When it comes to Forex trading, one of the most effective ways to improve your strategies and build confidence is by backtesting. Backtesting allows traders to simulate past market conditions and test their strategies without risking real money. There are tons of tools offering backtesting for algorithms or EAs then it’s hard to get manual Forex backtesting softwares.
Fortunately, with a lot of research and testing, I have found some excellent free tools available for manual backtesting that offer chart bar replay functionalities.
In this guide, we’ll explore the top five tools and analyze what makes them the best options for traders.
What Is Forex Backtesting?
Forex backtesting is the process of applying a trading strategy to historical data to evaluate its effectiveness. By analyzing how a strategy would have performed in the past, traders can identify potential flaws, optimize their techniques, and gain confidence in their approach.
This simulation helps traders avoid making costly mistakes in real trading scenarios, as they can refine their strategies under simulated market conditions.
Why Is Backtesting Important for Forex Traders?
Backtesting offers several advantages:
- Improve your risk management
- Helps fine-tune your strategy
- Increased confidence
- Boost your market understanding
Forex backtesting is more than a simulation exercise. It’s a trader’s tool for learning how to interpret market behavior and refine strategies for different conditions.
Top 5 Forex Backtesting Tools
Tool |
Features |
Ratings |
Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 FxReply |
|
 |
Free |
 TradingView |
|
|
Trial |
 TradersCasa |
|
 |
Free |
 GoCharting |
|
|
Free |
 Exness |
|
|
Free |
1. FxReply
FxReply is my top pick for free Forex backtesting tools. This software stands out because of its simplicity and Its UI is almost 100% similar to TraddingView, making it suitable for people like me who use TradingView for daily analysis.
These 4 real reasons why FxReply is better than Tradingview even though it’s using the TradingView charting framework.
FxReply Features
- Backtesting For Free
- Trade Execution While Backtesting
- Build in Journaling
- FxReply Custom Indicators
- No Historical Data Limit
- Advance Backtesting Results Analytics
- Strategy Listing
FxReply is by far the best software with bar reply, for backtesting your trading strategy. You will also get to use their custom build indicators for free, one that I mostly use is the Inside bar and session separator, without them my backtesting will take forever.
2. TradingView
‘TradingView is the goat of trading, its charting framework is used by most trading platforms. All the backtesting software in this top 5 list users TradingView charting engine but being too big comes with shortfalls since they are not only focusing on backtesting so it’s understood that they are not the best in that category.
TradingView Bar Reply Features
- 30 Days Free Trial
- Import Your Own Custom Indicator
- Get Access To Community Indicators
- Create Templates For Tools
- Save and Create Folders Of Your Analysis
Even though TradingView has a free version of Bar Reply it’s just not usable for most since you are only allowed to backtest from 1D upwards. The one feature that started out on TradingView is creating templates for your tools, which is no longer available from FxReply on the free version
3. TradersCasa
TradersCasa is another backtesting software that uses the TradingView charts system, it offers features that are similar to FxReply. But they have their shortfall compared to FxReply.
TradersCasa Features
- Free Backtesting
- Trade Execution While Backtesting
- Build in Journaling
- Advance Report
- No Historical Data Feed Limit
At first glance, you might think TradersCasa is similar to FxReply but that’s quest not true. First, the free version on TradersCasa has Ads, They currently don’t have custom indicators.
The ads are really a deal breaker since they are popup ads filling almost full screen and have to wait a few minutes before continuing backtesting, other than that they offer great features just for free.
4. GoCharting
GoCharting Is a bit confusing to get around, non the less they offer a free backtesting bar reply using the TradiView chart engine but with some custom modifications.
GoCharting Fetures
- Free Backtesting
- Trade Execution While Backtesting
Gocharting is trying but the UI is very confusing and I don’t understand why are they trying to change the TradingView default UI that’s just a deal breaker for me since I want to use a platform that is similar to what I user form my daily analysis.
similar to TradeCasa, GoCharting does not have custom-build indicators, They also have ads but their ads are not as annoying as the ones in TradeCasa. They also have a historical data limit for the free plan.
5. Exness Terminal
Exness terminal is totally unusable for me which is why I have put it on last, although they are better compared to other free backtesting tools like JForex4 and Ctrader which they are using different charting engines and is confusing for beginners.
Exness uses the TradingView chart engine but lacks most features that are found in FxReply, TradingView Bar Reply, TradeCasa, and GoCharting.
Exness Terminal Features
- Free Backtesting
I would say that the only feature they have is “Free Backtesting” Other than that they are completely missing a lot of features.
What Exness Terminal Dont Have:
- Dont Have Trade Execution During Bar Reply
- Limited Historical Data Feed
- Limited To 1 Time Frame During Backtesting
- No Option To Change Your Time Zone
For me what Exness Terminal doesn’t offer is just a No No, especially changing timeframes during the backtesting is the one thing a backtesting software should at least offer.
What to Look for in a Forex Backtesting Software
Selecting the right Forex backtesting software is important for optimizing your trading strategies and ensuring consistent results that is why a TradingView Based Chart framework is a requirement for me because I use TradingView for my daily analysis in Live Trading.
With so many different tools available, understanding which features matter most for your strategy can help you choose a platform that fits your needs.
Below are the essential factors to consider when evaluating a Forex backtesting tool.
- TradingView Chart Framework
- Trade Execution During Backtesting
- Unlimited Access to Historical Data
- Multi-Timeframe Access During Backtesting
- Advanced Backtesting Analytics
- Custom Indicators
- No or Few Ads
As you can see from this list Exness Terminal doesn’t fit well with my requirements, which is why am never using Exeness Terminal for backtesting.
Conclusion
FxReply takes the crown as the best free backtesting software for its powerful combination of features, including trade execution, custom indicators, and advanced analytics, all available for free.
While TradingView remains the goat in charting platform, its backtesting capabilities in the free version are limited compared to FxReply
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