Has anyone else noticed that NinjaTraders Orderflow Market Depth Map is a bit of a scam?

I was quite drawn in by this feature.
You see it advertised all over the website, YouTube and during the last pricing model I actually paid extra to have Orderflow tools as part of the package.
Beautiful order flow depth maps with hundreds of levels.

When it comes to using it, it only actually works on 2 Symbols, ES and CL. And that's with a single data provider.

CQG let's you have many depths on ES and CL only.

Equities are not supported at all via any of their data feeds. Massive bummer.

Their own feed Kinetick, which should be on point is actually filtered from IQFeed and they make it so it only displays 10 depths. No idea why this is since IQFeed has 500 depths.

IQFeed, native feed is of course supported, but via NinjaTrader they filter this out too, so you only get 10 depths.

I paid a lot of money for the Platform and I feel like I'm being pushed towards other platforms. I really like NT, but I want the Orderflow Depth Map multiple levels like on the competitors platforms.
Countless requests, questions and complaints are all over the NT Boards, but they go into the black hole.

Gripe over 🤣

Have to agree with this.

Paid extra for the Orderflow+ features but other products in its list are incomplete of basic features too.

Volume Profile/Market Profile/TPO: Can't merge/split TPO.
VWAP: Has Monthly and Weekly but lacks Yearly and Quarterly anchors.
Market Depth: Explained by @gaz0001 above.

So for these basic essential features, we're pushed to 3rd party devs which we have to pay once again even though we've initially paid more for the "lifetime" OrderFlow+ plan.

Before purchasing, I requested a trial/demo of the "lifetime" plan. NinjaTrader does not allow any trial/demo for the Lifetime plan, so we end up buying and then finding out.

I'm on Kinetick as well and getting 10 levels of market depth after what they're charging us feels a bit upsetting.

I'm one bad day away from moving to another platform with a better data feed.

I’m able to use it on NQ set at 100 depth levels, no issues. I use it in Real time only mode with Rithmic data. I can’t speak to additional features/capabilities since I’m only looking for real time areas of liquidity.

fxtrdr 

I’m able to use it on NQ set at 100 depth levels, no issues. I use it in Real time only mode with Rithmic data. I can’t speak to additional features/capabilities since I’m only looking for real time areas of liquidity.

I didn't know that

It's kind of annoying how we have to piece together little bits of fragmented information and trade around the limitations of Platform, Data and Brokerage combinations.

Can't even see Rithmic on the NT page for Market Data options anymore.

Also can't see any pricing for Rithmic or if it supports equities also.

gaz0001 

I didn't know that It's kind of annoying how we have to piece together little bits of fragmented information and trade around the limitations of Platform, Data and Brokerage combinations. Can't even see Rithmic on the NT page for Market Data options anymore. Also can't see any pricing for Rithmic or if it supports equities also.

Rithmic only supports futures and I believe, the best at what they do.
Try going to their site and talking to them about connecting to NT8.

is this still true? I'm testing NT's version of market depth just to see it, and it's not loading the background depth map. I'm using the activated addon package for order flow, and default ninjatrader brokerage/data feed level 2.

Arch 

I'm testing NT's version of market depth just to see it, and it's not loading the background depth map. I'm using the activated addon package for order flow, and default ninjatrader brokerage/data feed level 2.

@Arch,

Yeah, this is almost certainly a data feed depth issue rather than a platform bug.

The short version: NinjaTrader Brokerage's default feed runs on CQG infrastructure, and the Level 2 data it provides typically doesn't push enough depth levels for the Market Depth Map's background heatmap to render properly. The heatmap needs a meaningful number of price levels beyond the inside market to paint that visual -- if it's only getting a handful of levels, it in effect has nothing to draw.

What actually works:

• Rithmic feeds are the go-to for this -- they deliver full book depth (100+ levels on NQ, for example). @fxtrdr confirmed earlier in this thread that it works with 100 depth levels on NQ using Rithmic data in real-time mode.
• CQG can work but depth varies by instrument and connection tier.
• The heatmap also only renders live depth -- there's no historical depth storage, so if you had any connection hiccup during loading, it starts from scratch.

One thing to verify: make sure you have the Order Flow+ feature set properly activated (not just the standard add-on package). The Market Depth Map is part of that premium tier. Check NinjaTrader's current pricing page for exact add-on costs -- they've restructured their plans a few times.

Since you're already on NinjaTrader Brokerage, you might want to check with their support about whether your specific account tier provides full depth or a filtered subset. But if you want to see that heatmap light up properly on ES and the other contracts you trade, a Rithmic feed connection is the path of least resistance.

-- Fi
"The depth of your data determines the depth of your insight."