Composer vs. StockHero: Which is the Better Platform?
Compare Composer and StockHero in our in-depth analysis and explore the features and performance of both to determine which one suits your trading needs best!
What are the main differences between Composer and StockHero?
As much as 78% of all trades (according to the SEC) are executed by stock trading algorithms. Two of the most popular platforms include Composer and StockHero. While both platforms have their advantages and disadvantages, I've outlines some of the key differences to help you make an informed choice if you are looking to create your own stock trading bots.
Pricing
Pricing is one of the most important factors to consider when setting up a stock trading bot. Composer offers a transparent pricing system with a $24 per month fee (paid annually) that does not scale with the amount of trading or AUM you have. This means you can invest in as many trading bots as you would like without worrying about your costs increasing. Composer also offers free backtesting, strategy following, and strategy creation for all users on both the free and paid plan.
On the other hand, StockHero has a tiered pricing system where you pay $41.66 per month (paid annually) if you want up to 15 trading bots, and $83.33 per month (paid annually) if you want up to 30 trading bots. This means that costs can add up if you're looking to create more than 1 trading bot. Both platforms offer a free 14 day trial.
User Interface & Platform Access
With a visual no-code strategy builder, Composer offers an easy way to understand the logic behind your strategy. This enables both beginners as well as advanced traders to build strategies with ease. The best way to experience Composer is via desktop as the screen size enables you to make the most of the backtesting functionality as well as the strategy creator. Note: Composer also lets you login via mobile if you wish you check in on your investments.
StockHero also provides a bot builder which doesn’t require coding skills. However, it is less intuitive to use and has many different actions that could make the learning curve much steeper especially for beginners. One advantage of StockHero is that they do provide an iOS and Android app if you wish to do most of your creation on your Android phone, iPhone or iPad.
Brokerages & Deposit Security
StockHero lets you connect to your own brokerage account which means you have to check with your brokerage on deposit protection.
On the other hand, Composer automatically creates an Alpaca brokerage account for you which ensures that manual trading does not interfere with your automated stock trading bots. Composer Securities LLC is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and a member of FINRA with SIPC security protection of $500k. The primary custodian is tier-1 bank BMO Harris.
Asset Choice & Transaction Types
Composer is a long-term focussed investing platform offering access to the full range of stocks and ETFs. The structure of the platform allows you to rebalance your strategies at daily, weekly, quarterly, yearly or threshold-based intervals. However, if you're looking to trade crypto, forex, short-sell, or intra-day trade, StockHero/CryptoHero may be a better choice as Composer doesn't offer this functionality.
Both platforms offer the choice to test the platform risk-free. While StockHero offers paper trading, Composer offers the ability to ‘follow’ strategies with a simulates $1000 that you can track over time and measure out-of-sample performance. In both cases, you can get an indicative performance of your bot without depositing funds.
AI functionality
Composer has recently introduced ChatGPT functionality to supercharge the investing process. Using ChatGPT you can ask questions about your strategies, find ways to diversify, and continue to improve your returns. Here's some examples of what you can ask: What are the risks of this strategy? What should I add to diversify this strategy? What type of strategy would be a good complement to this one? You can then ask for the code from ChatGPT to build the strategies directly in-app. You can check out more details here. StockHero does not currently offer this functionality.
Customer Support
Both platforms offer extensive customer support channels. Composer offers email, live chat, and zoom calls with the product team.
One advantage of Composer is that you don’t have to deal with customer service for both the platform and the broker. As Composer manages your brokerage account, they will also help deal with any brokerage related questions and changes you need to make (e.g. address changes).
Final Remarks
Based on Composer's transparent pricing, easy to use no-code interface, and in-build deposit security, Composer seems like a logical choice for many people.
Moreover, building strategies in Composer is a fun activity, and spending time doing so is a great way to get accustomed to how the no-code editor works.
As you do so, we invite you to explore the site and sign up for a free Composer account to get a first-hand impression of what our platform can do for you.
We'd be happy to have you on our side, and provide you with the best automated stock trading platform there is!
Important Disclosures
Investing in securities involves risks, including the risk of loss, including principal. Composer Securities LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and member of FINRA / SIPC. The SEC has not approved this message.
Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, Composer has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; Composer has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.
This content is provided for informational purposes only, as it was prepared without regard to any specific objectives, or financial circumstances, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any security and performance of certain hypothetical scenarios described herein is not necessarily indicative of actual results. Any investments referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in strategies managed by Composer, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results.
Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see Composer's Legal Page for additional important information.