Freqtrade-MCP vs Alpaca MCP Server

A side-by-side comparison of two Finance & Payments servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Freqtrade-MCP Control a Freqtrade crypto trading bot through its REST API from any MCP-compatible AI agent. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Stale Python	Alpaca MCP Server Alpaca's official trading server for stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto in plain English. Verified stdio (local) API key Python
Category	Finance & Payments	Finance & Payments
Language	Python	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	API key
GitHub stars	121	820
Last commit	6 months ago	1 month ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`pip install freqtrade-client mcp[cli]`	`uvx alpaca-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Freqtrade-MCP if you want zero-setup with no API key, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick Alpaca MCP Server if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Add Freqtrade-MCP

Install / run

pip install freqtrade-client mcp[cli]

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freqtrade-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/your/path/to/freqtrade-mcp",
        "run",
        "__main__.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FREQTRADE_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:8080",
        "FREQTRADE_USERNAME": "your_username",
        "FREQTRADE_PASSWORD": "your_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Alpaca MCP Server

Install / run

uvx alpaca-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "alpaca-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_API_KEY": "<your-alpaca-api-key>",
        "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "<your-alpaca-secret-key>",
        "ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

Freqtrade-MCP or Alpaca MCP Server — which is better?

Pick Freqtrade-MCP if you want zero-setup with no API key, and you need the broadest set of tools. Pick Alpaca MCP Server if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Can I use both Freqtrade-MCP and Alpaca MCP Server?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Freqtrade-MCP and Alpaca MCP Server work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Freqtrade-MCP →View Alpaca MCP Server →More comparisons →