Resources
Everything here is free, and written by a trader.
Guides on the habits that cost you money, calculators for size and risk, honest comparisons of the other journals, and export steps for every platform Actal imports from.
Free calculators
Tool
Position size calculator
Contracts from your risk and stop, micros included
Open the calculator →
Tool
Pip calculator
Pip value and lot size for forex and gold
Open the calculator →
Tool
Win rate calculator
Breakeven win rate, expectancy and profit factor
Open the calculator →
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.
Read the guide →
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.
Read the guide →
Compared with the alternatives
Actal vs Spreadsheets
Trading journal vs spreadsheet: what Excel can and cannot tell you
Excel or Google Sheets: free, yours, and blind to behaviour.
Read the comparison →
Actal vs Notion
Notion trading journal vs a real trading journal
A beautiful notebook with databases. Everything typed by hand, nothing measured.
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Actal vs Stats dashboards
Your platform's stats dashboard is not a trading journal
The performance tab in NinjaTrader, TradingView, Tradovate or your prop firm. Accurate, instant, and silent about behaviour.
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Actal vs TradeZella
Actal vs TradeZella: which trading journal fits you
The best-known journal: broker sync, backtesting, trade replay, AI, 300+ reports.
Read the comparison →
Actal vs Tradervue
Actal vs Tradervue: statistics or discipline
The veteran statistics journal: exit analysis, MFE and MAE, mentor sharing.
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Actal vs Edgewonk
Actal vs Edgewonk: two journals that care about psychology
The psychology journal: Tiltmeter, discipline scoring, a flat yearly price.
Read the comparison →
Alternatives
Free TradeZella alternatives in 2026
The free journals, what each free plan really includes, and dated prices.
Read the comparison →
Import from your platform
Export steps for every platform Actal reads, plus which prop firms run on which. See all supported brokers.
NinjaTrader journalTradovate journalMotiveWave journalTradingView journalRithmic journalTopstepX journalSierra Chart journalQuantower journalATAS journalMetaTrader journal
By where you are
For traders
Trading journal for new traders
A trading journal for new traders that grades how you traded, not what you made. Rules, a daily plan and one thing to fix each week. Free in beta.
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For traders
Trading journal for breakeven traders
You have an edge and something keeps eating it. Actal puts a dollar cost on every mistake and gives you one habit to fix each week. Free in beta.
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For traders
Trading journal for profitable traders
An execution score that drops before your P&L does, rules per account, and friends who can see your journal. Built for profitable traders. Free in beta.
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Reading about it only gets you so far
Import a month of your own trades, grade twenty of them, and Actal will tell you which habit is costing you the most. Free during beta, no card.