Compare

Pick the right trading journal.

Written by a trading coach who has put students on every one of these. Where the other option is better, the page says so. Prices are checked and dated.

Against the ways most traders journal today

Against other trading journals

Guides

Guide
The free trading journal for futures traders
Free tiers, trials and templates, and what each one actually gives a futures trader.
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Free template
Free trading journal template for Excel and Google Sheets, built by a trading coach
A free Excel and Google Sheets journal with grades, mistake costs, plan adherence and a weekly review.
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Guide
How to make a trading journal in Excel or Google Sheets
Build your own trading journal spreadsheet. Columns, formulas, dropdowns and a dashboard.
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Guide
How to pass a futures prop firm evaluation
Why evals fail, how the rules work, and how to pass by trading small.
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Guide
How to stop revenge trading
Why it happens, why willpower doesn't stop it, and the rules that do.
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Guide
FOMO trading: why you chase moves, and how to stop
Why you chase moves you missed, and the rules that stop it.
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Guide
The free forex trading journal for MT4 and MT5 traders
What a forex journal has to handle, and a free one that reads your MetaTrader statement.
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Guide
The free stock trading journal for day traders
What a stock journal has to handle, and a free one that imports your broker's export.
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Guide
Trading psychology: why you break your own rules
The biases that make you break your rules, where trading turns into gambling, and what works instead of willpower.
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Guide
The best trading journal apps in 2026, and who each one is for
The main trading journals, what each is best at, and what each one costs.
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Review
TradeZella review and pricing (2026): what you get on each plan
TradeZella's plans, prices and limits, and who it's worth paying for.
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Review
Tradervue review (2026): pricing, the free plan, and who it's for
Tradervue's plans, the free plan's limit, and who it suits.
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Guide
NinjaTrader vs Tradovate: which one should you trade futures on?
Desktop power against browser convenience, and which fits how you trade.
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Review
Edgewonk review (2026): price, features, and who it's for
Edgewonk's price, its psychology tools, and who it suits.
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Guide
Trading rules: how to write rules you'll actually follow (with examples)
How to write trading rules you keep, with 12 examples.
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Guide
Trading expectancy: the formula, examples, and what a good number is
The formula, examples and what a good number looks like.
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Guide
R-multiple in trading: what it is and how to use it
What R means, how to calculate it and why it beats dollars.
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Guide
MFE and MAE in trading: what they are and how to use them
How far each trade went for and against you, and what to do with it.
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Guide
How to keep a trading journal (and actually stick with it)
What to write for every trade and how to review it.
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Pricing
TradeZella pricing (2026): every plan, what you get, and which one to pick
Essential $35, Pro $59, Ultra $99 a month. No free plan.
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Pricing
Tradervue pricing (2026): Free, Silver and Gold, and which one you need
Free for 30 trades a month, Silver $29.95, Gold $49.95.
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Pricing
TraderSync pricing (2026): Pro, Premium and Elite, and which one you need
Pro $29.95, Premium $49.95, Elite $79.95 a month. No free plan.
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Pricing
Edgewonk pricing (2026): one plan, $197 a year, and what you get
$197 a year, one plan, everything included. No monthly option.
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Compare
Best free trading journal (2026): what you actually get without paying
Actal, Tradervue, TradesViz, Trademetria, TradeTally and a spreadsheet, compared.
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Free template
Google Sheets trading journal: free template and how to set it up
A free Google Sheets trading journal with grades, mistake costs and a weekly review.
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Free template
Notion trading journal template (free): P&L, R and what each mistake costs
A free Notion trading journal template with grades, R and mistake costs.
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Guide
Options trading journal: what to track and how to import your trades
What to track for calls, puts and spreads, and how to import them.
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Free template
Trading plan template: what to put in it, with a filled-in example
A free trading plan template with a daily game plan and a filled-in example.
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Guide
Overtrading: what it is, the signs, and how to stop
What overtrading is, why it happens and the rules that stop it.
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Free template
Trading checklist (free PDF): before the open, before every trade, after the close
A free printable trading checklist and a setup checklist page.
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Pricing
TradesViz pricing (2026): Basic, Pro and Platinum, and which one you need
Free for stocks, Pro $19.99 and Platinum $29.99 a month.
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Review
TradesViz review (2026): what it does well, where it falls short
What TradesViz does well, where it falls short and who it's for.
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Review
TraderSync review (2026): what it does well, where it falls short
What TraderSync does well, where it falls short and who it's for.
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Comparison
TraderSync vs TradeZella (2026): price, features and which to pick
Price, accounts, replay, AI and apps compared, and which to pick.
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Comparison
Tradervue vs TraderSync (2026): price, features and which to pick
Price, free tier, replay, AI and apps compared, and which to pick.
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Guide
Trading journal examples: 7 filled-in entries worth copying
Filled-in entries for winners, losers, rule breaks and reviews.
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Guide
Can you connect TopstepX to TradeZella? Yes, two ways
Auto Sync with a $14.50 a month API key, or a free CSV upload.
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Improvement, not statistics

The loop Actal makes you run

Every journal in these comparisons can show you statistics. Some have replay, backtesting, hundreds of reports and an assistant. In six years of coaching I have not seen any of those move a trader's results on their own. What moves results is a short loop done every day and every month, and the difference with Actal is that it makes you do it.

  1. 1File a premarket plan before the open: A, B and C scenarios per market and a bias. No plan, and the calendar shows the day as unplanned.
  2. 2Close the day out: which scenario played, and did you trade the plan. That answer becomes a weekly number and feeds the execution score.
  3. 3Grade every trade on discipline, A to F, separate from what it made. Mistakes get tagged and priced.
  4. 4Take one weekly focus, chosen from what cost you most, and watch its progress all week.
  5. 5Do a monthly review: a reflection, your best and worst trades ranked by grade first, and goals for next month with live progress.

The calendar, the execution score and the insights are built on top of that loop, not beside it. Each screen is on the features page, and the whole thing is free while Actal is in beta.

The one thing every page agrees on

Other journals are built around statistics and features. Actal is built around improvement: a premarket plan you file before the open, a closeout after, a grade on every trade, one thing to fix a week, and a monthly review with goals. Free during beta.