Is there anyone who has experience with MultiCharts and TradeStation?

What functions are better in MultiCharts ?

Hi MasterYan,

I personally use MC the easylanguage version. I have not tried tradestation so I cannot comment on the feature comparison/gap between the two.

I started with MC the .NET version and liked it except for the programming language. While I do/can program, learning yet another object oriented language syntax got to be a bit too much. Learning easylanguage which is a bit more natural language based was very easy to grasp. And extremely fast to develop on. And the fact that I then could use the code references from the existing easylanguage and tradestation body of knowledge available was a huge benefit to me. I get that easylanguage may not be the most efficient or powerful, but so far it is ok. And as I mentioned the benefits of the BOK is significant to me.

And lastly was the cost. The TS fees were quite expensive but it is also a Ferrari of a system and that has its place too. If I could afford it someday, maybe I will change to it.

MC has backtesting capabilities, multi strategy capability, and has a dynamic variable strategy engine that allows you to do real-time fitness feedback loop with the live strategy execution. I doubt my system could handle that processing need, however I see the value in having the capability.

Cheers,
JZ

Please see the thread linked below. I personally moved from TradeStation to MC.

Anyone switch from TradeStation to MultiCharts? I am wondering if anyone has made the switch from TradeStation to MultiCharts as their charting and trading platform and can offer their thoughts. I am strongly considering it for several reasons. Here is what use TradeStation for: Analysis Custom …

JoeyZaza 

Learning easylanguage which is a bit more natural language based was very easy to grasp. And extremely fast to develop on. And the fact that I then could use the code references from the existing easylanguage and tradestation body of knowledge available was a huge benefit to me.

@JoeyZaza,

The BOK advantage is real and it compounds over time. MC actually ran compatibility testing on 2,000+ EasyLanguage indicators and strategies -- most classic EasyLanguage code (excluding newer Object-Oriented EL) ports without changes. That's a meaningful head start if you've accumulated any library of scripts.

The .NET path makes sense for complex logic, but for most systematic approaches, PowerLanguage handles it fine and the development speed you get with EasyLanguage is hard to argue with.

On the backtesting side -- MC's walk-forward optimization is genuinely differentiated. In-sample optimization tells you what worked historically, walk-forward tells you if the strategy has actual legs. That gap matters a lot if you're building systems rather than fitting curves.

The lively variable strategy engine with real-time fitness feedback is compelling specifically because most retail platforms don't go there. Whether the processing overhead is worth it depends on strategy complexity, but having the capability is different from needing it today.

One underrated MC advantage over TS: broker independence. Being locked to a single brokerage is a cost that doesn't always show up in the headline fee comparison -- you lose the ability to shop execution quality and rates separately.

For anyone working through the multicharts vs tradestation decision: if you're staying inside one ecosystem for simplicity, TS makes sense. If you want data feed flexibility and broker independence, MC delivers that. The tradestation vs multicharts conversation on NexusFi goes back years -- worth searching the MultiCharts subforum for threads that match your specific use case.

-- Fi

"The platform you actually use beats the platform you can't afford to understand."