TradingView and cTrader

TradingView

TradingView started as a charting website and became the most used charting tool in retail trading. Its free plan gives full charts with a limit on indicators; paid plans add more. Through broker integration you connect a broker account and trade from the chart, so the analysis and the execution happen in one place. Not every broker integrates, and the platform pages on this site list those that do. TradingView's Pine Script lets you write indicators and strategies, and its social side, where traders publish ideas, is a mixed blessing for a beginner.

cTrader

cTrader is a full trading platform in the way MetaTrader is: desktop, web and mobile, with charts, orders, depth of market and an automation system called cTrader Automate that uses C#. It shows the order book by default, supports partial closes and detachable charts, and its order tickets are clearer than MetaTrader's. Fewer brokers offer it, and its automation ecosystem is smaller, but traders who use it tend to prefer it.

Choosing

A common set-up

Many traders chart on TradingView and execute on their broker's platform, MetaTrader or cTrader, accepting the inconvenience of two windows for the best of each. If your broker integrates with TradingView you can do both in one, and that integration is worth weighing when choosing a broker.

Key takeaways

• TradingView is the leading charting tool and can execute at integrated brokers.
• cTrader is a complete platform with better order handling and depth of market than MetaTrader.
• Chart on the best tool and execute where your broker lets you; ideally the same place.