How long does it take to build prop firm software in-house?
Quick answer
Building a production-quality prop trading platform in-house typically takes an experienced team many months, and ongoing work never stops. A minimal version can be faster, but the risk is in correctness and reliability, which appear only under real traders and fast markets.
Detailed answer
Components and their difficulty:
- Price feed and charts: integration and history storage.
- Execution simulator: order types, margin, P&L, gaps and weekends.
- Rule engine: tick-by-tick evaluation, correct handling of edge cases.
- Admin panel: accounts, traders, credentials, rule versions.
- Terminal: browser and mobile.
- Infrastructure: scaling, monitoring, security, backups.
Each takes design, building and testing, and most need revisiting after launch. Firms that build in-house usually do it after reaching scale on a bought platform. Using a ready platform first lets you validate the business before committing that budget.
Hidden ongoing work
After launch, an in-house platform needs monitoring, security updates, scaling, feed maintenance and support for traders' technical issues. Budget for a permanent team, not a one-off project.
Measuring the trade-off
Compare the team's annual cost with the platform cost you would pay at your volume. For most firms, buying remains cheaper for years.
PropExecutor team · Updated
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