Jigsaw Trading Review

Prop Firms Compatible with Jigsaw

TradeDay, Earn2Trade, and basically all who offer the Tradovate platform, or CQG or Rithmic datafeeds for the futures prop firm challenges, since Jigsaw’s Daytradr software is compatible with all of them.

Platform Connectivity

You can connect CQG, Gain Capital, iQFeed, and Rithmic data feeds to Jigsaw, and even connect four trading platforms, Interactive Brokers, Tradovate, MetaTrader 5, and NinjaTrader to it.

There is also compatibility with StoneX, and might also want to be aware of the fact, that Gain Capital itself is also know under the names AlphaTrader, Apex Trader, ATC Trader and CTG Pro, DTG Pro, and G-Force Trader, Global Zen Trader, High Ground Trader, as well as Index Trade Launcher S5 Trader and Zaner 360, so there is a lot of compatiblity.

Platform Details

Jigsaw is a trading software with its integrated Daytradr platform, known for depth of market (DOM) functionalities, used by over 6,000 traders.

You can also analyze your P&L in detail, using the integrated analysis feature. And there is also a news feed that can be used to quickly check market news to find catalysts.

Tradeable Markets

The tradeable markets include ASX, BM&F Bovespa, Cboe, CME, ICE, EUREX, HKEX, Nasdaq, and NYSE, as well as additional markets supported by Jigswa’s platform partners.

Costs

When you use the Jigsaw trading software with your prop firm, the prop firm pays for the license. If you want to buy it on your own to connect it with your broker or other platforms and data feeds, you can choose between the Independent and Professional version, mostly suited for retail traders, and the Institutional version.

The Independent version costs $579 one-off, but without the advanced order flow training package and without the Institutional trading order flow strategies course. The Professional version costs $879 and includes access to the advanced order flow training education package, while the Institutional version then unlocks all features, including the order flow strategies education.

For those looking simply for the platform access, the Independent version is just fine.

Overview: What is Jigsaw Trading?

Jigsaw Trading is an order flow and execution platform designed specifically for day traders who want to understand why the market is moving, not just that it’s moving. Founded in 2011 by Peter Davies, a trader himself, Jigsaw focuses on giving you real-time visibility into the battle between buyers and sellers through their proprietary Depth of Market (DOM) tool, Auction Vista heatmap, and the Reconstructed Tape.

The philosophy here is refreshingly straightforward: if you can see the actual order flow, the real transactions between aggressive buyers and passive sellers, you can anticipate price movements better than traders relying solely on lagging indicators. Jigsaw isn’t trying to predict the future with algorithms or indicators; it’s giving you a front-row seat to watch institutional traders, scalpers, and icebergs (hidden orders) duke it out in real-time.

Unlike platforms that bombard you with hundreds of configuration options, Jigsaw’s approach is “smart enough to help you, simple enough to use out of the box.” The tools are designed to work right away without requiring you to tune endless settings. This is a platform built by traders, for traders, with the singular focus of helping you read the tape like a professional.

The platform supports futures and equities trading, connects to multiple data feeds (CQG, Rithmic, IQFeed, Tradovate, and others), and integrates with NinjaTrader 8 and MetaTrader 5 if you already use those platforms.

Key Features

Depth & Sales (DOM) Tool

This is Jigsaw’s crown jewel, their interpretation of the Depth of Market display that professional prop traders use to make decisions. The DOM shows you the interaction between passive limit orders (traders waiting) and aggressive market orders (traders demanding immediate fills).

What makes Jigsaw’s DOM special:

• Highly customizable visual appearance – Everything is adjustable so you’re not straining after hours of screen time
• One-click trading with automated exit strategies
• Volume-based stops rather than just price-based
• Smart order types that adapt to market conditions
• Shows where traders are stacking orders (iceberging) and front-running anticipated support/resistance

The DOM is where you develop your “visceral feel” for trading activity. Even if you eventually prefer more visual tools, spending time on the DOM builds market understanding that pays dividends forever.

Auction Vista Heatmap

Auction Vista provides both real-time and historical order flow visualization. Think of it as a thermal imaging camera for the market:

• Market depth visualization – Shaded backgrounds show where liquidity exists, alerting you to areas where other traders have interest
• Large Trade Circles – A proprietary algorithm that reveals areas of high volume trading at specific levels over time, often pinpointing volume blow-offs, iceberg orders, and market turning points
• 250-millisecond timeframe analysis (in daytradr 5.0) – Unprecedented granularity for identifying liquidity zones
• GPU-accelerated rendering – Smoother scrolling and less resource consumption than competing tools

You can trade directly from the chart, with full position management capabilities built in. The combination of Price Delta Chart, Cumulative Delta, Volume Delta Bars, Depth Histogram, and Flip Charts makes this legitimately one of the most complete order flow charts available.

Reconstructed Tape (Time & Sales on Steroids)

Most platforms show you Time & Sales data in raw, unbundled form that doesn’t make much sense. Jigsaw uses a proprietary algorithm to rebundle orders into the size they were actually executed at the market.

This is genuinely unique, no other platform reconstructs the data this way. What this means: you see the real institutional order sizes rather than the fragmented pieces most platforms display. When backtesting strategies, this gives you significantly more accurate information about actual order flow behavior.

Journalytix (Cloud-Based Trade Analytics)

All customers get lifetime access to the basic version of Journalytix, Jigsaw’s cloud-based trade analytics platform. Your trade history posts automatically to secure servers (no manual uploading) where you can:

• Analyze patterns in your trading data you didn’t know existed
• Identify issues like moving stops prematurely or closing winners too early
• Review performance by time of day, day of week, instrument, and more
• See Trade History Calendars showing monthly/weekly/daily breakdowns
• Opt into the Jigsaw Leaderboard to compare your consistency rating with other traders

Advanced Journalytix users also get:

• Real-time audio market data feed
• Economic news calendar with 1-minute and 5-minute pre-release warnings
• Automated trade journal
• Custom notifications and alerts

The consistency rating used on the leaderboard is the same type used in prop trading firms to determine if intern traders can go live. It’s not just about P&L, it’s about repeatability and risk management.

Realistic Trade Simulator

Here’s something most platforms get wrong: optimistic fill assumptions that make your simulator results look better than reality. Jigsaw’s simulator gives you realistic fills on limit orders and realistic slippage on market and stop orders.

This makes practicing strategies actually useful. You’re not developing habits based on fills you’ll never get in live trading. The simulator helps you learn without the financial and emotional cost of blowing up a live account.

Real-Time News & Economic Calendar

Built-in audio news squawk and economic release calendar that updates in real-time. Fully customizable, select from Bloomberg, Reuters, Forbes, Zero Hedge, and others. The economic calendar covers every country on the planet.

Even if you don’t trade the news directly, you need to know when scheduled releases are about to hit so you’re not caught on the wrong side of a volatile move. The audio feed means you don’t need to keep checking screens, you’ll hear when something significant happens.

Order Flow Event Alerts

Automated audio and visual alerts when unusual trading activity occurs:

• Iceberg alert (hidden large orders being worked)
• Block trade alert (institutional-sized transactions)
• Large trade alert (abnormally big orders)
• Divergence alert (price and volume behavior mismatches)

These alerts often provide the first indication that a market direction change is imminent. They highlight events that chart-only traders completely miss.

Multi-Device & Integration Support

• Windows native (Mac users need Bootcamp or Parallels)
• Connects to CQG Continuum, StoneX, IQFeed, Rithmic, Tradovate data feeds
• Integrates directly with NinjaTrader 8 and MetaTrader 5
• Works with GAIN broker data (also known as Alpha Trader, Apex Trader, ATC Trader, and about 10 other white-label names)
• Supports Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, and eSignal via platform partners

10+ Hours of Professional Education

This is actually huge: Jigsaw provides comprehensive order flow education that’s widely considered the best available anywhere. The Independent package includes 10 hours of video covering all order flow theory and application. Higher tiers include advanced topics like scalping, volume profile analysis, opening trades, and trade management.

The Institutional package includes a 19-setup course from their London-based proprietary trading firm partner, the same curriculum they teach intern traders.

What’s This Going to Cost You?

Jigsaw’s pricing model is actually pretty clever: low barrier to entry, minimal cost while you’re learning, and only a modest fee once you’re trading live with real money.

One-Time Software Purchase

Independent Package: $579

• daytradr platform (one-time payment)
• Journalytix basic (lifetime access)
• Trade calendar & leaderboard
• Live chat room access
• Realistic trade simulator
• Demo/sim trading support (free forever)
• Hands-on support
• 10 hours of basic order flow training

Professional Package: $879

• Everything in Independent
• Additional 7 hours of advanced training (scalping, volume profile, trade management)

Institutional Package: $1,379

• Everything in Professional
• Institutional-level training with 19 setups from their prop firm partner
• Designed for professional trading firms

The Clever Part:

After the one-time software purchase, you can use Jigsaw forever for sim trading, demo accounts, and prop firm evaluation accounts, completely free. No monthly fees as long as you’re not trading live with real money.

Live Trading Subscription (Optional)

$50/month or $500/year

Only required when you want to execute trades directly from Jigsaw with live funds. This unlocks:

• Live trade license for 2 PCs
• Real-time audio/text news with filters and source selection
• Real-time customizable global economic release calendar with 1-minute and 5-minute warnings
• Journalytix Advanced features

The philosophy: keep costs extremely low for traders still getting to profitability, then add a modest fee when you’re actually making money. If you’re using your broker’s free order entry tools instead of Jigsaw’s execution features, you never pay the subscription.

14-Day Money-Back Guarantee

The software purchase ($579+) is covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. The training isn’t refundable because, well, you can’t unlearn something. Fair enough.

Hidden Costs to Consider

Data feed costs: You’ll need a data feed subscription from your broker or data provider. These vary but typically run $50-150+ monthly depending on which exchanges you need.

Broker commissions: Separate from Jigsaw’s fees. Futures commissions vary by broker.

The Good, The Bad, and The “Why Am I Staring at Numbers Instead of Pretty Charts?”

What Genuinely Excels:

• Best-in-class DOM – Visually superior to competitors like Bookmap, highly customizable, designed by actual traders
• Reconstructed Tape is unique – No other platform rebundles order data this way
• Professional-grade education – Legitimately the best order flow training available, included with purchase
• Smart pricing model – Free for sim/demo forever, minimal cost for live trading
• Built for speed – Multi-threaded with redundancy layers, doesn’t fall behind in fast markets
• Realistic simulator – Actually prepares you for live trading instead of giving false confidence
• Strong community – 23% of users trade full-time, which tells you something about the platform’s effectiveness
• Excellent support – Talk to real traders about trading issues, not script-reading support staff
• Journalytix integration – Automatic trade analysis without manual uploading
• Simple out-of-the-box – Works immediately without requiring endless configuration

What Might Frustrate You:

• Windows only – Mac users must use emulation (Bootcamp/Parallels), which is annoying in 2025
• Order flow learning curve – Understanding DOM and tape reading takes serious time investment
• Not for chart traders – If you don’t want to learn order flow, this platform offers little value
• Data feed requirements – Need compatible broker/data feed, adds complexity and cost
• Limited to futures/equities – Not ideal if you primarily trade forex or options
• Requires active trading style – Better suited for day trading and scalping than swing trading
• Initial software cost – $579-$1,379 upfront before knowing if order flow suits your style
• Visual minimalism – If you love elaborate chart setups, you’ll find this austere

The “It Depends” Territory:

Order flow necessity: Here’s what Jigsaw’s founder Peter Davies himself admits: “Order flow can’t put lipstick on a pig. It won’t help you improve something that doesn’t work anyway.”

If your current strategy is fundamentally flawed, order flow won’t save you. It’s a refinement tool for traders who already have a decent foundation, not a magic solution for struggling beginners.

Momentum vs reversals: Using order flow to confirm momentum is relatively straightforward, you’re looking for continuation of what’s already happening. Using order flow to catch reversals requires significantly higher skill and longer learning curves.

Tool proliferation danger: The temptation is to throw up 100 different windows on day one. Jigsaw explicitly warns against this. Start with momentum reading on the DOM, master that, then gradually add complexity. Otherwise, it becomes overwhelming and counterproductive.

Who Should Actually Use This?

Jigsaw is perfect if you’re:

• A day trader or scalper focused on futures or equities
• Serious about understanding why markets move, not just that they move
• Willing to invest significant time learning order flow concepts
• Already profitable or close to it, looking to refine entries and exits
• Comfortable staring at numbers and reading the tape rather than relying on visual indicators
• Trading with enough frequency to justify platform costs
• On Windows or willing to run virtualization on Mac
• Interested in professional-grade tools used by institutional traders
• Looking for a platform that doesn’t lag during high-volatility periods
• Want comprehensive education included rather than paying separately

Skip it if you:

• Trade casually or infrequently (the learning investment won’t pay off)
• Primarily trade options, forex, or crypto (platform isn’t optimized for these)
• Prefer swing trading or position trading over day trading
• Want beautiful charts and visual indicators over raw order flow data
• Don’t have time to learn order flow reading (it’s not intuitive initially)
• Need a Mac-native solution without virtualization hassles
• Are looking for automated trading systems or algorithms
• Want plug-and-play simplicity without educational commitment
• Trade based on fundamentals, news catalysts, or technical patterns alone

How Does It Stack Up?

Jigsaw Trading vs Bookmap

Bookmap is Jigsaw’s primary competitor in the order flow space. Both provide depth-of-market visualization and historical order book data.

Jigsaw advantages:

• Significantly better visual design and customization, easier on the eyes during long trading sessions
• Superior educational resources included with purchase
• Better pricing structure for traders still developing consistency
• Reconstructed Tape feature that Bookmap doesn’t have
• More responsive support from actual traders

Bookmap advantages:

• More polished heatmap visualization out of the box
• Better integration with some brokers
• Stronger marketing and brand recognition

Realistically, both are excellent order flow platforms. The choice often comes down to visual preference (try demos of both) and which broker/data feed you’re using.

Jigsaw Trading vs Sierra Chart

Sierra Chart is another professional-grade platform used by serious traders, particularly popular for market profile and volume analysis.

Sierra Chart offers incredibly deep customization but has a steeper learning curve and less intuitive interface. It’s more of a blank canvas where you build exactly what you want. Jigsaw is more opinionated and focused specifically on order flow.

Sierra Chart pricing is lower (around $35/month) but requires more technical knowledge to configure properly. Jigsaw’s higher upfront cost includes professional education and works well out of the box.

Jigsaw Trading vs NinjaTrader with Order Flow Add-Ons

NinjaTrader is a popular futures platform that supports various order flow add-ons and indicators. You could potentially recreate some Jigsaw functionality within NinjaTrader using third-party tools.

Why choose Jigsaw instead:

• Purpose-built for order flow from the ground up rather than cobbled together
• Reconstructed Tape is genuinely unique
• Included education is far superior to anything NinjaTrader provides
• Better DOM design than NinjaTrader’s native tools
• No need to hunt for and configure multiple add-ons

Why choose NinjaTrader instead:

• More comprehensive automation and strategy development tools
• Larger third-party ecosystem
• Better if you trade multiple styles beyond order flow
• Native platform without needing integration

Many traders actually use both, Jigsaw for order flow analysis and NinjaTrader for automated strategies and backtesting.

Jigsaw Trading vs TradingView

These platforms serve completely different purposes. TradingView is for charting, technical analysis, and social trading. Jigsaw is for order flow reading and execution.

TradingView shows you pretty patterns. Jigsaw shows you the underlying market mechanics creating those patterns. They’re complementary rather than competitive, many traders use TradingView for higher-timeframe analysis and Jigsaw for short-timeframe execution.

My Honest Take

I need to start by acknowledging something important: Jigsaw Trading represents a fundamentally different approach to trading than what most retail traders learn. If you came up through YouTube videos about RSI divergences and moving average crossovers, everything about Jigsaw will feel alien at first.

That alienness is actually the point.

What I Genuinely Respect:

Peter Davies, Jigsaw’s founder, doesn’t sugarcoat reality. When you call them, he’ll ask what you’re currently doing and have an honest conversation about whether order flow will actually help you or if you need a complete reset. That level of candor is rare in an industry full of people happy to sell you solutions to problems you don’t actually have.

The education is legitimately world-class. Calling it the “best order flow training available” isn’t marketing hyperbole, it’s accurate. The material breaks down complex concepts into understandable chunks and provides practical exercises to develop skills progressively. This isn’t a $579 platform with mediocre bonus training; it’s professional-grade education with a powerful platform included.

The pricing philosophy makes sense. Keeping costs low while you’re learning and only charging subscription fees when you’re trading live shows alignment with customer success rather than just extracting maximum revenue. Compare this to platforms charging $200+ monthly regardless of whether you’re profitable.

The Reconstructed Tape is genuinely innovative. Being able to see actual institutional order sizes rather than fragmented execution pieces provides information other platforms simply can’t deliver. If you’re serious about order flow, this matters.

What Concerns Me:

The Windows-only limitation feels increasingly archaic. Yes, you can run Bootcamp or Parallels on Mac, but it’s 2025, native Mac support should be standard. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s annoying friction that competitors are eliminating.

The order flow learning curve is steep, and not everyone will succeed. Davies himself acknowledges that order flow “can’t put lipstick on a pig”, if your underlying strategy is broken, order flow won’t fix it. This is a refinement tool for traders who already have solid foundations, not a beginner’s first platform.

There’s a real danger of information overload. The temptation to open every tool simultaneously and try to process everything is strong, especially for struggling traders desperately seeking an edge. The platform gives you the rope to hang yourself if you’re not disciplined about keeping things simple initially.

The Prop Firm Consideration:

One interesting data point: the consistency rating system Jigsaw uses on their leaderboard is the same methodology proprietary trading firms use to evaluate intern traders before letting them trade live capital. The fact that 23% of Jigsaw users trade full-time suggests the platform genuinely develops skills that translate to professional-level trading.

The community leaderboard, while mixing sim and live traders, creates useful accountability. Seeing that consistency matters more than P&L for long-term success is a lesson many traders learn too late and too expensively.

The Support Quality Matters:

Being able to talk to actual traders about trading issues rather than reading scripts with customer service representatives is legitimately valuable. When you’re troubleshooting whether a setup makes sense or trying to understand confusing order flow behavior, talking to someone who actually trades makes the conversation productive rather than frustrating.

The Educational ROI:

Even if you eventually decide order flow reading isn’t for you, the educational material alone justifies a significant portion of the $579 cost. Understanding how markets actually function at the order execution level improves your trading regardless of the timeframe or style you ultimately adopt.

Many traders spend $579 on a single course or indicator that provides a fraction of the value Jigsaw’s included education delivers. From that perspective, you’re getting a professional platform as a bonus to world-class training rather than the other way around.

The Real Question:

Is order flow reading worth learning?

For day traders and scalpers, absolutely. Understanding the battle between buyers and sellers in real-time provides context that indicators and chart patterns cannot. You see trapped traders, imbalances, and momentum shifts before they’re visible to traders relying on lagging indicators.

For swing traders and position traders, probably not. The granular information order flow provides is most valuable at short timeframes where execution quality and precise entries matter. If you’re holding positions for days or weeks, the DOM isn’t particularly relevant.

The Honest Assessment:

Jigsaw Trading is a professional-grade platform designed for serious traders willing to invest significant effort developing order flow reading skills. It’s not for dabblers, it’s not for casual traders, and it’s definitely not a get-rich-quick solution.

But for the right trader, someone day trading or scalping futures or equities with genuine commitment to mastering their craft, Jigsaw provides tools and education that are genuinely difficult to match at any price point.

The platform has been around since 2011, which means it survived multiple market regime changes and economic cycles. The company hasn’t chased every fad or tried to be everything to everyone. They’ve stayed focused on order flow and execution, continuously refining tools based on feedback from professional and retail traders actually using the platform in live markets.

That longevity and focus count for something in an industry where flashy new platforms appear constantly with revolutionary promises and disappear within 18 months.

The Bottom Line

Jigsaw Trading earns 4.5 out of 5 stars: Professional-grade order flow platform with exceptional education, held back only by Windows-only availability and the inherent challenges of learning order flow reading.

If you’re serious about day trading or scalping and ready to invest time learning order flow, Jigsaw delivers both the tools and education to develop professional-level skills. The pricing structure is fair, the support is excellent, and the platform does exactly what it promises without gimmicks or exaggerated claims.

Start with the Independent package ($579) unless you’re absolutely certain you want the additional training. The 14-day money-back guarantee gives you time to evaluate whether order flow suits your style. Use that time wisely, actually work through the educational material and practice on the simulator rather than jumping straight to live trading.

The platform won’t make you profitable by itself. But if you’re willing to put in the work, it provides the tools and knowledge to refine your trading to professional standards. For serious futures and equity day traders, that’s worth significantly more than the asking price.

Just remember: order flow reading is a skill that takes months to develop, not days. If you’re not willing to invest that time, save your money. But if you are, Jigsaw gives you everything you need to succeed.

Now please, Jigsaw team, build us a native Mac version. We’ll all be happier for it.