Explainer
Futures backtesting free
Free futures backtesting is a free platform tier you code against or a free replay tool you step through; our backtest is $19 a version.
Updated
What free can mean
Free backtesting is not one thing. It can be a platform that costs nothing to use, or a replay tool you step through by hand. Each leaves something out.
Facts about other tools here were read from vendor pages in October 2026. Check the vendor for anything current.
- Free tier
- A plan that costs nothing and carries limits that paid plans lift.
- Replay session
- One run through a stretch of history, one bar at a time.
- Version
- One run of a strategy on our service.
- Held-back months
- Months kept out of the results so part of the history stays unseen.
Free platform tiers
NinjaTrader’s pricing page says the platform is always free to use for advanced charting, strategy backtesting and simulated trading, with no time limit and no funding required. The Strategy Analyzer runs coded NinjaScript strategies, so you need the strategy as code and the historical data.
TradingView has a free Basic plan. Deep Backtesting needs a Premium or higher plan, and extra real-time and intraday data for exchanges such as CME is added separately and needs a paid plan or a trial.
Free replay
FX Replay has a free plan with 2 backtesting sessions and 1 indicator. Futures and CME data is listed on its Pro plan only. TradingView’s Bar Replay lets you step through a chart’s history, but TradingView says orders in it use real-time data, including Paper Trading.
Our Trade Lab is free with an account and a verified email. It covers NQ, ES and gold (GC) as 1-minute data. You step forward bar by bar, draw on the chart, keep a journal and place paper orders. Fills are evaluated on 1-minute bars. It replays history only, with no live data.
What is free here
Creating an account is free, and so is the Trade Lab replay. A done-for-you backtest is not: you describe your rules in plain language, and a version is $19.
You get back every trade, the summary figures and a written list of what the run assumed. About 30% of months, spread across every year, are held back from the results. A version takes two to three business days.
We test CME futures only: ES, MES, NQ, MNQ and gold (GC). The results are simulated and do not represent actual trading.
Free tools cost something else: your time to write rules, source data and set costs. Check what the free tier leaves out.
Where free stops
Free platform tiers usually leave the work of coding and data to you. Free replay is limited by how much time you spend stepping through bars. Our backtest costs $19 a version.
Whichever you use, check the bar size, the costs and how contract rolls are handled. Our explainers on data and costs cover those.
Questions and answers
Can I backtest futures for free?
Yes, in a few ways. NinjaTrader says backtesting is free to use. TradingView and FX Replay have free plans. Our backtest is $19 a version, and the Trade Lab replay is free with an account.
Is there a free futures replay tool?
Yes. Our Trade Lab is free with an account and a verified email, for NQ, ES and GC futures.
What does a version include?
Every trade, the summary figures and the assumptions, with about 30% of months held back.
Why is free backtesting limited?
Every free option leaves something out: coding, data, or session counts. Read the limits before you rely on a result.