# Stock Charting Platforms & Screeners

Chart, scan and screen the market from a product — what the exchange data costs on top of the subscription, and which tool does which job.

*https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/charting-screeners*

The platform fee is not the bill. Exchange data is billed separately and on top of every
subscription here, and for an active trader it is frequently the larger number — so price the
tools on what your symbols cost to watch, not on the tier name. The second thing that decides the
choice is which of five jobs you are buying, because a product built around one of them is usually
mediocre at the others.

- **Charting, alerts and the largest community** — [TradingView](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tradingview).
- **Screening on fundamentals, for investors** — [Stock Rover](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/stock-rover) or
  [Finviz Elite](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/finviz-elite).
- **Real-time intraday scanning** — [Trade Ideas](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/trade-ideas) or
  [TrendSpider](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/trendspider).
- **Trading futures from the chart** — [Sierra Chart](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/sierra-chart),
  [NinjaTrader](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/ninjatrader) or [Quantower](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/quantower).
- **Reading the order book** — [Bookmap](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/bookmap).
- **Macro, fundamentals and a research dashboard** — [Koyfin](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/koyfin).

## Five jobs wearing one word

Everything in this category draws a chart, and that is close to the last thing these tools have
in common. The five jobs below are bought by different people for different reasons, and a
product built around one of them is usually mediocre at the others — which is why a price
comparison across jobs tells you nothing.

**Charting** is the analysis surface: drawing tools, indicator library, multi-chart layouts,
how far back the intraday history goes, and whether your marked-up charts survive a change of
machine. Bought by people who make the decision themselves and want somewhere to think.

**Screening** is one question asked of the whole universe, once — profitable, under 15 times
earnings, above the 200-day. You press run and read a list. It is a research act, usually
end-of-day, and it leans on fundamentals at least as much as on price.

**Scanning** is the same question asked continuously of a live feed, answered by interrupting
you. It only means anything intraday, it needs real-time data for every symbol at once rather
than for the one on screen, and that requirement is most of why the scanning tools cost several
times what the screening tools cost.

**Execution** is trading from the chart. It is settled by a broker list, not by a feature list:
the platform is a client, your broker decides whether it can connect, and on the futures side
the broker usually bills the data too.

**Orderflow** is reading the book instead of the bar — footprint, DOM, heatmap, market-by-order.
It is a data problem before it is a software problem, and it is very nearly a futures-only
pursuit, for the reason in the FAQ below.

## What actually decides the choice

**The subscription is not the bill.** Platform fee and exchange data are separate purchases, and
for an active trader the data can be the larger one. TradingView's US stock bundle is $9.95 a
month on top of a paid plan; CME futures data runs about $4 to $5 per exchange for top-of-book and
$16 to $17 for depth, or $12 to $15 and $45 to $48 for all four. The spread is real: the
platform or broker sets the pass-through, so the same exchange costs different money depending
on who bills you. Price the tools on what your symbols cost to watch, not on the tier name.

**Professional status is not a judgement about you.** It is an exchange classification: are you
registered, trading for a firm, using the data in a business, or handling anyone else's money.
Non-professional CME top-of-book is $4 to $5 a month per exchange; the professional rate for the same feed is $140 to $156.
Every platform makes you self-certify, so getting it wrong is a back-billing exposure rather
than a discount.

**"Screener" and "scanner" mean whatever the marketing page needs them to.** A screener
evaluates a stored snapshot; a scanner evaluates a stream and pushes. A screener with a refresh
button will not tell you that something is happening right now, and a real-time scanner is
wasted money if what you want is twelve candidates to research on Sunday. Check whether the
alerts are server-side too — an alert that only fires while the tab is open is a different
product from one that fires while you sleep.

**Depth history cannot be bought after the fact.** Bars backfill; the order book does not. Most
platforms record depth and time-and-sales only while you are connected and subscribed, so
replaying last March's session needs you to have been subscribed last March. If you intend to
study order flow rather than watch it live, ask whether historical depth is sold at all before
you plan around it.

**The strategy language is the lock-in, not the fee.** Pine Script on
[TradingView](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tradingview), NinjaScript in C# on [NinjaTrader](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/ninjatrader), ACSIL
in C++ on [Sierra Chart](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/sierra-chart), Java on [MotiveWave](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/motivewave),
EasyLanguage on [MultiCharts](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/multicharts). None of them port, and none of the vendors
pretend otherwise. Six months of your own indicators and scans are worth far more than any monthly
price difference, which is why people stay for years on platforms they complain about daily.
Choose the language with more care than the chart.

**Free tiers here are limited by counts, not by quality.** The charts on free plans are good.
What runs out is saved layouts, indicators per chart, symbols in a watchlist, scan results
returned and — nearly always the binding constraint — the number of alerts you may keep active.
Work out which of those counts you will hit before you compare monthly prices, because that is
the number that decides which tier you actually end up on.

## Where this category connects

A platform subscription and a data subscription are two purchases, and the second one is priced
in [market data APIs](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/market-data-apis) — worth reading if you are paying for a feed
twice. If what you want is a strategy tested properly rather than drawn on a chart, that is
[backtesting frameworks](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/backtesting-frameworks), and if it is the record of what you
already traded, [trading journals](https://stockmarketstack.com/categories/trade-journals).

## Cards

- [AmiBroker](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/amibroker.md) — Windows portfolio backtester scripted in AFL, sold as a perpetual licence.
- [ATAS](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/atas.md) — Footprint charts and a market-by-order DOM for futures, with data bought separately.
- [Barchart.com](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/barchart-com.md) — Stock, fund and options screeners sold as a $0-$29.95 website membership.
- [Bookmap](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/bookmap.md) — The limit order book as a heatmap, with full-depth DOM for futures and stocks.
- [Exocharts](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/exocharts.md) — Crypto-native footprint and DOM order flow, with CME and Nasdaq on a separate dxFeed plan.
- [Finviz Elite](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/finviz-elite.md) — Real-time quotes, advanced filters and CSV export on top of the free Finviz screener.
- [GuruFocus](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/gurufocus.md) — Thirty years of financials, a deep screener and 13F guru portfolios, sold by region.
- [Jigsaw daytradr](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/jigsaw-trading.md) — Windows DOM and order-flow platform for futures, bought once rather than monthly.
- [justETF](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/justetf.md) — A screener and portfolio planner for European UCITS ETFs — no US listings, no API.
- [Koyfin](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/koyfin.md) — A browser research terminal for global equities, funds, macro and estimates.
- [MotiveWave](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/motivewave.md) — Java desktop charting whose Elliott Wave tooling is the reason anyone buys it.
- [MultiCharts](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/multicharts.md) — Windows charting, backtesting and order routing on EasyLanguage, sold outright or monthly.
- [NinjaTrader](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/ninjatrader.md) — Windows futures platform with C# strategy scripting and order-flow charting.
- [Optuma Web App](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/optuma-web.md) — Browser rebuild of Optuma, per seat, with scans and backtests run on Optuma's servers.
- [Optuma Desktop](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/optuma.md) — Windows technical-analysis desktop for analysts, with Optuma's own EOD data bundled in.
- [Quantower](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/quantower.md) — Windows order-flow terminal for 60+ connections, with an open C# API and a real free tier.
- [Sierra Chart](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/sierra-chart.md) — Windows-native charts, order flow and DOM trading, priced as packages plus exchange fees.
- [Stock Rover](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/stock-rover.md) — Fundamental screening and portfolio analytics on 14,000+ North American stocks.
- [Stock Analysis](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/stockanalysis.md) — Five years of financials and a working screener, free and without an account.
- [StockCharts](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/stockcharts.md) — Browser technical charting, custom scans and alerts, priced per service level.
- [TC2000](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tc2000.md) — Real-time charting and EasyScan screening for US and Canadian stocks and options.
- [Trade Ideas](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/trade-ideas.md) — Real-time US equity scanning on Windows, with an AI signal engine on the top tier.
- [TradingView](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/tradingview.md) — Charting across 50-plus markets, with Pine Script, server-side alerts and broker trading.
- [TrendSpider](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/trendspider.md) — Automated technical analysis, real-time scanning and no-code backtesting in one web app.
- [WealthLab](https://stockmarketstack.com/tools/wealthlab.md) — Windows portfolio backtesting in C# or drag-and-drop blocks, with a built-in MCP service.

## FAQ

### What is the difference between a stock screener and a stock scanner?

A screener filters the whole universe against a snapshot — usually end-of-day, usually fundamentals as much as price — and hands you a list when you press run. A scanner watches a live feed and interrupts you the moment a condition fires. Vendors use both words for both products, so the question to ask is whether you act on the result today or this week.

### Does a charting platform subscription include real-time market data?

Almost never outside crypto. Exchange fees are billed separately and on top — TradingView's US stock bundle is $9.95 a month for a non-professional, and CME futures data runs about $4 to $5 per exchange for top-of-book and $16 to $17 for depth, depending on whose schedule you are billed under. Budget the data as its own line, not as a rounding error on the platform fee.

### What makes you a professional market data subscriber?

Not experience, size or profit. The exchanges' test is registration with a regulator, trading on behalf of a firm, using the data in a business, or managing anyone's money but your own. The gap is not small — a non-professional pays roughly $4 to $5 a month per CME exchange for top-of-book where a professional pays $140 to $156 — and because you self-certify, a wrong answer gets back-billed.

### Can I get order-flow and footprint charts for US stocks?

Not in the form futures traders mean by it. CME sells market-by-order data that shows individual resting orders and queue position; the US equity tape has no order-level equivalent, so an equity footprint is reconstructed from trade prints and depth snapshots. This is why serious order-flow platforms are futures platforms.

### Is a lifetime platform licence cheaper than a subscription?

Only if you stay, and read what "lifetime" covers. NinjaTrader's lifetime licence is $1,499 and MotiveWave's purchased editions start at $245, but neither includes a byte of exchange data, and a purchased licence is not always a perpetual one — MotiveWave's carries a year of updates, after which you keep the version you have or renew for $55 to $295. Compare the licence against two or three years of the subscription you would otherwise pay, not against forever.