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Tradovate Setup Guide

Overview

Tradovate is the futures execution broker — it holds your money, routes your orders to the exchange, and connects to TradingView for charting. This guide covers opening your account, the TradingView integration, and what you'll pay.

⏱ 30–45 min ⚡ Execution broker REQUIRED

Step 1 — Open Your Tradovate Account

1 Go to Tradovate.com and click Open Account

Open tradovate.com. Click Open Account in the top right. Fill in your name, email, and phone.

📸 Screenshot: Tradovate open account page
tradovate.com → Open Account
Figure 1: Tradovate account opening page

Source: Tradovate official — tradovate.com

2 Choose your pricing plan

Tradovate has two cost structures — pick based on how often you'll trade:

PlanCostCommission/contractBest for
Pay As You GoFree to start$1.29/contract (ES), ~$1.50 (NQ)Light traders, testing
Monthly$99/month$0.99/contract (ES), ~$1.20 (NQ)Active traders (5+ trades/week)
Lifetime$1,499 one-time$0.99/contract (ES)Full-time traders

Exchange fees (CME) are additional — roughly $0.85/side for ES, $1.50/side for NQ. These go to the exchange, not Tradovate. *(Verify current CME fees at tradovate.com — fees change.)*

On June 20, 2025, Tradovate changed pricing. Legacy accounts from before that date may have a $25/month admin fee. Verify your plan terms after opening.
Source: tradovate.com + Reddit r/FuturesTrading user reports

Source: Tradovate pricing — tradovate.com (verify current rates before committing)

3 Fund your account (after you pass a prop eval)

For now, open the account and leave it unfunded. You'll fund it through your prop firm after passing an evaluation — the firm deposits simulated capital into your Tradovate account, not your own money.

If you're trading live (no prop firm), Tradovate requires a minimum deposit to cover margin — roughly $500–$1,000 for one ES contract.

For prop firm trading: you don't fund Tradovate directly with significant capital. The prop firm provides the funded account capital after you pass their evaluation.
4 Download the Tradovate platform

Tradovate is available as:

  • Browser: web.tradovate.com — works in Chrome/Safari, no download needed
  • Desktop app: Download from tradovate.com — Windows and Mac
  • Mobile: iOS and Android apps — functional but less powerful than desktop

The browser version and desktop app are essentially the same. For trading, the browser version is sufficient.

Step 2 — Connect TradingView to Tradovate

5 In TradingView, open the Trading Panel

Open TradingView, go to Chart, then look for the Trading Panel button in the toolbar. If you don't see it, enable it via View → Trading Panel.

📸 Screenshot: TradingView Trading Panel
Chart → toolbar → Trading Panel → select Tradovate
Figure 2: Enable Trading Panel from the View menu, then select Tradovate as broker
6 Select Tradovate and log in

In the Trading Panel dropdown, select Tradovate. You'll be prompted to enter your Tradovate email and password. Once connected:

  • Your TradingView chart shows Tradovate account balance
  • Orders placed on the chart route to Tradovate for execution
  • You can place, modify, and cancel orders directly from the TradingView chart
📸 Screenshot: Tradovate login in TradingView
Trading Panel → Tradovate → enter Tradovate credentials
Figure 3: Log in with your Tradovate account credentials

Source: Tradovate official guide — support.tradovate.com/s/article/Connecting-Your-Tradovate-Account-to-TradingView

7 Test with a limit order (don't use market orders yet)

Once connected, place a limit order for 1 MES contract (Micro ES, ~$1.25/tick — lower cost than full ES):

  • Right-click on the chart → Trading → New Order
  • Set type to Limit
  • Set quantity: 1
  • Set price: slightly below current market price
  • Watch it route to Tradovate and fill (or cancel it)
Always use limit orders for your first test of any new platform connection. Market orders during fast markets can have slippage — limits protect you.

Step 3 — Add Futures Contracts

8 Enable ES and NQ futures in your Tradovate Market Data

In Tradovate (web or desktop): go to Market Data → search ES and add it. Same for NQ. This gives you real-time quotes.

Note: real-time CME data has a monthly fee through Tradovate (~$$3–5/month for the bundle). Verify current pricing on the Tradovate platform after logging in.

Source: Tradovate platform settings — tradovate.com

What You've Set Up

The full stack is now: TradingView (chart) → Tradovate (execution) → CME (exchange) → funded account from your prop firm.

← TradingView Setup Prop Eval Guide →