Composer: Platform Profile

Overview

Composer is an automated strategy-building and brokerage platform that uses AI to help investors create rules-based portfolios without writing code.

Current capabilities include:

• natural-language strategy creation;
• backtesting;
• community-built strategies;
• automated rebalancing;
• stocks;
• ETFs;
• options in eligible accounts;
• taxable brokerage accounts;
• Traditional IRAs;
• Roth IRAs;
• cash sweep;
• automated execution.

SoFi completed its acquisition of Composer in 2026.

This is no longer a pending transaction.

Current brand:

• Brand: Composer by SoFi

May fit better for

• systematic investors;
• investors who want rules-based automation;
• users who want no-code strategy construction;
• investors who use backtesting before deploying a strategy;
• investors who want automated stock and ETF portfolios;
• eligible options users;
• IRA investors who want automated strategies.

May fit less well for

• investors who only make a few manual trades per year;
• users who do not want a recurring subscription;
• investors who treat backtests as forecasts;
• traders who need intraday discretionary execution throughout the session;
• users who want one universal custodian for every Composer account type;
• investors who want options inside an IRA.

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SoFi acquisition is completed

SoFi announced on June 23, 2026:

• Acquisition:
• Acquirer: SoFi Technologies, Inc.
• Announcement date: 2026-06-23
• Current brand: Composer by SoFi

The SoFi investor release explicitly states the launch followed its acquisition of Composer Securities LLC.

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Legal broker

Current BrokerCheck:

• Legal name: Composer Securities LLC
• CRD: 325118
• SEC number: 8-71057
• FINRA member: Yes
• SIPC member: Yes

Composer Technologies and Composer Securities are separate affiliated entities.

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Clearing partners

Current Composer disclosures:

• Clearing partners:
• Alpaca Securities LLC
• Apex Clearing Corporation
• Single universal clearing firm: No

Account type and features determine which clearing partner applies.

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Taxable accounts vs IRAs vs options

Current January 2026 help center:

• Individual taxable:
• Alpaca: Yes
• Apex: Yes
• Traditional IRA:
• Apex only: Yes
• Roth IRA:
• Apex only: Yes
• Options:
• Alpaca Individual only: Yes
• IRA options: No

This is a critical product-structure distinction.

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Trading Pass pricing

Current pricing:

• Trading Pass:
• Monthly: $40
• Annual: $384
• Annual equivalent monthly: $32
• One pass across multiple accounts: Yes

A Trading Pass is required for live automated trading.

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Subscription cost example

Monthly billing for 12 months:

$40 × 12 = $480

Annual plan:

$384

Difference:

$96

under current pricing.

Expired promotional prices must not replace the current standard rates.

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Expired promotion

Composer previously offered a temporary $5/month or $48/year promotion.

The help center marks it:

• Promotion status: EXPIRED
• Promotion end: 2025-11-30

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Deposit minimum

Current Composer help center:

• Minimum deposit: $50
• Recommended portfolio funding: $2,500
• Minimum per symphony: $50

The $2,500 amount is a recommendation, not the legal/account-opening minimum.

Composer explains that smaller balances can leave intended allocations in cash when a security is not fractionable and the account lacks enough cash to buy a whole share.

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Stocks and ETFs

Current platform:

• Stock commission: $0
• ETF commission: $0
• Management fee: $0

The Trading Pass remains separate.

Regulatory charges and other account fees can still apply.

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Options pricing

Current Composer help center:

• Options:
• Contract fee: $0.65
• Exercise assignment fee: $5 per position
• Account route: Alpaca Individual accounts only

Exchange and regulatory fees can be additional.

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Options example

20 option contracts:

20 × $0.65 = $13

base contract-fee reference.

An exercise or assignment can add:

$5 per affected position

under the current schedule.

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Automated trading schedule

Composer executes automated symphony trades during its designated daily trading period rather than continuously reacting every second of the market day.

Current disclosures show:

• Daily trading window: approximately 3:50 PM–4:00 PM ET

Strategy rules can trigger allocation changes according to the symphony logic.

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Backtests

Composer's core research feature is historical backtesting.

The current help center explicitly models:

• regulatory fees;
• slippage;
• optional subscription cost.

Current default backtest slippage disclosures show:

• Default slippage: 1 basis point

Users can adjust assumptions.

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Backtest

A backtest is not live performance.

Differences can arise because of:

• execution prices;
• spreads;
• liquidity;
• market impact;
• order timing;
• non-fractionable securities;
• changing strategy logic;
• data quality;
• overfitting.

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IRAs

Current account types:

• Individual: Yes
• Traditional IRA: Yes
• Roth IRA: Yes

Current help states that opening an IRA requires an active Trading Pass.

Apex is the current IRA clearing route.

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IRA closure fee

Current February 2026 help center:

• IRA closure fee: $60

The clearing firm charges the fee when processing the closure/distribution.

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Cash sweep

Current Composer disclosures state:

• Cash sweep available: Yes
• Cash sweep coordinator: Apex Clearing Corporation

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Protection

Composer Securities is a SIPC member.

Current standard disclosures show:

• SIPC:
• Total limit: $500,000
• Cash sublimit: $250,000
• Market loss protection: No

Alpaca and Apex are also SIPC members under their applicable account roles.

Assessment

Composer charges for automation rather than for ordinary stock execution.

That distinction matters.

A user paying $384 annually may find the subscription economical if Composer replaces:

• custom coding;
• manual rebalancing;
• multiple strategy tools.

A user who wants to place a few manual ETF trades can find the subscription hard to justify.

The platform's strongest feature is also its main analytical risk:

backtesting makes strategy design easier, but historical fit can look much better than future live execution.

The current corporate status is clear:

Composer is now part of SoFi, while Composer Securities remains the registered broker-dealer operating the brokerage relationship.