What is Tradovate: how it works, pricing and pros in 2026

Tradovate is a cloud-based futures trading platform and broker that lets you analyze charts, place orders and manage risk from your browser, computer or phone on the same account. It has belonged to NinjaTrader since 2022 and, since 2025, to the Kraken group (Payward). It’s one of the most widely used platforms at futures prop firms thanks to its simplicity and its TradingView integration. Below you’ll see how it works, what it costs in 2026, its pros and cons and how to place an order with a stop and target step by step.

What is Tradovate and what is it used for?

Tradovate is trading software and a US futures broker built for active retail traders. Unlike traditional platforms installed on a single computer, it stores your settings, charts and orders on its servers. If you log out at the office and log in at home or on your phone, you find the same workspace.

You use it to trade CME Group futures contracts: indices (Nasdaq-100, S&P 500, Dow, Russell), crude oil, gold, bonds and currencies, in both standard and micro sizes. That’s why it’s the default platform at many futures prop firms.

A brief history: from startup to part of the Kraken group

• 2016: Tradovate launches, founded by Rick Tomsic, with what was then an unusual pitch: a cloud platform and a subscription model instead of high per-trade commissions.
• January 2022: NinjaTrader buys Tradovate for USD 115 million. Both brands keep running but share a group and pricing structure.
• May 2025: Kraken (Payward) completes its acquisition of NinjaTrader for about USD 1.5 billion, bringing Tradovate into the same group.

How Tradovate works: web, desktop and mobile

All three versions are included with no platform fee and share the same account. What changes is convenience and performance:

Version	Where it runs	Best for	Keep in mind
Tradovate Web	Chrome and other modern browsers	Getting started in minutes with nothing to install, from any computer	Browser-dependent: lots of open tabs can slow it down
Tradovate Desktop	Windows and Mac (downloadable app)	Day trading with several charts and DOMs at once	Requires installation, but settings sync with the web version
Tradovate Mobile	iPhone and Android	Monitoring positions and moving stops away from your desk	Small screen: not ideal as your main platform for scalping

If you’re torn between web and desktop, in Tradovate web vs desktop we compare performance, stability and which suits your connection.

The Tradovate tools you’ll use most

DOM: the price ladder

It shows the exchange’s limit order book in a price column, with a volume histogram and one-click order entry. It supports custom hotkeys and is the go-to tool for scalping fast markets like the Nasdaq.

Chart trading

You can place, drag and cancel orders on the chart and see your entry, stop and target in one place. Charts offer tick, minute, volume and range intervals, volume profile, bid-ask charts, Heikin Ashi and Renko, plus 40+ indicators.

OCO brackets: automatic stop and target

A bracket is a template that places your stop loss and take profit as soon as your entry fills. If one is hit, the other is canceled (OCO, “one cancels the other”). Tradovate lets you set them in ticks, price or dollars, with up to 10 target and stop levels, and keeps them on the server: if your connection drops, the protection stays active. It also offers trailing stops.

Market Replay

It replays past sessions with tick-by-tick data and full market depth at up to 4x speed, and lets you trade them in simulation. It’s the fastest way to practice the New York open without waiting for the next day.

TradingView integration

Tradovate connects to TradingView: you analyze with TradingView’s charts and indicators and send or manage your Tradovate account’s orders from there. It also integrates with Jigsaw and Bookmap. To understand that platform better, read what is TradingView and what is it used for.

Tradovate pricing: plans and commissions in 2026

With your own brokerage account, Tradovate charges a plan fee and a commission per contract per side (entry and exit are charged separately). Exchange, clearing and NFA fees apply on top on every plan. Figures published at tradovate.com/pricing (November 2026):

Plan	Plan cost	Commission per side – micro	Commission per side – standard
Free	USD 0	USD 0.39	USD 1.29
Monthly	USD 99/month	USD 0.29	USD 0.99
Lifetime	USD 1,499 (or 4 installments of USD 499)	USD 0.09	USD 0.59

Tradovate doesn’t require a fixed minimum deposit, but real-time market data requires an approved, funded account, and trading your own money means posting margin and absorbing 100% of the losses. As with NinjaTrader, the Lifetime plan only pays off with heavy volume sustained over years.

Can you use Tradovate for free?

1. Trial demo: Tradovate offers two weeks of full access to a USD 50,000 simulated account with real-time data, DOM, brackets and Market Replay.
2. Through a prop firm: the firm gives you a Tradovate login as part of the account price. You trade in simulation without posting margin, and your maximum risk is what you paid for the account.

How to trade futures on Tradovate: a bracket order step by step

This is the workflow for entering the market with your stop and target already set, which is the bare minimum on an account with daily loss rules:

1. Log in on the web or the app and check at the top that the right account is selected (if you have several, trading on the wrong one is a common mistake).
2. Open the front-month contract, for example MNQ with the active expiration, and make sure it isn’t NQ (ten times larger).
3. Create a bracket template in the order module: for example, an 80-tick stop (20 points) and a 160-tick target (40 points) on MNQ. Save it with a clear name.
4. Set the number of contracts using the risk math in the next section, not gut feel in the moment.
5. Send the order from the DOM or the chart with the template selected. Once it fills, the stop and target appear automatically.
6. Manage without adding risk: you can move the stop to break-even or pull the target closer by dragging them, but never move the stop further away.

Our guide how to set up Tradovate correctly covers templates, hotkeys and workspaces in detail.

Worked example: MNQ and MES risk on a 25K account

According to CME Group, the Micro Nasdaq (MNQ) is worth USD 2 per point (USD 0.50 per tick) and the Micro S&P 500 (MES) USD 5 per point (USD 1.25 per tick). Take a 25K Emerge Profit Futures Instant Funding account: USD 450 daily loss limit, USD 1,500 maximum drawdown and a cap of 2 minis or 20 micros.

• MNQ with a 20-point stop: 20 × USD 2 = USD 40 per contract. With 3 contracts you risk USD 120 per trade: three losses in a row already add up to USD 360 of the USD 450 daily limit.
• MES with a 6-point stop: 6 × USD 5 = USD 30 per contract. With 3 contracts you risk USD 90, so five losses in a row before the daily limit.
• What to avoid: using all 20 allowed micros with the same 20-point stop on MNQ. That’s USD 800 per trade, more than the daily loss limit and over half the total drawdown.

A practical rule: a losing trade shouldn’t exceed 20–25% of the daily loss limit. On the 25K account that’s USD 90 to USD 110 per trade. Lock that size into your bracket template before the market opens.

Tradovate pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Cloud-based: same setup on web, Windows, Mac and mobile	Fewer indicators (40+) and less customization than NinjaTrader
Low learning curve, ideal if you’re new to futures	No native strategy programming language like NinjaScript
Server-side OCO brackets with up to 10 levels	The web version depends on your internet connection and browser
Market Replay with full depth included	Futures-focused: not for trading stocks or equity options
Direct TradingView integration	With your own account, the Free plan has the highest commissions
Runs natively on Mac, no virtualization needed	Order flow tools are more basic than specialized platforms

Tradovate at a prop firm: what changes for an evaluated trader

At a prop firm, Tradovate works the same as with your own account, but the balance is simulated and the firm sets the rules. Three practical differences:

• The firm sends you the credentials: you don’t sign up with Tradovate or choose a plan.
• The contract limit and daily loss limit are set by the account, not the platform. Know those numbers before you trade.
• Drawdown is measured using the firm’s model (EOD or static), even if Tradovate shows a different balance on screen. Check EOD vs static drawdown if the difference isn’t clear to you.

We’ve rounded up the most common mistakes (wrong account, orders without a bracket, expired contract) in common Tradovate errors.

Tradovate vs NinjaTrader: which should you choose?

They belong to the same group and share the same plan structure, but they target different traders. Tradovate wins on simplicity and portability: log in from any device and trade in minutes. NinjaTrader wins on depth: advanced ATM strategies, C# programming and a huge add-on marketplace. If you do heavy analysis and trade from a single Windows machine, NinjaTrader is usually the better fit; if you switch between computers or use a Mac, go with Tradovate. The full comparison is in Tradovate vs NinjaTrader.

How to trade Tradovate with Emerge Profit

Emerge Profit futures accounts run on Tradovate, NinjaTrader and TradingView with the platform license included, so you don’t pay a Tradovate plan or commissions. There are two ways to start:

• Futures Evaluation (from $60): hit a simulated profit target with EOD drawdown and a minimum of 5 trading days, with no activation fee when you pass. Positions are closed before the end of each session.
• Futures Instant Funding (from $130): trade from day one, no evaluation, with accounts from 5K to 250K, EOD or static drawdown and no time limit.

Before your first trade, load a bracket template in Tradovate that matches your account’s daily loss limit and keep your position size steady: Emerge’s Operational Consistency and Position Sizing Rule doesn’t allow abrupt size changes, such as jumping from micros to minis without a transition.

Tradovate FAQ

Sources

• Tradovate – Plans and commissions (accessed November 2026).
• Tradovate – Platform: DOM, chart trading, brackets and Market Replay (accessed November 2026).
• Tradovate – Two-week demo (accessed November 2026).
• Tradovate – NinjaTrader Acquires Tradovate (January 12, 2022).
• Business Wire – Kraken Completes Acquisition of NinjaTrader (May 1, 2025).
• CME Group – Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 and Micro E-mini S&P 500 contract specifications.

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