Our methodology

The five scoring criteria

How we test each journal

Wherever possible we use each platform with real trade data - connecting a live broker or importing an actual trade history - rather than judging from a marketing page. We look at the day-to-day workflow: how fast trades import, how the dashboard reads, and whether the analytics genuinely change how you'd trade. Every review then goes through the same four checks before a score is published or changed.

1. Pricing and plans, from the vendor's own pages

We read each vendor's pricing page and plan-comparison table and record the month-to-month price, the annual price, trial and refund terms, and which features sit on which plan. Promotional prices are labelled as promotions, not treated as the list price. When a vendor reprices or restructures its plans, the review, the comparison pages and the alternatives pages are corrected together, so the same figure appears everywhere on the site.

2. Broker and market coverage

Integration counts and supported markets come from the vendor's own supported-platforms list, and we separate brokers that sync automatically from those that import by file, because that difference decides how much upkeep a journal needs. We name a broker in a review only when the vendor lists it.

3. Features, including the ones that are missing

Each journal is checked against the same feature list - free plan, auto-sync, CSV import, mobile access, replay or simulator, AI assistant, calendar view, per-strategy analytics, tax reports and education. A feature that exists only on a higher tier is recorded as such rather than as a plain yes.

4. What we will not publish

We do not list coupon codes we cannot confirm, we do not invent user-rating counts, and we do not quote a price we have not seen on the vendor's site. If we cannot verify a detail, the review says so.

Every review shows the month it was last reviewed, and that date moves only when its facts are re-checked. Scores are our own weighted assessment, not third-party certified test results. Pricing and feature availability change frequently (table figures last verified October 2026), so always confirm current details on the vendor's own website before you buy.

How we stay honest

Some outbound links on this site are affiliate or partner links, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up - at no extra cost to you. This is how the site funds its testing. Crucially, commercial relationships never change a score or a ranking. A product's position is determined solely by the criteria above. You can read more on our disclosure page.

Updates

The trading-journal market moves quickly. We revisit these rankings regularly and update scores as platforms ship new features or change pricing. If you spot something out of date, let us know at hello@besttradingjournal.com.