Top picks for forex charts
Best overall for web and mobile charts - Saxo
| Company |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
TradingView |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) |
cTrader |
 Saxo
|
64 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Saxo’s proprietary platform suite, including SaxoTraderPRO for desktop and SaxoTraderGO for web and mobile, contains some of the best charting software available in 2024 compared to the competition for a whole slew of reasons. Aesthetically, it is also one of my favorite platforms to run in either light or dark mode.
Asset range: First, you can access a huge variety of tradable instruments on Saxo’s platforms, with upwards of 70,000 across all asset classes including forex. Second, Saxo has a great balance of ease of use coupled with advanced features in its charting packages. For instance, trend lines persist across time-frames, when switching between a 1-hour chart and a daily chart, and even sync across devices when switching from web to mobile. Moreover, you can quickly switch between spot trading and any available options chain, all from within the chart module section.
User experience and design: There are over 60 customizable indicators and studies that can easily be added to each chart, with intuitive color-coding schemes. I love that you can trade from the charts, including by right-clicking to create an order. Saxo’s charts make it easy to create orders on the fly, including large-volume trades. I find that being able to visualize my orders on the chart and then clicking to modify them is a massive time saver during fast-paced trading.
The only drawback is that drag-to-modify is not available, which is one feature I would like to see added for high-frequency intraday traders. While there are an increasing number of brokers adding such features, few do it as nicely as Saxo, especially in terms of the stylistic design and smooth user interface experience, which helps it shine in this category.
Research and integrated signals: It’s worth mentioning that within the Saxo platform suite, there is a tremendous amount of research resources, from headlines to articles, categories to screeners, which complement the charting experience when you analyze markets and look for trade opportunities. Furthermore, trading signals from Autochartist are fully integrated into the Saxo platform experience, making it seamless to copy a signal with the forecast and expected trading range visible on a chart. Additionally, the ability for a new order to be pre-filled with the signal values makes it easier and faster to execute.
Check out my full review of Saxo to learn about other aspects of its offering.
Most advanced charting features for mobile - IG
| Company |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
TradingView |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) |
cTrader |
 IG
|
33 |
No |
Yes |
No |
IG’s proprietary platform, available for web and mobile, comes packed with highly advanced charting capabilities, making it a top choice for the best forex charts in 2024. In addition to accessing a wide range of markets and powerful research from IG’s in-house team, IG’s platform suite provides more than just the basics in its charting package. IG’s mobile charts specifically are among my favorite in the industry.
Technical Analysis tools: IG's charting software comes packed with nearly 100 indicators, alongside dozens of drawing tools and a good variety of timeframes and chart types to switch between. It’s not just the mere presence of these that matters but the way it all comes together in terms of the ease of use factor and user experience/design. In addition to integrated trading signals that you can pre-populate an order with and get a chart visual, you can also trade from the chart quite rapidly, which is great for intraday traders or when you just need to modify an order fast.
Drag-to-modify: IG charts on its web and mobile app let you drag-to-modify your existing stop-loss and limit orders, which is a fantastic feature when intraday trading or when you need to make changes with minimal clicks. This is a feature that is also becoming common in the industry, but the manner in which IG has integrated it into its charting experience is what helps set it apart from most brokers that offer a similar feature.
Economic news events in charts: Another neat feature that helps IG’s charts stand out is the integrated economic calendar news events which appear on the bottom of charts as a row, which is great if you are trading around news events. Even more impressive is how IG squeezes this feature into its mobile app in a streamlined fashion. There are many subtle customizations that you can do on mobile that are typically only found on web versions of the best charts, but IG has managed to add such features into its mobile charts too - which is no easy feat.
Visit my in-depth review of IG to discover the other factors that lead me to rank it consistently as the best overall forex brokers year over year.
Advanced technical analysis tools - Interactive Brokers
| Company |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
TradingView |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) |
cTrader |
 Interactive Brokers
|
128 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Interactive Brokers offers several platform suites, with varying levels of charting complexity, ranging from basic simple charts in its client portal, to more advanced charting in its desktop Trader Workstation (TWS) platform.
Advanced tools: The TWS desktop version is my favorite platform at IBKR and the tool that helped it land among the contenders offering the best forex charts. Even the most demanding technical analysts will find a multitude of customization options to fit their specific needs with TWS’s wide range of charting capabilities. While this added complexity can also be a learning curve, you could always start on its more simple platforms, such as via the IBKR client portal, before progressing to the desktop version.
Technical analysis capabilities: There are over 128 indicators and the process of drawing trendlines and zooming in and out, including panning and compressing chart prices, makes Interactive Brokers TWS charting among the best for multi-asset trading, particularly for forex and CFD traders in 2024.
Research and headlines: In addition to advanced charting, IBKR delivers stellar research resources from third-party providers. Within its platform suite, you can find forex news headlines and streaming TV from sources like Bloomberg. Visually, you can set these sources up right alongside your chart layouts from within the TWS platform and keep track of breaking news or analysis at a glance.
Read my comprehensive review of Interactive Brokers to find out why it remains so beloved by professional and advanced traders.
FAQs
Why is forex charting important?
Every day across the world, millions of investors and traders use forex charts to assess price actions and historical market trends to plot potential future price trajectories. Charts are an important visual aid that can help forex traders analyze both the past and the present in the hopes of predicting a future outcome.
Even if you don’t believe in the importance of historical prices in predicting future trends, advanced charting tools can be useful. The best charting tools allow you to drag and drop trade orders directly on the chart, manage your risk/reward levels, and view economic calendar events plotted into the future. The availability and usefulness of these features will of course vary depending on the provider, broker, and/or platform you are using.
What is technical analysis?
Typically performed within a forex chart, technical analysis is the study of historical market prices leading up to present market conditions. The goal of technical analysis is to identify potential trends and levels of support and resistance. Technical analysis can be conducted manually (using indicators, for example) or programmatically as part of an automated trading strategy that executes when certain technical conditions are met (again using traditional or custom indicators).
The most basic form of forex technical analysis involves drawing a simple horizontal trend line on a chart to denote where prices are supported or resisted. Diagonal trend lines, on the other hand, can capture ascending and descending market price movements while plotting potential future trajectories.
bar_chartSignals and charts
Charts are also an ideal place for creating and using trading signals, which is why many brokers integrate signals directly into their charts using popular third-party providers. Check my Trading Signals guide to learn more.
Best forex charting websites in 2024
Here are my picks for the best forex charting websites in 2024. These companies have developed advanced charting technologies that are relied upon by millions of traders each year for their technical analysis needs.
1. TradingView
The TradingView software suite delivers high-quality charts, website widgets, a web trading platform and mobile app, and a range of open-source tools. Offered for free by many of the best forex brokers, TradingView has long been a preferred choice for technical analysis enthusiasits for its dynamic charting software. Today, TradingView has evolved into a fully-fledged trading platform used by a growing number of online forex brokerages.
TradingView also offers its Pine Script programming language to support the needs of algorithmic traders and developers of custom indicators. Combined with its native social network features and chart-reply functionality, TradingView has risen to the top as one of the best forex trading platform providers. TradingView won our 2024 Annual Award for #1 Charting Technology Provider.
Read my TradingView guide to find a highly rated broker that offers TradingView.
2. MetaTrader (MetaQuotes Software Corporation)
The popular MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform and its predecessor MetaTrader 4 (MT4) are both available for free on desktop, web, and mobile. MetaTrader still reigns as one of the most widely-used forex charting applications by retail forex traders globally. I’ve been using MetaTrader since 2005, and I’ve long been a fan of MetaTrader’s charting technology. MetaTrader charts allow for multiple tabs and windows, offer the ability to add overlays with multiple instruments per chart, and allow traders to add pre-built, custom, and third-party indicators.
In addition to charting, MetaTrader has set the bar for algorithmic trading tools for retail traders with its proprietary programming languages (MQL4 and MQL5).
computerMore about MetaTrader
Check out my guide to MetaTrader 4, or learn more about the latest version of MetaTrader by reading my in-depth guide to MetaTrader 5. Can’t decide which version to use? My MT4 vs MT5 guide gives you all the info you need to make an informed decision.
3. cTrader (Spotware Systems)
cTrader’s platform suite is available for desktop, web, and mobile. I’ve been using cTrader since 2018, and the platform’s modern charting technology has always stood out to me. Charts on the cTrader platform are sleek and powerful. cTrader leverages the C# programming language (hence the “c” in cTrader) and supports algorithmic trading capabilities alongside custom chart indicators and studies. Traders can build and use custom tools available via trading API. These features, combined with its integrated social copy trading network help cTrader hold its position as one of the best technology providers for forex charting.
Check out my cTrader guide to learn more about this platform suite and find an excellent broker that offers the cTrader platform.
Types of forex charts
The best chart providers will let you choose from numerous chart types that are far more complex than your run-of-the-mill line charts (where an ascending line means prices are rising and a descending line means prices are falling). I’ve been using forex charts of all kinds for over 20 years; below you’ll find some helpful explanations of some of the most popular chart types for forex traders.
Common chart types
Tick chart
In a tick chart, every “tick” (represented as a bar) expresses a price update. There can be multiple price ticks per second, and the price changes can be small or significant. Tick charts are not bound by time like candlestick charts. Tick charts represent the smallest level granularity for measuring intervals.
Mountain chart
Mountain charts function similarly to line charts. If you take a line chart and fill in the space below the line with color, you have a mountain chart. The resulting visual resembles a mountain, and the ridgeline represents the historical mountain price.
Candlestick chart
A candlestick chart is a way to interpret data about open, high, low, and close (OHLC) pricing information for a given duration. The “wick” of the candle can extend above and below the main candle formation to denote the high and lows of a given session. The bottom and top of the candle represent the open or close. If the close is lower than the open, the candle will typically be colored a shade of red, whereas if the candle closed higher than the opening price of the candle it will usually be colored a shade of green.
Advanced chart types
Heikin-Ashi chart
Similar to the candlestick charts, Heikin-Ashi charts take into consideration the open, high, low, and close prices (OHLC) but go a step further by factoring prices from the previous period in an effort to average out the prices and create a smoother appearance. As a result, some more granular information may be lost, but the chart may be easier to read. Heikin-Ashi charts are still available at a wide number of brokerages but are not as popular as traditional candlestick charts. Heikin-Ashi are slightly more complex and typically favored by traders experienced with technical analysis.
Renko chart
Renko charts appear as a series of blocks (also known as boxes or bricks) that are set a 45-degree angle from each other resulting in diagonal lines that either ascend or descend (depending on market conditions). With Renko charts, the block size can be calibrated to represent a specific number of points or pips. For example, if you have a block size set to 10 pips or points, then the market will need to move up (or down) more than 10 points in order for a new block to appear on the chart.
Note: Renko charts are not bound to time like candlesticks charts. As such, if prices stay within your block range, then no new block will form until the market prices passes above or below that threshold (which may takes hours, days, weeks, or even months).
Point and Figure chart
Functionally similar to Renko charts, Point and Figure charts display a series of vertically stacked Xs or Os. Each stack is either all Xs or all Os, and the height of each stack is determined by the size of the market movement and the box size for each X or O. For example, if you set the box size to 10 pips and the market increases by 50 pips, you will see 5 vertically stacked Xs. If the market drops by 20 pips, a vertical stack of Os will form with 2 Os.
Kagi charts
Kagi charts are a sophisticated type of line chart, in which the line changes from thick to thin (and vice versa) as market conditions change. Kagi charts factor in previous highs and lows, and are based on a predefined, specified threshold. For example, if you specify a 10-pip threshold, the market will need to reverse from its current levels by at least 10 in order for the chart line to change from thick to thin.
Important charting features for forex traders
Technical studies and indicators: The best charting providers for forex trading provide a comprehensive range of studies and dozens (in some cases, hundreds) of indicators that can be added to charts.
Indicators can be overlaid or added to charts in order to provide provide information via math formulas that can be complex or as simple as a moving average. For example, say you are looking at a daily candle chart with 50 days worth of candles. A simple 20-day moving average would compute the average across the last 20 days of prices and plot that as a line on your chart.
Algorithmic trading tools: Some charting providers will offer integrated algorithmic trading tools. These allow you to code your own strategy or select from a range of available automated trading strategies.
Data quality: The quality and accuracy of the historical forex price data from any chart provider can be an important factor when making calculations about potential future trajectories, as tiny deviations over time can lead to significant differences in the future. The best charting providers use high-quality tick data (which includes every single price update).
Where can I chart forex for free?
In my experience, the best way to use excellent charting tools for free is to open a demo account with one of the top forex brokers and access their trading platforms. Typically, you won’t need to include your credit card to open a demo account with the best forex brokers in the industry. Once you’ve created a demo account, you’ll be able to access sophisticated charting tools for web, desktop, and mobile – for free.
What is the best free forex chart website?
My go-to website for free forex charts is TradingView. Though there are some limitations (you can only add a few indicators per chart), traders using TradingView gain access to real-time market prices from a vast selection of providers as well as a wide range of tools for conducting technical analysis. Experienced traders and developers will appreciate that TradingView’s Pine Script programming language provides the ability to code algorithms for automated trading.
I’ve shared and published charts with my own technical analysis on TradingView’s social network in the past, and I appreciate that you can go back and replay those charts to see how the analysis subsequently unfolded.
Forex chart websites for beginners
It’s worth noting that TradingView could be overwhelming to beginner forex traders or someone who is brand new to using forex charts. For traders who are just starting to get familiar with forex charts, I’d recommend checking out Yahoo Finance or Google Finance. Both of these financial news powerhouses deliver bare-bones (but usable) forex charts.
Below you'll see a basic chart of the EUR/USD currency pair from Yahoo Finance as well as a mountain chart on Google finance.
Final thoughts from a trader’s perspective
If you are just getting started as a forex trader and you are curious about forex charts, I’d recommend checking out some basic charts (like on Yahoo Finance). If, however, you want to dive deeper into the vast world of forex charting, dozens of the best forex brokers offer powerful charting options for free. I also recommend checking out third-party charting technology providers such as TradingView, MetaTrader, and cTrader.
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Why you should trust us
Steven Hatzakis is a well-known finance writer, with 25+ years of experience in the foreign exchange and financial markets. He is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for Reink Media Group, leading research efforts for ForexBrokers.com since 2016. Steven is an expert writer and researcher who has published over 1,000 articles covering the foreign exchange markets and cryptocurrency industries. He has served as a registered commodity futures representative for domestic and internationally-regulated brokerages. Steven holds a Series III license in the US as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
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Our researchers thoroughly test a wide range of key features, such as the availability and quality of watch lists, mobile charting, real-time and streaming quotes, and educational resources – among other important variables. We also evaluate the overall design of the mobile experience, and look for a fluid user experience moving between mobile and desktop platforms.
IG
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