Backtesting
ProPick a market and a start date. The chart plays forward one candle at a time with the future hidden, and you trade it with spreads, slippage and commission included. Find out whether an idea holds up before you put money on it.
Try it: press play, then buy or sell. Sample data, with costs turned off.
Markets
US, UK, European and Japanese shares, ETFs, forex majors, crosses and exotics, global indices, crypto, commodities, metals and bond futures. Search the full list to check yours is there.
1,021 markets, popular first
History varies by market. When you set up a session, the date picker shows the range available for the market you choose.
How it works
A backtest session is a trading account in a replay. You make the decisions candle by candle, without knowing what comes next.
Choose from 1,000+ markets, then set the date range, account currency, starting balance and leverage.
Price moves forward one candle at a time with everything after it hidden. Place market, limit and stop orders as the chart unfolds.
See net P/L, win rate, profit factor, drawdown and the full trade list, then save the session or start another.
WaveCharts™
Backtesting runs on WaveCharts™, the same charts you use across TraderWaves: 22 timeframes from one minute to monthly, and more than 70 drawing tools. Try the timeframes and a few indicators below.
Timeframe
Indicators
Coming soon More indicators, and custom indicators you build yourself.
Replay controls
Watch a setup form in slow motion, or get through a quiet week in seconds. The playback controller floats over the chart, so you can move it out of the way.
Broker-style spread, normal slippage and commission per lot.
Buy 1 lot EUR/USDPrice moved 38 pips in your favour
You keep 94% of the move.
Execution
An idea that only works when trading is free doesn’t work. Use Broker Realistic, run a harsher Stress Test, or set every cost yourself.
Trading
Place orders, manage risk and react to the news as it lands. The account moves with the replay, so every decision has a consequence.
Enter at the current price or leave pending orders for the replay to reach.
Drag the lines to adjust them, with floating P/L on the trade label.
Take some off and let the rest run, just as you would live.
News on the chart
Economic events sit on the exact candle they were released. Open one to see actual, forecast, previous and revised figures, and filter by low, medium or high impact.
Position panel
The position panel shows open positions, closed trades and a session log, with balance, equity, free margin and realised and floating P/L.
Results
When you finish, the session report shows whether the idea earned its place, and where it gave money back.
Good to know
Replays use the same charts as the rest of TraderWaves, so your drawing tools and indicators work the same way everywhere.
Open saved sessions and keep replaying on mobile. Drawing tools are available on larger screens.
Describe or build a rules-based strategy and run it through the backtester automatically.
A good backtest shows an idea is worth watching. Live markets can still behave differently.
Each market has its own data range. The date picker shows how far back you can go.
Replays use one-minute data and up. There are no tick or second-level charts.
You place the trades yourself. Automated strategy runs arrive with Strategy Builder.
Want to review the trades you take live? Explore the journal
The journal and analytics are free for as long as you like. Upgrade to Pro when you want to replay the markets and test your ideas.
$0forever
Not a trial. No credit card needed.
Journal and analyse the trades you take live.
$19.99/month
Billed annually at $239.88 · Or $29.99 billed monthly
Backtesting, Wave AI, Alerts and everything in Free.
No credit card needed for Free. Cancel or downgrade Pro at any time. Compare all plan features
FAQs
Need more detail? Visit the help centre.
It’s a market replay for testing trading ideas by hand. You choose a market and a start date, the chart plays forward one candle at a time with the future hidden, and you trade it as if it were live. When you finish, you get a full report on how the session went.
No. Creating and trading backtest sessions is part of TraderWaves Pro. The Free plan includes the journal, analytics and charts, and if you move from Pro to Free you can still open the sessions you finished.
Yes. There are more than 1,000 markets: stocks, ETFs, forex pairs, indices, crypto, commodities, metals and bond futures. You can search the full list on this page. How far back you can go depends on the market, and the date picker shows the available range.
Yes. There are 22 timeframes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 and 45 minutes; 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 hours; and daily, weekly and monthly. Whatever you’re watching, trades are filled against one-minute data.
Yes. More than 70 drawing tools are available during a replay, including Fibonacci tools, Gann, pitchforks, harmonic patterns and Elliott Waves, alongside indicators such as moving averages, RSI, MACD and Bollinger Bands. More indicators, including custom indicators, are coming soon.
Yes. Choose Broker Realistic, a harsher Stress Test or your own custom settings for spread, slippage, commission and swap. Margin and stop-out are modelled too, so results sit closer to what a real account would see.
Yes. Play from 0.1× to 256×, switch to Quick mode to move faster, step forward or back one candle at a time, or jump to a date. Space, the arrow keys and + and − work as shortcuts.
Yes. Sessions save as you go, so you can close the tab and resume later. Finished sessions stay in your history with their results.
No. Replays are built from one-minute price data and up. There are no tick or second-level charts.
No, not yet. Today you place trades by hand as the replay plays. Strategy Builder, for running rules-based strategies automatically, is coming soon.
Start free with the journal and analytics. Add Backtesting with Pro whenever you’re ready.
