TC2000 vs Tradestation

How crucial are trading tools in your overall stock trading strategy? Well, from what we know, tools are quite important when you need to win more and lose fewer trades.

This is because such programs are meant to help you make precise observations before making any move.

The ideal platform should have all the features that would make your work easier. Now, there are many trading platforms in the market, and you may easily get confused on which one to go for. In this article, we shall be looking at and comparing TC2000 vs Tradestation.

Both platforms have something good to offer, and we shall help you decide which one would be better for you. Here we go!

A Comparison of Tradestation and TC2000

We want it to be clear to you what similarities and differences these two software programs have. The best way to do this is by checking out the individual features that each platform has, and this should help you see what each of them has to offer.

Let’s now compare the two platforms.

1. Charting

The first feature to look at is the charting whereby both platforms do extremely well to give each other a run for the money. Let’s start with Tradestation, which offers you access to a wide range of charts to help your price action interpretation.

The various charts on offer include line charts, candlestick charts, Renko, Ichimoku clouds, among others. You also get drawing tools that aim to enhance the charting’s efficiency as they enable you to add trendlines, notes, and fans on the charts along with trigger alerts.

You are sure to appreciate this feature if you are a trader with numerous alerts set at vital trigger levels.

TC2000 also does pretty well with respect to charting. The charts are customizable, user-friendly, and clean, a combination which active day traders would find useful. A notable feature is the data box that allows you to see the returns over a certain period. 

On top of that, the box also allows you to see various data points such as open, close, high, and low. We also liked the zooming in TC2000, which is very smooth, unlike many other competitors. This may seem an insignificant feature, but it is the small conveniences that make all the difference.

2. Indicators

We all need indicators to keep track of market dynamics and to make important decisions. Fortunately, both competing platforms come with hundreds of indicators to choose from. You’ll be spoilt for choice.

Overall, we feel that TC2000 is more snappy on this front. So, if you’re really picky, you might find that TC2000 provides a slightly better experience as far as indicators are concerned.

3. The Scanners

When it comes to the scanners, we noted some differences between the two platforms. With TC2000, we found the scanning tools convenient and even enable you to find trading opportunities with ease daily.

The EasyScan feature enables you to decide how the stocks showing up in your scans rank against a particular security or a set of securities for whichever criteria you are scanning.

Heading over to Tradestation, although the pre-set scans are sufficient to accommodate basic scans, you may find customizing the scans to be somewhat tricky since defining the parameters is not that straightforward.

Of course, there are ways of simplifying the process for the newbies, but why go through all that trouble when there are many standalone scanning software programs out there?

4. Mobile App

Both TC2000 and Tradestation have mobile apps that are compatible with both android and apple. This offers you more mobility, as you wouldn’t have to always work from your desktop. However, there is a minor difference between the mobile apps of the two platforms. 

The Tradestation mobile app (TS GO) allows you to make trades from the platform, whereas it is impossible to do so in TC2000.  

5. The Securities

Although both platforms allow you to trade in a wide range of securities, you will find that Tradestation has more to offer in this respect. Once you access the system, some of the securities you could trade in include stocks, ETFs, options, futures, cryptocurrencies, futures-options, mutual funds, and IPOs.

TC2000 is not badly off, although it pays more attention to options, futures, and stocks.

6. Customer Support

On checking out both platforms’ website, they both claim to offer support to their customers whenever they experience any difficulties with their products.

We checked out Tradestation.com and found out that they offer you various contact options. You could go for the live chat, email, or make a phone call to any of the customer care representatives if you have any issue that needs to be sorted out.

We read some customer reviews, which seem to suggest that the customer support here is reliable.

As for TC2000, there is a quick chat feature on the website that offers instant answers to some of the problems you may face. Further, an FAQ section is sorted into various categories featuring screenshots of step-by-step guides to solving some of the issues.

Additionally, a toll-free number offers technical support and another number that deals with brokerage services. And if you want to use email services, there is one for technical support ([email protected]) and another that responds to any issues with your account ([email protected]). 

Keep in mind that all TC2000’s customer service is only available on weekdays, maybe because trading rarely happens over the weekend. One last bit on TC2000’s customer support is that there is a YouTube channel with one of its brokers and provides instant answers to the questions brought forward.

7. Pricing

This is another area that sets the two software programs apart. Let’s start with Tradestation, whereby there are commissions for stocks and options, and they are applied on a flat and per share basis.

The flat commission rates apply as follows:

• Stocks-$5 per trade
• Options-$5 per trade
• Futures-$1.50 per contract per side

The minimum account charges go as follows:

• Stocks-$500
• Options-$2,000
• Futures-$5,000

The mutual feeds have a commission of $14.95, while the IRA accounts have an annual account fee of $35.

The pricing of TC2000 is rather straightforward, and you have four plans to choose from. There is a free package, followed by the Silver, Gold, and Platinum plans.

The Free package is available at FreeStockCharts.com, while the Silver plan goes for $9.99 per month. Some of the features you find there include:

• Trade stocks and options
• Dozens of watchlists
• Paper trading simulation accounts
• Customization of layouts, etc.

The next plan is the Gold plan, and it costs $29.99 per month. It has all the features in the Silver plan in addition to certain other features such as:

• Ability to draw trendlines, fibs, and notes on charts
• Creation of custom reports
• EasyScan scanner, among others

The top tier is the Platinum plan that costs $89.98 per month, and it offers discounts for both annual and bi-annual subscriptions. In this plan, you will get access to all the features in the Gold plan in addition to others such as:

• Live EasyScan dashboard
• Organization of your EasyScans into reports
• Easy tracking of market sentiments
• Monitoring of alerts on price, trendlines, and indicators

Which One is Better?

After checking out the individual features of these two platforms, it is easy to see that they have something positive to offer, and they also have their flaws. Therefore, the decision on which one suits you better depends on your unique preferences as a trader.

Check out which one has more tools that would help you advance your trade skills and give you an easy time navigating the system. Further, the cost of accessing the system is another factor that you need to consider.