Start your instance

ThetaData is where your box gets live option prices — it's what your signals are built from. Every customer brings their own account, so the data stays licensed to you.

1. Go to thetadata.net and click Sign Up. Create a free account with your email and a password — no credit card needed to start.
2. Check your inbox and confirm your email if ThetaData sends a confirmation link.
3. Subscribe to the Options — Standard plan (about $80/month). This is the plan that includes live option prices, which power your signals. Don't pick “Value” — it has no live prices, so it won't work. And you don't need “Pro” — it's more than AISignalBox uses.
4. You don't install anything. We run ThetaData's software for you, on your box. Just come back here and enter your ThetaData login — the email you signed up with goes in the email box below, and your password underneath it.

ThetaData bills you directly (about $80/month). That's separate from what AISignalBox charges.

Alpaca gives your box the underlying stock prices behind each option. It's free — no deposit needed, and AISignalBox only reads market data with it; it never places trades on your account.

1. Go to alpaca.markets and click Sign Up. It's free — you don't have to deposit any money.
2. Log in to your dashboard at app.alpaca.markets.
3. Find the API Keys section and click Generate New Key. Alpaca gives you two things: a Key ID and a Secret Key.
4. Copy both right away — Alpaca shows the Secret only once. Then paste the Key ID into the “Alpaca API key” box below and the Secret Key underneath it.

The free plan is all you need — there's no paid Alpaca plan to buy.