Traders fail even when armed with the best stock screeners, indicators, and news sources in the world. Why? Well, because many things can go wrong.
And this is why it’s important to keep a trading journal. This is basically a diary that you document your trading activities. Over time, you can use the data in your trading journal to become a more efficient trader.
For instance, you can easily pinpoint the trading strategies that do you more harm than good. What’s more, you can track things like your risk appetite, emotions, and discipline when you document things using a journal.
To help you get started in the right direction, let us take a look at the top 3 best trading journal picks that you can make. That way, you can determine which one of them provides the best value for money.
Top Trade Journal Software in 2023
They come in different colors, shades, and sizes. Each one has its fair share of merits and demerits. Which one to choose? Here are the details.
1. Edgewonk
This is probably the best-made digital trading journal available out there currently. We like the fact that it’s easy to use and quite practical.
The first feature we’d like to shed light on is the built-in simulator. With this tool, you can check how future-proof your trading strategy is. And of course, this can go a long way in keeping you prepared for all kinds of outcomes.
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.
And of course, we absolutely love the general design and layout of this particular journal. It’s got great graphs that you can use to visualize your trading performance and that’s in addition to it providing you with the ability to attach screenshots to each one of your entries.
Other Key Features
So far, we can say that EdgeWonk is all about empowering you to take full charge of your trading journey. And for that, they provide you with a highly useful feature i.e. session analyzer.
With the session analyzer, you can keep notes about your trading sessions on a monthly or weekly basis. This is quite important when you have to keep track of important lessons and findings.
What’s more, the journal not only enables you to work with stocks but also opens up your world of trading so you can enjoy all the markets. We’re talking about cryptocurrencies, futures, spreadbetting, forex, and even CFD trading.
What Could Improve
Like any other trading journal out there, it takes a lot of dedication to keep all the entries updated. Don’t get us wrong – EdgeWonk has done a lot to make journal keeping as painless as possible but unfortunately, you’ve still got to do your job of filling in the entries so that you can gather meaningful data and analyses over time.
Pricing
The journal costs $187. This is a one-off cost. Alternatively, you can go for a $197 package which also provides you with access to the Trader Development Course that’s valued at 79 bucks.
Pros
Cons
2. TraderSync
Some pundits describe it as the “next-level trading journal” but just how true are those claims? Well, we would say that this is a really good trading journal although it’s not 100% perfect.
It boasts a user-friendly design and a beautiful user interface. So, you won’t have to spend hours figuring out where basic buttons and filters are.
Likewise, the system is designed to provide you with tons of insights with a simple click on the mouse button. Forgive the cliché.
The number one sweet spot as far as TraderSync is concerned is the “Import your Trades” tool. You simply tap on the “Add Trade” button, select your broker, select the portfolio to import, and finally import all the data.
Truth be told, this is the smoothest trading journal data import process we’ve come across so far. It’s a time saver for sure.
Importing trades is important but it’s probably not highly useful if you can’t add notes to your entries. And for this, TraderSync provides you with a highly straightforward way of entering notes right from the sidebar menu.
Other Key Features
You’ve got to love the interactive charting tools provided on this platform. With these well-made charts, you can review your activity in different time frames.
Also, you can conveniently review your entries, exits, target prices, and stop losses. That’s all thanks to the trade markets that are automatically populated on the charts the minute you import your trading data.
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.
Lastly, if you fancy the idea of sinking your teeth in tons of data, TraderSync’s robust reporting system will certainly work for you. Don’t get us started on the fact that you can drill down the stats needed all thanks to the built-in filtering tools.
What Could Improve
Unlike EdgeWonk, you have to pay a monthly subscription to access TraderSync. That, therefore, makes TS a more expensive trading journal. That said, there’s a 7-day free trial in place meant to help you test-drive the system to determine if it’s truly the price tag.
Pricing
The cheapest tier provided by TS will set you back some $30 per month. 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.
Pros
Cons
3. Trader Vue
Moving on swiftly, our next top-rated trading journal is none other than Trader Vue. It has been around since 2011 and seems to be getting stronger with time.
One thing we like about this platform is that it enables you to get started at absolutely no cost. Yup, you read that right. Their lowest tier is available free of charge and enables you to enter 100 stock trades per month with absolutely no qualms.
We, therefore, think that TraderVue is the ideal package for the frugal shoppers in the building. We’d still prefer EdgeWonk for long-term growth and TraderSync for its advanced functionality though.
Still with TraderVue, their daily journal summary report remains as great as ever. Yup, they provide you with a performance report at the end of the day and it comprises data on trade stats and P/L graph.
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.
The good news is that they do allow you to import data but only from selected brokers.
Other Key Features
If you’ve been using trading journals for some time, then you probably know just how important tagging can be. TV provides you with the ability to suggest keyword tags that you can conveniently use to pull data and create meaningful reports.
Yet another extra feature that makes us absolutely love TV is the “Exit Analysis” feature. This highlights your entry and exit points on charts thereby coming in handy when you need to refine your exit triggers.
And of course – our top favorite – the “Risk Reporting.” As a beginner trader, you’re likely to take unreasonable risks unless you have got the right checks and balances in place. Fortunately, TraderVue does provide you with the tools to access your risk appetite.
You will only need to key-in your R amount per trade. And if you’re feeling lazy, you can opt to have a standard R (risk). However, we do encourage traders to manually key-in their Rs so that they can gather meaningful data that you can use to shape your risk appetite over time.
What Could Improve
TraderVue’s general layout and user-interface are so 1990s. In fact, of the three journals reviewed so far, they’re by far the worst in terms of “freshness” and “interactiveness.”
That said, if you’re the type of trader that prioritizes functionality over everything else, you might find TradeVue a really good tool to have.
Pricing
The silver tier goes for $29 per month. 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.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
Theirs is no doubt that a good trading journal can transform you from an average trader into a top-tier trader. But in order for that to happen, the journal should provide you with the tools and functionality needed to get the job done.
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.
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.