Norberto Viale
TSTrader is one of the recommended platforms offered by Topstep when we sign up for the Trading Combine (the others are NinjaTrader and TradeStation; however, the fact that these are the recommended platforms does not mean that there are no others available).
The platform is free to use ,but the most appealing aspect of choosing TSTrader is that you won't pay any commissions during the Trading Combine or when you fund your account. Here you can see a breakdown of the applicable fees.
TSTrader Analysis:
With TSTrader you get all the basic elements that make up a good trading platform: a chart, a DOM , and the ability to add third-party tools (such as Jigsaw Trading, which is a welcome addition).
I like that the platform is lightweight, it only takes seconds to open and is very intuitive and user-friendly, which means the learning curve can be reduced to one or two days depending on your previous experience (if you are used to using NinjaTrader, one day will be more than enough)
Both the chart and the DOM allow you to add various modules to complement your trading. There's a module with the day's news (this depends on the market you're trading in), another with your open trades so you can track them, another with your order history, and so on.
It also has a chat function and various customization options; it's a very complete platform. However, I must say that it didn't completely win me over. Perhaps it's because I'm used to NinjaTrader, but that's not the case with TradingView, a platform I absolutely recommend. It runs on HTML5, making it as lightweight as, or even lighter than, TSTrader , and you can also use it for free to practice (although there's a 10-minute delay in demo mode).
The problem I find with TSTrader is that, beyond everything it offers, it seems somewhat lacking when compared to alternative platforms. The DOM doesn't quite appeal to me, as it only displays limit orders and the current trading price (it doesn't differentiate between buy and sell orders like JigsawTrading does). And while the chart offers some good indicators like 'Volume Profile', it doesn't provide the level of in-depth analysis that NinjaTrader, for example, offers through the customization of different timeframes.
However, despite the limitations of this platform, it's hard to resist it when you have the option to use it for free and commission-free. But because of these same limitations, I recommend that you only use it to place orders and do the analysis in parallel with another platform that you prefer.
Conclusions about TSTrader:
In short, it's appreciated that there's a free platform option for the Trading Combine, but it's even better if you have another platform to work on in parallel (preferably a free one in demo mode) and only use TSTrader to place trades. This way, you'll have commission-free trading and a powerful platform for your analysis.
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Hi, I'm not sure if it's my internet connection, but using Tradovate on my computer is very slow, or maybe it's because I use it with Google. I wanted to ask if there's a way to download it so it runs faster and use it as a downloaded program. Thank you.
Just so you know, this website, tstrader, is in Castilian Spanish. By the way, it's an excellent site for those who want to get started and don't want to drown in the ocean of floating information about trading on the internet, especially now that it's become so popular in Latin America with the so-called "selling courses" that we all know about..
Hello Manuel,
Thank you so much for the information. It's sometimes hard to keep up with the changes, but thanks to people like you I manage to do it 😉
Greetings
Perhaps there's a way to feed NinjaTrader data with TStrator data.
Does anyone know if this is possible?
This way, I could trade with NinjaTrader without paying commissions or data fees.