HomeComparisonsCharting platformsVerified 4 Oct 2026
StockCharts vs TradingView
Two web charting services from different traditions: a classic investor-and-analyst site with plan-based ChartLists, scans and alerts, and a browser-first platform with a scripting language. Every figure below links to the vendor page it came from and carries its check date.
- Entry price
- $19.95/ monthBasic
- Runs on
- Web, iOS
- Free option
- Free level: 3 indicators per chart; no alerts, scans or layouts
- Entry price
- $12.95/ month, billed annuallyEssential
- Runs on
- Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS
- Free option
- Free Basic plan, $0 forever; 3 price alerts
Category winsFree option TradingViewCustom indicators TradingViewBacktesting TradingViewLimits, Markets, Trust: awaiting test
Quick verdict
TradingView lists Essential at $12.95 per month billed annually, with Pine Script on every plan and a free Basic plan. StockCharts charges $19.95 per month for Basic, sells real-time data at $9.95 per month per region, and lists no backtesting or indicator scripting language. Choose StockCharts for scan-based investor charting with a Tradier link; choose TradingView for scripting and backtesting.
As of 4 October 2026. Figures are taken from the vendors’ own pages; every number below links to its source.
Pick StockCharts if
- You are an investor or technical analyst who works from daily and weekly charts
- You want saved scans and ChartLists organized by plan
- You want to trade through a Tradier Brokerage account
Pick TradingView if
- You want to write indicators or strategies in Pine Script
- You want backtesting and a free plan with alerts
- You chart on web, mobile and desktop
Risk warningTrading stocks, options and other securities carries a risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. This comparison is not investment advice.
What are the key differences between StockCharts and TradingView?
- StockCharts lists Basic at $19.95 per month, Extra at $29.95 and Pro at $49.95, with a 13th month free on 12 months prepaid; TradingView's Essential plan is $12.95 per month billed annually. StockCharts · TradingView
- StockCharts sells real-time data separately at $9.95 per month each for the US, Canada and the UK; TradingView lists its US stock bundle at $9.95 per month. StockCharts · TradingView
- StockCharts' Free level excludes price alerts, scans, ChartLists and multi-chart layouts, while TradingView's free Basic plan includes 3 active price alerts. StockCharts · TradingView
- StockCharts allows 2, 100 and 500 price alerts on Basic, Extra and Pro; TradingView allows 20 on Essential, 100 on Plus and 400 on Premium. StockCharts · TradingView
- StockCharts lists no backtesting feature and no scripting language for custom indicators, only a scan syntax; TradingView lists Pine Script on all five plans. StockCharts · StockCharts · TradingView
- StockCharts scans use daily, weekly or monthly bars only, with 1 saved scan on Basic, 200 on Extra and 500 on Pro. StockCharts · StockCharts
- StockCharts covers exchanges in the US, Canada, the UK and India, and trades through Tradier Brokerage, where options cost a flat $25 per month. StockCharts · StockCharts
Side by side
Every cell links to the vendor page it was taken from and shows the date it was last checked. The coloured marker shows which platform has the edge in that row.
| Datapoint | StockChartsfrom $19.95 / month Visit | TradingViewfrom $12.95 / month, billed annually Visit | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01Price | |||
| Entry paid plan, per month | $19.95/ month12 months prepaid, 13th month free ($239.40 for the year)source ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | $12.95/ month, billed annuallysource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | TTradingView |
| Free option | Free level: 3 indicators per chart; no alerts, scans or layoutssource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Free Basic plan, $0 forever; 3 price alertssource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | TTradingView |
| Free trial | First month of paid service free; trials start at Extrasource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Trial converts to paid unless cancelled; length variessource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Real-time data cost | $9.95 / month each for US, Canada, UK real-timeBilled separately from the plan; free data plan is BATS real-time for US stocks and delayed elsewheresource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | US stock bundle $9.95 / month (non-professional)CME Group real-time data is also $9.95/month; Cboe real-time US data by defaultsource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Refund terms | Annual: 14 days, unused whole months; monthly: noneVendor pages differ: the pricing page itself says subscription charges are non-refundablesource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Annual plans 14 days; monthly 7 days (Terms of Service)Pricing-page FAQ mentions refunds for annual plans onlysource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| 02Platform | |||
| Where it runs | Web (ACP, up to 12 panels), mobile web, iOS appsource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Web, iOS, Android, desktop appsource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Scripting / custom indicators | Scan syntax only; no indicator scripting languagesource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Pine Script on all five planssource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | TTradingView |
| 03Limits | |||
| Price alerts | Basic 2, Extra 100, Pro 500; none on FreeVendor pages differ: the Support Center alerts page says Extra members can have up to 200 price alertssource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Basic 3, Essential 20, Plus 100, Premium 400source ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Historical and intraday depth | Daily data from 1980 (Basic, Extra), 1900 (Pro)Vendor pages differ: the Historical Data help page says Pro data goes back to the 1940s or earlier, and the FAQ says 1970 and earlier for Pro and 1990 for Basic and Extra. Intraday 1 to 15 minute charts go back 20 days (FAQ)source ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Bars per chart: Essential 10K, Ultimate 40Ksource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| 04Features | |||
| Scans and screeners | Saved scans: Basic 1, Extra 200, Pro 500Scan Engine supports daily, weekly and monthly bars only, not intradaysource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Stock, ETF and crypto screeners, 500+ fieldsPine Screener is checked only for Premium and Ultimatesource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Backtesting | No backtesting found; scans can run on a past datesource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Report metrics on all plans; advanced from Essentialsource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | TTradingView |
| 05Markets | |||
| Markets and data coverage | US, Canada, UK and India exchanges; also futures, cryptosource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Major stock exchanges, FX, indexes, 70 crypto exchangessource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Broker trading | Trade via Tradier; options flat $25 / monthStockCharts states it is not a brokersource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | Selected brokers, paper, chart and DOM tradingThe Features page advertises 100+ brokers (vendor claim, not independently measured)source ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| 06Trust | |||
| Operator | StockCharts.Com, Inc., Redmond, Washingtonsource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | TradingView, Inc., New Yorksource ↗checked 4 Oct 2026 | — |
| Try it | See StockCharts plans | See TradingView plans | |
StockChartsTradingViewMarked cell = edge in that row · “source” opens the vendor page
Which costs less, StockCharts or TradingView?
TradingView costs less to start than StockCharts. Its Essential plan is listed at $12.95 per month billed annually on TradingView's pricing page, which shows the annual figures under a "special price" label without saying when that price ends and advertises savings of up to 17% for annual billing. StockCharts lists Basic at $19.95 per month, Extra at $29.95 and Pro at $49.95 on its pricing page; prepaying 12 months earns a 13th month free, so Basic comes to $239.40 for the year. Real-time data is sold separately on StockCharts, so the monthly total depends on the region you need. The plans are not like-for-like: TradingView's Essential allows 20 active price alerts, while StockCharts Basic allows 2 and its Free level allows none. Both vendors publish prices in US dollars. All figures were taken from the vendors' own pricing pages and were last checked in October 2026.
Is StockCharts free, and what does real-time data cost?
StockCharts has a Free service level, but it is narrow: the pricing table gives 3 indicators and 3 overlays per chart and marks intraday charting, saved charts, ChartLists, scans, price alerts and multi-chart layouts as not included. A first month of paid service is free, and trial accounts start at the Extra level. TradingView's Basic plan is listed as "$0 forever" with 1 chart per tab, 3 active price alerts and 2 indicators per chart. Real-time data is priced alike on both sides: StockCharts sells US, Canada and UK real-time plans at $9.95 per month each, billed separately from the subscription, while TradingView lists its US stock bundle and its CME Group data at $9.95 per month each for non-professional subscribers. Without a real-time plan, StockCharts shows BATS real-time US data and delayed data for other markets, and TradingView shows Cboe real-time US data by default. Figures come from the vendors' pricing pages, last checked October 2026.
Does StockCharts have a scripting language like Pine Script?
StockCharts has no scripting language for custom indicators; it offers a text scan syntax instead. Its Advanced Scan Workbench accepts scans written in that syntax, up to 8000 characters long, and its help pages describe ACP plug-ins as the route to specialized indicators. TradingView lists Pine Script in all five plan columns, with a 40-second script calculation limit on Essential and 100 seconds on Ultimate, alongside 400+ built-in and 100K+ community indicators. On devices, StockCharts runs in the browser, with StockChartsACP showing up to twelve chart panels, a mobile-friendly site and an iOS app. TradingView is available on the web, on iOS and Android, and as a desktop app with multi-monitor support. Only TradingView lists a language for writing your own indicators or strategies. Details come from each vendor's help and pricing pages, last checked October 2026.
How many alerts does StockCharts allow compared with TradingView?
StockCharts allows 2 price alerts on Basic, 100 on Extra and 500 on Pro according to its pricing table, and the Free level includes none. Vendor pages differ here: its Support Center alerts page says Extra members can have up to 200 price alerts. Alerts can notify by email, text or a banner on the workbench. TradingView lists 3 active price alerts on its free Basic plan, then 20 on Essential, 100 on Plus and 400 on Premium. On history, StockCharts' pricing table shows daily charting data starting in 1980 for Basic and Extra and in 1900 for Pro, but its FAQ gives 1990 for most stocks on Basic and Extra and 1970 and earlier for Pro. Intraday charts of 1 to 15 minutes go back 20 days. TradingView lists 10K historical bars on Essential and 40K on Ultimate. Counts were last checked in October 2026 on the vendors' own pages.
Does StockCharts have backtesting?
StockCharts does not list backtesting: its pricing, features and scan help pages show no strategy-testing feature. The closest tool is the Advanced Scan Workbench's Starting Date Adjuster, which runs a scan against a chosen past day to show historical signals. Scans use daily, weekly or monthly bars only, not intraday bars, and saved scans run from 1 on Basic to 200 on Extra and 500 on Pro. TradingView lists strategy backtesting with basic report metrics on all plans, advanced metrics and CSV export from Essential, and Deep Backtesting only on Premium and Ultimate, capped at 2 million bars per calculation. Its screeners cover stocks, ETFs and crypto with 500+ fundamental and technical fields, and the Pine Screener is limited to Premium and Ultimate. The facts come from the vendors' help and pricing pages, last checked October 2026.
Which markets and brokers does StockCharts support?
StockCharts covers exchanges in four countries: NYSE, Nasdaq, Amex and BATS in the US, TSX, TSX-Venture, CSE and NEO in Canada, the London Stock Exchange in the UK and the NSE in India, plus indexes, currencies, commodities, futures and cryptocurrencies. Its features page cites over 50,000 symbols in the scan workbench. Trading from charts goes through a partnership with Tradier Brokerage, where the Tradier page lists US equities as free for Tradier accounts and unlimited options for a flat $25 per month. StockCharts states that it is not a broker. TradingView's help center lists major stock exchanges, global currency pairs, worldwide indexes and 70 crypto exchanges, and its comparison table checks trading through selected brokers, simulated trading, chart trading and DOM trading on all five plans. Coverage and broker terms were last checked in October 2026 on the vendors' own pages.
FAQ
Is StockCharts free?
StockCharts has a Free service level with 3 indicators and 3 overlays per chart; the pricing table marks alerts, scans, ChartLists, saved charts and multi-chart layouts as not included. The first month of paid service is free.
Is StockCharts cheaper than TradingView?
No at the entry level. StockCharts Basic is listed at $19.95 per month, against $12.95 per month billed annually for TradingView's Essential. StockCharts gives a 13th month free on 12 months prepaid.
Does StockCharts charge for real-time data?
Yes. Real-time data plans are billed separately and monthly: $9.95 per month each for US, Canada and UK. All accounts include a free plan with BATS real-time US data and delayed data for other markets.
Does StockCharts have backtesting?
No backtesting feature was found on its pricing, features or scan help pages. A scan can be run against a past date to show historical signals. TradingView lists strategy backtesting on all plans.
Can you write custom indicators on StockCharts?
No scripting language for custom indicators was found. StockCharts offers a text scan syntax for scans, up to 8000 characters long, and ACP plug-ins that add specialized indicators.
How many alerts does StockCharts allow?
Price alerts: 2 on Basic, 100 on Extra and 500 on Pro; none on Free. Vendor pages differ on Extra: the Support Center says up to 200 price alerts.
Can you trade directly from StockCharts?
Trading from ACP charts goes through the Tradier Brokerage partnership: US equities are free for Tradier accounts and unlimited options cost a flat $25 per month. StockCharts itself is not a broker.
Does TradingView charge for real-time data?
Partly. Charts show Cboe real-time US stock data by default; the US stock bundle costs $9.95 per month and CME Group real-time data $9.95 per month for non-professional subscribers.