Trading journals compared in 2026: choose what you need to review
Which trading journal replays the screen you actually traded from?
This is the feature most comparison tables miss. A reconstructed chart can show what the market did. Only footage of your screens can show what you saw and did in the moment.
| Journal | Replays your actual screen | Replay is built from | Clips each completed trade automatically | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recap | Yes | Actual footage of your trading screens | Yes | Not announced yet |
| TradeZella | No | Chart reconstructed from market data | No | $35–$99/mo |
| TraderSync | No | Market-data trade replay | No | From $29.95/mo |
| Tradervue | No | Charts generated from imported trades | No | From $29.95/mo |
| Edgewonk | No | Imported data, charts, and screenshots | No | $197/16 months |
| TradesViz | No | Chart replay and simulator | No | Free plan; paid from $19.99/mo |
Competitor rows describe each vendor’s own public product and pricing pages as read on the dates listed below (most on 2026-09-05); none is a hands-on test. Prices and plans change. “No” in the two capability columns means the capability is not part of that vendor’s publicly documented offering on that date — not a claim that it can never be done. Recap’s row reflects the shipped product.
Sources and billing basis for every row
- Recap — Free 30-day trial; pricing not announced. Recap known limitations , retrieved 2026-09-05 (hands-on). P&L is shown in points, not dollars … Trade size appears as a column in the Library.
- TradeZella — Monthly; $315–$891/yr billed yearly. TradeZella pricing page , retrieved 2026-09-05 (vendor-reported). Essential $35/mo · Pro $59/mo · Ultra $99/mo paid monthly; “Pay Yearly — Save 25%”: $26/mo billed $315/year · $44/mo billed $531/year · $74/mo billed $891/year; “Replay Your Trades Tick-by-Tick — Step back through individual trades or full sessions with second-by-second playback”.
- TraderSync — Monthly. TraderSync pricing page , retrieved 2026-08-14 (vendor-reported). Pro $29.95/mo (lowest tier). The vendor page returned HTTP 403 to our re-check on 2026-09-05, so the 2026-08-14 reading stands.
- Tradervue — Monthly (Silver $29.95, Gold $49.95); the page mentions switching to a free plan after a trial but does not detail it. Tradervue pricing page , retrieved 2026-09-05 (vendor-reported). Silver $29.95/mo · Gold $49.95/mo; trial copy references the ability to “switch to a free plan”.
- Edgewonk — Prepaid term (“16 months for the price of 12”, shown as a limited-time offer). Edgewonk pricing page , retrieved 2026-09-05 (vendor-reported). “$197 / 16 months”; “6 Screenshots per Trade”.
- TradesViz — Monthly list price (a 30% promotion was displayed on the retrieved date). TradesViz pricing page , retrieved 2026-09-05 (vendor-reported). Basic US$0 · Pro US$19.99/mo · Platinum US$29.99/mo; “Trade Replay”, “Advanced Trading Simulator”.
A reconstructed chart cannot show the mistake you made before the click
Market-data replay is useful for studying price action. But it cannot show the DOM you were reading, the order ticket you changed, the alert you ignored, the second monitor you glanced at, or the ten seconds you hovered before chasing an entry.
Recap records the monitors you choose while you trade. Your platform’s fills trigger the workflow: when you go flat, Recap cuts the footage into a labeled clip and files it in your searchable Library. The replay is what happened on your screens, not an approximation assembled afterward.
Recap is not the only way to get footage. A general recorder such as OBS captures the same pixels; the difference is what happens next — see Recap vs. OBS for when each is enough.
Recap records the trading screens you select and can automatically create a labeled clip when a connected platform reports a completed trade — fill-triggered, clipped and labeled, without OBS.
Your fill starts the workflow. Going flat finishes it.
Connect your platform
Use a stable connector for Sierra Chart, NinjaTrader, or MotiveWave, or beta coverage for Quantower, ATAS X, and Tradovate. All platforms.
Trade normally
Recap records the screens you selected. There is no hotkey to remember when the trade gets busy.
Go flat
Recap automatically cuts and labels the completed trade — instrument, side, points, and time.
Run the film
Replay every monitor in sync and review the decision as it actually unfolded.
No six-hour OBS file. No evening spent searching for nine trades. Even the impulsive trade you would rather forget is already waiting for review.
Is Recap the right trading journal for you?
You need to see the execution
Replay the actual platform, tools, and decisions that produced each trade.
You need dashboards and dollar P&L
Recap does not provide advanced analytics, equity curves, or backtesting.
You need the numbers and the tape
Keep a statistics journal for reports and add Recap for actual-screen execution review.
Where statistics journals beat Recap
- Advanced analytics. Recap does not provide equity curves, strategy reports, or hundreds of dashboard views.
- Dollar P&L. Recap labels each trade in gross points and shows your peak position size alongside it. It does not convert either into dollar profit or loss, and fees and commissions are not included.
- Backtesting. Recap reviews trades you took; it is not a historical market simulator.
- Device coverage. Recap runs on Windows 10/11 with stable Sierra Chart, NinjaTrader, and MotiveWave connectors. Quantower and ATAS X connectors and the direct Tradovate connection are in beta (platform details). It is not a browser or mobile journal.
If you need both perspectives, keep your statistics journal and add Recap as the film room. Numbers tell you what happened. Your actual tape helps explain why.
Start with your own tape, not another promise.
Recap is pre-release. Start a free 30-day trial with just an email; pricing isn’t announced yet.
Your footage is stored on your machine. Recap reads trade events and has no capability to place, change, or cancel an order.
Trading journal comparison FAQ
How should I choose a trading journal?
Choose based on what you need to review. TradeZella, TraderSync, Tradervue, Edgewonk, and TradesViz analyze imported trade data and reconstructed charts. Recap is designed for execution review: it records selected trading screens and can create a labeled clip when a connected platform reports a completed trade.
Does Recap record your actual trading screen?
Yes. Recap records the trading screens you select and can automatically create a labeled clip when a connected platform reports a completed trade. The clip can include the chart, DOM, order ticket, alerts, and other selected screens.
Is Recap the only trading journal that records the screen?
No. Any screen recorder such as OBS can capture a trading session (see Recap vs. OBS), and at least one other desktop journal, SCS Trading Journal for Sierra Chart and NinjaTrader, lists optional per-trade video capture on its product page (scstudies.com, read 2026-09-05; vendor-reported). Of the six journals compared on this page, Recap is the one built around footage of your own screens, with a connector that cuts and labels the clip when you go flat and a synced multi-monitor replay. Choose on the workflow, not on a claim of uniqueness.
What is the difference between trade replay and screen replay?
Trade replay reconstructs price action from historical market data. Screen replay plays back footage captured from the trader's actual monitors, including the platform layout, DOM, order ticket, alerts, and cursor movement.
How much does Recap cost?
Recap pricing isn’t announced yet. Anyone can start a free 30-day trial with just an email.
Does Recap replace a statistics journal?
Not for every trader. Recap shows trade-level points, peak position size, hold time, peak, and heat against your own averages, but it does not calculate dollar P&L or fees and does not provide equity curves, backtesting, or advanced analytics dashboards. Traders who need those features can use a statistics journal alongside Recap.
Methodology
Competitor rows are read from each vendor’s own public product and pricing pages; the exact page, retrieval date and quoted excerpt for every row are listed under the table. We have not run hands-on tests of competing products, so a “No” means a capability is absent from the vendor’s public documentation on that date, nothing stronger. Recap’s row describes the shipped Windows app as documented in its known limitations.
Last verified 2026-09-05 by Recap Trading LLC, the company that makes Recap. Rows are re-read from source before each comparison-page change and at least quarterly; a vendor page that cannot be reached keeps its previous reading and date, which is stated in the source list. Corrections: [email protected].