TradingView: review of the chart analysis platform (2024)

TradingView is an online platform that allows trader to conduct technical analysis and trade using charts and indicators. TradingView is also one of the web's largest social networks for traders, which means you can share tips and strategies with other like-minded individuals.

Indicators

Indicators help you analyse charts and price data, and it is used to visualise financial information. The indicators can help confirm a trend or predict the next price move of a pair or stock that you're following.

TradingView offers a bunch of indicators, although the number that can be used per chart depends on the account you choose. For example, the basic free plan only allows three indicators per chart, the Pro plan allows five, while the Premium account allows over 20.

Traders using TradingView can also create their own indicators and strategies using Pine Script, which is the platform's programming language. It's all part of the company's plan to also offer a collaborative network. In addition, TradingView allows you to backtest your trading strategies using historical data.

A popular indicator on TradingView is the volume profile, which shows the level of trading activity at different price levels. There are even different types of volume profiles, one of which is the visible range (VPVR). In addition to this indicator, you can use a buy/sell tool and an exponential moving average chart indicator. Moving averages can vary in duration, for example, you can have a 5-day, 6-day, 10-day, 11-day, 46-day, 66-day, 19-week, or even 300-day moving average.

Other types of indicators and trading calculators include:

• The M oscillator,
• Tools to calculate the risk and reward of a particular trade,
• Relative Strength Index (RSI) - analyses price movement,
• Average True Range (ATR) - focuses on volatility, rather than price direction,
• Profit & Loss (P&L) - can be applied to TradingView charts to show the profit or loss of a specific trade,
• Market Cipher (ex. B) - just create an account with TradingView to get access to this trading indicator and oscillator.

TradingView literally has tons of indicators traders can use. The platform itself has created over 100 of them and more than 100,000 others are built by the community. These tools can prove to be crucial in supporting the trading approach you want to use.

Charts

A chart typically shows you the price movement of an asset over time. As with indicators, the number of charts you can have on TradingView in a window depends on the account you buy. The Basic one only allows one chart per tab, the Pro plan allows two charts in one window, the Pro+ account doubles that number to 4 charts in a presentation, and the Premium account doubles it again to eight charts.

There are 12 different charts available on TradingView, including Renko charts, which are a Japanese invention allowing traders to see the trend of an asset more clearly without being distracted by minor price movements or anomalies. Many trading strategies focus on following trends, but what's tricky is determining the momentum and direction of a trend, and charts can help you with this.

Also, TradingView recently released Lightweight Charts 4.0 to make charts easier to use and more useful for traders. TradingView users can also write a journal in the text box below the chart or jump to a specific date on the chart using the "Go to" tool. In 2016, the platform integrated Quandl, allowing the use of their data on multiple TradingView charts.

So, for traders who primarily focus on technical analysis, the charts available on TradingView will help interpret price movements and volatility and calculate the best entry and exit points in the market. You can also switch to night/dark mode/theme for a slightly different experience.

Sample chart:

Drawing tools

With dozens of drawing tools available on TradingView, you can draw lines and curves to help you identify trends, the range of price volatility, and the direction a stock, index or currency pair will move next. The tool for drawing long and short positions helps to display potential profits/losses, among other items.

Fundamental analysis

Below the TradingView charts, you'll find fundamental data for various assets, such as total market capitalisation, volume, and number of employees, to complement your technical analysis. The best trading strategies typically incorporate a mix of both fundamental and technical analysis.

Markets

Although TradingView has partnered with few brokers, the platform provides charts and data for a wide range of assets, including cryptos. TradingView provides data regarding the top winners and losers of each market.

TradingView's full list of markets (along with examples and related symbols):

• Stocks: US, German, Spanish, Russian, Korean, Australian, UK, Swiss, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, Turkish and international stocks like Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA), Société Générale (SocGen), Yum! Brankds (YUM), Tencent (0700), Procter & Gamble (P&G), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B), Plan B Media (PLANB), Marine & General Berhad (M&G), Toshiba (TOSH), Oyak Cimento (OYAKC) and HSBC (0005).
• Cryptocurrencies: including Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC).
• Indices: for example, the volatility of the S&P 500, the FTSE 100 and the DAX 40.
• Futures: includes both commodities and indices.
• Forex: major, minor and exotic currency pairs.
• Bonds: for example, British government bonds.

Data is available for over 90 exchanges around the world. TradingView offers as much free data as possible for these markets, but there may be a data feed delay for some of them.

TradingView offers "Level 2" data from a selection of brokers, which provides additional information such as the number of open buy and sell orders at different prices.

Many investment strategies across a wide range of markets also use the 52-week high and low numbers. More about this can be found in the Script section of TradingView's website.

Other features

Alerts

Traders who use TradingView can add alerts, for example, to provide signals when the value of the EUR/CHF falls below a certain amount, or to allow them to monitor the price of oil. In total, there are 12 different types of alert conditions. You can choose an expiration date for the alert and decide how you want to receive the alert (by email, through the app, via a pop-up, etc.).

Traders can add assets and indices (such as the FTSE 100), as well as futures and options (F&O), to their watchlists. This means that data such as price and percentage change is easily visible on your screen as a list. Users can also import, export and share watchlists, to provide inspiration and ideas to other traders.

Market news

In the interface, you can easily access market news (the EUR drops below $1, for example) and TradingView's economic calendar, which lists financial reports that are likely to affect the price of an asset.

Breaking news and general updates for a range of different assets are also available on the TradingView website. The platform also provides data for fundamental analysis, such as financial statements.

Social media network

TradingView is also a network that brings people together to collaborate and share ideas in order to make better-informed trades. The platform hosts the web's largest social network for investors.

Traders will be able to see public chats alongside their charts, with discussions on currencies, cryptos, stocks and more. On the main website, you can also access articles, including discussions of high-potential forex pairs and the direction of major cryptocurrencies. Not all discussions are about assets, however, some focus on tips regarding indicators or how to best track an index portfolio.

More experienced traders can also contribute to the TradingView network via articles. They can cover charts, or how to use tools specific to trading strategies, such as one that uses stochastic models, or how to follow order flow. One specific trading idea claims that a yield curve representing the difference between the 10-year and 2-year T-Bill yield is useful to estimate the future direction of Ethereum prices.

Some trading strategies on TradingView claim a 90% profitable trade rate. Further insights and forecasts for specific markets (such as silver/USD or XAG/USD) can be found on the main website.

In addition to written content on the company's site, regular live streams show tutorial clips, including trading strategies, and other videos like market updates on currencies, cryptos, indices and commodities.

Filters

TradingView offers a screener tool that allows you to filter stocks, currency pairs, and cryptos based on particular variables, such as market cap, price changes over the previous month, and volatility levels. The screener also allows you to filter using pre-market data.

These tools are useful if you don't have a particular asset in mind that you want to invest in, but want an asset that meets certain parameters, such as a market capitalisation greater than $500 million.

TradingView also has a heatmap of stocks and cryptos which gives a visual picture of the state of the overall market performance and market cap of individual stocks. Those that have experienced significant negative growth will be red, while those that are increasing in value will be green. Those that only experience a very small movement (like 0.06%) are grey.

API

TradingView offers an application programming interface (API), which is useful for developers who want to integrate the platform's charts into their own website or app (as widgets, typically), for example using either Python or JavaScript (JS). This means that traders don't need to access raw data.

Market depth

Depth of market (or DOM), also known as the order book, is a tool that can be used on TradingView, provided you use a broker that supports "Level 2 data". The market chart shows the number of open buy and sell orders at different prices, providing insight into where most supply and demand is.

Ease of use

The user interface is quite easy to use. There are a lot of tools though, so take some time to get used to where each one is and what it does. The tools are on the left, right, and top of the web page.

The good news is that there is an in-platform help section that helps you resolve most issues, like how to remove all chart drawings and indicators and information about indicators like the RSI indicator. This means you can get simple answers to your questions without leaving the software.

Bots, such as the Dollar Cost Averaging Bot, can be created on third-party websites to help automate your trades. Traders can then backtest some of these algorithmic trading strategies on TradingView to assess potential performance.

If you want to take a closer look at a specific section of a chart, TradingView allows you to zoom in/out to get to a specific date or time period. There are also shortcut keys for it. The shortcut for zooming in on a Mac device is Command + the Up Arrow.

TradingView also lets you create new windows so you can trade on two screens, for example.

Beginners

The fact that TradingView offers so many different indicators, charts and drawing tools can make things overwhelming for an amateur trader, especially for those unfamiliar with technical analysis. We recommend that you take the time to learn technical analysis theory and the most common trading strategies before attempting to use the platform's tools. Also, don't feel pressured to use all the tools right away. For example, start by testing a small number of TradingView indicators on a single chart, before increasing that number. The same goes for the number of charts you use on a screen.

The good news for beginners on TradingView (as opposed to MetaTrader 4 or 5 (MT4 or MT5), is that you don't have to choose a broker right away. You can familiarise yourself with the platform and understand the charts before choosing a broker to trade with.

Mobile app

TradingView has a mobile app which can be downloaded from Apple's App Store or from Google's Play Store (Android APK download). The app is ideal for people who want to keep up with prices while on the go via a cell phone or tablet. However, it is generally easier to draw and analyse charts on a desktop computer.

Benefits

• A useful API system,
• Integrated and customisable alerts,
• No brokerage accounts arerequired,
• A wide range of assets that you can analyse,
• Thousands of indicators,
• The basic free plan provides you with access to many tools,
• Input from the trading community enriches the resources that are available.

Drawbacks

• Some indicators and strategies are complex,
• The number of brokers integrated into the platform is limited.

How can I download it?

You can download the TradingView platform from the company's website, which you can easily find via your favourite search engine.

To be quite honest, the TradingView desktop platform is just plain faster. The software can be downloaded on Windows, Mac or Linux computers. Other options for using TradingView are available for mobile devices via the app.

To trade directly on the TradingView platform, you must use a licensed broker listed by the company, such as Pepperstone. If you wish to use another broker, you will need to place trades on that broker's site rather than through TradingView. You can also try asking the broker to integrate their system with the TradingView platform to connect the two. Remember that even if you choose a broker within the platform, it doesn't make it free - you will still be liable for its fees.

Types of plans

The various plans are detailed below:

Basic plan

The TradingView Basic plan is the only free account you can sign up for. Of course, although it's more basic in terms of offering, this free account still provides access to pre-built and community indicators, as well as numerous drawing tools. However, only one active alert is allowed. We recommend you try TradingView's features on this account before considering paid plans, although experienced traders may wish to dive straight into the more advanced plans.

Pro plan

The Pro plan is priced at $15 per month. The main advantages of this TradingView package are that you can use five indicators per chart and have two charts in one window/per tab, in addition to the possibility of having 20 active alerts. TradingView traders with a paid plan (Pro or above) can set any time frame, from 1 minute to 12 months. So whether it's a 3-minute, 5-minute, 1-hour, 3-hour, 7-hour, 11-hour, 4-day, 6-day, or 5-month chart, TradingView has it covered. The time frame you set (5 hours, 12 hours, 6 months, etc.) depends on your trading strategy and whether you are investing for the short, medium or long term.

Pro+ plan

Pro+ is the next step up in terms of features. It costs $30/month and lets you set 100 active alerts, as well as create custom chats in TradingView's social network (not possible with the Basic and Pro plans).

Premium plan

The Premium plan is at the very high end of their plans, with a monthly cost of $60, significantly more than the Pro and Pro+ accounts. On all paid plans, you can pay for an annual subscription, which amounts to $360 per year for the Premium plan (it's discounted if you subscribe for a year). The difference between this TradingView plan and the others is in the offer of charts, alerts, indicators and some other features.

More alerts are possible, in addition to 8 charts in a single layout and 25 indicators per chart. It's also possible to opt for alerts that don't expire. The cost of this plan would probably only be justified for more experienced and professional traders who really need these additional features.

Plans can be canceled at any time, although TradingView does not offer refunds for first purchases.

Demo accounts

Trading on a TradingView demo account allows you to test trading strategies using fake money. In other words, without any financial risk, because all market situations and capital are simulated. We highly recommend that traders, especially novices, use this feature to become familiar with things.

Special offer

All of TradingView's paid plans come with a free 30-day trial, so you can see which one is best suited to your needs.

Customer service

TradingView doesn't offer direct contact to traders using the free version. Those who pay for their plans will have priority access to customer support. Questions can be sent and answered during business hours (weekdays from 4:00 to 15:00 New York time).

TradingView's FAQ section also provides answers to common questions and provides clarification of technical terms such as the meaning of the P/S (price-to-sales) ratio. The Scripts section of the TradingView website also helps with some technical aspects, like the meaning of the P/E (price-to-earnings) ratio. TradingView has a community on Reddit with moderators who monitor the discussions, so you might be able to get a response from them there. Threads often pop up on Reddit (which has an app) when things aren't working/loading or people need help with a TradingView feature - for example a thread popped up when charts were not loading on Binance Futures and there were discussions regarding 429 errors (too many requests) appearing.

Other examples of Reddit threads relating to TradingView include a user who wonders if it's possible to change the 24-hour clock format to a 12-hour clock format, a user who asks for information on how to get reputation points, etc.

As for TradingView's social media presence, it has accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, a YouTube channel, and accounts on other platforms like TikTok. TradingView has previously used Twitter to explain solutions when things don't work. The company is also present on GitHub, which is a software development platform.

In addition to those created by TradingView, YouTube offers third-party videos on topics such as using the platform, as well as videos on various technical terms, such as the Z-score indicator. A video on YouTube explains how to find the VIX 75 Index (or Volatility 75 Index) on TradingView.

One last thing about TradingView

TradingView is a competitive trading platform with a wealth of resources including customisable chart types, indicators and trading alerts, many of which are available for free and without a brokerage account. Paid plans can be purchased for greater flexibility regarding active alerts, networking, and the number of simultaneous windows and indicators that can be used. There are also many features that help test and implement strategies, implement algorithmic trading approaches, and analyse market data. TradingView can be used directly with licensed brokers or indirectly and connected through its API.

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