Best free stock charting website: an honest checklist for choosing one
How to pick the best free stock charting website: a ten-point checklist on data, history, indicators, alerts and limits, and where SuperCharting fits.
The best free stock charting website is the one that still works for you after the first week, when you want more than one chart, a few more indicators and alerts that fire while you are away. Rather than ranking sites, this page gives you a ten-point checklist you can run on any of them in a few minutes, then shows how SuperCharting scores against it, including where it falls short.
Why "free" needs a closer look
"Free" on a charting site can mean very different things. Some sites are free with a low cap on charts, indicators or alerts and ask you to upgrade the moment you add one more. Some are free because they show advertising. Some are free while they grow and may add paid plans later. None of these is wrong, but they change what you get. The checklist below makes the trade-off visible before you invest time in building layouts and scripts on a platform.
The ten-point checklist for a free stock charting website
1. Does it have your market?
Search for three symbols you actually trade, for example NSE:RELIANCE, an index such as NSE:NIFTY and something outside your home market such as XAUUSD. Check the session times and the currency shown.
2. Is the data live, delayed or end of day?
Open a liquid symbol during market hours and watch the last price for a minute. Sites rarely make this obvious; the honest ones say "delayed" where it applies.
3. How much history can you scroll?
Open a daily chart and scroll back. Then try a 5-minute chart: intraday history is usually where free sites stop first.
4. How many indicators per chart?
Add your normal set, then two more. If the site stops you at three or five, you will feel it every day.
5. Can you write or import scripts?
If you use custom indicators, check whether the site has a script editor, which language it uses, and whether errors point to a line.
6. Do alerts run when the browser is closed?
Set a price alert, close the tab and wait. An alert that only fires while the page is open is a reminder, not an alert.
7. How many charts on one screen?
Multi-timeframe traders need at least two to four charts per tab, and they need the crosshair and symbol to follow across them.
8. Is there a backtester?
A strategy tester with commission, slippage and a list of trades lets you test an idea before you risk money on it.
9. Does it work on your phone?
Open the same account on a phone browser. Check that drawing and alerts are usable with a finger, not only visible.
10. What happens to your work?
Layouts, drawings, watchlists and scripts should be saved to your account, not to one browser, and you should be able to export your chart data.
How SuperCharting scores on the checklist
| # | Check | SuperCharting today |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Markets | NSE, BSE, MCX and F&O, major forex pairs, gold and other markets where a feed is available |
| 2 | Live data | Live when the market is open and the feed allows |
| 3 | History | Up to 40,000 bars per chart, as far as the feed goes |
| 4 | Indicators | 50 per chart, more than 200 built-in scripts |
| 5 | Scripts | Pine Editor for Pine-compatible scripts, errors with line numbers |
| 6 | Alerts | Run on the site; 1,000 price and 1,000 technical alerts |
| 7 | Multi-chart | Up to 16 charts per tab with symbol, interval and crosshair sync |
| 8 | Backtester | Strategy Tester with commission, slippage, report and optimiser |
| 9 | Phone | Phone layout with a Draw button; alerts and the tester work there |
| 10 | Your work | Layouts saved to the account; Download chart data… to CSV |
It is currently free, with the same limits for every account, and there are no ads. Where it is weaker: its community scripts library is small compared with large established platforms; second and tick charts are built from the live quotes the site has received rather than downloaded history; and footprint and volume profile charts use one-minute candles at best. The AI assistant, TV Pilot, is switched on per account, not for everyone.
How to run the checklist in SuperCharting
- Sign up at /signup; no card is asked for.
- Click the symbol name and search for your three test symbols. Open each on 1D, then on 5m, and scroll left to see how far history goes.
- Click Indicators, metrics, and strategies and add your usual indicators plus two extra. See the technical indicators library.
- Click Create alert, set Crossing at a price just above the current one, close the tab and wait for it on Telegram or your webhook. See price alerts.
- Click Layout setup, choose a 2-chart grid, and switch on Crosshair under Sync in layout.
- Open the same account on your phone and try the Draw button.
Example: a five-minute test on gold
Open XAUUSD on 15m with an EMA 50 and RSI 14. Set an alert for Moving Up % 0.5 with trigger Once Per Bar. Switch to a 2-chart grid with XAUUSD 1h on the right and the crosshair synced. Then open Bar replay, start from a bar last week and step forward ten bars. In five minutes you have tested data, indicators, alerts, layouts and replay, which is most of what decides whether a site suits you.
Choosing between good options
Several free charting sites are good at different things: some are best for a quick look at a quote, some for fundamentals, some for scanning. If you mainly read charts and use TradingView-style tools, the free TradingView alternative page explains what SuperCharting adds and where TradingView remains different. TradingView is a trademark of TradingView, Inc.; SuperCharting is not affiliated with it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free stock charting website?
It depends on your market and habits. Run the checklist on two or three sites with your own symbols and keep the one that passes the checks you care about.
Is SuperCharting free?
Yes, currently. Every account gets the same limits and there is no paid plan you must buy today. Paid plans may be introduced later.
Do free charting sites have real-time data?
Some do for some markets. In SuperCharting, data is live when the market is open and the feed allows.
Can I keep my layouts if I switch devices?
Yes. Layouts, watchlists and scripts are saved to your account and open in any browser you sign in on.