Why a free forex trading journal beats a spreadsheet
Most FX traders start journaling in Google Sheets. It's free and it works — right up until it doesn't. This platform started the same way: trades in one Google Sheet, mistakes noted in Notion, position sizing in a separate app. Three tools, none of them talking to each other, and a journal you stopped opening after a fortnight.
A spreadsheet is free but it's manual and shapeless. Every column is one you have to design, every stat is a formula you have to write and then fix when it breaks, and there's no gentle structure telling you what to record. A free forex trading journal that's actually built for the job gives you the fields, the calculations and the dashboard out of the box, so the friction that makes people quit journaling mostly disappears.
What you get on the free plan
The free plan isn't a crippled demo. It's the daily core an FX trader needs to build good habits:
- Trade Journal — structured logging in pips, lots and pairs, with room for the reasoning behind each trade.
- Position Size Calculator — size the next trade from your balance, risk percent and stop, without leaving the app.
- Dashboard basics — running P&L, win rate and recent trades, updating as you log.
- Help Centre — guides for getting set up and importing your history.
No credit card, no countdown. You can run your whole FX journal on the free plan for as long as you like.
Free vs Elite, plainly
| Feature | Free | Elite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £0 | £19/mo · £190/yr · £97 lifetime |
| Trade journal | Yes | Yes |
| Position size calculator | Yes | Yes |
| Dashboard basics | Yes | Yes |
| Spreadsheet import | Yes | Yes |
| Full analytics & breakdowns | — | Yes |
| Missed-trade cost analytics | — | Yes |
| FX economic calendar | — | Yes |
| Daily journal & streaks | — | Yes |
| AI data-review coach | — | Yes |
Upgrading is optional and there's no pressure to. Elite is for when you want to know why your results look the way they do — the missed trades that cost you, the patterns in your losers, the coaching on top. Until then, the free journal does the daily job.
Moving your Google Sheet over
Export your sheet to CSV, open the import, and drop it in. The column matcher lines up your dates, pairs, lots and P&L automatically — including day-first dates and numbers stored as text, the two things that usually break a manual import. A couple of minutes and your whole history is in, charted and searchable.
FAQ
Is the forex trading journal really free?
Yes. The free plan is £0, needs no card and has no time limit. It includes the trade journal, position size calculator, dashboard basics and help centre, and you can keep using it for free indefinitely.
Do I need a credit card to start?
No. You can create an account and use the free plan without any card. The optional 14-day trial of the paid Elite features also needs no card.
What's the difference between free and paid?
Free covers the core journal, calculator and dashboard. Elite (£19/mo, £190/yr, or £97 founding lifetime for the first 50) adds full analytics, missed-trade cost tracking, the FX economic calendar, daily journal streaks, self-assessment and the AI coach.
Can I import my existing spreadsheet?
Yes — CSV or Excel, in about two minutes, with automatic column matching. See also the free position size calculator and, if you're comparing tools, the TradeZella alternative breakdown.