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eToro vs IG API

The same fields from the eToro 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.

eToro and IG, field by field

FieldeToroIG
KindBroker with its own APIBroker with its own API
API familyREST, WebSocket, OAuth 2.0 SSO (partners)REST, Streaming
How you get accessSettings > Trading > API Key Management > Create New Key; choose Read or Write, optional IP whitelist and expiry.eToro API portal: authenticationchecked 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 itVerified eToro account required. Regional availability not published on pages opened.eToro API Portalchecked Spread bet and CFD accounts only. Share dealing, ISA and SIPP are not supported (error stockbroking-not-supported).trading-ig FAQ (community source)checked
DemoYes: the environment is bound to the key when it is created, Demo or Real, and each key supports one environment only.eToro Builders FAQchecked 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
AuthenticationHeaders x-api-key, x-user-key and x-request-id on every request, or an OAuth 2.0 bearer token instead of the key headers. eToro now states the exclusivity itself rather than leaving it to be inferred: a request presenting both is rejected.eToro API portal: 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
StreamingWebSocket at wss://ws.etoro.com/ws, described by an AsyncAPI 3.0 document that eToro publishes. Instrument topics need no authentication; the private topic needs an Authenticate message first, which carries the user key and API key inside its data object over the open socket, never as a header. A Subscribe message lists topics such as instrument:<instrumentId> or private, with an optional snapshot flag. The AsyncAPI document, the Topics page and the example code agree on that shape. The server sends a single binary frame from time to time as a heartbeat. No connection or subscription limit is given and no reconnection or replay behaviour is described.eToro WebSocket API, AsyncAPI documentchecked 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 depthCandles: max 1,000 per request, one minute to one week. Trading history: lookback under 1 year per request; split longer ranges.eToro API: Get instrument candle historychecked 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
  • Historical price data points a week: 10,000. Per account, price history endpoints onlylabs.ig.comchecked
  • Non trading requests a minute: 30. Per account, non trading calls onlylabs.ig.comchecked
  • Non trading requests a minute: 60. Per application, that is per API key, non trading calls onlylabs.ig.comchecked
  • Concurrent streaming subscriptions: 40. Per streaming connectionlabs.ig.comchecked
  • Trading requests a minute: 100. Per account, trading calls only Sources conflictlabs.ig.comchecked
Endpoints documented here5149
Error codes decoded here16132
Official documentationapi-portal.etoro.comlabs.ig.com

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