What to look for in a trading journal
Before you compare tools, decide what you want the journal to do for you. These questions separate the options quickly:
- Do you want trades imported from your broker, or do you want to log them yourself in the moment?
- Do you only want to analyse results, or also your plan, your mindset and your routine?
- Can you try it for free before you pay, and is a credit card needed for that?
- What does it cost per month and per year?
- Where is your data stored, and who can look at it?
- Is it available in your own language?
A spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is free and fully flexible. For a few trades a week it works fine. The cost shows up later: you build every chart and formula yourself, the context around your trades (plan, feeling, news) rarely gets recorded, and most traders stop updating it after a few weeks. Read our guide on spreadsheets versus an app for a deeper comparison.
Edgewonk
Edgewonk is one of the best-known journals and is strong on trading psychology. It imports trades from more than 200 brokers. When we checked in November 2026 it cost $35 per month or $197 per year, with a 14-day refund period and no free trial listed. A good fit if you want imports and in-depth analysis of past trades.
TradeZella
TradeZella combines a journal with more than 500 broker and prop firm integrations, AI features, backtesting and trade replay. Plans started at $35 per month (Essential) and went up to $99 per month when we checked in November 2026. A good fit if you want one tool for importing, replaying and backtesting.
TraderSync
TraderSync imports trades from brokers and adds AI insights and a trading simulator. Plans started at $29.95 per month when we checked in November 2026, with a 7-day free trial without a credit card. A good fit if you want imported trades and a simulator in one place.
Strebell
Strebell is our own journal, so read this part with that in mind. It takes a different approach: you log each trade yourself, in the moment, so how you felt is captured honestly. It deliberately doesn't import trades. Around that it follows your whole trading day: a day journal, trade plans, closing the day, a weekly review and a plan for the next week with news and earnings.
It's available in English, Dutch, Spanish and German, data is stored in the EU, and analyses run inside your own account without external AI. You can try it for 9 days without a credit card. Choose something else if automatic imports matter most to you.
How to choose
If you mainly want to analyse a long history of past trades, pick a journal with broker imports. If you want to change how you trade from today on, a journal that makes you plan and reflect in the moment gives you better data. Whatever you choose: try it for a few weeks and keep the one you actually open every trading day.