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Interactive Brokers vs OANDA API

The same fields from the Interactive Brokers record and the OANDA 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.

Interactive Brokers and OANDA, field by field

FieldInteractive BrokersOANDA
KindBroker with its own APIBroker with its own API
API familyTWS API (TCP socket), REST (Client Portal Web API), WebSocketREST (v20), HTTP streaming
How you get accessNo key: run TWS or IB Gateway (TWS API) or the Client Portal Gateway and log in via browser (Web API).IBKR TWS API documentation, the IB Gatewaychecked Account Management Portal > My Services > Manage API Access, accept licence, generate personal access token.OANDA v20 Introductionchecked
Who can use itOpen, funded IBKR Pro account. The Web API supports only IBKR Pro accounts, and the TWS API lists a funded and opened IBKR Pro account among its requirements.IBKR Web API v1.0 documentation, requirements and limitationschecked Needs a v20 account; available in all divisions except OANDA Global Markets and OANDA TMS Brokers S.A.OANDA v20 Introductionchecked
DemoPartial: paper trading accounts are supported and the Web API is logged in to with a separate paper username; demo accounts cannot subscribe to data.IBKR Web API documentation, using a paper accountchecked Yes: fxTrade Practice environment with its own token.OANDA Development Guidechecked
AuthenticationTWS API: local socket to a TWS or IB Gateway the user has logged in to by hand. Web API: Client Portal Gateway with a browser login on the same machine; the Web API also lists OAuth 1.0a, OAuth 2.0 and SSO, and IBKR's older use cases page gives OAuth as the route for institutional clients.IBKR TWS API documentation, the IB Gatewaychecked Bearer personal access token, generated in the Account Management Portal after accepting the API licence.Introduction, OANDA v20 REST APIchecked
StreamingTWS API is event driven over the socket. The Web API websocket is at /v1/api/ws (wss://localhost:5000/v1/api/ws through the gateway): the number of market data subscriptions depends on the account's market data lines, 100 by default, a market data stream ends after 15 minutes unless it is requested again, and at most 5 historical data requests run at once.IBKR Web API v1.0 documentation, websockets introductionchecked HTTP chunked transfer encoding carrying JSON objects, not WebSocket. The development guide states at most 20 active streams, with requests above that rejected, and no more than 2 new connections a second. The best practices page advises no more than 100 requests a second on an established connection. Sources: https://developer.oanda.com/rest-live-v20/development-guide/ and https://developer.oanda.com/rest-live-v20/best-practices/, both read 23 September 2026, development guide re-read 24 September 2026.OANDA Development Guidechecked
History depthBars of 30 seconds or less are not available beyond six months, and expired futures not beyond two years from expiry. IBKR's current TWS API documentation, read on 12 Oct 2026, counts three pacing violations for bars of 30 seconds or less: an identical historical data request within 15 seconds, six or more requests for the same contract, exchange and tick type within two seconds, and more than 60 requests in any ten minute period, with a BID_ASK request counted twice. The Web API endpoint /iserver/marketdata/history has its own published pacing of 10 requests a second or 50 a minute. Executions: since midnight by default, up to 7 days in TWS if its Trade Log setting is changed, and the current day only in IB Gateway.IBKR TWS API documentation, unavailable historical datachecked Historical pricing back to 2005, on the introduction page. Candles: at most 5,000 per request, 500 by default, on the pricing endpoints page. Transactions: at most 365 days per request, in pages of up to 1,000.OANDA v20: Introductionchecked
Limits
  • Global requests a second (Web API): 10. Per authenticated username, that is per Web API sessionibkrcampus.comchecked
  • Historical market data requests: Either 10 req/s or 50 req/minute, as the page words it. GET /iserver/marketdata/history onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked
  • Market data snapshot requests a second: 10. GET /iserver/marketdata/snapshot onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked
  • Order and trade list requests: 1 req/5 s. GET /iserver/orders and GET /iserver/trades, each counted on its owninteractivebrokers.comchecked
  • Session validation requests a minute: 1. GET /sso/validate onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked
  • Session keep alive requests a second: 1. GET /tickle onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked
  • Headline limit: 120/s per IP address, HTTP 429 above it. ipdeveloper.oanda.comchecked
Endpoints documented here2333
Error codes decoded here511242
Official documentationinteractivebrokers.comdeveloper.oanda.com

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Interactive Brokers

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