cTrader vs IG API
The same fields from the cTrader Open API record and the IG record, side by side. No winner is picked: which one suits you depends on what you are building.
Independent and unofficialNewest check
Risk warning: CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You can lose money on these products, and each provider publishes its own loss figure under FCA rules. You should consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Automated and API trading can amplify losses through bugs, connectivity failures and runaway orders.
What the two records show
Differences you can see in the records themselves. These are counts of what this site holds, not a verdict on either API.
- cTrader Open API is a platform API, offered through the brokers that carry the platform. IG is recorded as a broker with an API of its own.
- This site documents no endpoints for cTrader Open API and 49 endpoints for IG. That counts what has been documented here, not what each API offers.
- This site has decoded 53 error codes for cTrader Open API and 132 error codes for IG.
- The limits register holds 2 limit records for cTrader Open API and 5 limit records for IG. Each limit record carries its own scope.
- The cTrader Open API record holds a demo claim, verified at its source. The IG record holds a demo claim, verified at its source. The wording of each is in the Demo row below.
- Claims marked unverified or as sources conflicting: 0 in the cTrader Open API record and 1 in the IG record. Each is labelled where it appears.
- A quickstart is built here for both.
cTrader Open API and IG, field by field
| Field | cTrader Open API | IG |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Platform API, offered by many brokers | Broker with its own API |
| API family | Protobuf over TCP/WebSocket, JSON over TCP/WebSocket, Python package, C# package | REST, Streaming |
| How you get access | Register an app at openapi.ctrader.com; Spotware reviews new apps, so describe your use case in detail.Creating a new applicationchecked | API keys are only issued to existing live account holders: generate one in My IG > Settings > API keys.How to use IG APIchecked |
| Who can use it | Supported by all trading accounts of any cTrader affiliated brokers by default, which means both demo and live accounts.cTrader Open APIchecked | Spread bet and CFD accounts only. Share dealing, ISA and SIPP are not supported (error stockbroking-not-supported).trading-ig FAQ (community source)checked |
| Demo | Yes: separate demo endpoint; demo and live environments are fully separated.Proxies and endpointschecked | Partial: demo API works, but no key from a standalone demo account unless it is linked to a live account.How to use IG APIchecked |
| Authentication | OAuth 2.0 authorisation code flow: the auth code lives 1 minute, the access token 30 days. Scopes are accounts, which is read only, and trading, which is full.Account authenticationchecked | API key plus username and password returns CST and X-SECURITY-TOKEN, valid 12 hours on a rolling basis with each call resetting the clock on the IG Labs FAQ, while IG's REST trading API guide says 6 hours at first, extended up to a maximum of 72 hours: a disagreement between two IG pages that the blocked reference page could not settle on 23 Sep 2026. The v3 OAuth access token lasts as long as the login response says, with a refresh token that expires later. All tokens are invalidated during weekend maintenance.Sources conflict IG Labs FAQ: 12 hours between calls, reset by each call. IG Labs REST trading API guide: 6 hours at first, extended up to 72 hours while in use.IG Labs REST trading API guidechecked |
| Streaming | Yes: spot quotes, depth of market and execution events on the same connection, at 50 requests a second per connection (5 for historical data) with a heartbeat every 10 seconds. Host live1.p.ctrader.com port 5035, SSL mandatory for TCP and WebSocket. Spotware recommends at most two connections, one demo and one live, each carrying an unlimited number of accounts of that type.Messageschecked | Streaming runs on Lightstreamer: IG's Streaming API Guide starts by sending you to the Lightstreamer client library, and the server address to connect to comes back from the /session call. By default a connection holds up to 40 simultaneous subscriptions. The guide asks you to contact IG to raise that quota and the FAQ says to manage it by unsubscribing and subscribing as needed; both warn that opening extra connections to get past it may cost you the API key or your API permissions. The streaming API does not take OAuth tokens, only the CST and X-SECURITY-TOKEN pair.IG Labs Streaming API Guidechecked |
| History depth | Trend bars and ticks by from/to timestamp with optional count; deals by range with maxRows. Cash flow history max 1 week per request.Spotware OpenApiMessages.protochecked | Up to 20 years of price history depending on resolution; 10,000 historical data points per week. Transactions and activity history are paged.IG: How to use IG APIchecked |
| Limits |
|
|
| Endpoints documented here | None yet | 49 |
| Error codes decoded here | 53 | 132 |
| Official documentation | help.ctrader.com | labs.ig.com |
Go deeper on each side
cTrader Open API
- cTrader API page, the full record
- cTrader API quickstart, credentials to a first call
- cTrader API limits, in the table above
- cTrader API error codes, each with its fix
- cTrader Open API with Python
IG
- IG API page, the full record
- IG API quickstart, credentials to a first call
- IG API limits, in the table above
- IG API error codes, each with its fix
- IG API endpoints, each with its source
- ChatGPT trading bot with the IG API, the safe way
- Get your IG trade history into a spreadsheet
- IG deal confirms: turning a deal reference into a result
- IG demo API key: how to get one and what it allows
- IG streaming with Python
All comparisons. New to this? Getting started with API trading.