Forex Tester has been around since 2006 and is one of the most widely used manual Forex backtesting software solutions available.
But if you're looking for alternatives, this article will give ALL of the other solutions that I have discovered since starting this site in 2007.
I'll show you where each software package is better that Forex Tester and where it's not as good.
Some solutions are paid and others are free.
But remember, you usually get what you pay for.
Alright, let's get into it…
Forex Tester
Before getting into all of the alternatives, I'll first show you where Forex Tester shines and where it has some shortcomings.
I've been using Forex Tester since about 2008 and it's a solid piece of software, but there is some room for improvement.
But first the good stuff…
Benefits of Forex Tester
- Wide range of markets available to backtest
- Paid product, ensuring product updates and support
- Easy to use
- Excellent support
- Can backtest MetaTrader EAs
- Free trial
- Advanced trade and order management
- Very stable
- Add custom indicators
Downsides of Forex Tester
- Very limited analytics
- No partial automation tools
- Updated historical data requires a monthly fee
- Requires Windows
- Their paid EA builder doesn't work
- Not all custom indicators can be converted to Forex Tester format
- Hard to program custom indicators yourself
Who This is Good For
If you don't need detailed analytics, then this is a good solution.
Traders who use custom indicators can also benefit from using this software.
Like I mentioned earlier, I have used Forex Tester for along time and it's a solid software package.
However, if you want a full-fledged backtesting solution, then I feel that Forex Tester has room for improvement.
If you like this software and want to get a big discount on the newest version of Forex Tester, then go here to learn more.
But if you still want to hear about the alternatives, let's take a look at all of them and see how they compare.
I'll start with the software that has replaced Forex Tester on my computer…
NakedMarkets (Best Forex Tester Alternative)
This is my pick for best Forex Tester alternative.
NakedMarkets was just launched a couple of years ago, and I feel that it has already surpassed the capabilities of Forex Tester, by a wide margin.
I currently only use this software for backtesting.
Here's why…
Benefits of NakedMarkets
- Professional level backtesting analytics
- Manual, semi-automated and fully automated backtesting
- Built-in no-code trading system builder that works well
- Easy to use
- Free updated historical data
- Paid product, ensuring product updates and support
- Get historical data downloads from multiple brokers
- Historical data for many futures, forex, indexes, crypto and stock markets
- Working on support for custom MetaTrader EAs and indicators
- Advanced trade and order management
- Free trial
- Create your own indicators with popular programming languages
- And more!
Downsides of NakedMarkets
- Only runs on Windows desktop
- They have a small team, so support can be a little slow
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
This software is excellent for anyone who wants to speed up the backtesting process with partial or full automation, but does not want to code.
The Rules feature of NakedMarkets allows traders to build automated pieces of a trading strategy, and potentially make it a fully automated strategy in the future.
Another reason to use NakedMarkets is because of their professional level analytics.
Unfortunately, Forex Tester's analytics has not improved over the years and this feature alone is worth the slightly higher price of NakedMarkets.
I recommend it to anyone who is thinking of getting Forex Tester.
NakedMarkets is superior to Forex Tester.
Learn more about NakedMarkets here
MetaTrader 4 and 5
MT4 and MT5 are very similar when it comes to backtesting, so I'm going to group them together.
Since so many brokers have MetaTrader available as a trading platform, using one of these platforms for backtesting is an excellent way to get accustomed to the platform so you know how to use when it comes time to trade live.
Benefits of MT 4 and 5
- Free to use and free historical data
- Get to know the trading software while backtesting
- Can be used offline if the data is already downloaded
- Can use the numerous custom indicators already created for MetaTrader
Downsides of MT 4 and 5
- Need to use a spreadsheet to track backtesting trades
- A very slow backtesting method
- Can be confusing to scroll back to old dates
- Only available on Windows (not reliable on Linux/Mac), mobile versions not good for backtesting
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
This is fantastic for people on a budget, or if you just want to try out backtesting without investing any money.
The big disadvantage is that the process is going to be really slow.
But on the bright side, anyone can do this because it doesn't require any complicated setups.
Of all the free options on this page, I would suggest starting with this one.
It's a good free option to Forex Tester.
Download MT4 or MT5 to get started right now.
TradingView
TradingView is my absolute favorite trading and charting software.
It's so easy to use and it runs on any device, which is a huge advantage.
But is TradingView a good Forex Tester alternative?
Let's find out…
Benefits of TradingView
- Runs on any operating system, including mobile
- Super smooth charts, easy to use
- Use the Replay feature to simulate live market conditions
- Paid product, ensuring product updates and support
- Can use the numerous custom indicators already created for TradingView
- Free trial
Downsides of TradingView
- Not enough historical data to backtest on lower timeframes
- Ongoing subscription fee
- Very limited analytics
- Cannot do complex entries and exits
- Have to be online to use it
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
TradingView is good for traders who want to backtest fully automated trading strategies or manual strategies on higher timeframes (daily chart or higher).
If you want to do backtesting on lower timeframes, this is not the platform for you.
They do not have enough historical data or analytics to make it worth the monthly cost. Hopefully that changes in the future, but for now, this is not a great backtesting platform.
Learn more about TradingView here.
Soft4FX
This is a relatively unique solution in the market because it's a plugin for MetaTrader 4.
So instead of building an entirely new software, the creators just piggybacked off an already popular software.
Here's the good and bad of this software.
Benefits of Soft4FX
- Paid product, ensuring product updates and support
- Low cost
- Leverages existing popular MetaTrader 4 platform
- 3 Historical broker data options
- Advanced trade and order management
- Free trial
- Use with 2 MetaTrader 4 accounts
Downsides of Soft4FX
- Very limited analytics
- A little clunky, not the easiest to use software
- Requires Windows and the desktop version of MT4
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
This is a solid solution for someone who is just getting started in trading and wants a decent, low cost, backtesting software solution.
However, if you are serious about learning how to trade, I would highly recommend spending a little more money and purchase the best Forex Tester alternative listed above.
After I used Soft4FX for a few days, I found that I wanted something with more capabilities.
You might find the same.
Learn more about Soft4FX here.
Traders Gym (ThinkTrader)
Traders Gym is a free backtesting solution inside the ThinkTrader platform from ThinkMarkets.
It has some basic backtesting features that will get you up and running with a backtest quickly.
One thing to keep in mind is that ThinkMarkets is a broker, so they will try to get you to sign up for a live trading account, unlike Forex Tester.
But here's the good and bad when it comes to this software.
Benefits of Traders Gym
- Free software and historical data
- Good looking interface
Downsides of Traders Gym
- You have to be connected to the internet to use it
- They don't offer much historical data
- Regular pausing because of internet connection during backtesting
- Missing some key backtesting features
- It's not easy to use
- Cannot add custom indicators
- Manual backtesting only
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
The most annoying part of this software is that you have to be online to use it.
On top of that, it pauses occasionally because it loses the internet connection for some reason, even if I have a solid connection.
I don't understand why they made it run this way, since this is a standalone software that's capable of storing historical data.
Now this could be a good free alternative to Forex Tester if you're a day trader that uses pure price action to trade.
But that's about all it's good for.
Learn more about Traders Gym here.
NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader was started in 2003, making it one of the oldest platforms on this list.
There's no doubt that it's a solid trading platform. But how is it for backtesting?
Here's what I discovered after trying it out.
Benefits of NinjaTrader
- Free software and historical data
- Good support
- Well established platform
Downsides of NinjaTrader
- Really clunky software, feels like it was built in the 1990s.
- Hard to get it to work
- Primarily for Futures trading
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
I know a couple of professional traders who have been very successful using NinjaTrader as their backtesting software.
But I don't like it.
First of all, it's primarily for Futures traders. So if you trade any other market, it's not going to work as well.
Second, it takes forever to learn how to use it and it's very frustrating.
On the upside, it's free, so that's one benefit that it has over Forex Tester.
But all in all, I would steer clear from this software if you trade Forex.
Learn more about NinjaTrader here.
FXBlue Trading Simulator
This is another free trading simulator that's downloadable from FXBlue.
Like Soft4FX, it's also a plugin for MetaTrader 4 and leverages the functions of an established platform.
Here's the good and bad about this software.
Benefits of FXBlue
- Free historical data
- Plugs into MetaTrader 4
- Better than using a spreadsheet
Downsides of FXBlue
- Clunky to use
- Not many features
- Very limited support
- Windows only
How It Compares to Forex Tester / Who It's Good For
FXBlue is a free way to see if you would be OK with a solution like Soft4FX, or if you would be better off with a solution like NakedMarkets.
It's good enough to get a feel for how to backtest, but I don't see it as much more than that.
This is not a good replacement for Forex Tester.
Learn more about FXBlue here.
Conclusion
So if you're looking for an alternative to Forex Tester, then those are your best options.
If you're on a tight budget, then the free or cheap options like MetaTrader or Soft4FX are a great place to start.
But if you have some money to invest in your trading business, I would highly recommend using the best option you can afford.
To learn how to backtest properly once you have one of these solutions, take my backtesting course.