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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

Step 2 — Select Your Trading Mode

2 Choose Live Trading, Market Replay, or Simulation

After login at trader.tradovate.com, the platform presents a Trading Mode selector. Three options:

  • Live Trading — real capital. Orders go to the exchange.
  • Simulation — paper trade with simulated capital. Free 14-day trial with $50K and real-time CME data. After the trial period, sim data expires unless you fund a Live account or subscribe to SIM-Only (~$12.95/mo).
  • Market Replay — replay historical market data to practice order entry. Free and available even after sim data expires. Use this to practice the order entry workflow when your sim trial is over or outside market hours.
You're on sim now — use it. The sim phase is where you prove the setup works before spending any real money.
If your sim trial has expired, you'll see "Action required: Upgrade to keep trading" when you try to open a new Simulation session. Market Replay is still available for free — use it to practice order entry without live or sim data.

Source: verified live 2026-07-01 (Alan + Claude walkthrough); support.tradovate.com

Step 3 — Choose Your Pricing Plan

3 Select a plan

Tradovate is now owned by NinjaTrader. Current pricing (verify at tradovate.com/pricing):

PlanCostMicro commissions (per side)Best for
Free$0/mo~$0.39 MES · ~$0.39 MNQTest phase
Monthly$99/mo~$0.29 micro · ~$0.99 standardActive traders (5+ trades/week)
Lifetime$1,499 one-time~$0.29 micro · ~$0.99 standardFull-time traders

Exchange fees (CME) are additional — roughly $1.26–$1.33/side for ES, $1.85–$2.00/side for NQ (verify current at cmegroup.com). These go to the exchange, not Tradovate.

L1 CME data is free on funded/live accounts. L2 (DOM) data costs ~$16/mo for non-funded users.

Tradovate changed ownership in mid-2025 (NinjaTrader). Legacy accounts from before the change may have different terms. Verify your plan at tradovate.com/pricing after opening.

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

Step 4 — Download the Platform

4 Choose your access method

Tradovate is available as:

  • Browser: trader.tradovate.com — works in Chrome/Safari, no download needed. Login lands on the Trading Mode selector.
  • Desktop app: Download the NinjaTrader Desktop Platform from tradovate.com — Windows and Mac. Tradovate is now owned by NinjaTrader; the desktop app carries the NinjaTrader brand.
  • 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 5 — Enable the TradingView Add-on

5 Enable the TradingView add-on on Tradovate

On Tradovate (web or desktop): go to Settings → Platform → Add-ons and enable the TradingView add-on (~$9.99/mo, complimentary on funded or prop accounts). This is what lets TradingView route orders through Tradovate.

If you're on a funded/prop account, the TradingView add-on is free — verify it before paying.

Source: Tradovate official — tradovate.com/platform/add-on-integration-tools

Step 6 — Connect TradingView to Tradovate

6 Connect TradingView to Tradovate

For the connection steps, see TradingView Setup Guide → Step 3 (TradingView owns the connect flow). The short version: open TradingView's Trading Panel → select Tradovate → log in with your Tradovate credentials.

📸 Screenshot: TradingView Trading Panel → Tradovate
Chart → toolbar → Trading Panel → select Tradovate → log in
TradingView Trading Panel → select Tradovate → enter Tradovate credentials

Source: Tradovate official guide — support.tradovate.com

Step 7 — Verify Your Platform Login

7 Confirm you can log in to the platform

Before wiring TradingView to Tradovate, confirm your Tradovate login works and you can access the platform. Log in at trader.tradovate.com, select your trading mode (Simulation or Market Replay), and verify the chart and order panels load.

If you cannot log in, check that your account is activated (check your email for the account activation link) and that your credentials are correct.

Step 8 — Add Futures Contracts

8 Load ES and NQ charts

In Tradovate's top bar: click the search (magnifying-glass) icon → type ES or NQ → select the front-month contract (e.g. ESU6 for ES, NQU6 for NQ) from the dropdown. This loads the chart for that contract. Repeat for any additional symbols.

On funded/live accounts, L1 CME data is free. L2 (DOM) data is ~$16/mo for non-funded users.

Source: verified live 2026-07-01 (Alan + Claude walkthrough)

Step 9 — Place Your First Test Order

9 Test the execution chain

Once connected, test the execution chain before trading live. Use one of these two methods:

From TradingView (chart)

Method A — Position tool (set entry/stop/target first): Select the Long/Short Position tool from the TradingView chart toolbar. Drag it on the chart to set your desired entry price, stop price, and target. Then right-click → "Create Limit Order" → choose Market or Limit → click Buy or Sell.

Method B — Buy/Sell buttons (instant market): Set your quantity in the chart toolbar, then click Buy or Sell for an instant market order. Add a stop or target by clicking the + button at the target price level.

There is no "New Order in Chart" menu item. The two methods above are the only live-order paths from the TradingView chart.

From Tradovate's own platform

Chart Trading: click the chart's gear/Settings icon (top-right of the chart header) → toggle Trade Mode ON. Then left-click a price on the chart to place a Limit or Stop order at that level. Tradovate auto-offers the correct order type for a level above or below market — left-click above market stages a Sell Limit and Buy Stop; left-click below market stages a Buy Limit and Sell Stop. Stop type is set in the same gear menu.

SuperDOM: open the SuperDOM ladder for direct order entry, modification, and cancellation with precise price control. (The SuperDOM ladder is present by default in the default workspace.)

Source: support.tradovate.com "Chart-Trading-Basics"; verified live 2026-07-01

Always use a limit order for your first test. Set quantity to 1 contract. After the order fills or after 30 seconds, cancel it — you just confirmed the full chain works: TradingView → Tradovate → CME.

What You've Set Up

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