Backtrader vs QuantConnect vs Zipline: Setup Speed Test

#backtrader #algorithmictrading #quantconnect #zipline

I Installed All Three on the Same Day and One Took 40 Minutes

If you're building your first algorithmic trading strategy, you'll hit this choice fast: Backtrader, QuantConnect, or Zipline? The internet loves to compare their features, but almost no one talks about what actually matters when you're starting out — how long it takes to get from pip install to running your first backtest.

I tested all three on a clean Ubuntu 22.04 VM with Python 3.10. Backtrader took 8 seconds to install and ran a simple moving average crossover strategy immediately. QuantConnect required creating an account, learning their cloud IDE, and dealing with API rate limits before I could even test locally. Zipline? Forty minutes of dependency hell, including a manual NumPy downgrade and a cryptic error about trading_calendars.

This isn't a feature comparison. It's a survival guide for your first 24 hours with each framework.