The reason the question matters: since 1 April 2026, under SEBI's framework for retail algo trading as NSE put it into practice, a broker accepts orders from your own API key only from a static IP registered with it.12 One primary and one backup address, changed at most once a calendar week, and one client per address. A free address that changes, disappears or is shared with strangers does not meet that rule for long.
Why your home internet address is not static
Most home broadband and mobile connections in India use dynamic addresses. The internet provider lends your router an address when it connects, and the address can change when the router restarts, after a power cut, or simply when the lease runs out. It may stay the same for weeks, which is why people assume it is fixed, but nothing promises that it will.
Many providers go further and use carrier-grade NAT: a large number of customers share one public address, and your router never gets a public address of its own. The internet standards set aside a block of addresses (100.64.0.0/10) for exactly this kind of sharing.3 If your router's internet-side address starts with 100.64 to 100.127, you are behind one. A shared address cannot be registered as yours, because the exchange's rules allow an address to be mapped to only one client at a time,2 and brokers such as Upstox refuse an address that another customer has already registered.4
A mobile hotspot is no better: mobile networks change addresses often and share them widely.
So a home connection works for API orders only if you buy a static IP from your provider, usually on a business plan or as a paid add-on. Our main guide to static IP for algo trading covers that option and its price range.
The free options at a glance
What each provider's own pages said on 14 November 2026:
| Provider | What is free | How long | Where the free server can be | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Cloud Always Free | Up to two small AMD servers, each with one public IP; Arm (Ampere A1) capacity of 2 cores and 12 GB memory in total5 | No end date while you follow the terms | Your account's home region only5 | Idle servers can be reclaimed5 |
| AWS free plan | US$100 of credits at sign-up, plus up to US$100 more for using certain services6 | Six months, or until the credits run out6 | Any normal AWS region | Every public IPv4 address costs US$0.005 an hour, paid from your credits7 |
| Google Cloud free trial | US$300 of credit8 | 90 days8 | Any region | Resources stop if you do not upgrade by the end8 |
| Google Cloud free tier | One e2-micro server, 30 GB of standard disk8 | No end date | Oregon, Iowa or South Carolina only8 | US-only, and an external IPv4 address in use costs US$0.005 an hour on Google's pricing page9 |
Oracle Cloud Always Free
Oracle's Always Free tier is the closest thing to a free server that keeps running. Its resource page lists:5
- AMD micro servers: up to two, each with an eighth of a processor core (able to burst), 1 GB of memory, one network card with one public IP, and up to 50 Mbps of internet bandwidth.
- Arm (Ampere A1) servers: a monthly allowance of 1,500 core-hours and 9,000 GB-hours, which works out to 2 cores and 12 GB of memory in all, as one server or two.
- Storage: 200 GB of block storage in total.
- Outbound data: 10 TB a month.
The limits that matter for trading:
- Idle reclamation. Oracle may reclaim an Always Free server it considers idle: one whose 95th-percentile processor use, network use and (for Arm servers) memory use all stay below 20% over seven days.5 A small trading script that waits most of the day for a signal can look idle by that measure. If the server is reclaimed, its address can go with it, and your broker will then reject orders until you register a new address, which you may not be allowed to do for a week.
- Home region. Always Free servers must be created in your account's home region.5 Choose a region in India when you sign up, if one is offered to you, so that orders do not travel abroad and back.
- Address type. Oracle's page says each micro server comes with one public IP, but it does not say how many reserved (fixed) public addresses are free. Before you register an address with your broker, confirm in Oracle's console that it is reserved, so that it survives a restart.
- Small machines. One GB of memory is enough for a simple script; a script that loads large price histories may need the Arm allowance.
AWS free plan
AWS changed its free tier in July 2025. New accounts now get US$100 of credits at sign-up and can earn up to US$100 more by trying certain services, on a free plan that ends six months after sign-up or when the credits run out, whichever comes first.6 After that, you upgrade to a paid plan to keep going.
Two points for a trading server:
- The address is not free. Since 1 February 2024, AWS charges US$0.005 an hour for every public IPv4 address, whether it is attached to a server or not.7 That is about US$3.65 for a 730-hour month. On the free plan the credits pay it, but it counts against them.
- It ends. Six months is enough to test a strategy's code and your broker connection, but a live strategy needs a plan for month seven. Lightsail, AWS's simpler server product, includes a static IP in every plan and offers an IPv6-only server at a lower price, which suits brokers that accept IPv6.10
Google Cloud free trial and free tier
Google offers two different things:8
- The free trial: US$300 of credit, valid for 90 days. If you do not upgrade before the trial ends or the credit runs out, the billing account closes and its resources are stopped.
- The free tier: one e2-micro server a month, with 30 GB of standard disk and 1 GB of outbound data from North America, but only in three US regions: Oregon, Iowa and South Carolina.
For an Indian broker, a free-tier server in the United States sends every order across the world and back. Google's pricing page lists an external IPv4 address in use on a standard server at US$0.005 an hour and a reserved address that is not in use at US$0.01 an hour; the free-tier page does not list an external address among the free items.98 The trial credit can pay for a server in an Indian region for 90 days, but then the same question of cost comes back.
The limits that apply to every free option
| Limit | What it means for a trading script |
|---|---|
| Reliability | Free servers are small and shared. A script that must act at a set time on expiry day needs headroom |
| Reclamation and expiry | A reclaimed server, or a trial that ends, takes the address with it; your broker then blocks orders until you register a new one |
| The weekly change limit | Brokers let you change the registered address about once a week, and Rupeezy every 15 days.11 Losing a free address mid-week can stop API orders for days |
| Location and distance | A server abroad adds travel time to every order and every price update |
| Terms of use | Read the provider's terms for its free tier. Free tiers are offered for trying the service, and providers can change them |
| Security | A server on the open internet holds your API key and session tokens; it needs updates, a firewall and strong sign-in like any paid server |
| A second address | The backup (secondary) address needs a second server or reserved address, which may not be free |
None of this means a free tier is useless. It is a good way to learn how a server works, to test your code against your broker's API, and to find out whether you need a static IP at all before you pay for one.
What about free VPNs and proxies?
Some services offer a "fixed" address through a VPN or proxy, sometimes for free. Be careful:
- Shared addresses do not qualify. If the address is shared with other users, the broker will refuse it, or another user's registration will block yours.
- Your tokens pass through someone else's machine. A proxy sees your traffic. With an API session, that is access to your trading account for the day.
- The address is not under your control. If the service changes its addresses or shuts down, your orders stop.
A dedicated static address from a known provider, registered in your name, avoids all three problems.
A free setup, step by step
If you decide to try a free tier:
- Check your broker's rules first. IPv4 or IPv6, and how often you can change the address. Our guide to whitelisting a static IP lists them broker by broker.
- Pick a region in India if the free offer allows it.
- Create the server and reserve its address, so that it stays the same after a restart.
- Note the free tier's limits: the idle rule, the end date of credits or trials, and any charge for the address.
- Register the address with your broker as the primary IP.
- Test with one small order, then watch the server for a week before relying on it.
- Set a reminder a few weeks before any trial or credit ends, so that you can move or upgrade without missing a trading day.
No static IP needed when QuantPower runs inside your broker's setup
You need a static IP only when orders leave from your own machine with your own API key. NSE's FAQ on the retail algo framework says a client's static IP is needed only for an investor placing orders through the API, and that when the algo is hosted on the broker's infrastructure, the address that counts is the broker's own server.12
So where your broker hosts QuantPower inside its own setup, your strategies run there and you need no server, no free tier and no address of your own. You build the rules in the strategy builder (free), backtest them, run a forward test for 100 tokens per algo per 28 days, and switch the algo on, fully automated or as a one-touch algo, for 200 tokens per 28 days. If you connect QuantPower with your own API key instead, you need your own static IP registered with your broker, as for any API program. See broker connection requirements for what each connection needs and trading API basics for how API orders work.
Two static IPs free with every QuantPower account
When you connect QuantPower with your own API key, you still do not need to rent a server or hunt for a free tier. Every QuantPower account includes two static IPv6 addresses, a primary and a backup, free and for as long as you keep the account. They are the two addresses the exchange rule allows per client, and you find them under Profile and on the Brokers screen, ready to register with your broker.
- Two IPv6 addresses, free: primary and backup, included with every account, no tokens charged.
- IPv4 only where needed: if your broker does not yet accept IPv6, an IPv4 address is available as an add-on for 100 tokens per address per 28 days (1 token = ₹1, GST extra).
- One client per address: each address is yours alone, as the rule requires, and you register it with your broker once; the once-a-week change limit still applies at your broker.
Compared with the free cloud options above, there is no server to keep alive, no free period that ends and no reclaimed machine. Check which address type your broker accepts in the whitelisting guide.
Start with 500 free tokens
Connect your broker, build a strategy and test it on paper before a single live order goes out.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free static IP for algo trading in India?
Yes, on some cloud free tiers, such as Oracle Cloud's Always Free servers, or for a limited time on the AWS free plan or Google Cloud's trial. Each has limits on how long it lasts, where the server sits and when it can be reclaimed. Every QuantPower account also includes two static IPv6 addresses, primary and backup, free; an IPv4 add-on is available for brokers that do not accept IPv6.
Can I use my home internet's IP address for API trading?
Only if your provider sells you a static IP. A normal home address is dynamic and can change at any restart, and many providers share one public address among many customers, which a broker cannot register to you.
Is Oracle Cloud's free tier good enough for algo trading?
It can run a small script and gives each micro server a public IP. Watch the idle rule: Oracle may reclaim a server whose processor, network and memory use stay below 20% for seven days, and confirm the address is reserved before you register it.
Is the AWS free tier free forever?
No. New accounts get a free plan with up to US$200 of credits that ends after six months or when the credits run out. Public IPv4 addresses are charged by the hour and paid from those credits.
Can I use a free VPN to get a static IP?
It is not a good idea. Shared addresses are refused by brokers, and your session tokens pass through a machine you do not control.
Do I need a static IP if my broker hosts the algo platform?
No. When the algo runs on the broker's infrastructure, the broker's server address is the one that counts, according to NSE's FAQ.
What happens if my free server's address changes?
Your broker rejects API orders from the new address until you register it, and most brokers allow a change only about once a week.
Related guides
- Static IP for algo trading: the rules, the paid options and their prices
- How to whitelist a static IP with your broker: the steps at each broker
- SEBI rules for algo trading: the whole framework
- Broker connection security: what a connected program can see and do
References
- SEBI, circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-PoD/P/CIR/2025/132, extension of timeline for the circular of 4 February 2025, 30 September 2025 (sebi.gov.in)
- NSE, circular NSE/INVG/67858, implementation standards for safer participation of retail investors in algorithmic trading, 5 May 2025 (nseindia.com)
- IETF, RFC 6598: IANA-Reserved IPv4 Prefix for Shared Address Space, April 2012 (rfc-editor.org)
- Upstox developer documentation, algo trading circular announcement, checked 14 November 2026 (upstox.com)
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure documentation, Always Free resources, checked 14 November 2026 (docs.oracle.com)
- AWS, Free Tier now offers US$200 in credits and a 6-month free plan, 16 July 2025 (aws.amazon.com)
- AWS News Blog, public IPv4 address charge, in effect from 1 February 2024 (aws.amazon.com)
- Google Cloud documentation, free Google Cloud features and trial offer, checked 14 November 2026 (docs.cloud.google.com)
- Google Cloud, Virtual Private Cloud pricing: external IP addresses, checked 14 November 2026 (cloud.google.com)
- Amazon Lightsail pricing, checked 14 November 2026 (aws.amazon.com)
- Rupeezy, FAQs for static IP in API trading, checked 14 November 2026 (support.rupeezy.in)
- NSE, FAQ on retail algo trading, 3 November 2025 (nseindia.com)