If you’re trading with a prop firm, or trying to pass an evaluation, you already know that keeping a trading journal isn’t optional. It’s the difference between repeatedly blowing accounts and actually understanding why you win or lose.
But here’s the problem: most trading journal articles recommend tools designed for retail traders managing $5,000 accounts. That’s not you. You’re managing $50K, $100K, or $250K of someone else’s capital with strict risk limits, consistency rules, and daily loss thresholds that can end your evaluation in a single session.
You need a trading journal that helps you stay accountable, track whether you’re meeting prop firm rules, and identify patterns before they cost you an evaluation fee. Not something that just logs trades and spits out a win rate.
We’ve tested every major trading journal over the past three years. We’ve used them during live prop firm evaluations, talked to dozens of funded traders about what actually helps them stay consistent, and tracked which features matter when you’re trading under prop firm constraints versus building pretty charts that don’t change behavior.
This guide covers the best trading journal options specifically for prop traders, what makes them different from generic journaling tools, and how to actually use them to improve your trading performance instead of just collecting data you’ll never review.
Prop Firm App is reader-supported. If you click on a link, our partners may compensate us.
Why Prop Traders Need Different Trading Journals Than Retail Traders
Trading with a prop firm changes everything about how you should track performance. Retail traders can blow 10% in a week and reload their account. You can’t.
Prop Firm Evaluation Constraints That Matter
When you’re trading a prop firm evaluation, these are non-negotiable:
- Daily loss limits (typically 3-5% of account balance)
- Max drawdown rules (often 6-10% total or trailing)
- Consistency requirements (no single day accounts for >30-40% of profit)
- Minimum trading days (usually 4-10 days before payout)
- Position sizing restrictions (many firms limit lot sizes or contracts)
Your trading journal needs to help you monitor these in real-time, not just calculate them after you’ve already violated a rule.
What Separates a Good Journal from a Great One for Prop Trading
A basic trading journal logs your trades and shows profit/loss. That’s fine for hobby traders. For prop evaluation survival, you need:
- Real-time risk tracking – See your current daily loss and max drawdown as you trade
- Rule violation alerts – Know when you’re approaching risk limits before you breach them
- Consistency scoring – Track if you’re meeting the prop firm’s consistency rules
- Mistake categorization – Identify which errors cost you evaluations (overtrading, revenge trading, breaking your trading plan)
- Strategy-specific analytics – Separate performance by setup type, market conditions, or trading style
The best trading journal for prop traders isn’t the one with the most features. It’s the one that keeps you alive long enough to get funded.
The Best Trading Journals for Prop Firm Traders (2025-2026)
We’ve ranked these based on how well they support prop trading needs: risk management, consistency tracking, and trade analysis that actually changes behavior.
1. Edgewonk – Best for Beginners Traders at Low Budget
Price: $79 one-time purchase (Desktop) or $34/month (Cloud)
Best for: Traders who want to understand the psychology behind their trading decisions
Platforms: Windows/Mac desktop app, cloud-based version
Edgewonk takes a different approach to trading journals. Instead of just logging what you traded, it focuses on why you traded and whether you followed your trading plan.
Why It’s Different for Prop Traders
Most prop firm failures aren’t about strategy. They’re about discipline. You know you shouldn’t overtrade. You know you shouldn’t revenge trade after a loss. But you do it anyway.
Edgewonk is built to catch this.
Unique features:
- Pre-trade checklist – Forces you to confirm you’re following your rules before entering
- Trade rating system – Rate your execution quality (A, B, C, D) separate from P&L
- Psychological performance tracking – Correlate emotions (confident, fearful, tilted) with outcomes
- Deviation analysis – Tracks when you break your own trading rules
- “What-if” scenarios – Model how your equity curve would look if you’d followed your plan perfectly
The core insight: a profitable strategy executed poorly loses money. Edgewonk helps you separate strategy edge from execution quality.
How This Helps With Prop Evaluations
When you fail a prop firm evaluation, you usually know what went wrong: “I overtrade when I’m down,” or “I hold losers too long hoping they’ll come back.”
Edgewonk makes these patterns quantifiable. You’ll see that 70% of your losses come from trades rated “C” or “D” in execution quality. Or that your win rate drops from 55% to 35% when you trade while “tilted.”
That’s actionable insight you can actually use to improve.
Import and Workflow
Edgewonk requires more manual data entry than TraderSync or Tradervue:
- CSV import from brokers
- Manual trade logging (tedious but forces reflection)
- Screenshot attachments
The trade-off: because you’re manually reviewing each trade, you’re forced to think about it. That’s the point.
Downsides
- More manual work – Less automation means more time spent journaling
- Desktop-focused – The cloud version exists but the desktop app is more powerful
- One-time pricing can be expensive – $79 upfront vs. monthly subscriptions
Who Should Use Edgewonk
Use Edgewonk if:
- You have a profitable strategy but struggle with consistency
- You keep making the same psychological mistakes
- You want to improve trade execution and discipline
- You’re willing to spend 10-15 minutes per day reviewing trades
Pricing: $79 one-time (desktop) or $34/month (cloud)
Best for: Traders who fail evaluations due to discipline, not strategy
2. TradeZella – Best for Visual Learners and Trade Replay
Price: $29/month (Basic) or $49/month (Premium) | No free tier
Best for: Traders who want trade replay, backtesting, and clean UI
Platforms: Web-based, iOS and Android mobile apps
TradeZella has become one of the most popular trading journals among active traders, and for good reason. It combines automated journaling with unique features like trade replay that help you understand not just what happened, but why it happened.
What Makes TradeZella Different
TradeZella’s standout feature is its trade replay functionality. You can go back and watch your trades unfold tick-by-tick, seeing exactly when you entered, where you should have exited, and what you were thinking at the time.
For prop traders who fail evaluations due to poor execution (entering late, exiting early, holding losers too long), this is invaluable. You’re not just looking at a chart after the fact, you’re reliving the trade to understand your decision-making process.
Key features for prop traders:
- Trade replay (Premium only) – Review trades in real-time to spot execution errors
- Backtesting 2.0 – Test strategies against historical market data
- Automated trade imports – Connect directly to major brokers (Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, Robinhood, etc.)
- 50+ performance reports – Track win rate, profit factor, risk-reward ratio, and more
- Playbook system – Document and track multiple trading strategies separately
- Mentor/student program – Share your journal with mentors for feedback
- Mobile app – Review trades on the go (iOS and Android)
- Clean, modern interface – Intuitive design that’s easy to navigate
Why Prop Traders Like TradeZella
The interface is legitimately enjoyable to use. Unlike some journals that feel like navigating a spreadsheet, TradeZella has a modern, clean design that makes reviewing trades less of a chore.
The onboarding even asks you to pick a “trader mode” (Newbie, Ninja Level, Monk Mode) which sounds gimmicky but actually helps set appropriate benchmarks and goals based on your experience level.
For prop firm evaluations specifically, the playbook feature is useful. You can create separate playbooks for different strategies (breakouts, mean reversion, trend following) and track which ones actually work under prop firm constraints. Many traders discover they’re profitable on 2-3 setups but lose money on everything else, TradeZella makes this obvious.
The backtesting capability lets you test “what-if” scenarios: “What would my equity curve look like if I’d cut winners at 2R instead of 3R?” or “How would I have performed if I only traded after 10am?”
Import and Automation
TradeZella supports:
- Direct broker sync (Interactive Brokers, Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, and more)
- CSV file upload for any broker
- Manual trade entry
- API integration for custom setups
The automated import is reliable, no missing fields or formatting errors that plague some other journals.
Plans and Pricing
Basic Plan ($29/month or $24/month annually):
- 1 trading account
- 3 playbooks
- Basic analytics and reporting
- Automated imports
- Trade journaling with notes
- Limited backtesting sessions
Premium Plan ($49/month or $33/month annually):
- Up to 20 trading accounts (great for managing multiple prop firm evaluations)
- Unlimited playbooks
- Trade replay feature (the big upgrade)
- Enhanced Backtesting 2.0 with deeper insights
- Advanced analytics
- Unlimited mentor connections
For prop traders managing multiple evaluations or funded accounts, Premium is the clear choice. The ability to track 20 accounts and use trade replay makes the extra $20/month worthwhile.
Downsides
TradeZella isn’t perfect:
- No free tier or trial – You have to commit to at least $29/month to try it (unlike Tradervue which offers a free option)
- All sales are final – No refunds if you don’t like it
- More expensive than some alternatives – For $29-49/month, you could get TraderSync’s Advanced Plan
- Trade replay only on Premium – The most unique feature requires the higher-tier plan
Who Should Use TradeZella
Use TradeZella if:
- You’re a visual learner who benefits from replaying trades
- You want a modern, intuitive interface (not a spreadsheet-style tool)
- You trade multiple strategies and want to track them separately
- You’re managing multiple prop firm accounts simultaneously
- You value mobile app access for reviewing trades on the go
- You want backtesting integrated with your journal
Best plan for prop traders: Premium ($49/month) for trade replay and multi-account support
3. TraderSync – Best Overall for Futures and Stocks Prop Traders
Price: $49/month (Advanced Plan) | Free tier available
Best for: Serious traders managing prop firm accounts in futures, stocks, or options trades
Platforms: Desktop, mobile, web-based
TraderSync is what most funded prop traders we’ve talked to actually use. It’s not the flashiest, but it does the heavy lifting when it comes to tracking the metrics that matter for evaluations.
Why It Works for Prop Trading
The reason TraderSync ranks as the best trading journal for prop firm work is simple: it’s built around risk management and consistency, not just recording trades.
Key features that matter for prop evaluations:
- Daily P&L tracking with alerts – Set custom thresholds that match your prop firm’s daily loss limits
- Max drawdown monitoring – See both absolute and trailing drawdown in real-time
- Consistency scoring – Tracks if any single day accounts for too much of your profit (catches you before you violate consistency rules)
- Trade playbook builder – Document your trading strategy and actual vs. planned execution
- Mistake tagging – Categorize errors (FOMO, revenge trading, breaking rules) to identify patterns
- R-multiple tracking – See your actual risk-reward performance, not just dollar P&L
Import capabilities:
- Direct broker integration with 30+ platforms (including NinjaTrader, Tradovate, Interactive Brokers)
- Automatic import trades from most major trading platforms
- CSV upload for manual data entry if your prop firm uses a non-standard platform
What Makes TraderSync Different
Most trading journal tools show you pretty charts after the fact. TraderSync is designed to prevent mistakes while you’re trading.
The “Executions” view breaks down every decision: your entry and exit points, the setup you were trading, whether you followed your trading plan, and what the outcome was. Over a few months, patterns become obvious. You’ll see that you lose money every time you trade the first 15 minutes of the session, or that you’re profitable on breakouts but terrible at fading moves.
That’s the kind of trading analysis that actually changes your trading performance.
The advanced analytics show you performance by:
- Time of day (crucial for day trading and discovering your best trading edge)
- Day of week
- Setup type
- Market conditions (trending vs. ranging)
- Position size
- Hold time
For prop traders, this matters because most evaluation failures aren’t random. You’re consistently making the same mistakes. TraderSync makes those patterns impossible to ignore.
Downsides
TraderSync isn’t perfect for everyone:
- Learning curve – Takes a few hours to set up properly and understand all the features
- Not the cheapest – At $49/month, it’s pricier than some alternatives (though there’s a free version with limited features)
- Overkill for casual traders – If you’re only taking 2-3 trades per week, this might be more than you need
Who Should Use TraderSync
You should use TraderSync if:
- You’re actively trading prop firm evaluations or managing funded accounts
- You trade futures, stocks, or options (it handles all three asset classes)
- You want detailed metrics beyond basic win rate and profit/loss
- You’re willing to actually review your journal regularly (not just collect data)
Free tier: Yes, but limited to 30 trades per month and basic analysis
Best plan for prop traders: Advanced Plan ($49/month) – includes unlimited trades, advanced analysis, and custom reports
4. Tradervue – Best for Multi-Asset Prop Traders (Stocks, Futures, Options, Crypto)
Price: $29-99/month | Free tier available
Best for: Active traders who trade multiple asset classes and need deep execution analysis
Platforms: Web-based, mobile app
Tradervue has been around since 2011, and it shows. This is a mature trading journal tool built by traders who actually understand what you need to see in your data.
Why Prop Traders Like Tradervue
If TraderSync is the all-rounder, Tradervue is the analytics powerhouse. The level of detail you can extract from your trading data is unmatched.
Standout features for prop trading:
- Execution quality analysis – See exactly how much you’re giving back by entering late or exiting early
- Cumulative P&L charts – Visualize your equity curve and spot consistency issues instantly
- Trade tagging system – Create custom tags for setups, mistakes, emotions, market conditions
- Shared journal groups – Great if you’re working with a mentor or trading team
- Advanced filters – Slice your data by any combination of tags, strategies, or market conditions
- Position size analysis – Track if you’re following your risk management rules
What makes the analytics special:
Tradervue doesn’t just show you your win rate and profit/loss. It breaks down your trading performance by:
- Average winner vs. average loser (your actual risk-reward ratio)
- Profit factor (gross profit / gross losses)
- Expectancy (average profit per trade)
- Maximum adverse excursion (how much heat you take before winners work)
- Maximum favorable excursion (how much profit you leave on the table)
This is the kind of advanced analysis that helps you build confidence in your trading strategy because you can see exactly why it works (or doesn’t).
Import and Integration
Tradervue supports:
- Direct broker imports from 20+ platforms including Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE
- CSV import for any platform (including most prop firm dashboards)
- Manual trade entry with TradeZella integration
- Automatic futures contract rollover handling
One useful feature: you can attach screenshots and detailed notes to each trade. If you’re the type who screenshots TradingView charts, Tradervue makes it easy to keep everything organized.
Downsides
- Interface feels dated – It works great but looks like it was designed in 2012 (because it was)
- Learning curve – The depth of features means it takes time to learn
- Mobile app is basic – You can view trades but serious analysis happens on desktop
Who Should Use Tradervue
Use Tradervue if:
- You trade multiple asset classes (stocks, futures, options, crypto)
- You want deep execution analysis and detailed metrics
- You’re comfortable with a more technical interface
- You value analytics depth over visual polish
Free tier: Yes, limited to 2 imports per day
Best plan for prop traders: Silver ($29/month) or Gold ($49/month) for unlimited imports
5. Notion / Google Sheets – Best DIY Option for Specific Needs
Price: Free
Best for: Traders who want full customization or have specific tracking requirements
Platform: Web-based, works anywhere
Not technically a “trading journal tool,” but many prop traders build their own trading journal using Notion or Google Sheets. This gives you unlimited flexibility but requires setup work.
Why Traders Build Their Own
If you have specific needs, like tracking multiple prop firm accounts simultaneously, custom risk metrics, or integration with other tools, building your own trading journal can work better than off-the-shelf software.
What you can track:
- Trade details (entry, exit, P&L, setup type)
- Daily and cumulative P&L
- Risk metrics (daily loss, max drawdown, position size)
- Consistency tracking
- Custom formulas for your specific trading strategy
- Screenshots and trade notes
- Detailed metrics specific to your trading edge
Templates to Get Started
If you want to try this approach, several free templates exist:
- Notion trading journal templates (searchable on Notion’s template gallery)
- Google Sheets trading journal templates (free on various trading forums)
You’ll spend a few hours setting up initially, but then you have exactly what you need.
Downsides
- No automatic import – You’re doing all data entry manually
- Takes time to build – Expect 3-5 hours to create something useful
- No AI insights – You’re analyzing patterns yourself
- Easy to abandon – Without forced structure, many traders stop using it
Who Should Build Their Own
Build your own trading journal if:
- You’re tracking multiple prop firm accounts and need custom views
- You have very specific metrics you want to monitor
- You enjoy building systems and don’t mind manual data entry
- Free solutions work for your trading volume
Cost: Free
Time investment: 3-5 hours setup, 5-10 minutes per day maintenance
How to Choose the Best Trading Journal for Your Situation
Every prop trader’s situation is different. Here’s how to pick based on what matters most to you:
If You’re Just Starting Prop Trading
Go with: Notion/Google Sheets (DIY)
Why: Don’t pay for advanced features you won’t use yet. Focus on passing your first evaluation.
Start simple. Track:
- Every trade (entry, exit, profit/loss)
- Daily P&L and whether you’re under risk limits
- Notes on what you did well and what you’d change
Once you’re consistently profitable or managing funded accounts, upgrade to TraderSync, Tradervue, or TradeZella.
If You’re Actively Trading Multiple Evaluations
Go with: TraderSync (Advanced Plan)
Why: Real-time risk tracking and consistency monitoring prevent rule violations across multiple accounts.
When you’re managing 2-3 evaluation accounts simultaneously (common strategy for prop traders), you need software that makes it impossible to forget where you stand on risk limits.
TraderSync’s multi-account dashboard and daily loss alerts are worth the $49/month.
If You Trade Stocks, Options, and Futures
Go with: Tradervue (Silver or Gold)
Why: Best multi-asset support and the deepest analytics.
If you’re switching between US stocks during market hours and futures at night, or trading both equity options and futures contracts, Tradervue handles all of it cleanly.
The execution quality analysis also helps you improve entries and exits across different asset classes.
If You Have Discipline Issues
Go with: Edgewonk
Why: Built specifically to improve execution and catch psychological patterns.
If you keep failing evaluations because you “know better but do it anyway,” you don’t need better analytics. You need accountability.
Edgewonk’s pre-trade checklists and psychological tracking make it harder to lie to yourself about why you’re struggling.
If You’re on a Tight Budget
Go with: Build your own (Google Sheets/Notion)
Why: You can track everything that matters without spending money.
Passing prop firm evaluations doesn’t require expensive software. The best trading journal is the one you actually use consistently.
Start free with a DIY solution. Once you’re funded and profitable, consider upgrading to TradeZella ($29/month for Basic) or TraderSync for more advanced features. At that point, the journal becomes a business expense instead of a personal cost.
What Features Actually Matter in a Trading Journal (And What’s Just Marketing)
Trading journal companies love to list 50+ features. Most don’t matter. Here’s what actually makes a difference for prop traders:
Features That Matter
1. Automated Trade Import
Manual data entry takes 5-10 minutes per trading day. Over a year, that’s 20+ hours spent typing numbers instead of analyzing patterns. Import trades directly from your trading platforms or broker.
2. Daily and Cumulative P&L Tracking
You need to see at a glance:
- Today’s profit/loss
- This week’s performance
- Distance to max drawdown limits
- Consistency (no single day is >30-40% of profit)
This is non-negotiable for prop firm trading.
3. Setup and Strategy Tagging
If you trade multiple setups (breakouts, pullbacks, fades), you need to separate performance by type. Most traders are profitable on 2-3 setups and lose money on everything else. Tagging reveals this.
4. Mistake Categorization
Track why you lost. Categories like:
- Broke trading rules
- Overtraded
- Revenge traded
- Wrong setup
- Good trade, bad outcome (acceptable risk)
Over time, you’ll see that 80% of losses come from 2-3 repeated mistakes. That’s your focus area.
5. Notes and Screenshots
Being able to attach screenshots from TradingView charts or write detailed notes helps you remember context weeks later when reviewing patterns.
6. Consistency Scoring
Many prop firms require no single day accounts for more than 30-40% of total profit. Your journal should calculate this automatically.
Features That Sound Good But Don’t Matter Much
1. Social/Community Features
Sharing trades with other users sounds useful but rarely gets used. Most traders don’t want their mistakes public.
2. AI-Powered Insights
Some journals claim AI finds “hidden patterns” in your trading. In practice, basic analytics show you 90% of what matters. AI features are marketing fluff unless you’re trading thousands of times per month.
3. Mobile Trading Journal Apps
Reviewing complex trading analysis on a phone screen doesn’t work well. Mobile viewing is fine, but you’ll do real analysis on desktop.
4. Broker Profit/Loss Leaderboards
Comparing yourself to other users doesn’t improve your trading. Focus on your own performance vs. your trading plan.
5. “Professional-Grade Reports”
Beautifully formatted PDF reports are nice for showing investors. Prop traders don’t need them. Focus on tools that change your behavior, not presentation.
How to Actually Use a Trading Journal to Improve (Not Just Collect Data)
Most traders treat their trading journal like a logbook: record trades, never look at them again. That’s useless.
Here’s how to actually use your journal to improve trading performance:
Daily Review (5 Minutes)
After every trading session:
- Confirm trades are logged – Whether automatic or manual import
- Add notes to any trade that broke your rules – Why did you take it? What were you thinking?
- Rate your execution quality – Did you follow your trading plan?
- Check your daily P&L vs. risk limits – Are you staying under prop firm thresholds?
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s awareness. When you consistently note “took a trade without my setup being present,” that pattern becomes obvious.
Weekly Review (20 Minutes)
Every weekend:
- Look at your equity curve – Smooth upward trend or choppy/inconsistent?
- Review your best and worst trades – What made the winners work? What made the losers predictable?
- Check performance by setup type – Which strategies are actually profitable?
- Identify your biggest mistake pattern – What keeps costing you money?
- Set one specific goal for next week – “No trades before 9:45am” or “Cut losers at 1R, no exceptions”
Write this down. One specific, measurable goal that addresses your biggest weakness.
Monthly Review (1 Hour)
First weekend of each month:
- Calculate key metrics:
- Win rate by strategy
- Profit factor (gross profit / gross losses)
- Average winner vs. average loser (actual risk-reward ratio)
- Best and worst times of day
- Consistency (is your profit distributed evenly?)
- Identify one pattern to fix – Pick your most expensive mistake and commit to eliminating it this month
- Review whether you’re meeting prop firm requirements – Consistency rules, minimum days, drawdown management
- Update your trading plan – Remove setups that don’t work, refine rules based on data
The monthly review is where real improvement happens. You’re looking at enough data to spot meaningful patterns but reviewing frequently enough to stay accountable.
What to Do With Your Findings
If you discover you’re unprofitable on a setup: Stop trading it. Seriously. Most traders lose money trying to “fix” setups that don’t match their trading style. Cut them from your trading strategy.
If you discover you lose money at specific times: Don’t trade then. If you’re consistently red in the first 30 minutes, wait until 10am to start.
If you discover you break your rules when down: Add a hard stop. If you’re down $X for the day, stop trading completely. No exceptions.
The best trading journal in the world can’t help you if you don’t act on what it shows you.
Common Questions About Trading Journals for Prop Traders
Is a trading journal worth it?
Yes, but only if you actually review it and change behavior based on what you learn.
The data is clear: traders who consistently journal and review their trades perform better than those who don’t. One study of prop traders found that those who kept detailed journals had 23% higher profit factors than those who didn’t track trades systematically.
But here’s the catch: simply logging trades doesn’t help. The value comes from reviewing patterns and adjusting your trading strategy based on data.
If you’re failing prop firm evaluations or struggling with consistency, a trading journal is absolutely essential. It’s the fastest way to identify which specific mistakes are costing you money.
If you’re already consistently profitable and just need to track compliance with prop firm rules, a basic journal works fine.
What is the 3-5-7 rule in trading?
The 3-5-7 rule isn’t a universal trading rule, it’s a risk management guideline some traders use:
- 3% maximum risk per trade
- 5% maximum daily loss
- 7% maximum weekly loss
Some prop firms use similar structures for their risk limits (like 5% daily loss, 10% total drawdown). The idea is to prevent catastrophic losses from a single bad day or week.
Your trading journal should help you monitor these thresholds in real-time so you don’t accidentally breach prop firm rules while trading.
Is there any free trading journal?
Yes. Several options:
Best free trading journal tools:
- Tradervue – Free with 2 imports per day (enough for most traders)
- Google Sheets/Notion – Completely free but requires manual setup
- Excel spreadsheet templates – Many free templates available online
Note on “free” tiers: TradeZella, one of the most popular journals, does NOT offer a free tier. Neither does TraderSync or Edgewonk. If you want the features these premium tools offer, you’ll need to pay.
However, Tradervue’s free tier (limited to 2 imports per day) is surprisingly robust. You can import trades, track daily P&L, monitor risk metrics, and add trade notes without paying anything.
The limitation: you don’t get advanced analytics like maximum adverse excursion, detailed execution quality analysis, or AI insights. But for passing prop firm evaluations, the free tier has everything you need.
Our recommendation for beginners: Start with Tradervue free or build a simple Google Sheets journal. Once you’re funded and making money, upgrade to a paid tool like TraderSync, TradeZella, or Edgewonk. At that point, the $30-50/month subscription is a business expense that pays for itself through better trading performance.
Is $100 enough to day trade?
Not in the traditional sense, and this is exactly why prop firm trading exists.
For retail day trading in US stocks, you need:
- Minimum $25,000 account balance (PDT rule)
- Realistically $30,000+ to have meaningful position sizes
- $100 gives you essentially zero buying power for day trading
For prop firm evaluations, $100 is enough:
- Many prop firms offer $50K-$100K evaluations for $100-150
- You’re trading firm capital, not your own
- Your $100 gets you access to real position sizes
This is the whole value proposition of prop trading: trade professional account sizes without needing $25K+ in capital.
Your trading journal helps you pass those evaluations by ensuring you meet consistency rules and stay under risk limits. That $100 evaluation fee is wasted if you don’t track your performance properly.
Final Recommendations: The Best Trading Journal by Trading Style
Here’s our final recommendation based on how you trade:
Best for Futures Prop Traders
TraderSync ($49/month)
- Deep futures support with major platforms
- Real-time risk tracking
- Consistency scoring for prop firm rules
Best for Stock and Options Traders
Tradervue ($29-49/month)
- Exceptional multi-asset support
- Execution quality analysis
- Detailed metrics and advanced analysis
Best for Visual Learners and Trade Replay
TradeZella ($29-49/month)
- Trade replay functionality to review execution
- Clean, modern interface
- Mobile app for on-the-go review
- Backtesting integrated with journaling
Best for Traders With Discipline Issues
Edgewonk ($79 one-time or $34/month)
- Psychology tracking
- Pre-trade checklists
- Execution rating separate from P&L
Best Free Option
Tradervue (Free tier)
- 2 imports per day
- Basic analytics included
- Upgrade when funded
Best DIY Solution
Notion or Google Sheets (Free)
- Full customization
- Track exactly what you need
- Works for any asset class or trading strategy
The Bottom Line on Trading Journals for Prop Traders
The best trading journal for prop firm trading isn’t necessarily the most expensive or feature-rich. It’s the one that:
- Helps you stay within prop firm rules (daily loss limits, max drawdown, consistency)
- Makes your mistake patterns impossible to ignore
- You’ll actually use consistently (not abandon after two weeks)
For most funded traders, that’s TraderSync. The combination of real-time risk tracking, consistency scoring, and deep trade analysis makes it purpose-built for prop trading.
If you want trade replay and backtesting with a modern interface, TradeZella is worth the investment. The Premium plan ($49/month) gives you everything you need to review execution quality and manage multiple accounts.
If you’re just starting, go with Tradervue free (limited to 2 imports per day) or build your own in Google Sheets. Get funded first, then upgrade to paid tools.
If you keep failing evaluations due to discipline issues (not strategy), Edgewonk is worth the investment. You don’t need better trade ideas; you need better execution.
Whatever you choose, remember: the journal doesn’t make you a better trader. Consistently reviewing your data and adjusting your behavior based on what you learn makes you better.
Most traders who fail prop firm evaluations make the same 2-3 mistakes repeatedly. They just never realize it because they don’t track properly. Don’t be that trader.
Start journaling today. Your future funded account depends on it.
Trading Journal Popularity Score
The Trading Journal Popularity Score is based on the global search volume for the brand name of the trading journal vendor. The more monthly searches, the better the ranking. At the top, you’ll find the most frequently searched trading journal brand name with the highest popularity score.
| Trading Journal | Number of Global Searches | Popularity Score |
|---|---|---|
| TradeZella | 74,000 | 100 |
| Tradervue | 18,100 | 90 |
| TraderSync | 12,100 | 80 |
| EdgeWonk | 6,600 | 70 |
| TradesViz | 6,600 | 60 |
| Trademetria | 1,900 | 50 |
| Chartlog | 1,000 | 40 |
| Journalytix | 590 | 30 |
| WealthBee | 0 | 20 |
| TradeFuse | 0 | 10 |
Global monthly searches on Google as of November 2025 for our top 10 trading journals.
Trading Journal Costs
| Trading Journal | Monthly Plan | Annual Plan |
|---|---|---|
| EdgeWonk | not available | $169 |
| TradeZella | $29-$49 | $288-$399 |
| Trademetria | $29.95-$39.95 | $215-$279 |
| TraderSync | $29.95-$79.95 | $312.6-$834.6 |
| Tradervue | $29.95-$49.95 | not available |
| TradesViz | $19.99-$29.99 | $179.88-$269.88 |
| Chartlog | $14.99-$39.99 | $161.88-$383.88 |
| Journalytix | $47 | $399 |
| WealthBee | $19-$39 | $479.88 |
| TradeFuse | $19-$39 | $168-$348 |
Trading Journals listed in the order of our ranking for the top 10 trading journals as of November 2025.