starter build cost?
- A fixed fee, quoted in INR or USD after we read your brief, usually within two working days. There is no price list because "one strategy" can be a day of logic or a week of it; the brief tells us which.
- How long does it take?
- About ten days from an agreed scope, when the rules are already written down. Rule changes mid-build add time, so we freeze the rules with you before we start.
- Can you improve my strategy while you build it?
- No. We implement your rules exactly as you define them, and we tell you where the code needs a decision you have not made yet. What to trade and when stays yours.
- Do I own the code?
- You can, outright, with a full licence to keep and modify, for an additional 30% of the project cost. Otherwise you get a working system and we keep the source.
- Do you work with clients outside India?
- Yes. We work with clients in India and abroad, quote in INR or USD, and run the project over email and a couple of video calls. The process is the same either way.