Free trading journal, no sign-up
Import your trades from any platform. Statistics, calendar, discipline — and no data ever leaving your device.
Why keep a trading journal?
The trading journal is the most underrated and most decisive tool a trader has. Whatever your level, the difference between a profitable trader and one who stalls comes down to the consistency of the tracking and the ability to correct repeated biases. This free journal, built by Mickaël Billot (proprietary trader since 2013), saves you rebuilding a spreadsheet at the end of every month.
What the journal does
- Universal import — drop the export from any platform: the separator and the columns are recognised automatically.
- Performance statistics — win rate, profit factor, average win, average loss, streaks, expectancy and drawdown.
- Prop firm challenge tracking — intraday trailing, end-of-day or static drawdown, remaining headroom and consistency rule.
- Detected behaviours — revenge trade, oversized position, trading on after the daily stop — each priced in dollars.
- Calendar and heatmap — your green and red days, to spot calendar biases.
- Discipline score — an objective measure of how well you follow your plan, regardless of the result.
How to use it
- Export your trades from your platform, as CSV, TXT or TSV.
- Drop the file into the journal. The separator and columns are recognised automatically; if a column is misread, correct it in the dropdown before confirming.
- Review your statistics and your discipline score at the end of each week.
- Adjust your trading plan according to the recurring biases identified.
At a glance
| Price | Free, no time or volume limit | |
| Account required | None | |
| Data storage | Your browser (localStorage + IndexedDB) | |
| Data sent to a server | None | |
| Import formats | CSV, TXT, TSV — separator and columns auto-detected | |
| Platforms tested | NinjaTrader 8, TradingView, Tradovate, ATAS, DeepCharts | |
| Manual trade entry | Yes | |
| Multiple accounts | Yes — personal, challenge and funded kept apart | |
| Prop firm drawdown modes | Intraday trailing, end of day, static | |
| Automatic behaviour detection | 4 behaviours, priced in dollars | |
| Report export | Printable PDF with watermark | |
| Languages | English, French, Spanish | |
Who this is for — and who it is not
A good fit if
- you trade futures and run, or plan to run, a prop firm challenge
- you want to analyse tonight, without creating yet another account
- you would rather your trade history stayed on your own machine
- you export a CSV from your platform once a day or once a week
- you care about discipline as much as about the entry signal
Look elsewhere if
- you want trades to sync automatically several times a day — take TradeZella or TraderSync
- you need a native mobile app
- you want a market replay simulator with tick data
- you journal across several devices and expect them to stay in sync
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free trading journal?
It depends what "free" covers. TradesViz offers a free tier limited to stocks and 3,000 executions a month; the other references on the market — TradeZella, TraderSync, Tradervue, Edgewonk — are paid after a trial. The Proptrader Academy journal is free with no time or volume limit, and asks for no sign-up: your trades stay stored in your browser. It covers the classic statistics (win rate, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown), prop firm challenge tracking, automatic detection of costly behaviours and a guided weekly review.
Is there a free alternative to TradeZella?
Yes, with a difference in kind. TradeZella automatically syncs more than 500 brokers, which requires an account and a server holding your positions. The Proptrader Academy journal works the other way round: you drop your platform export and everything is computed in your browser, with no account and no data transmitted. You lose automatic syncing; you gain a free tool, anonymity, and prop firm challenge tracking that TradeZella does not offer.
How do I keep a trading journal without creating an account?
Export your trades from your platform as CSV, TXT or TSV, then drop the file into the Proptrader Academy journal. The separator and columns are recognised automatically, in English as in French. Trades are saved in your browser local storage: nothing is sent to a server, and no email address is asked for. You can also enter trades by hand if your platform exports nothing.
Which trading journal for a prop firm challenge?
You need a tool that reproduces your prop firm drawdown mechanics, otherwise the figures shown bear no relation to the ones deciding the fate of your account. The Proptrader Academy journal handles the three modes Apex offers: intraday trailing drawdown, end-of-day drawdown and static drawdown, with the threshold freeze at +$100. It shows the headroom left before failure, progress towards the target, qualifying trading days and the consistency rule.
Does the journal work with NinjaTrader, TradingView or Tradovate?
Yes, as well as with ATAS, DeepCharts and any platform exporting a CSV, TXT or TSV file. The import guesses the separator and recognises column headers by synonyms — "Instrument", "Symbol" or "Produit" all mean the same thing to it. If a column is misidentified, a dropdown lets you correct it before confirming. Only two columns are essential: the date and the result.
Is my trading data safe?
It never leaves your device. The journal has no server, no database and no user account: your trades are written to your browser local storage, and screenshots to its IndexedDB store. The trade-off has to be known: clearing your browsing data clears the journal, and your trades do not follow you from one device to another. A backup button exports everything to a file you keep wherever you want.
Does it track the Apex trailing drawdown correctly?
It reproduces the three Apex account types. Intraday trailing: the threshold follows the account high trade by trade, then freezes once it reaches the starting balance plus $100. End of day: it only updates at the close of each session, which leaves room for a gain given back intraday. Static: it never moves. One honest caveat, stated inside the tool: a real intraday trailing threshold moves on unrealised profit, while this calculation only knows closed trades — so your live headroom can be tighter than the figure shown. Treat it as a dashboard, never as the official count.
Can I use it for a Topstep, MFFU or FTMO challenge?
Yes. The challenge tracker is not tied to Apex: you enter the profit target, the maximum drawdown, the drawdown type, the required trading days and the consistency percentage yourself. Any prop firm using one of the three standard drawdown mechanics is covered. The threshold freeze at +$100 is a checkbox you turn off if your firm does not apply it.
Does the journal work offline?
Once the page has loaded, yes. Everything runs in your browser: imports, statistics, charts and the report are computed locally. Only the chart library is fetched from a CDN on first load, after which the browser caches it. Your trades never need a connection because they never leave the machine.
What does it detect that I would not spot myself?
Four behaviours, each priced in dollars and each requiring no tagging on your part. Revenge trades: opened less than 10 minutes after a loss, on the same day. Oversized positions: at least twice your median size. Trading on after your daily stop was already breached. And your latest hourly slot, where fatigue meets the urge to make the day back. The "what if" simulator then replays your history with one behaviour removed and tells you what it would have changed.
Is it really free, or free until a paywall?
Free with no time limit, no volume limit and no account. There is no paid tier, because there is no server to pay for — the tool is a single HTML file running in your browser. It is published by Proptrader Academy, a French one-to-one trading coaching business, and it links to an Apex affiliate offer. That is the whole business model, stated plainly.
Against the paid journals
Comparisons put TradeZella, TraderSync, TradesViz, Tradervue and Edgewonk at the top. All are solid, and all share the same barrier: you have to create an account and hand your trades to a server. That is the only difference this tool claims — with the consequences it carries, in both directions.
| This journal | Paid journals | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, with no time limit | Monthly subscription, or a three-figure licence |
| Account required | None | Mandatory |
| Where your trades live | On your device | On their servers |
| Import | Any CSV, TXT or TSV file, columns guessed | Direct connection to hundreds of brokers |
| Prop firm challenge tracking | Intraday, end-of-day or static drawdown | Rarely, and without the Apex mechanics |
| Automatic mistake detection | Four behaviours priced in dollars | A paid option where it exists |
| Guided weekly review | Included | Edgewonk's strong point, charged for |
| Automatic syncing | No — the export stays manual | Yes, and it is their real advantage |
| Mobile app | No — mobile-friendly site | Yes for several of them |
The last two rows are their genuine advantages, and no promise will replace them: if you want your trades to upload themselves several times a day, take a paid tool. If you want to analyse your trades seriously tonight, without creating an account and without your positions leaving your machine, this tool does the job — and for futures traders under challenge, it does things the paid ones do not.