Welcome to the only place on the internet which gives a former hedge fund manager’s insights on the TrendSpider vs TradingView debate.
These are two of the leading technical analysis and stock screening platforms out there; with very little to choose between them. Luckily, this review clears up all of those grey areas and makes your choice much easier.
For those looking for the top-level synopsis, TradingView is the better “all-round” platform, with global data coverage, advanced charts, fundamental & technical screening, backtesting, trading, and a social community. On the other hand, TrendSpider has incredible automated charting features, unrivaled technical screening, and dynamic price alerts.
If I’m honest though, boiling it down to a few bullet points does neither of these platforms justice. As you will see throughout this head-to-head review, each have their unique quirks and nuances that make them better suited to some traders more than others. Ultimately, it will be up to you to decide which combination of features suits your trading style best.
So let’s get into it…
What is TrendSpider?
TrendSpider is a relatively new charting software that specializes in automated technical analysis. Its patented AI algorithms automatically plot trendlines, candlestick patterns, chart patterns, and Fibonacci retracements on charts, helping remove the guesswork from technical analysis.
In addition, multi time frame analysis allows you to plot chart drawings and technical indicators from higher time frames onto a single chart, giving you a whole new perspective about support and resistance levels.
It’s real-time market scanner is packed full of technical filters and pre-bulit screens, while its backtester is extremely versatile.
With over 55,000 assets spanning stocks, ETFs, indices, futures, FX, and crypto available, TrendSpider is the ultimate playground for technical traders and a melting point of trading opportunities.
Pros
- Automated Trendline Analysis
- Candlestick & Chart Pattern Recognition
- Multi Timeframe Analysis
- Dynamic & Multi Factor Alerts
- Automatic Fibonacci Retracements
- Real Time Data Included in Price
- Powerful Stock Screener
- Robust Historical Backtesting
Cons
- No Integrated Trading Platform
- No Fundamental Screening
What is TradingView?
TradingView is a popular charting and stock screening platform for traders, boasting over 50 million users globally.
It offers real-time market data across a broad range of assets, covering 70+ stock exchanges in over 50 countries, including stocks, ETFs, FX, Crypto, and Futures.
What’s more, it has an incredibly comprehensive suite of analytical features, ranging from in-depth charting tools, stock screening, backtesting, and fundamental data – all packed into a slick, user-friendly platform.
Pros
- Global, Multi-Asset Data Coverage
- Comprehensive Technical Analysis Tools
- 50 Million-Strong Global Community of Traders
- Stock, Crypto, & Forex Screening
- Custom Strategy Backtesting
- User-Friendly
- Great Value for Money
Cons
- Inaccurate Chart Pattern Recognition
- Excludes Some Popular Brokers
- Rigid Screener Conditions
- Community Resources Can Feel Overwhelming
- Numerous Customer Service Complaints Online
TrendSpider vs TradingView Comparison
Feature | TrendSpider | TradingView |
---|---|---|
Stock Screening | ||
Backtesting | ||
Automated Technical Analysis | ||
Alerts | ||
Fundamental Analysis | ||
Community | ||
FX & Crypto Screening | ||
Trading | 40+ Stock, FX & Crypto Brokers | |
Regions | US | Global |
Charts | 6 chart styles, 190+ technical indicators, 20+ drawing tools | 16 chart styles, 100+ technical indicators, 90+ drawing tools |
Free Trial | 7-day Free Trial | 30-day Free Trial |
Discount | -20% Discount With Code "SOV20" | Up to -50% Discount |
TrendSpider vs TradingView Pricing
Both platforms offer multiple payment plans with different levels of functionality. TradingView has 4, ranging from a basic free version to an all-inclusive premium plan. TrendSpider, on the other hand, has 3 paid plans. For a detailed breakdown of each plan’s features, read my TradingView review and TrendSpider review, respectively.
Compared to other platforms, TrendSpider and TradingView are very generous with their entry-level offerings – giving you access to most of their features, albeit with certain limitations.
In the case of TradingView, the free version (Basic) includes charts, backtesting, screening, candlestick recognition, multi time frame analysis, and trading through approved brokers. However, note that data is delayed by 15 minutes on the free plan. Real time data requires a paid subscription and an add-on fee for the relevant exchange. Also, the free version is ad-supported which is quite frustrating.
Meanwhile, TrendSpider’s cheapest option (Essential) includes charts, automated trendline & pattern recognition, real-time scanning, backtesting, and multi time frame analysis. Note, although TrendSpider doesn’t have a free version, real-time data is included in the price of all of its paid plans.
TrendSpider Free Trial & Discounts
TrendSpider offers a 7-day free trial for all payment plans. Once the free trial ends, you can either choose to pay on a monthly or annual basis, however note that there is a 17% discount when you pay up-front for the annual plan.
In addition, TrendSpider are constantly offering deals on their products. Simply follow the link below to see what discounts are currently available.
TradingView Free Trial & Discounts
TradingView offers a 30-day free trial for all of its paid plans, without requiring any upfront payment.
There are also several ways to get a discount.
Firstly, by clicking any of the links in this article, you will receive a $15 credit after you purchase any TradingView plan.
Secondly, users who choose to pay annually rather than monthly save 16%, which is equivalent to 2 months free!
And last but not least, users on a 30-day free trial of any paid plan will receive an “Early Bird” offer with the following discounts:
- Pro – 30% off
- Pro+ – 40% off
- Premium – 50% off
Note, these discounts only apply to annual subscriptions.
Therefore to enjoy the biggest savings, you should start a 30-day free trial of the Premium service, and take advantage of the -50% Early Bird offer by paying upfront for the whole year. This equates to $360 of savings a year compared to paying monthly!
TrendSpider vs TradingView Features
Data Coverage
TrendSpider comes with real-time data for US stocks, ETFs, currencies, crypto, and futures ($7.50 monthly exchange fee), as well as delayed data for indices and OTC/Pink Sheets stocks. And just for good order, they throw in pre and post-market data too. Follow this link to see the full list of exchanges covered.
In comparison, TradingView covers more than 150,000 stocks, ETFs, FX, crypto, and futures (e.g. commodity futures) across the entire world. Like TrendSpider, this includes extended trading hours. However, unlike TrendSpider, real-time data is not included in the price. Real time market data requires a monthly exchange fee in TradingView, which you can see the prices for here (including international exchange data).
TradingView vs TrendSpider Charts
Both TrendSpider and TradingView serve as awesome charting platforms in their own right. In fact, there really isn’t much to separate the charts between TrendSpider vs TradingView, save for a few minor details in my view. Indeed, it is one of the many reasons that TradingView takes my pick for the best TrendSpider alternative.
Let’s go over the basics…
Firstly, TradingView has 16 customizable chart formats to choose from, including:
- Bars, Candles, Hollow candles, Columns, Line, Line with markers
- Step line, Area, Baseline, High-low, Heikin Ashi
- Renko, Line break , Kagi, Point & figure, Range (Pro, Pro+, Premium)
There are also around 17 pre-set time frames ranging from 1 minute bars all the way up to yearly bars. Note, paid subscribers can also set custom time intervals, and Premium members can choose second-based intervals (1/5/15/30 seconds).
Meanwhile, TrendSpider has 6 chart formats, which you can display as 1-minute bars all the way up to yearly bars:
- Candlestick
- Line
- Bar
- Hollow Candles
- Heikin Ashi
- Raindrop
In terms of drawing tools like trendlines and Fibonacci retracements, TradingView has more than 90, whereas TrendSpider has just over 20.
Lastly, TradingView has over 100 built-in technical indicators, which is less than the almost 200 indicators in TrendSpider.
However, that ignores the vast library of 100,000+ community-built indicators available in TradingView. One of the beauties about TradingView is its community focus, which brings with it whole host of pooled resources. One of which, is the ability to share your own custom indicators with other members, which is made easy by its intuitive Pine Script programming language.
As such, even if TradingView doesn’t already include a certain indicator, or you’re not comfortable programming, you will more than likely be able to find what you’re looking for. Unfortunately, you can’t create custom indicators in TrendSpider, however you can modify the parameters of existing indicators, such as time frames and price sources.
Both platforms also give you the option to display multiple charts simultaneously. Importantly, these can all show different securities, time frames, and technical indicators.
In TradingView, your subscription level determines the number of charts you can display at the same time. Free users can only display 1 chart per tab, Pro users can display 2, Pro+ users can display 4, while Premium users can display 8. In comparison, Trendspider allows you to display 16 different charts on the same screen.
Advanced Technical Analysis Tools
Now we’ve covered the basics around charts, it’s time to get into the bells and whistles. As you’re about to see, both platforms have a plethora of advanced technical analysis features that stand them ahead of the competition.
But whose are better?… Let’s find out…
Automated Trendline Analysis
The first of these is automated trendline analysis. This feature is unique to TrendSpider, as it isn’t included in TradingView. Hence why I recommend TrendSpider as the best TradingView alternative for automated technical analysis.
Essentially, automated trendlines use machine learning algorithms to automatically identify and plot trendlines on charts.
What struck me, is how accurate they are in pinpointing support and resistance levels that I wouldn’t have noticed myself – at least not at the same laser-fast speed!
Another great aspect about this feature is the level of flexibility it affords you. In particular, by adjusting your “trend analysis preferences”, you can control the number of trendlines you see until it suits your trading style.
If that wasn’t enough, you can also modify the trendline formulas and sensitivities in advanced settings and highlight all of their breakout points on the chart.
Candlestick Pattern Recognition
Another cool chart feature that both platforms share is candlestick pattern recognition. This automatically identifies different candlestick patterns on any chart.
TrendSpider supports more than 200 candlestick patterns, which is far more than 40+ candle patterns in TradingView.
In terms of accuracy, I found both platforms to be pretty evenly matched. This probably isn’t surprising though, as candle patterns aren’t that subjective after all.
However, I prefer the graphical representation in TradingView over TrendSpider. I found the labels much clearer to see, not to mention that each candle pattern comes with an explainer when you hover over it.
Having said that, TrendSpider has a multi timeframe analysis (MTFA) feature, which as the name suggests, displays candlestick patterns from multiple time frames. For instance, the shaded boxes in the chart below highlight weekly candlestick patterns on a daily chart.
This, combined with its greater choice of candle patterns, makes TrendSpider the winner here in my opinion.
Chart Pattern Recognition
In addition to candlestick pattern recognition, both platforms are also capable of chart pattern recognition. However, while this is available to all TrendSpider users, TradingView restricts this feature to Premium members only.
Starting with TradingView, it is able to detect 15 different chart patterns, including:
- Flag (Bullish/Bearish)
- Double Bottom/Top
- Triple Bottom/Top
- Elliott Wave
- Head & Shoulders (Regular/Inverse)
- Pennant (Bullish/Bearish)
- Triangles
- Rectangle
- Wedge (Rising/Falling)
By comparison, TrendSpider can identify 10 patterns:
- Channels (Ascending, Descending, Horizontal)
- Double Bottoms/Tops
- Triangles (Ascending, Descending, Symmetrical)
- Wedges (Falling, Rising)
While it’s true that TradingView wins on quantity, it falls short on quality in my view. In particular, I found its accuracy to be quite dubious.
By this, I mean the drawings don’t really resemble the pattern they claim to represent. For example, in the chart below, I think calling those rising wedges is generous at best.
Secondly, it seems to miss patterns that are obvious to the human eye. For example, you can see where I have drawn an inverse head & shoulders manually. This was missed by TradingView’s pattern recognizer.
TrendSpider, on the other hand, blew me away with its accuracy. In addition, you can also apply multi timeframe analysis (MTFA)to this feature, which lets you see chart patterns from higher time frames on a lower time frame chart.
For example, in the daily chart below, the dashed green lines represent a descending channel on the weekly chart, while the dashed navy lines represent a symmetrical triangle. The red lines show a rising wedge on the daily chart.
TradingView vs TrendSpider Screening
While it’s all well and good having so many charting tools at your disposal, they’re futile without knowing which stocks to analyse in the first place!
This is where screening helps us.
Both TradingView and TrendSpider allow real-time screening across multiple timeframes. However, intraday scanning on minute-based time frames requires at least an Elite subscription with TrendSpider, and any paid plan with TradingView.
One of the key differences between their stock screeners, is that TrendSpider is principally designed for technical screens, whereas TradingView can perform technical and fundamental screens. This means that TradingView is better suited to fundamental investors than TrendSpider.
However, what TrendSpider does, it does very well.
Firstly, it has dozens of pre-built screens focused on different technical conditions and candlestick/chart patterns. For example, the screenshot below shows the results from an “Ascending Triangle Breakup Scan”.
In comparison, TradingView only has a handful of pre-built screens, however they are all fundamental-based.
The other cool thing about TrendSpider’s stock market screener, is its ability to create conditions across 4 different time frames. Instead, TradingView constrains you to one time frame across all of your conditions.
The only criticism I have of TrendSpider, is that there are limits on the number of scan results you get in the Essential (25 results per scan) and Elite (100 results per scan) plans. Scan results also take some time to load, which might frustrate some day traders.
The last thing to say is that TradingView has a separate FX and crypto screener, which include metrics specific to those assets. While you can screen traditional currencies in TrendSpider, you can’t screen cryptocurrencies.
In summary, I would say that TrendSpider is better for technical screening if you don’t mind slow loading times, however I would recommend at least the Elite subscription to get enough results. On the other hand, TradingView is better for fundamental and crypto screening.
Backtesting Trading Strategies
While screening helps narrow our focus to a select-few stocks, it would be nice to know if they’re likely to be winners in advance. In other words, does our screening criteria actually return good stocks?
Of course, there is no way to predict this with surety, but backtesting is about as close as we can get to evaluating a trading strategy.
Thankfully, both TradingView and TrendSpider have advanced backtesting capabilities to help us with this.
In TrendSpider, you can backtest trading strategies across multiple time frames, ranging from intraday 1-minute intervals all the way to yearly intervals. Moreover, Elite Plus users can backtest on up to 7000 candles of historical data, which is around 20 years on a daily time frame.
Entry and exit rules are also extremely flexible. For example, you can build trading systems using any of the following parameters:
- Price
- Technical Indicators
- Candlestick Patterns
- Earnings/Dividends Dates
- Splits
- Analyst Estimates
And what’s more, no coding is required on your part. While you have the option to code more complex trading signals if you want to, it generally follows a “point-and-click” model that even beginners can navigate.
For example, I ran a simple MACD crossover strategy by using one of their 69 pre-set templates.
In TradingView, Basic members can backtest on up to 5000 historical bars, Pro and Pro+ members can use 10,000, while Premium members can use 20,000.
When it comes to backtesting a strategy, you have 3 options.
You can test any of the 23 in-built strategies from TradingView, the thousands of strategies shared by fellow users, or you can program your own from scratch using the Pine Editor.
Note, you can modify all sorts of parameters before running the test, including the indicator settings, order size, trading costs, margin, and the date range (though not always). In contrast, TrendSpider doesn’t let you incorporate real-world variables like commission charges and slippage.
In terms of output, both platforms give you tons of useful information, such as net profit, max drawdown, win/loss ratio, number of trades, and much more.
As you can see, not much comes between these two backtesters, however, on balance, I prefer TradingView’s, as you have thousands of community-built strategies at your fingertips. Plus, the Pine Editor makes it easier for backtesting custom trading strategies.
Alerts
The ability to set alerts for certain price “events” is a crucial tool in any trader’s arsenal, as it is unlikely that anyone has the time to sit and stare at charts all day.
For this reason, TradingView and TrendSpider let users create alerts based on multiple trigger conditions, such as price targets, technical indicators, and chart drawings (e.g. trendlines). When an alert gets triggered, you can choose to receive a notification via email, SMS, visual pop-up, and/or webhook.
However, TrendSpider takes alerts to the next level.
Firstly, its “dynamic alerts” give you 3 different trigger conditions: breakthrough, touch, and bounce. They also let you adjust the sensitivity of your alerts by creating “margin of error” bands around your trendlines.
Secondly, you can also create “multi factor alerts”, which as the name suggests, lets you set alerts using multiple indicators.
Community
Trading can be lonely sometimes, so it’s nice to know that TrendSpider and TradingView have an active social network around them.
TradingView represents the biggest trading community in the world with over 50 million users, including open forums and live streams where you can connect, learn, and share trading ideas with experienced traders.
Meanwhile, TrendSpider has a far more modest-sized Discord channel where you can bounce trade ideas off other members.
Trading
Neither TradingView nor TrendSpider are outright trading platforms in and of themselves. However, TradingView integrates with several stock, FX, and crypto brokers that allow in-platform trading like any other trading software would. Unfortunately, TrendSpider doesn’t support any broker integration.
Having said that, both TradingView and TrendSpider support automated trading with bots. Simply connect your account to an automated trading platform like SignalStack using webhook, define the rules of your strategy, and execute trades based on these alerts. Note, this function may still be in beta stage and is only a workaround to full-scale autotrading.
TrendSpider vs TradingView Summary
The main conclusion from my TradingView vs TrendSpider comparison, is that while TrendSpider wins on automated technical analysis, technical screening, and alerts, TradingView comes out top with global data coverage, fundamental screening, backtesting, social community, and trading.
As such, I would say that TradingView is a better all-round platform, however TrendSpider may appeal more to US-focused technical analysts.