--- title: "Desktop vs Cloud Copy Trading: Where Your Orders Run · MyAlgoMate" source: https://myalgomate.com/blog/desktop-vs-cloud-copy-trading retrieved: 2026-11-02 publisher: MyAlgoMate (Myalgomate Technologies LLP, Rajkot, India) --- 1. [Home](https://myalgomate.com/) 2. [Blog](https://myalgomate.com/blog) 3. Desktop vs cloud copy trading: where your orders run // COPY TRADING # Desktop vs cloud copy trading: where your orders run Rishi Ajmera · 2 November 2026 Copy trading software has to run somewhere. It needs a computer that stays on during market hours, holds each account's broker session, watches the master's [order book](https://myalgomate.com/glossary#order-book) and sends the copies to every [child account](https://myalgomate.com/glossary#child-account). With [MyAlgoMate's Copy Trading Software](https://myalgomate.com/products/copy-trading-software), that computer is one of two things: your own Windows PC, or a Windows cloud server you rent. This guide compares the two in plain English, so you can pick the one that suits your setup. ## Your own machine, either way The choice is about which machine, not whose. With MyAlgoMate, the software always runs on a machine you own or rent for yourself. It never runs on a shared machine that runs algos for several people, and MyAlgoMate never places trades for you. - **You install it once.** The software is a Windows desktop program. You install it on one machine, and every master and child account is managed from there. Nothing is installed for the child accounts. - **Your logins stay with you.** Broker credentials are stored on your own machine, never on MyAlgoMate's servers. - **Orders go through official broker APIs.** The software connects to each account through its broker's own [API](https://myalgomate.com/glossary#api) and places the orders you tell it to place, across the accounts you link to it. ## Running on your own Windows PC This is the simplest place to start. You install the software on a Windows PC you already have, sign in with your MyAlgoMate account, add your accounts and start copying. What it needs: - A Windows PC that stays on and connected for the whole market session, with sleep turned off during those hours. - *Set time automatically* switched on in Windows. Most broker logins use a [TOTP](https://myalgomate.com/glossary#totp-2fa) code worked out from the clock, and a clock that is out by a minute makes them fail. - A [static IP](https://myalgomate.com/glossary#static-ip), registered with every broker you use. Ask your internet provider for one; many offer it, often on business plans. You can also give an account its own static IP through its proxy settings in the software. ## Running on your own cloud server A cloud server is a computer you rent in a data centre and control over the internet. You connect to it with Remote Desktop and run the software there, just as you would on a PC. What it gives you: - It stays switched on and does not sleep, so your own computer can be off. - It keeps the same public IP address, which makes broker IP registration simpler. - You can reach it over Remote Desktop (RDP) from Windows, Mac, Android or iOS, so you can check your accounts from wherever you are. You can rent a Windows [cloud machine](https://myalgomate.com/glossary#vps-cloud-server) from any provider you like, or use [MyAlgoMate's Cloud Server for Algo Trading](https://myalgomate.com/products/cloud-server-for-algo-trading), a dedicated machine for your own trading software. Either way, the machine is rented to you and runs only your copy of the software. ## Static IP on each option The static IP rule is the same wherever the software runs. Every account that places orders through a broker API, the master and each child, needs a static IP registered with its broker. Orders from an IP that is not registered are rejected. How you meet it differs: - **On a PC at home or in an office,** most internet connections get a new IP address from time to time. You need a static IP from your internet provider, or a static IP set up for each account in the software. - **On a cloud server,** the machine keeps the same public IP, so you register that IP with each broker. - **Per account, on either option.** Each account in the software has its own proxy settings. Leave them empty and the account connects from the machine's own address. Fill them in and that account connects through its own static IP. This matters at brokers that link one IP to one customer: [Upstox](https://myalgomate.com/copy-trading/upstox), for example, needs a separate IP for each Upstox account. [MyAlgoMate's Virtual Trading Environment](https://myalgomate.com/products/virtual-trading-environment) gives you a dedicated static IP for each trading account, and you enter its details in the software on a PC or a cloud server alike. To see the IP you connect from today, use the free [static IP checker](https://myalgomate.com/tools/static-ip-checker). Before the market opens, the software's broker IP check confirms that each broker accepts orders from each account's IP. ## Uptime, power and internet A copy trading setup is only as reliable as its weakest link: the machine, the internet connection and each broker's API all need to be up for the whole session. If the machine sleeps, restarts for an update or loses its connection, orders placed in the master during that time can be missed. On a PC, you look after all of this yourself: - **Power.** A power cut switches the PC off, so plan for backup power if cuts are common where you are. - **Updates.** Schedule Windows updates and restarts outside market hours. - **Sleep.** Make sure the PC never sleeps during the session. - **Internet.** If you keep a backup connection, register its IP with your brokers too. Brokers usually allow a primary IP and a backup one. On a cloud server, the data centre looks after power and the connection, and the machine does not sleep. You still schedule Windows updates outside market hours and check that the server is running before the open. Either way, the software's own checks help: the broker IP check before the open, a count of any account that is out of line with the master, Re-Balance to correct it, and Telegram, pop-up and sound alerts. ## How to choose - **Start on your PC** if you are trying copy trading for the first time, run a small desk, and can keep the PC on and connected through market hours with a static IP registered. - **Move to a cloud server** if you do not want to depend on a home PC, its power or its internet connection, or you want to check your accounts from anywhere. - **Either way,** every account needs a registered static IP, and the software runs on a machine that is yours alone. You can move later: save your account list to a file, load it on the new machine, and register the new machine's IP with each broker. Treat that file like your broker credentials, because it contains them. See [copy trading with Zerodha](https://myalgomate.com/copy-trading/zerodha) for how one broker handles IP whitelisting. ## Common questions ### Is the copy trading software a website or a desktop program? It is a Windows desktop program. It runs on your own PC or on a Windows cloud machine that you rent. ### Does MyAlgoMate run the software for me on its servers? No. The software runs only on a machine you own or rent for yourself, never on a shared machine that runs algos for several people. Your broker logins are stored on that machine, and MyAlgoMate never places trades for you. ### Can I run it on a free cloud machine? For a small desk, yes. A free tier is usually enough for one or two child accounts placing a handful of orders a day. More accounts or more orders need a paid machine, because the software is logging in to every account and watching every order book. ### Do I still need a static IP on a cloud server? Yes. Every account, the master and each child, needs a static IP registered with its broker. A cloud server keeps the same public IP, and you can give any account its own static IP through its proxy settings. ### How do I connect to a cloud server? With Remote Desktop (RDP). You can connect from Windows, Mac, Android or iOS, and use the software on the server just as you would on your own PC. ### Can I move from my PC to a cloud server later? Yes. Save your account list to a file, load it on the new machine, and register the new machine's IP with each broker. Some brokers allow a registered IP to be changed only once a calendar week, so plan the move with that in mind. > MyAlgoMate Technologies LLP is a technology provider and does not act as an investment adviser, research analyst or portfolio manager. We provide automation tools; all trading decisions and transactions are the user's own responsibility and are subject to market risk. --- MyAlgoMate is a technology provider: its software automates the user's own trading rules. It does not give trading tips, calls or investment advice and never promises returns. Site map for AI assistants: https://myalgomate.com/llms.txt