Free trading journal for futures traders

The direct answer

QuantLab Journal is a free trading journal for futures traders during its beta period. Access opens to approved waitlist emails, and account creation requires email verification. The prop firm trading journal guide explains the journal's evaluation-focused workflow.

There is no live billing or subscription implementation for the journal. That is why this page does not describe a trial, cancellation policy, or paid tier.

What the free journal includes

You can connect Tradovate through OAuth and select the accounts to sync. You can connect ProjectX accounts, including Topstep, with a username and API key. CSV import supports other brokers through a field-mapping flow.

The CSV importer normalizes execution data, can group nearby fills into positions, and prevents a repeated file from adding the same executions again. ProjectX credentials are validated and stored encrypted. Tradovate sync runs when you initiate it.

Review prop account settings

Each prop firm account can hold a target, maximum drawdown, drawdown already used, and a consistency limit. QuantLab calculates maximum drawdown and evaluates the configured consistency rule. You can keep several firm accounts in one dashboard without treating their rules as identical.

Firm rules vary. Use the current rulebook as the source for each account setting. QuantLab's comparison table includes eight firms and was reviewed in September 2026, but it explicitly tells traders to verify live terms.

Free research beside the journal

QuantLab also provides a free candle-by-candle futures backtester. Its public market bars are delayed by at least 15 minutes, so do not treat the tool as a live market-data feed. Public probability reports cover NQ, ES, and YM using a five-year, one-minute bar store.

Four opted-in bots have public journals that keep losing periods visible. The bias board summarizes daily futures bias with supporting base rates. Those public pages let you inspect QuantLab's broader research approach before you join the journal beta.

If you need a native mobile application, QuantLab does not currently claim one. It is a web application.

Start without losing the source record

Keep the original broker export even after the trades appear in the journal. Use it to check the first import and any later result that looks unusual. A free tool still needs the same data discipline as a paid one.

For an empty journal, QuantLab can load sample data, import a CSV, or let you log a trade. Onboarding asks you to choose a market and optionally add experience and goals before the import step. You can skip import and add trades manually. Start with the smallest path that lets you complete a real review, then add more history after you trust the record.

Know the access limit

Free during beta does not mean anonymous access. Join the waitlist with the email you plan to use, then complete verification when that email is approved.