Best Trading Chart Software
Yes, it's a vlog, I don't have to sit here and be like, so uptight. I can just kinda be myself. But I'm in front of the whiteboard again. I know usually I'm sitting, doing fireside chats. But with this I wanna kinda just map out some thoughts here so I wanna be able to write on something so I can... Sometimes, in my mind, I think I have things like in a nice bullet point order, but I really don't and then I hear myself, I'm like, no that made sense to me at the time but now, listening back, it didn't actually make too much sense.
But as you saw from the title of this, what chart provider do I use, and really just kind of who do I recommend. And I'm gonna give three different choices and, you know, you can kinda go with whomever. But I will definitely put kind of a, you know, who I would back up, you know, next to the three that I talk about. So really it's a question of, I mean, cost and, you know, what you need. And me, personally, who do... Clay, who do I use? I mean, I get this all the time.
And I use eSignal. And eSignal is pretty nice, if you've seen my live trade videos or the video chart analysis videos I do. I mean yeah, they put out a good product. There's no doubt about it. There's a whole ton of functionality. There's a lot of just... There's a lot that you can get with it. And I say get with it because what I pay, don't quote me on this, it's ballpark. I've been with them for, wow, almost 11 years now, I guess.
So I, you know... But I've always paid just a year at a time, just 12 months, boom, because then you save like 20% or something. But it's right around $1,800 a year. And back to the whole get with. That is what, for basically, the very simple package, I don't think it's quite their simplest, maybe middle of the line. But within that, there are all sorts of, you know, you have little add-ons, and then if you want more of data from different... So you could have more. And this is like, you know, just for stocks. I mean, I can't pull up a forex chart on eSignal. You know, I can't pull up a cryptocurrency chart on eSignal. Now I could get a lot of that with the add-ons and for more data. But that's just gonna rack up the cost that much more. So for me, I... I really can't think of any reason to recommend eSignal. Then why do I use it? Well, it meant from a business perspective.
That's why I use it. And it's kind of, I'm just kinda used to it now from a trading perspective too. But even if I did... If I didn't have a business and, you know, ClayTrader.com, you know, as business went away, then I would drop eSignal. I'll tell you who I would go to in that case. But because the business does exist, because it makes life a lot easier in business, I mean, when I do the live webinars for the ClayTrader University on a weekly basis, it just makes that, you know, logistically friendly. There's just a lot of things from the business that goes on. But the business has nothing to do with trading. And for you, as a viewer, I'm assuming you're focused more on what should I use for trading? So eSignal, yeah, they're nice, yeah they offer a lot, but you know, the offer a lot does usually come with even more and when I'm already paying, you know, right around $1,800 a year, it's just, it's not worth it.
I don't think they're that good if you're just using them for trading. Now another option to use would be ToS which stands for Thinkorswim. And there are several people in the Inner Circle chatroom community that use them. And these are free but you do need a funded account. Now that doesn't mean you have to actually use them but you will need to put money into account in order to get their charts. And for full disclosure, if you're watching this a year from now, maybe this policy has changed, maybe you have to pay. I mean, who knows, maybe eSignal has gone way down in price. So I mean, keep in mind, this is just all general thoughts. But, you know, this has been pretty consistent over the past several years. But regardless, you do need a funded account.
But if you do that, they are free. And what, you know, several people do is, they'll fund in an account and then they'll use the charts but, you know, then they'll use another broker to actually facilitate the trade, to make the trade. And that is something that you could do. Now for me personally, I mean, maybe. But I'm just not a huge fan of Thinkorswim charts. I mean, I guess they look okay but, you know, it's all... At the end of the day this is all personal preference. It's a case-by-case basis. But, I mean, I personally wouldn't use Thinkorswim even though they are free. I'm just not a huge fan of their charts and the way they look and the way they function.
And that kinda also brings me back to, you know... Clay, why are you even using eSignal? You have a broker. My broker's charts are terrible. So yes, I could have a free source but free isn't always free. And that's what I... You know, I'm not gonna say that... And my broker is Lightspeed, but I'm not gonna say Lightspeed's charts are as bad as Thinkorswim, 'cause Thinkorswim's are definitely better than Lightspeed. But my point here is though, there's always that kind of give or take. Is it worth paying for something just to get some charts that you really do like? For me, it definitely is. So that's why I will not use ThinkorSwim because me, personally, I'm not saying this is, you know, the holy grail or what you should be doing, I'm just giving my thoughts and recommendations, but yeah. Thinkorswim, I will not use. Now, who I would use is TradingView. And, in fact, I actually do use them in some portions of the business. Again, for you, all those you that follow my video analyses, any sort of penny stocks or whatever, I use TradingView charts. I think they do a great job with their penny stock charts.
So it's just from that perspective alone, if you trade penny stocks, well then TradingView would be a great source. But I mean, they're really good for... I should also note, that when I do my cryptocurrency, so when I do like Bitcoin and the other cryptos, I'm also using TradingView because I can't get cryptos on eSignal unless I cough up more money but I can just hop over to TradingView and I can use, you know, for penny stocks and the cryptocurrencies here.
And they do offer free charts. Now there are limited things though because these are going to be... A lot of it is delayed unless you pay for it. But for me, when you compare cost especially eSignal, the winner that I would recommend and that I would go with if I didn't have the business aspect like I explained earlier, would be TradingView. TradingView is very cost-effective, they have great charts, they have a lot of functionality within the site itself especially if you are a paying member. It just opens up a lotta doors. And, you know, like several people do Thinkorswim in the Inner Circle chatroom, there's also a lotta people that pay for TradingView because again, a lotta good stuff, their charts are very appealing to the eye, and then when you factor in the cost, it's very reasonable and it's definitely not $1,800 a year. And remember, that's the price where it's like discounted 'cause I'm buying it in bulk all at once. So I would encourage you to check out TradingView, I'll put a link down below.
And full disclosure, that is an affiliate link so if you hate my guts and you don't want me to make a penny at all, then don't use that link to get to TradingView. But if you wanna just, whatever, you know, yeah I'll throw you, I don't even know what the affiliate is, I'll throw you probably like three bucks, then yeah, you can click on that link and check out the TradingView there. But that is who I would personally go with, you know, for the reasons discussed. You know, it's probably worth maybe at least checking out Thinkorswim charts, seeing if you like them or not, because who knows, you may think they're great. Maybe they're very appealing to your eye and you think you can make it work and that's totally cool. But I mean, if that doesn't work, then you know, just pay 'cause remember free isn't always free if you're not jiving so it's definitely worth paying for. And, you know, TradingView is who I would pay for. I would not pay for eSignal. And, you know, there are a couple members that have eSignal and I just kinda cringe, like why are you paying so much? You don't need to pay that much for a chart provider.
There's lots of other good alternatives out there and TradingView is usually who I tell these people about. So again I just wanna really reiterate. I only use them because of the business aspect. That is why. So don't. And at the end of the day, I mean, just because you pay a lot for... Some people I get the impression like, oh you know, I'm using this or that and higher prices so they think it's like makes them more serious of a trader, fine line there. Now there are instances where if you're using delayed data on, you know, some site that's got bootleg charts, all right, then you can probably be accused of not treating trading that serious.
But don't think just because you go and spend a lotta money on a chart provider, that that somehow all of a sudden is making you that much more serious. No, be smart about it. But in my opinion, smart is, check out Thinkorswim, see if your eyes jive with that. If it doesn't, then definitely go to TradingView and you know, check that out. Hopefully you click on the link so I can make my $or whatever that is.
That was a joke, people, relax. Do I wanna say anything else? I think that's it. Like, I love vlogs, I can just... You know, I can do this. I can never do that what what. I can never do that on... See Nate, what do you think, the camera guy gets to chime in on vlogs. Well I say you do three of them at a time. Do you have any questions on this topic? No, I don't. No. No. Nate uses RobinHood charts and they don't even have charts. No, M1 Finance. Oh yeah, he uses M1-- They do have charts, they're just line charts though. M1 Finance's charts? Yeah, line charts. Oh, line charts. Nate uses line charts. He uses the one minute line chart for his day trading scalping. That's a lie, he does not day trade scalp. But I think that is it. So yeah, what do I think? Well, don't use eSignal. Maybe start off with Thinkorswim. And definitely consider TradingView and if you are going to pay, go with TradingView. .
Commodities traders look for tech solutionsCollection of data is critical, so you need the technology to collect all the data. But the real crux is what you actually do with the data. So the analytics part is critical. And at the end of the day, what you do in trading is forecasting, so predictive analytics. We've always been in the predictive analytics. We used human brain power in the past. But clearly, more and more, you're using technology to help you to make better decisions, to do more predictive analytics, and at the end of the day, make better trading decisions.
Commodities traders look for tech solutionsCollection of data is critical, so you need the technology to collect all the data. But the real crux is what you actually do with the data. So the analytics part is critical. And at the end of the day, what you do in trading is forecasting, so predictive analytics. We've always been in the predictive analytics. We used human brain power in the past. But clearly, more and more, you're using technology to help you to make better decisions, to do more predictive analytics, and at the end of the day, make better trading decisions.
