Free trading software: a practical guide

The main categories of free trading software

Free trading software is not one market. Each category solves a different problem, and most active traders combine two or three:

• Charting platforms turn market data into charts, indicators, and alerts. Aeris Free covers futures and crypto charting on the desktop with a footprint chart included; TradingView Basic is the best-known free tier for broad multi-asset web charting.
• Broker platforms come with a brokerage account. Schwab’s thinkorswim is free for clients, and MetaTrader 5 is free through forex and CFD brokers. The platform is free because the broker earns from your trades.
• Futures platforms connect to futures accounts. Aeris trades live futures through your own Rithmic account on every plan, NinjaTrader’s Free plan includes charts and simulated trading, and Quantower’s free version needs no registration.
• Crypto tools are often free because exchanges publish public market data. The Aeris screener lists every Hyperliquid perpetual and spot market on that free data.
• Backtesting and replay tools test ideas against history. Aeris includes bar replay with practice trading on live-recorded sessions, MetaTrader 5 includes a strategy tester, and TradingView includes Bar Replay on all plans with limits on the free one.
• Journals and reports turn your fills into statistics you can review. Aeris generates trading reports offline, and a full performance journal is on its roadmap.
• Calculators handle the arithmetic around trades. Our futures position size calculator converts dollar risk and stop distance into a contract count, free in the browser.

What free really means

A $0 price tag usually covers only one layer of the stack. The platform can be free while four other costs remain:

• Exchange data fees for real-time quotes and depth.
• Commissions and spreads on every trade you place.
• Clearing and regulatory fees that brokers pass through.
• The paid tier the vendor hopes you upgrade to.

Safety checks before installing anything

Trading software handles real money and real credentials, so installation hygiene matters more here than for most apps. Three checks cover most of the risk:

• Official sources only. Download from the vendor’s own website or an official app store, and type that address yourself rather than following an ad or a direct message.
• Code signing. On Windows and macOS, inspect the installer’s signature or publisher before running it. A signed installer does not prove the software is good, but an unsigned or repacked installer from a download portal is a clear warning.
• Credential handling. Legitimate platforms ask for the login your broker or prop firm issued and send it only to that provider. Aeris, for instance, keeps your Rithmic password in your operating system’s protected credential storage and has no server in the path of your login or orders.

Scam red flags

Fraudulent trading software tends to repeat the same patterns, and regulators like the CFTC warn about them regularly. Walk away from anything that promises guaranteed profits, risk-free returns, or a secret algorithm, and from anyone who contacts you first through social media or messaging apps with a special platform to install:

• Guaranteed or consistent daily profits, backtests presented as future results, or screenshots instead of verified records.
• Pressure to deposit quickly, to move the conversation to a private channel, or to pay in crypto to unlock withdrawals.
• Installers from unofficial mirrors, cracked or license-free versions of paid platforms, and browser extensions that inject trading panels.
• Requests for remote access to your computer, or for API keys with withdrawal rights when the tool only needs to trade or read data.
• A company with no identifiable legal entity, no real documentation, and no way to reach a human before paying.

A checklist before you commit

Once a candidate passes the safety checks, test it like equipment. A free tier is exactly the right place to be demanding, because it costs you nothing but an afternoon. If a platform fails a step, stop there: there are enough honest free tools that you never need to talk yourself into one.

1. Confirm the free tier covers your market, your connection, and your operating system, in writing on the vendor’s site.
2. Add up the full monthly cost: platform, market data and exchange fees, and realistic commissions for how often you trade.
3. Paper trade on it for at least a week. Place every order type you plan to use, including stops and brackets, and flatten a position in a fast market.
4. Test the bad day: disconnect the internet mid-trade, restart the app with orders working, and learn exactly what flatten and the kill switch do.
5. Check the exit too: can you export your data, and does anything you configured disappear if you stop paying?

Where Aeris fits

Aeris is our answer to this checklist, so apply everything above to us as well. The Free plan costs $0 with no card required and is a desktop app for Windows 10 and 11 and macOS with Apple silicon, with Linux coming soon. It is a real trading terminal, not a trial: charts with indicators and drawing tools on our own Rust chart engine, linked split layouts, price alerts, a footprint chart, a click-to-trade DOM, Time & Sales, and bar replay with practice trading are all in the free tier.

The parts other vendors charge for first are the parts we consider essential. Chart trading with stop-loss and take-profit runs on free simulated accounts, live futures trading works on one Rithmic account, flatten and the kill switch are included, and offline trading reports let you review every session. Hyperliquid crypto data is free; futures data runs through your own Rithmic account, where exchange fees are between you and your firm or broker. Pro lifts the workspace, chart, and indicator limits for $39 per month and Prop adds multi-account live trading for $69 per month, with lower rates billed yearly.

The installer is signed, the download page is the only official source, and the pricing page lists exactly what each plan adds. If you are comparing terminals more broadly, our guide to what a trading terminal is explains the features worth testing, and free TradingView alternatives compares the free tiers side by side.