1) How long have you been using ThinkOrSwim?
1 year
2) What are your favorite features of ThinkOrSwim?
Free
3) What are some must-have deal breaker features in ThinkOrSwim that you could not do without?
Benzinga squak box for free, able to link charts on seperate computers.
4) Do you use ThinkOrSwim in simulation mode only, or do you place live trades with it?
use is for live trading but not as my platform. charts only
5) Are you a discretionary trader or an algorithmic trader? How does ThinkOrSwim help you with this?
both
6) How easy/hard was it for you to learn to use ThinkOrSwim?
still learning, but there are tons of materials to help.
7) How do you rate ThinkOrSwim's customer service/support, assuming you have needed to use it?
4/5
8) Do you believe ThinkOrSwim is competitively priced?
free? YES! (I dont use it as my platform)
9) How do you rate the community support that exists for ThinkOrSwim?
4/5

I downloaded the NinjaTrader8 demo this weekend. After 10 hours with it, I decided its not for me and I'll stay with the swimmers. My simple strategies don't require the complex tools that the NinjaTrader offers, and I saw that it would require more complexity in setup and in the day-to-day operation. NT8 sports accurate volume profile and I could have looked at 2y old intraday charts, but I can live without those. NT8 has some interesting looking order ticket tools, but I couldn't find a basic 1st triggers OCO, which is very accessible in thinkorswim's DOM and chart trading tools.

I don't use indicators or scripts, so I can't compare those. I pretty much use volume and drawings only and the NT8's drawing tools require approx 3x the clicks for routine drawing work. The toolbox for any one particular drawing type is just smaller. Even the "Stay in Drawing Mode" function required clicks between drawings just to get back into drawing mode. Thinkorswim lets you crank them out quickly and the right-click menu features all the tools needed to make changes.

Also, the data problems that I've complained about in previous years have become rare events. However, the cheesy volume profile continues to disappoint daily.

I prefer Ninjatarder.For me it is the best

because Scottrade was bought out by td ameritrade. know I have to learn a whole new program.

Thinkorswim offers an enormous amount of information for free. Imo everyone should have an account, even if unfunded. You get news, a polished platform, great customer service(this may change with the recent commission changes), straightforward coding, huge indicator database, free accurate level 2, backtesting(albeit average but still). I've tested nearly every platform and TOS is still in the top 5%, even though most of the others are not free.

1) How long have you been using ThinkOrSwim?
Seven years
2) What are your favorite features of ThinkOrSwim?
Thinkscript, which allows for custom indicators
3) What are some must-have deal breaker features in ThinkOrSwim that you could not do without?
Charting and think script
4) Do you use ThinkOrSwim in simulation mode only, or do you place live trades with it?
Live trades
5) Are you a discretionary trader or an algorithmic trader? How does ThinkOrSwim help you with this?
Discretionary
6) How easy/hard was it for you to learn to use ThinkOrSwim?
Easy to learn
7) How do you rate ThinkOrSwim's customer service/support, assuming you have needed to use it?
Very good
8) Do you believe ThinkOrSwim is competitively priced?
Yes, it is free
9) How do you rate the community support that exists for ThinkOrSwim?
Very good

Thanks for sharing, I found your feedback about ThinkScript interesting

Will you please advise me to what extent this logic is doable with minimum coding?

Which Lowcode yet Sophisticated Trading Platform recommendation Which Platform would you recommend for making Automated trading rules that are sophisticated with minimum coding requirement Is it NinjaTrader, SierraChart,,, or which? To give you an example of the logic: Using PSAR Indicator for Buy/Sell signal …

Additionally, can you refer me to example TradingPad or OrderExecutionPad made with TOS.

Thank you,

Massive l 

1) How long have you been using ThinkOrSwim? 3+ years 2) What are your favorite features of ThinkOrSwim? thinkscript. I found it easier for me to get a hold of over other platform languages. 5 different chart tabs to have various setups on. Each chart tab can have a max of 32 charts on it. They can be adjust in grid form or more freely adjusted using the flexible grid. look, feel and ease of use what I like the most. I also really like the expanded monkey bars over candles on the higher time frames (4hr-monthly) 3) What are some must-have deal breaker features in ThinkOrSwim that you could not do without? thinkscript. I have only been able to code my proprietary indicator in thinkscript. I've tried using ninja and could not figure it out even though it's just math. 4) Do you use ThinkOrSwim in simulation mode only, or do you place live trades with it? Live Trades 5) Are you a discretionary trader or an algorithmic trader? How does ThinkOrSwim help you with this? Discretionary. It's fairly simple, I hit buy, I hit sell. I right click the chart to insert a stop. I can take a small chart, double click the header and it blows it up, then double click it again to go back in to grid mode. It's super easy and efficient for me. Everything I need is a tab away. I never have to go through multiple levels of tabs. It's click, unclick. 6) How easy/hard was it for you to learn to use ThinkOrSwim? I found it very easy to get accustomed to. 7) How do you rate ThinkOrSwim's customer service/support, assuming you have needed to use it? Top notch. They are always quick to respond. They always new videos and update any bugs that are found extremely quickly. 8) Do you believe ThinkOrSwim is competitively priced? Yes, it's free. Commissions for futures start out higher than most but you can get them knocked down to be competitively priced. 9) How do you rate the community support that exists for ThinkOrSwim? I know it's one of the best. There's 10 or so chat rooms and always a feed going with some pro or another on how they use the platform.

1) How long have you been using ThinkOrSwim?
4+ years

2) What are your favorite features of ThinkOrSwim?
I use TOS for charting. I trade using Tradovate b/c the fees are infinitely better.
Thinkscript and indicators are excellent.

3) What are some must-have deal breaker features in ThinkOrSwim that you could not do without?
Well, what the deal breaker for me (in terms of not actually trading there any more) was that
in early 2020 the chart would freeze for minutes at a time during the open period.
To answer the opposite though: "What features do I wish worked well?" OnDemand
It is a brilliant replay tool... if it only worked. Very buggy.


4) Do you use ThinkOrSwim in simulation mode only, or do you place live trades with it?
Live account... but just for charting. No trading.

5) Are you a discretionary trader or an algorithmic trader? How does ThinkOrSwim help you with this?
Discretionary. I must say that TOS's DOM (Active Trader), Time & Sales and Level II are excellent.

6) How easy/hard was it for you to learn to use ThinkOrSwim?
Pretty easy. Learning thinkscript was a bit more challenging. But thanks to
usethinkscript.com it has become a lot easier to learn.

7) How do you rate ThinkOrSwim's customer service/support, assuming you have needed to use it?
Excellent.

8) Do you believe ThinkOrSwim is competitively priced?
For futures, way too expensive.

9) How do you rate the community support that exists for ThinkOrSwim?
As I said, I frequent usethinkscript.com and it is an excellent resource.