Interactive Brokers - Wide range of markets and great pricing
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
 Interactive Brokers
|
 |
8500 |
Yes |
Yes |
NinjaTrader integration: Interactive Brokers (IBKR) stands out as the most versatile broker to use with NinjaTrader, thanks to its wide range of available markets you can trade beyond just futures.
Range of investments: Its extensive multi-asset offering spans futures, forex, stocks, options, and more across over 150 global markets. IBKR’s futures offering is vast, covering contracts on key exchanges worldwide. In 2024, Interactive Brokers launched IBKR ForecastTrader, a web-based platform that allows you to speculate on economic and geopolitical events, such as the U.S. presidential election, as well as climate events, like predicting total global carbon dioxide emissions for the year.
Platforms and tools: NinjaTrader is available for trading across IBKR's vast range of markets. Also available is IBKR’s Desktop platform, which offers a simplified user experience and a good balance of features for both beginner and intermediate traders. I found Desktop easier to navigate than IBKR's other platforms. Research is well-integrated alongside news headlines from multiple providers including Dow Jones Global News and Institutional News, Reuters, and Benzinga, among other providers.
Pricing and fees: IBKR offers competitive commission rates and low margin requirements. Futures trading costs just $0.85 per contract on its fixed pricing plan and high-volume traders can access rates as low as $0.25 per contract (when trading 20,000 contracts per month).
IBKR Lite offers commission-free stock trades. IBKR Pro's tiered pricing provides superior order execution without payment for order flow for more active traders.
Best for: Advanced traders who want to integrate NinjaTrader with a globally diversified portfolio. Because IBKR is connected to so many exchanges globally, you get access to futures trading not just in the U.S. but also across South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and nearly every futures exchange available.
FOREX.com - Great for forex trading and active traders
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
 FOREX.com
|
|
5500 |
No |
No |
NinjaTrader integration: FOREX.com, part of the StoneX Group, offers the NinjaTrader platform, but only for forex trading. Futures trading at FOREX.com isn’t supported on NinjaTrader, but you can still trade futures through FOREX.com using a StoneX One account (you'll have to switch between platforms if you want to trade both instruments).
Range of investments: Its futures product lineup will be limited to the available markets offered through StoneX, but FOREX.com delivers strong pricing and access to additional markets on its other trading platforms for forex and CFD traders. You can trade futures on currencies, energies, financials, grains, indices, meats, metals, and soft commodities at FOREX.com.
Platforms and tools: FOREX.com offers its own proprietary platform, as well as access to TradingView, MetaTrader, and the StoneX One platform. The broker's Advanced Trading Platform features advanced order types, deep customization, and plenty of subtle but useful features – such as the ability to set price tolerance from within the trade ticket. I found it to be well-designed, easy to use, and rich with features.
Pricing and fees: A market data subscription is required to place live orders through NinjaTrader with FOREX.com. StoneX offers competitive spreads if you’re looking to trade both forex and futures. Its futures pricing comes in two plans: Standard and Premium. The Standard plan starts at $1.29 per side ($2.58 per round turn) for regular futures contracts, while micro futures cost $0.50 per side ($1 per round turn). The Premium plan is customized based on your trading needs.
Best for: U.S. residents and traders who want to trade forex and to take advantage of NinjaTrader’s advanced charting and automation tools.
City Index - Strong CFD offering
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
 City Index
|
|
13500 |
No |
No |
NinjaTrader integration: Also under the StoneX Group umbrella, City Index is another viable broker for those who want to use NinjaTrader for charting and analytics, or forex and CFD trading. Forex and CFDs are offered on the NinjaTrader platform via City Index, but futures trading is not.
Range of investments: Known for its global footprint and strong CFD offering, City Index is ideal for traders outside the U.S. who want broader access to markets beyond forex trading. City Index offers spread betting across its available markets, providing tax efficiencies for U.K. residents that aren’t available when trading CFDs. City Index also offers forex options and forwards.
Platforms and tools: City Index offers its proprietary web and mobile platform suite, alongside MetaTrader and cTrader. Its Web Trader platform is designed for everyday traders and comes loaded with a wide variety of predefined screeners and layouts, and features the ability to execute complex order types – such as OCO orders.
Pricing and fees: City Index's active trader program can be helpful if you are a high-volume trader and need additional pricing discounts. Rebates for U.K.-based professional traders, for example, start at ÂŁ4 per million if you trade more than ÂŁ25 million per month, and can reach up to ÂŁ7.5 per million for volumes above ÂŁ300M per month. Likewise, in Australia, rebates range from AUD $4.5 per million for tier one to AUD $14.5 per million for tier-3.
Best for: International traders who want to trade forex and CFDs using NinjaTrader, with access to global markets and spread betting for U.K. residents. While futures trading is not supported on NinjaTrader at City Index, you can still benefit from its CFD product lineup, which includes forex, indices, commodities, bonds, and cryptocurrencies (via CFDs).
Charles Schwab - Advanced charting
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
 Charles Schwab
|
|
40000 |
No |
Yes |
NinjaTrader integration: NinjaTrader support via Charles Schwab is in its early stages of beta development and only supports stocks.
Platforms and tools: In addition to its flagship web-based platform, Schwab offers the thinkorswim platform for over-the-counter forex and exchange-traded futures and options trading, and the NinjaTrader platform for stocks.
The desktop version of thinkorswim delivers advanced charting capabilities and complex order types with advanced features such as “1st triggered all,” “1st triggers sequence,” or “Blast al.l” (the "Blast all" order type will trigger all orders). These allow for more complex manual trading strategies by staggering orders depending on your market expectations and outlook.
Pricing and fees: Stocks and ETFs with Schwab are commission-free, while futures and options on futures trading incur a $2.25 commission per contract. However, forex is commission-free so costs will consist entirely of prevailing spreads.
Schwab doesn’t charge commissions for forex trading; trading costs consist of the bid/ask spread across its available currency pairs. The average spread on the EUR/USD during the month of October 2024 stood at 1.35 pips, which is at the higher end of the industry average. It’s worth noting that Schwab lists its overnight carry charges within the thinkorswim platform in a handy calculator, so you can estimate the cost of holding positions overnight.
Best for: U.S. investors who want to trade stocks on NinjaTrader and prefer Schwab’s broader ecosystem for other asset classes. NinjaTrader's integration with Charles Schwab is still in beta and currently only supports stock trading, making it best if you primarily trade equities and want access to NinjaTrader’s charting and technical tools. However, if you’re interested in futures trading, you’ll need to use Schwab’s thinkorswim platform.
FXCM - Great for algorithmic trading
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
 FXCM
|
 |
440 |
No |
No |
NinjaTrader integration: FXCM has been known for catering to algorithmic traders and supporting a variety of third-party platforms, including NinjaTrader for forex and CFD trading.
Range of investments: FXCM offers forex and CFDs to investors outside of the U.S. via the NinjaTrader platform and its in-house platforms. In addition to a growing selection of over 300 CFDs that includes fractional shares and 43 forex pairs, FXCM offers exchange-traded securities across 43 exchanges in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Platforms and tools: FXCM offers its Trading Station flagship platform, along with third-party platforms like TradingView, MetaTrader 4, Capitalise.ai, and NinjaTrader. Additionally, FXCM offers APIs, historical data services, and integration options that make it easy for developers and algo traders to build and test strategies. The FXCM App store also provides various add-ons, technical indicators, and automated trading robots.
Pricing and fees: FXCM offers spread-based pricing across its range of forex and CFD markets. FXCM’s Active Trader Rebate Program (not available in the U.K. or EU) has five tiers. Depending on the tier and provided that you trade at least $10 million in volume per month, traders can receive a rebate ranging from $5 per million traded (Tier One) to as much as $25 per million traded (Tier Five).
Best for: Algorithmic traders and those who want access to multiple specialty platforms, including NinjaTrader, for forex and CFD trading. FXCM allows you to create a customizable and data-driven trading experience. Additionally, its API connectivity and historical data services make it particularly attractive for developers and quant traders looking to backtest or deploy automated strategies.
NinjaTrader review
If your main focus is trading futures and you want a platform designed specifically for that, NinjaTrader is a solid choice. It offers a range of pricing options, including commission-free trades for certain accounts, making it accessible to you at any level.
Range of investments: While NinjaTrader is primarily a futures trading platform, the platform provides research and educational resources. You can tap into advanced charting tools, real-time news headlines, and a growing library of in-house content designed to improve both strategy and market knowledge. So if you’re a beginner looking to learn or an experienced trader fine-tuning your approach, there’s plenty of valuable material to explore.
Platforms and tools: The mobile app is versatile, and while I enjoyed using the web platform too, the more advanced technical features are found within the NinjaTrader desktop app. It’s packed with advanced tools, customizable charts, and automation capabilities — allowing you to have control over your trading experience.
Pricing and fees: When using NinjaTrader as your broker, the default Free account charges $2.58 per round-trip futures trade. Upgrading to the $99 per month plan lowers that cost to $1.98. For high-volume traders, the Lifetime Plan costs either a one-time payment of $1,499 or four monthly payments of $499. This plan lowers commissions to as low as $1.18 per round-trip, or just $0.09 per side for e-micro and e-mini contracts.
However, the Lifetime Plan only makes sense if you trade enough to offset the upfront cost. To break even on the $1,499 price, you’d need to complete around 1,071 round trips—roughly 4–5 per day—before the lower commissions start saving you money compared to the Free or Monthly plans.
Best for: Trading only in futures. If you don’t need access to other types of assets like stocks, options, or crypto, NinjaTrader's platform is for you. It's built with futures traders in mind with low-commission pricing tiers and a suite of technical tools and automation features.
FAQs
What is NinjaTrader?
Founded in 2003, NinjaTrader began as a pure technology platform focused on building powerful trading tools. Over time, its expanded its role by first becoming an Introducing Broker and later securing a full futures brokerage license as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM). It's now registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and regulated by the National Futures Association (NFA). Today, NinjaTrader supports more than 2 million users, both through its own brokerage and via integrations with broker partners.
Today, NinjaTrader continues to grow its ecosystem, offering integrations with major brokers as well as specialized platforms and data providers like Barchart, Coinbase, cTrader, eSignal, IQFeed, Kinetick, Interactive Brokers, Rithmic, and Tradovate. Most notably, in March 2025, Kraken (one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges with over 15 million customers) announced a $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader. This major investment positions NinjaTrader for even greater innovation, backed by the strength of a global crypto powerhouse.
How much does NinjaTrader cost?
Your cost will depend on the broker you use, any required add-ons, and the available data plans needed for market access. If you need access to multiple accounts from supported brokers like FXCM, IBKR, Charles Schwab, FOREX.com, or City Index, you’ll need the Multiple Broker Add-on, which costs $99 per month.
For comparison, if you use NinjaTrader as your broker you automatically get a Free account, which charges $2.58 per round-trip futures contract ($1.29 per side) and $0.70 per side for e-micro and e-mini contracts.
To reduce costs, you can upgrade to the Monthly Plan at $99 per month, which lowers fees to $1.98 per round-trip futures contract ($0.99 per side) and $0.25 per side for e-micro and e-mini futures.
For high-volume traders, the Lifetime Account Plan offers the best long-term savings. It costs $1,499 as a one-time payment or $499 per month for four months. This drops commissions to $1.18 per round trip ($0.59 per side) and as low as $0.09 per side for e-micro and e-mini futures. This plan is ideal if you’re an active trader who trades enough volume to justify the upfront costs by saving on commissions over time.
There are also premium add-ons available:
- TradingView integration: $9.99 per month to connect your NinjaTrader account.
- Order Flow + suite: $59 per month for advanced tools to analyze order flow and market depth.
These options allow you to customize your NinjaTrader experience based on your trading needs and budget.
Does NinjaTrader offer a demo account?
Yes. NinjaTrader offers a simulation account that you can access through the client portal after signing up. It’s a great way to explore the platform and practice trading without risking any real money. With the demo account, you can switch between the mobile, web and even desktop platform where the full range of advanced features are found.
How does NinjaTrader compare to TradingView?
From a technical standpoint, TradingView is a more advanced and refined platform with open-source software, robust technology stack, and powerful features like backtesting and Pine Script for custom strategies. However, NinjaTrader still holds its own as a solid alternative if you’re looking for a different experience.
For instance, TradingView has sophisticated automated trading strategies that can run backtests and trigger alerts via webhooks connected to third-party APIs. Meanwhile, NinjaTrader offers the option of Playback and simulation tools on its desktop platform, letting you replay market data and test strategies. Additionally, you can use JavaScript to modify custom indicators, along with NinjaScripts.
Overall, NinjaTrader still has ground to cover before catching up to TradingView’s full feature set, but its backtesting and strategy integration offer a similar experience. For example, viewing simulated trades directly on a chart to analyze past buy and sell signals. My only gripe is that when you first log in the desktop platform opens with floating windows, which makes it a bit of a hassle to resize and link them together.
query_statsLearn more about TradingView
For a deeper dive into its features and pricing, visit our full-length TradingView review over on our sister site StockBrokers.com.
What type of trader would benefit from using NinjaTrader?
NinjaTrader is a clean, well-rounded platform with a focus on charting and order entry, making it a great fit if you are looking for a straightforward, uncluttered experience. It’s accessible via both web and mobile apps, which appeals to those who want flexibility without overwhelming complexity. However, there are advanced features that can be easily customized from its settings and layout configuration.
Advanced features under the hood
While it may appear simple on the surface, NinjaTrader can be customized beyond the default layout. Using the drag-and-drop layout module, you can add everything from custom-coded indicators to tools like options chains and order matrixes. Whether you’re a beginner or professional trader, NinjaTrader can be tailored to suit your needs. I was especially impressed by the mobile app since it offers nearly 500 indicators within the charting module.
Modular customizations
One of my favorite features on the web app is the Pulse tool, which gives you real-time sentiment data across various assets. Integrated headlines are another nice touch if you’re an active trader, and they can be easily added to your workspace with a quick drag and drop. The layout system overall is highly modular, and its easy to snap tools into place.
On the desktop side, functionality is more advances, but the user experience is a little less polished. The layout loads with floating windows by default, which can be clunky to manage until you arrange it how you like. That said, the desktop version is best suited for traders who want full control. As a bonus, NinjaTrader includes an AI-powered chat assistant, NT Assistant (via ada.cx), for quick help. However, videos are not integrated and redirected to the website.
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