TradingView Vs StockCharts

Day trading is one of the most interesting and profitable ventures one can explore in this day and age. However, in order to get the best experience out of every long or short move you make, it’s imperative to invest in a good charting software.

The two big names that easily come to mind as far as top trading software alternatives are concerned are TradingView and StockCharts. The two have been locked in a battle for popularity with pundits often concluding that the duel is so closely fought that it’s nearly impossible to determine the winner.

Having taken a closer look at the TradingView vs StockCharts comparison, we were able to identify quite a few similarities and a bunch of differences as well. Here’s a quick rundown of facts worth keeping in mind.

TradingView vs StockCharts – Key Differences

TradingView and StockCharts are two popular platforms used for technical analysis of stocks and other financial instruments.

While both platforms offer advanced charting tools and a range of features for traders and investors, there are some key differences between the two. Lets take a deeper look below:

1. Tiers

The two platforms offer three trading tiers. TradingView has a Pro tier which is basically a beginners’ level of trading and contains basic features which are just enough to give you a much-needed boost. StockCharts begins with Basic tier which offers you some basic charting features with historical price data points dating back to the 80s.

However, TradingView offers a cheaper package for beginners, going for $9.95 per month with a 30-day free trial. StockCharts, on the other hand, offers a pricier beginners tier going for $14.95 with a 30-day trial. We find that there’s absolutely no justification for the extra $4 required to join the latter platform since the two offer pretty much similar features.

2. Layout

TradingView seems to have a better layout than StockCharts. For instance, the former has a clean ad-free interface and this gives you an opportunity to only interact with the content that matters the most to you. That’s however not the case with StockCharts which looks quite crowded and frequently rolls out ads.

That said, both platforms have relatively straightforward signup pages. It only takes a few minutes to become a member. What’s more? You can get rid of the ads on StockCharts by simply paying up to become a premium member.

3. Features

As far as features are concerned, the two platforms seem to be adequately armed with the latest technology. TradingView, for instance, comes with HTML5-based charts. These load fast and allow you to track the latest stock prices as well as price patterns.

So, whether you’re looking for spread charts, PNF, Line Break, KAGI or even Renko charts, this system has got you covered. To top it all off, this platform comes with 50+ intelligent drawing tools to allow you to create a custom-made viewing experience.

StockCharts on its part comes with a wide range of charting tools including the SharpCharts which is dubbed an award-winning program. Pretty much everyone who signs up on this platform does so due to this handy feature. The charts are quite effective at providing a workbench for technical analysis.

What’s more? There are quite a number of chart settings waiting for you to explore – and these can be customized to suit your unique trading style.

Another notable feature on this platform is the dynamic yield curve which comes in handy under certain economic conditions when traders need to exercise caution prior to opening new trades. This curve provides information on the market situation at a glance you can also explore historical yield curves, conveniently.

4. Stock Screening

Once again, as far as stock screeners are concerned – it’s a tie. TradingViews comes with a highly sophisticated stock screener which is loaded with a built-in filter that filters out stocks based on the metrics you specify.

For instance, if you’d like to invest in the cheapest stocks from fast-growing companies, you’d only need to filter out based on the lowest P/E ratio. Another awesome attribute to using this screener is that you can work with it either on a separate page or directly on the charts you might be tracking.

Stockcharts, on the other hand, is no underdog as far as stock screening is concerned. The super-duper system comes with the ability to specify your technical criteria so you can zero-in to the trades you’d like to profit from. And to top it all up, there’s a possibility to create custom alerts.

That means you can still benefit from market information that’s tailored to your specific needs either through web notifications, SMS or emails.

5. Value for Money

Of the two, which one offers the best deal? You might want to ask. Well, to this end, our research confirms that TradingView offers more bang for your bucks. You can opt for the $9.95 basic tier (Pro Tier) and this grants you access to 2 charts per layout.

On top of that, you enjoy unlimited freedom to use indicator templates of your choice. You get pretty much the same package from Stockcharts but at $4 more. In fact, the only major difference between the two is that TradingView allows for 5 indicators per chart while Stockcharts allows for up to 25 per chart.

If you’re someone who understands trading, you know very well that loading too many indicators isn’t always a good thing to do. Experts across the world recommend that you should always keep your charts tidy. So, you really don’t need the 25 indicators anyway – in fact, 5 in our opinion would still be more than enough.

6. Market Commentary

Once again TradingView takes the crown as far as access to market commentary is concerned. As you might be aware, this was originally a forum where people would come to share trading ideas. So, the moment you join TradingView you ultimately join a community that has coexisted since 2011. Of course, that means you’ll never run out of options and that you can always count on other forum members to access real-time support.

StockCharts doesn’t seem to place much emphasis on collaboration but instead offers expert market commentary from Arthur Hill, Martin Pring, and John Murphy.

While that can help you avoid information overload, it also limits the kind of information you access as well as how fast you can access it. An open-ended forum, such as the one TradingView allows you a better platform to grow since you can tag along with other newbies and encourage one another during the learning process.

Above all, this gives you an opportunity to pick a mentor whose approach best suits your individual preferences. You won’t get such a deal when you opt for StockCharts.