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
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Tool
Futures trading hours
What's open now, the daily break and holiday hours
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Tool
Futures tick value calculator
Tick and point values for MNQ, NQ, ES, CL, GC and more
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Tool
Pip calculator
Pip value and lot size for forex and gold
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Tool
Gold pip calculator
XAUUSD pip value per lot and lot size
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Tool
Win rate calculator
Breakeven win rate, expectancy and profit factor
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Tool
Risk reward calculator
Risk to reward ratio and breakeven win rate
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Tool
Profit factor calculator
Profit factor and what a good one looks like
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Tool
Option profit calculator
Options P/L at expiry and before it, breakevens, Greeks
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Tool
Monte Carlo simulator
Chance of profit, risk of ruin, drawdowns, streaks and prop firm odds
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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 template (free): copy it in one click
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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Guide
Does TradeZella have a free trial? No. Here's what you can get instead
No trial, no free plan, no refunds. 25% off yearly and 20% partner codes.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Alternatives
Free TradeZella alternatives in 2026
The free journals, what each free plan really includes, and dated prices.
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Alternatives
TraderSync alternatives, pricing, and how it compares to TradeZella
What TraderSync costs, how it compares to TradeZella and Tradervue, and the alternatives.
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Alternatives
Tradervue alternatives in 2026: free and paid
Free and paid journals to switch to from Tradervue, with dated prices.
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Alternatives
TradeTally alternatives in 2026: free and paid
Free and paid journals to use instead of TradeTally, with dated prices.
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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 journalthinkorswim 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.