QuantConnect development.
From strategy to live operation.

Defined implementation

• One straightforward strategy using standard price/volume data, up to five fixed US stock/ETF tickers, and hourly or daily bars.
• Python source, agreed backtest, documented settings and assumptions, operating guide, senior review and a 30-minute handover.
• Selected Python or Pine Script migrations after scope review.

Delivery and limits

• 14 calendar days; one revision round within the original scope.
• Defects against agreed rules may be reported for correction for 14 calendar days after final delivery.
• Strategy discovery, extensive optimisation, complex options/futures, custom data and paper/live deployment are excluded.

Portfolio implementation and analysis

• Kickoff and written agreement on signals, allocation, execution timing and acceptance criteria.
• One defined strategy across up to 20 US stocks/ETFs; hourly or daily data.
• One allocation method, one rebalancing schedule and up to three agreed risk controls.
• Reproducible backtests, one benchmark and a chronological development/holdout split.
• One sensitivity study with up to 12 parameter combinations, plus agreed fee/slippage stress scenarios.
• Report on returns, drawdowns, exposure, turnover, trade behaviour and material limitations.

Handover and boundaries

• Commented source, configuration guide and a 60-minute walkthrough.
• 21 calendar days after complete requirements and access; two in-scope revision rounds.
• 30 days after acceptance for implementation defects.
• Holdout data stays untouched until the agreed final evaluation. Weak or negative results remain valid findings.
• Discovery, ML, options/futures, alternative data, tick-level execution, large dynamic universes and paper/live deployment are quoted separately.

Indicative milestones: $600 specification → $1,800 implementation → $600 testing and handover.

Baseline system scope

• Written rules, system architecture, dependencies and acceptance plan.
• One portfolio algorithm, up to two defined signal components and up to 50 US stocks/ETFs; agreed minute, hourly or daily data.
• Allocation, exposure and position limits, plus agreed conditions for suspending new orders.
• Reproducible backtests, agreed out-of-sample evaluation and bounded sensitivity/cost analysis.
• One supported brokerage integration, such as IBKR, using one client account and QuantConnect Cloud.
• Relevant state persistence, restart recovery, order-state tracking and agreed rejection/partial-fill handling.
• Logs, runtime statistics and agreed notifications using existing platform capabilities.

Acceptance, launch and handover

• 10 trading days of paper acceptance, with scheduled business-day checks and a findings log. Controlled tests cover infrequent events.
• One assisted live launch only after client approval; operating runbook and two training sessions.
• Typical planning window: approximately 6–8 weeks. Initial delivery commitment: 60 calendar days, with account readiness and client dependencies agreed upfront.
• Two revisions within the signed specification; 30 days of defect support after final acceptance.
• Completion may remain in paper trading if the agreed paper acceptance and deployment handover criteria are met.
• Custom dashboards/connectors, self-hosting, multiple accounts, complex derivatives, ML research, custom data pipelines and ongoing monitoring are separately quoted.

Indicative milestones: $1,000 specification → $4,000 implementation and validation → $2,500 controls and paper deployment → $2,500 acceptance, handover and assisted launch.