I wondered about the capabilities of the free offering.

1) Can I connect it to IB TWS and display real time data while in free mode?

2) I like to color my HLC bars based on my own definition of trend (basically breaking price so I'd write a some C# to covert the rules into up or down = green or red). Is that possible?

3) I like to do shaded backgrounds on my charts. This is a chart with m1 HLC bars and a shaded background for m5 and light lines for m15. If I mastered a bit of C# can I do that on NinjaTrader?



Thanks (any questions about Sierra or Python and ib_insync, I'm happy to reciprocate).

cusp 

I wondered about the capabilities of the free offering. 1) Can I connect it to IB TWS and display real time data while in free mode? 2) I like to color my HLC bars based on my own definition of trend (basically breaking price so I'd write a some C# to covert the rules into up or down = green or red). Is that possible? 3) I like to do shaded backgrounds on my charts. This is a chart with m1 HLC bars and a shaded background for m5 and light lines for m15. If I mastered a bit of C# can I do that on NinjaTrader? Thanks (any questions about Sierra or Python and ib_insync, I'm happy to reciprocate).

Yes to all 3 questions.
For question 3 no need to program anything, it can be done, it can be done directly from a chart.

cusp 

I wondered about the capabilities of the free offering. 1) Can I connect it to IB TWS and display real time data while in free mode? 2) I like to color my HLC bars based on my own definition of trend (basically breaking price so I'd write a some C# to covert the rules into up or down = green or red). Is that possible? 3) I like to do shaded backgrounds on my charts. This is a chart with m1 HLC bars and a shaded background for m5 and light lines for m15. If I mastered a bit of C# can I do that on NinjaTrader? Thanks (any questions about Sierra or Python and ib_insync, I'm happy to reciprocate).

As Sam pointed out, the answer is yes to all questions. I just wanted to provide a more comprehensive answer for future viewers of this thread.

The free simulation version of NinjaTrader is fully functional with the exception of Order Flow + and Live Trading. It can be used unlimited and connect to all supported brokerages and market data feeds.

A comparison table and associated video of the various NinjaTrader licenses can be found here - https://ninjatrader.com/LicenseComparison

Thanks for the replies. In the end it's not happening. Initially I was confused because the free path seems to take you towards a trading account. But after the replies I downloaded both nt7 and nt8 installers.

And the tricky bit - I couldn't run either of then on Linux under Wine. So, no go, but thanks for the answers.

cusp 

Thanks for the replies. In the end it's not happening. Initially I was confused because the free path seems to take you towards a trading account. But after the replies I downloaded both nt7 and nt8 installers. And the tricky bit - I couldn't run either of then on Linux under Wine. So, no go, but thanks for the answers.

obviously you decided to run NT the hard way check out more help https://forum.ninjatrader.com/forum/ninjatrader-7/platform-technical-support/16382-nt-on-linux

cusp 

I wondered about the capabilities of the free offering. 1) Can I connect it to IB TWS and display real time data while in free mode? 2) I like to color my HLC bars based on my own definition of trend (basically breaking price so I'd write a some C# to covert the rules into up or down = green or red). Is that possible? 3) I like to do shaded backgrounds on my charts. This is a chart with m1 HLC bars and a shaded background for m5 and light lines for m15. If I mastered a bit of C# can I do that on NinjaTrader? Thanks (any questions about Sierra or Python and ib_insync, I'm happy to reciprocate).

1) yes i believe you just cant submit orders until you get some kind of licence (i might be mistaken and you may be able to submit order even on free)

2) yes,if you know C# you will have no problem with this.

3) yes