Over the past couple of months, I’ve been extensively backtesting multiple 0 and 1 DTE strategies on Option Alpha. To validate the results, I also ran the exact same strategies on Option Omega. Both platforms produced very similar results for the same strategies, which gives me reasonable confidence that the option pricing, greeks and calculations are accurate.
Now I’m at a decision point.
I have several strategies saved on Option Alpha that look promising in backtests, and I’m considering automating them directly on the platform. However, my longer-term plan is to eventually build my own backtesting and automation system using Python and the Interactive Brokers API (or something better - will do an extensive research on this later)
So my questions to the community are:
- Is Option Alpha a trustworthy and reliable platform for live automation (execution quality, stability, fills, risk controls, etc.)?
- Does it make sense to automate these strategies on Option Alpha for now(initially via paper trading and then on a low capital), and meanwhile start building my own backtesting and execution tool / software for the long term?
- Or would it be better to hold off on automation entirely until I can build my own backtesting and execution framework?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have:
- Used Option Alpha for live automation
- Migrated from Option Alpha to a custom Python/IBKR setup
- Experienced any limitations or surprises in live trading vs backtests
Appreciate any insights or real-world experiences. Thanks!