They provide the freedom to structure your journal in a way that resonates with your trading style. However, trading journals offer more than a record-keeping function; they become a canvas for generating ideas, introspection, and self-analysis. Seasoned traders recognize that success in trading extends beyond the numbers; it hinges on a deep understanding of oneself and the market. While many web-based online trading journals are available online, each with its own set of features, I recommend using TradeZilla and Tradervue. In summary, while paper trading journals are the simplest way to document your trading activities, they may not be the most efficient.

Creating Your Trading Journal: Template and Tools

With several options in the market, how does one choose the right trading journal software? At the bare minimum, a trading journal should include the profit and loss made on each trade, along with the date and time the trade was made. However, the more you put into a trading journal, the more you will get out of it, so it is best to include as detailed an account of your trades as possible. If you are just getting started trading and you don’t need to bulk upload a long account history, consider trying the free version. Most beginning traders will be content with the relatively inexpensive “light” versions and, as said before, you can always create your own, too.

How will you review your trading journal data?

Import that one file, and Tradersync will automatically split them up by account for you. Autosync is also available for many brokers, although I prefer to not rely on direct autosync. Trademetria offers a free account that lets you import up to 30 trades per month. Paid plans start at $29.95 per month and let you import up to 100 trades per month. You can even filter your performance based on the performance of major market indices. In addition, Edgewonk enables you to keep trade journals for multiple trading accounts.

What do you record in a trading journal?

Some brokers offer an inbuilt journal template, and this will save you time by automatically recording the data needed. As such, traders from all countries, be it the UK or the US, India or the Philippines, should consider keeping a journal or diary to improve their trading skills. Tradervue was one of the very first trading journals to come online, back in 2011.

Mobile Apps

While desktop software typically offers more robust features (think complex chart analysis), they’re restricted by hardware compatibility – sorry Mac users! Mobile apps provide convenience but lack in-depth functionality due to limited screen size. On the other hand, if you’re searching for advanced features and sophisticated journaling tools, trading journal software emerges as the optimal choice. These software solutions offer a comprehensive suite of tools to cater to traders with diverse needs.

They also bring technological innovations that help you analyze the recorded data and execute new trades. As a result, they top our ranking of the best online trading journals in 2024. There are rich customization possibilities once you enter detailed notes and tags for each trade and a backtesting tool. Unfortunately, the broker import support is light for U.S.-based casual stock traders and is instead focused primarily on a handful of popular forex brokers and platforms like MetaTrader4 (MT4). Multicurrency traders will appreciate profits and losses calculated in both the foreign and the home currency. Currently, 82 different trading platforms are supported, ranging from the most popular ones like TD Ameritrade, Robinhood and MetaTrader to less-known platforms like cTrader and CQG Trader.

Opinions expressed here are mine alone, not those of any prop firm or software company. They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of those entities. You have to analyze how you can reduce the effect of those weaknesses. When I’ve contacted Tradervue support they were mostly helpful, although sometimes a little slower to respond. The last time was a few years ago, though, and I believe they’ve grown since then and added more customer service.

Tradervue offers a 7-day free trial, and you won’t be charged until it’s up. You’ll have to enter payment info to start, so just make sure that if you don’t want to keep it, you cancel before the 7 days is up. Check it out for the powerful advanced filters, exit analysis, and liquidity reports and for competitive monthly pricing without having to pay yearly. Although there isn’t a free trial, they have a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it and cancel for a refund within that time if you don’t like it. Tradesviz customer service has gone above and beyond, providing excellent service and helping me figure out how to make their service work for me. They’re quick and responsive, and they offer chat and email support.

They provide advanced features, support team collaboration, and seamless online integration, which are increasingly essential in today’s trading landscape. However, if you prefer a more straightforward approach, paper and spreadsheet trading journals are reliable options. Like its web or desktop counterparts, a mobile app-based trading journal is a digital tool designed for traders to record their transactions.

Join 1,400+ traders and investors discovering the secrets of legendary market wizards in a free weekly email. Chartlog,  Trademetria, and Stonk Journal are other examples of journaling software you can download and install locally on your computer. While this section mentions Microsoft Excel specifically, you can also consider Google Sheets or OpenOffice as viable alternatives. For more details on best trading journals how to use Exel for your trading journal, you can check out our other article. Trading Review’s mission is to help you become a better and smarter trader/investor through in-depth reviews of courses, trading software, and more. The 3 picks reviewed above are all awesome but you need to make a point of analyzing their key features so you can determine which one is best for your style of trading.

It’s a good plan because it provides you with the ability to key-in unlimited trades. The Gold tier is even better as it provides you with risk analysis – it goes for $49 per month. A common challenge people face when using trading journals stems from the fact that there’s too much information being relayed at any given time. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about that as EdgeWonk comes fully loaded with filters that you can use to customize the kind of feedback your journal provides you with. AntSignals has lot’s of features in free tier and outstanding usability.It is the #1 trading journal one the market.

1. A few decent software solutions came out over the years, but they were always missing a few key features.
2. When not working, Jeremy enjoys putting his knowledge to work by day trading and spending time with his wife and young son.
3. Many traders who are just starting out use Excel to keep a spreadsheet trading journal.
4. Seasoned traders recognize that success in trading extends beyond the numbers; it hinges on a deep understanding of oneself and the market.
5. You can use Trademetria’s tools to refine your trading strategy, conduct better trade analysis, and keep more organized notes for your trades.

TraderSync also lets you create custom tags to organize your trades by strategy, theme, or however else you want. Trading journal software typically includes features like trade analysis, performance metrics, and reporting tools. These can save you time and provide in-depth insights into your trading patterns, especially if you are a discretionary trader. If you use trading systems, it is important to analyze your system performance using backtesting in addition to recording trades in your journal.

Tradervue’s subscription rates are on the lower end of the spectrum, so it’s a good option if you want a trading journal that doesn’t break the bank. Tradervue is an easy-to-use trading journal with many tracking capabilities. This platform gives you the power to journal, analyze, and share your trades with minimal difficulty. Regardless, TraderSync makes it easy to refine your trading strategy thanks to its arsenal of technical analysis features. TraderSync is a top-tier trader journal with a slew of fantastic applications for traders on the go.

This feature allows you to take a deep dive into your trading performance, examining every nook and cranny for improvement opportunities. For example, you can assess the efficiency of your money management approach or evaluate whether a particular strategy consistently meets your profit targets. The free plan supports a wide variety of asset types including options, futures, forex, cryptos, and Cfds. It also has a number of different features that make it easy to track each individual trade, separating successful trades from the “needs-improvement” ones. Trademetria is an all-in-one investment research platform, charting software, and trade journal. It offers a wide range of trade tracking features, including the ability to annotate charts, upload screenshots from your trading platform, and create your own custom trade tags.

Filters include date range, ticker, performance, strategy, and more. The platform even uses artificial intelligence to analyze your trade data and suggest strategies, trading hours, or asset classes that work best for you. A comprehensive trade journal should encompass crucial elements such as trade entry and exit points, reasons for the trade, risk management strategies, and emotional notes.

You’ll have a number of different free online trading journal software solutions to choose from. While all of them will track your trading performance and trade history to some extent, many of these platforms severely limit your ability to track previous trades. Edgewonk offers a desktop journaling software in addition to a web platform and mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.

So, in our view, this is a superb tool as it takes over so much legwork as far as processing and analyzing data is concerned. But even with that said, it does require your input to create meaningful and detailed entries. And just like with EdgeWonk, TraderSync enables you to upload screenshots of individual trades. This helps you store as much data as possible for even better analysis. The number one sweet spot as far as TraderSync is concerned is the “Import your Trades” tool.

It’s essential to consider your trading style, preferences, and need for specialized trading features when deciding. A trading journal is a documented record of your trading activities. It’s more than just a ledger; your trading journal offers valuable insights into your decisions, strategies, and performance. In other words, it’s like your trading diary that you write to every day. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced trader, the key to consistent success lies in systematic and disciplined trading.

This package, however, doesn’t provide you with the “Trade Import” functionality among other cool features. Better tiers exist namely Premium at $50 per month and Elite at $80 per month. With the session analyzer, you can keep notes about your trading sessions on a monthly or weekly basis.