Best Backtesting Software

You’ve been trading stocks for a while now and feel ready to take your skills to the next level. It’s time to start developing and testing your trading strategies to find edges in the market. But how do you know if a new strategy has an edge before risking your hard-earned cash? The answer is backtesting. 

By backtesting your strategy on historical data, you can see how it would have performed and gauge its potential. The key is finding easy-to-use software to test your ideas quickly. 

This article covers the nine best backtesting software for traders to help you find software that fits your needs. Whether you’re looking for a simple solution to get started or a more advanced platform to hone your algorithmic trading skills, we’ve got you covered.

Top 9 Backtesting Software

When it comes to backtesting trading strategies, you have several excellent software options. Here are the top 9 based on features, functionality and affordability.

Trade Ideas

Trade Ideas is arguably the best overall backtesting software, especially if you want to develop and test algorithmic trading strategies. It offers high-quality data, fast backtesting, and custom screener creation. 

You can scan for stocks, options, futures and forex across all major exchanges. Trade Ideas has an easy-to-use visual interface to build your strategies with no coding required, though you can also code in C# or Python.

TrendSpider

TrendSpider is ideal for technical analysis and charting. It provides advanced tools to analyze trends, set price alerts, backtest strategies, and automate trading. With over 100 pre-built strategies and indicators, you’ll have no shortage of ways to evaluate securities and find trading opportunities. TrendSpider offers market data for stocks, ETFs, options, futures and forex. They have a basic plan and premium plans with more data and features.

Stock Rover

Stock Rover is a great choice for long-term investors and value investors. They focus on fundamental data and metrics to analyze stocks. You can screen, rank and filter over 8,000 stocks based on valuation, growth, profitability, and quality metrics. 

Stock Rover also allows you to backtest investment strategies based on fundamentals. They have over 50 pre-built screens; you can easily create and save your custom screens. 

Finviz

If you primarily want to focus on stock screening, Finviz is an excellent free resource. They provide market data for over 8,000 US stocks and ETFs. 

The screener is highly customizable, allowing you to filter stocks by market cap, sector, industry, performance, valuation, growth, profitability, and more. You can save screeners to run again in the future and backtest basic strategies. Finviz is best for discovering stock ideas and narrowing down a watchlist.

TradingView

For crowdsourcing trading strategies and finding ideas from other traders, TradingView is a top choice. They have a huge collection of free and paid indicators, strategies and scripts developed by TradingView users that you can analyze and backtest. An active community will also share trade alerts, analysis, and actionable ideas. 

MetaStock

MetaStock is one of the most well-known backtesting software platforms, ideal for advanced traders. It offers powerful tools to test equity, forex, futures, and options trading strategies across various timeframes. 

You can easily optimize parameters to maximize profitability and find your system’s ideal entry and exit rules. MetaStock does have a steep learning curve, so less experienced traders may struggle with it.

Tickeron

Tickeron takes an AI-driven approach to backtesting and analysis. It provides automated pattern recognition to detect trends and reversals, then backtests strategies based on those patterns to determine the most effective setups. 

Tickeron can save time by automatically generating, evaluating, and optimizing trading strategies. The AI tools do the heavy lifting so you can focus on refining and improving the best strategies.

QuantConnect

If you have programming and quantitative analysis skills, QuantConnect is a great option. It offers an open-source algorithmic trading platform where you can code trading strategies, backtest them, and even live trade through brokerages. 

QuantConnect supports equities, forex, futures, options, and crypto trading across various exchanges. You can access a huge range of data to build and evaluate your strategies. 

TradeStation

TradeStation is a popular trading platform that also provides integrated backtesting tools. It offers an easy way to evaluate stock, options, futures, forex, and crypto trading strategies. You can access historical market data, optimize your strategies by adjusting inputs, and see detailed performance reports to determine profitability. 

Trade Ideas

Trade Ideas is an advanced AI-powered stock analysis and trading platform. It uses powerful algorithms to scan the market and provide customized trade ideas based on your needs and trading style.

For serious traders, Trade Ideas Premium is a must-have. It includes:

• Access to the AI robo-advisor ‘Holly Grail’ that provides automated trading signals based on your personal trading criteria.
• The ‘Oddsmaker’ feature which predicts the probability of a stock moving up or down.
• ‘Brokerage Plus’ gives you direct access to your brokerage account to place trades instantly.
• Additional features include charts, alerts, the Trade Ideas chat room access, and simulated trading.

The premium plan starts at $167/month or $1,999/year and gives you the power and insights of AI to boost your trading. With an easy-to-use yet highly advanced interface, Trade Ideas has all the tools you need to take your trading to the next level.

TrendSpider

TrendSpider is an advanced stock market charting and backtesting platform. Their proprietary machine learning algorithm adapts to your inputs, analyzing nearly any trading style from day trading to long-term investing.

TrendSpider’s features include:

• Automated trendline analysis
• Heatmaps showing top gainers and losers
• Multi-timeframe analysis
• Options flow data
• Automated Fibonacci retracements
• Mobile apps to monitor the market on the go

With three subscription tiers (Premium, Elite, Advanced), TrendSpider suits any experience level. The platform simplifies technical analysis, allowing you to spot trends and test strategies to find what works for you.

Stock Rover

When you start using Stock Rover, you’ll quickly realize why it’s considered one of the best backtesting software options. Stock Rover empowers you to dive deep into the data to find investment opportunities and see how they might perform.

Create customized watchlists of stocks you’re interested in and want to keep an eye on. Track things like price, volume, and performance over time. Set alerts to notify you of important price movements so you never miss an opportunity.

Stock Rover allows you to see how a stock compares to its peers and competitors in the same industry. Compare metrics like P/E ratio, dividend yield, profit margins, and more. See who has the competitive advantage and who may be undervalued. All this can be jotted down in a trading journal for future reference.

An economic calendar lets you know when important reports like GDP, CPI, and jobs data are released. These reports frequently cause volatility in the stock market, so be ready to act.

Whether you’re a long-term investor looking for value stocks or a short-term trader searching for momentum, Stock Rover has the tools for your needs. Best of all, you can get started for free and upgrade as your needs grow.

FinViz

FinViz is one of the best free stock screeners and backtesting tools available. Their platform allows you to filter through thousands of stocks to find opportunities matching your criteria.

Once you’ve found some stocks you’re interested in, you can see how they would have performed historically using the backtesting feature. This lets you see how a stock, sector, or whole portfolio would have done over different periods. You choose the stocks, time range, and variables like position sizing to see how your strategy would have worked in the past.

The backtesting tool on FinViz is simple to use but provides powerful insights. It can help new traders develop and test trading strategies to find ones that have worked well historically before risking real money. For experienced traders, it offers a way to optimize existing strategies.

FinViz’s free stock screener and backtesting features make it an excellent platform for any level of trader. Combined with their charting, news, and portfolio tools, FinViz provides an all-in-one solution for researching and analyzing stocks.

TradingView

TradingView is a popular charting and analysis platform for traders. With four membership tiers ranging from free to $59.95/month, there’s an option for every trader’s needs and budget.

The free version gives you access to TradingView’s robust charting tools, alerts, and an engaged trading community. Upgrade to Pro for advanced charting features like indicators and studies. Pro+ unlocks extras like unlimited chart layouts and server-side alerts. Premium includes everything from the lower tiers plus extras like real-time data and unlimited screener slots.

No matter which tier you choose, TradingView offers an unparalleled suite of tools for analyzing the markets. Their web-based HTML5 charts provide an intuitive interface for spotting trends and patterns. Customize your charts with a huge selection of indicators, drawings, and studies. Set price alerts to notify you when the market moves. Scan the markets for trading opportunities using built-in screeners.

Whether you’re a new trader looking for an easy platform to learn the ropes or a seasoned pro seeking advanced tools, TradingView has you covered. With plans for every budget and features for every level of trader, TradingView is a one-stop shop for analyzing and trading the markets.

MetaStock

MetaStock is one of the most popular backtesting software platforms traders use today. With MetaStock, you can access two main options: MetaStock D/C for analyzing daily charts and MetaStock R/T for real-time data.

For traders focused on daily charts and less concerned with live data, MetaStock D/C is a great choice. Starting at just $59 per month, D/C provides all the tools needed for in-depth backtesting and analysis. You’ll have access to indicators, expert advisors, scanning and charting capabilities to test and improve your trading strategies.

MetaStock offers flexible pricing for any budget. If you’re new to the platform, start with the D/C and learn the ropes. When ready to take your trading to the next level, you can always upgrade to MetaStock R/T for real-time data. With a range of pricing options and features to choose from, MetaStock has a solution for every trader.

Tickeron

Tickeron is an interactive platform with something for traders of all experience levels. For beginners, Tickeron offers a free membership to help you get started with basic tools like:

• Screener Tool: Filter stocks by metrics like price, volume, and performance.
• AI-Powered Search Engine: Get investment ideas and discover trending stocks.
• Portfolio Optimizer: See how you can improve your portfolio’s performance.
• Tickeron Academy: Learn trading strategies and skills through video courses.

Once you get the hang of things, you can upgrade to more advanced features on Tickeron to take your skills to the next level. The Intermediate membership unlocks advisory tools and alerts to help identify opportunities. Expert and Advisory memberships provide access to human experts for guidance.

No matter your experience, Tickeron aims to give you the resources and support you need to become a better trader. With an easy-to-use platform, helpful community, and a wealth of educational content, Tickeron is a great place for beginners to get started and for seasoned investors to improve their skills.

QuantConnect

QuantConnect is an algorithmic trading platform where you can build, test, and execute trading strategies. Their backtesting engine lets you see how your strategies would have performed in the past so you can optimize them before going live.

QuantConnect supports trading multiple asset classes, from stocks and ETFs to forex and futures. You can connect your brokerage account to trade through QuantConnect or use their included demo broker.

QuantConnect is entirely cloud-based, so you can access it anywhere. They offer tools for optimizing your strategy parameters to maximize performance. Once you’ve built and tested a strategy, you can deploy it to live trade through your connected brokerage.

QuantConnect has a free plan to get started. They also offer paid subscriptions for individuals, teams, trading firms, and institutions. The plans start at $8/month and go up to $80/month with additional features at higher tiers.

While QuantConnect may have a steep learning curve for beginners, it can be an invaluable platform for experienced traders and quants. With the ability to research, analyze, backtest, optimize, and ultimately deploy algorithmic trading strategies, QuantConnect is one of the top backtesting software solutions for professionals.

TradeStation

TradeStation is one of the most popular backtesting software platforms for traders. As an online broker, TradeStation allows you to simulate your trading strategies on historical data before putting real money on the line.

TradeStation provides an abundance of tools to help develop and test your trading ideas. Their desktop platform offers customizable charting, scanning, analytical tools, and an easy-to-use coding interface to build and optimize your trading systems. You’ll have access to stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and crypto data to suit any trading style.

With TradeStation, you can gain access to educational resources like webinars, video tutorials, and a community forum to help improve your skills. TradeStation’s low margin rates and commissions make it an affordable choice for active traders. Whether you’re a new trader looking to learn the ropes or a seasoned pro, TradeStation has the tools and resources to help you achieve your goals.

Are Backtesting Software All Bark and No Bite?

So, there you have it, the top backtesting software options to consider if you want to test your trading strategies and see how they would have performed historically. Depending on your needs and budget, any of these would be a great choice. 

The most important thing is that you do backtest – it will give you the confidence to know that your strategy has merit and the peace of mind that you’ve done your due diligence. And, of course, keep learning and improving your craft. 

The markets are always changing, so stay on top of trends, tweak, and optimize your strategies. With hard work and persistence, you’ll be on your way to trading mastery. Now go forth and backtest! The key to your success is just a few clicks away.

While backtesting platforms are useful for building and improving trading tactics, they have limits. Combine automated analyses with your knowledge and experience for the best outcomes. 

Think critically about the data and consider current events. With human insight and the right amount of caution, backtesting software can be an invaluable asset. But taken at face value, their results may be more bark than bite.

Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.