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Backtrader VS Quantopian

Compare Backtrader VS Quantopian and see what are their differences

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Contents:
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  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Backtrader logo Backtrader

Backtrader is a complete and advanced python framework that is used for backtesting and trading.

Quantopian logo Quantopian

Your algorithmic investing platform
  • Backtrader Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-30
  • Quantopian Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

Backtrader features and specs

  • Versatility
    Backtrader supports a wide variety of data sources and formats, as well as different types of financial instruments, allowing for extensive backtesting and live trading capabilities.
  • Community and Documentation
    The platform has a strong community and comprehensive documentation, making it easier for new users to get started and for experienced users to troubleshoot and optimize their strategies.
  • Python Integration
    Written in Python, Backtrader allows users to leverage Python's extensive ecosystem of libraries for data analysis, machine learning, and other financial computations.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, users can modify and extend the platform to meet their specific trading and testing needs without restrictions, and contribute to its development.
  • Flexibility in Strategy Design
    Backtrader offers a flexible and intuitive framework to design complex trading strategies, enabling users to test multiple strategies with different parameters efficiently.

Possible disadvantages of Backtrader

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Despite its flexibility, new users may find Backtrader's extensive features and options overwhelming, requiring a significant amount of time to learn and effectively utilize.
  • Performance Issues
    For very large datasets, Backtrader might experience performance bottlenecks or require additional optimization, as Python is not the fastest language for high-frequency backtesting.
  • Limited Technical Support
    As a community-driven open-source project, Backtrader might lack the formal technical support and customer service that comes with commercial trading platforms.
  • Complexity in Live Trading
    Transitioning from backtesting to live trading can require significant additional setup and potential custom development, especially in integrating broker APIs.
  • Outdated Resources
    Some educational materials and tutorials may be outdated, leading to confusion due to interface or feature updates that are not well-documented.

Quantopian features and specs

  • Community Collaboration
    Quantopian provided a platform for users to share and collaborate on trading algorithms, enabling users to learn from each other and improve their strategies.
  • Access to Data
    Quantopian offered access to a wide range of financial data sets, which allowed users to develop and back-test their algorithms using historical data.
  • Comprehensive Development Environment
    It featured an integrated development environment (IDE) with tools for coding, testing, and back-testing trading strategies in Python, which was user-friendly and powerful.
  • Educational Resources
    Quantopian provided various educational resources, including lectures, tutorials, and a supportive community forum, which were beneficial for both beginners and experienced traders.
  • Competition and Incentives
    Quantopian organized contests that incentivized users to develop successful trading algorithms, with the potential to receive a live trading allocation from the company.

Possible disadvantages of Quantopian

  • Shutting Down Services
    Quantopian shut down its retail offering in 2020, which meant that users could no longer use their platform for developing and testing new algorithms.
  • Limited Live Trading Options
    Users found limited options for deploying their strategies into live trading. Quantopian allowed this only for algorithms selected for allocation, which reduced accessibility for many users.
  • Dependence on Platform
    Users who developed algorithms on Quantopian's platform were heavily dependent on it, and when it shut down, they had to transition to other platforms, which could be challenging.
  • Resource Limitations
    There were computational and resource limitations for users, which could restrict the complexity of the algorithms and back-testing users could perform without additional infrastructure.
  • Portfolio Selection Process
    The selection process for having algorithms licenced for live trading allocation was competitive and not transparent to many users, which could lead to frustration.

Backtrader videos

+ Add

Backtrader Python Review

More videos:

  • Review - Algorithmic Trading with Python and Backtrader (Part 1)
  • Review - Backtrader Live Forex Trading with Interactive Brokers (Part 1)

Quantopian videos

+ Add

Algorithmic Trading with Python and Quantopian p. 1

More videos:

  • Review - Quantopian, simple strategies

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Backtrader and Quantopian)

Backtrader

Quantopian

Finance
43 43%
Finance
57% 57
Development
46 46%
Development
54% 54
Tool
46 46%
Tool
54% 54
Investing
32 32%
Investing
68% 68

User comments

Share your experience with using Backtrader and Quantopian. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Backtrader seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Backtrader mentions (3)

  • My reality of trading and how i wish i had never started.
    I do like what I see and hear about backtrader.com. I would say they are a notable exception to my general rule of not trusting or using backtesting frameworks. However, I still think it is important to understand how the framework you are using works. So if you are using backtrader for backtesting you still need to put in the time to understand the backtesting engine. Source: about 2 years ago
  • My reality of trading and how i wish i had never started.
    What about backtrader.com? And I feel like it would be step 2 after you at least have something to backtrade and test haha. Source: about 2 years ago
  • I need to know what can go wrong with my 'masterplan'
    Backtesting is basically applying your strategy on historical price data to see if it makes money. I've used Backtrader it works decently well: https://backtrader.com/. Source: over 3 years ago

Quantopian mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Quantopian yet. Tracking of Quantopian recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Backtrader and Quantopian, you can also consider the following products

quantra - A public API for quantitative finance made with Quantlib

QuantConnect - QuantConnect provides a free algorithm backtesting tool and financial data so engineers can design algorithmic trading strategies. We are democratizing algorithm trading technology to empower investors.

QuantRocket - QuantRocket is an all-in-one end-to-end data trading platform and is securing your connection to other trading applications that will be the key to query data and submit orders.

CloudQuant - Crowd based algorithmic trading development and backtesing for stock market trading.

Intrinio - Intrinio is a trading platform, providing professionals with the best in class financial market data API and other tools.

Quantreex - An automated trading platform that you let you create trading strategies intuitively.

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