The full cost of running an automated options strategy — subscription, static IP, broker API charges, margin and execution costs — and which of them are easy to miss when comparing platforms.
Arthalab6 min read
The subscription is usually the smallest part of what algo trading costs. Four other costs sit around it, two of them recurring and easy to miss when comparing platforms on headline price.
The five components
Cost
Type
Who charges it
Platform subscription
Recurring
The platform
Static IP
Recurring, unless bundled
ISP, cloud provider, or bundled
Broker API access
Varies — some include it
Your broker
Execution cost
Per trade
Broker, exchange and the market
Capital at risk
Not a fee, but the largest number
Yours
Only the first appears in a pricing comparison. The second is the one most often overlooked, and the fourth is the one that most affects whether a strategy is actually profitable.
Subscription
Arthalab is one plan: ₹599 against a ₹1,499 list price, plus 18% GST, for 30 days. That covers NIFTY and SENSEX index options, a dedicated static IP, 10 backtests a day, up to 3 strategies running at once, Research Analyst strategies, paper trading, options analysis and buckets.
No per-strategy fee, no separate analyst charge, and no profit sharing — Arthalab takes no share of trading profits.
Comparing against tiered pricing
Other platforms use tiered or usage-based models. Neither approach is inherently better: tiers can be cheaper for light use, and a flat plan is more predictable. What matters is checking which tier actually permits live deployment, because backtesting is often available on a cheaper one.
If your platform does not include one, you are buying it — either as a business broadband upgrade or as a cloud instance with a reserved address. Both are recurring, and the cloud route also carries maintenance you will do yourself.
On Arthalab a dedicated IP is allocated with the plan, so this line is zero and there is no server for you to maintain.
Broker API charges
Some brokers include API access and some charge for it. This is between you and your broker rather than the platform, and the amounts change.
Check your broker's current API pricing directly rather than relying on any third-party figure. A number quoted in an article is only correct until the broker revises it.
Execution cost, which dominates everything
This is the cost that decides whether a strategy makes money, and it is the one least visible in a pricing comparison because nobody charges it as a line item.
What you actually pay per trade
Every leg incurs, on entry and again on exit:
Brokerage
Exchange transaction charges
STT, stamp duty and GST
The bid-ask spread you cross — not a fee, but a real cost
Structure
Legs
Cost events per round trip
Single option
1
2
Straddle or spread
2
4
Iron condor
4
8
A strategy trading daily pays this every day. Over a month it frequently exceeds the subscription by a wide margin, which is why a backtest that ignores costs is so misleading.
Capital
Not a fee, and the largest number involved. Option selling requires margin set by the exchange risk model, which rises with volatility.
The margin guide covers how it is computed. The practical point for budgeting is that you need headroom above the requirement rather than exactly matching it, because the requirement rises on the days the position is already under pressure.
Arthalab's Monthly Plan also carries a ₹1,00,000 investment amount limit per deployment, which is worth knowing when planning size.
A worked monthly comparison
Rather than quoting competitor prices that would date, here is the structure to fill in yourself.
Line
Platform A
Platform B
Subscription (tier that allows live deployment)
Static IP, if not bundled
Broker API charges
Estimated execution cost per month
Total
Filling in the second row honestly changes the answer more often than people expect, and the fourth row usually dwarfs the first.
Trying it without spending
Before any of this, the parts that cost nothing are the ones that decide whether a strategy is worth running.
Backtesting needs no broker, no IP and no capital
Paper trading needs a plan but no broker, no IP and no capital
Arthalab's 3-day trial carries the same access as the paid plan, once per account
The trial does not include a dedicated IP, so it covers backtesting and paper trading rather than live trading
Paper trading is the cheapest way to find out whether a strategy justifies the rest of the setup.
The short version
Subscription is usually the smallest of five costs
A static IP is required for live trading — add it wherever it is not bundled
Broker API charges come from your broker and change; check theirs directly
Execution cost per round trip frequently exceeds the subscription
Margin is not a fee but needs headroom above the stated requirement
Backtesting and paper trading cost nothing beyond a plan
Frequently asked questions
Arthalab is ₹599 plus 18% GST for 30 days, with a dedicated static IP included. Beyond the subscription, budget for broker API charges where applicable, execution costs per trade, and margin for the positions themselves.
A static IP. Live broker API trading requires one, so if a platform does not bundle it you are buying a business line or a cloud address on top of the subscription.
Yes. A four-leg strategy pays charges and crosses spreads on eight legs per round trip. Over a month of daily trading this frequently exceeds the subscription by a wide margin.
Possibly, depending on your usage and what each tier includes. Compare the tier that actually permits live deployment, and add a static IP wherever it is not bundled, before concluding anything from headline prices.
No. There is no profit sharing, no per-strategy fee and no separate charge for Research Analyst strategies.
Yes. The 3-day trial carries the same access as the paid plan, once per account. It does not include a dedicated IP, so it covers backtesting and paper trading rather than live trading.
Enough for the margin your chosen strategy requires, with headroom above it. That figure depends entirely on the structure — defined-risk spreads need far less than naked short options.
The Monthly Plan carries a ₹1,00,000 investment amount limit per deployment.
Start with a free 3-day trial
Build a strategy, backtest it and run it on paper — no broker, no IP and no money needed to try it.
