We’re excited to announce our new integration with Charles Schwab—one of the most requested brokerages on QuantConnect! Schwab’s recent release of a robust API has allowed us to deliver this integration, expanding your algorithmic trading options on the QuantConnect platform. Charles Schwab manages several trillion dollars in client assets, placing it among the global leaders in brokerage services.

Trade Equities, Options, and Index Options

Currently, Schwab accounts on QuantConnect support the trading of Equities, Options, and Index Options. You can submit Market, Limit, and Stop Market orders, with Combo Market and Combo Limit orders on the way to further enhance options trading. We’re also adding Futures trading in February. As Schwab does not provide a paper trading feature, you’ll need to use QuantConnect’s built-in paper modeling for testing and refinement.

Seamless Integration with QuantConnect Cloud and Local Platforms

The Schwab integration is available in the QuantConnect Cloud, Local Platforms, and via the LEAN CLI—so you can trade effortlessly in our fully managed cloud or self-host the integration on your own servers. Our brokerage models accurately reflect Schwab fees by asset class, providing transparency and realism in your backtesting and live strategies. 

Configuring your strategies to take advantage of Schwab’s fee and brokerage models is straightforward. For example, to switch between Cash and Margin accounts, simply add the following lines in your algorithm:

# Charles Schwab Cash and Margin Account Models
self.set_brokerage_model(BrokerageName.CHARLES_SCHWAB, AccountType.CASH)
self.set_brokerage_model(BrokerageName.CHARLES_SCHWAB, AccountType.MARGIN)

Weekly Token Renewal

Because the Schwab API requires weekly re-authentication, you’ll receive a reminder email from QuantConnect to renew your OAuth tokens. Thanks to careful engineering, your live algorithms remain securely online during the token refresh process, maintaining their long-term deployment state with minimal interruptions.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments,

Happy trading!