A Complete Guide to the Futures Trading Software NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader is a futures trading platform and a U.S.-based futures broker. Traders use it for charting, strategy backtesting, simulated trading and live futures trading. The platform is free to use for charting, backtesting and simulated trading. It runs on Windows, in a web browser and as a mobile app. Its own brokerage is a futures-only broker with no minimum deposit to open an account. Stocks, forex and CFDs are possible only through a supported third-party broker on NinjaTrader Desktop.
ZipRecruiter estimates that independent trader jobs in the United States pay an average of $96,774 a year, as of early October 2026. ZipRecruiter builds that estimate from job postings and third-party data, not from people trading their own money. Trading futures carries substantial risk, and you can lose more than you put in.
You need the right software to learn the market and execute profitable trades. With the free version of NinjaTrader, you can get started with no financial commitment. When you’re ready, you can add more function and complexity.
Keep reading for a complete guide to NinjaTrader futures trading software.
What Is NinjaTrader Futures Trading Software?
NinjaTrader is a powerful tool for derivatives trading. It’s geared toward futures traders, and NinjaTrader’s own brokerage does not offer spot forex or options trading. The platform offers several unique trading tools.
Extras such as NinjaTrader Order Flow+, real-time market data and Market Replay unlock once you fund a live account. That is true on any of NinjaTrader’s current plans, including the Free plan. Without funding, you can still analyze charts, backtest strategies, and place simulated trades with no time limit.
The platform also has its own brokerage service. Still, you can use other brokerages if you want, on NinjaTrader Desktop with NinjaTrader’s Multiple Broker add-on.
What Makes NinjaTrader Stand Out?
NinjaTrader is different from other trading platforms. It has two services that are available using the software.
Firstly, it’s a tool for charting and market analysis. NinjaTrader Desktop also connects to supported third-party brokers and to market data providers such as Kinetick, IQFeed and eSignal. You can use other providers’ data if you like.
Also, NinjaTrader is an online brokerage. It offers futures on major U.S. and European exchanges, including CME Group, Eurex, ICE and Coinbase Derivatives. Spot forex is not available through NinjaTrader’s brokerage, but currency futures such as the Euro FX contract are.
NinjaTrader comes in three versions. NinjaTrader Desktop is a download for Windows, NinjaTrader Web runs in a browser, and the NinjaTrader mobile app is available for iOS and Android. NinjaTrader Desktop does not run on a Mac, but NinjaTrader Web does. NinjaTrader says Mac users may be able to run Desktop inside Windows with a virtualization tool such as Parallels.
NinjaTrader Overview
NinjaTrader is excellent for beginners and veteran traders. It has several key features.
For example, NinjaTrader Brokerage charges commissions as low as $0.09 per micro contract, per side, on its Lifetime plan. It also has no minimum deposit to open an account, though ACH and debit card transfers have a $5 minimum. Before you place a live trade, your balance has to cover the margin for each contract. Our article on the minimum deposit to start trading on NinjaTrader explains how margin affects the money you need.
Also, NinjaTrader has low day trading margins of $500 per contract. These contracts include:
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
- E-mini S&P 500
- E-mini Russell 2000
The micro versions of these three contracts need only $50. Other markets need more day trading margin per futures contract, including the E-mini Nasdaq-100, crude oil and gold.
These are intraday margins only. Holding a position overnight needs the exchange’s much higher initial margin. NinjaTrader can also change its intraday margins without notice when markets are volatile, so check its margins page before you trade.
Every new NinjaTrader brokerage account starts on the Free plan. There are three plans in all, Free, Monthly and Lifetime, and the paid plans lower your commission rates. NinjaTrader lists the Monthly plan at $99 a month. The Lifetime plan costs $1,499 as a one-time payment, or four monthly installments of $499.
NinjaTrader’s brokerage does not offer forex currency pairs. To trade forex, you connect an account at a supported forex broker, such as FOREX.com or FXCM, to NinjaTrader Desktop with the Multiple Broker add-on.
The NinjaTrader Platform
The NinjaTrader platform has a wide range of functions for technical analysis. These functions are useful if you want to start out with demo trading. This is a great way to learn how to trade futures.
You connect NinjaTrader Desktop to your NinjaTrader brokerage account with your NinjaTrader username and password. When you log in, you choose your live or simulation account. NinjaTrader’s fee schedule also lists Rithmic order routing, for an extra fee per contract.
You can also use Kinetick, NinjaTrader’s own market data service, which is always free for end-of-day stock, futures, and forex data. NinjaTrader is the only trading and charting software Kinetick works with.
The NinjaTrader Brokerage Service
NinjaTrader caters especially to futures traders, and its brokerage is futures-only. It’s the perfect platform for new and active traders. NinjaTrader offers free, unlimited use of advanced charting, market analysis, and simulated trading, with no funding required.
Advanced traders will find many useful features in NinjaTrader’s state-of-the-art platform. Also, the three plans allow traders to pick the commission rate that best fits how often they trade.
Funding a live account unlocks Order Flow+, NinjaTrader’s set of premium order flow tools. It also unlocks free Level I CME Group and Eurex market data and TradingView access. The free platform also includes the SuperDOM for point-and-click trading and ATM strategies for semi-automated stop loss and profit target orders.
Order Flow+ also gives you access to volumetric bars. On NinjaTrader Desktop, it adds other sophisticated charting tools too, such as Volume Profile, Market Depth Map, Trade Detector and Cumulative Delta.
Moreover, you can keep fees low with NinjaTrader, which advertises flexible, low-cost commissions. Our review Is NinjaTrader a Good Broker? weighs its strengths and limits.
NinjaTrader Advanced Features
You may want to use some of NinjaTrader’s advanced features. Today, tools such as Order Flow+ and Market Replay unlock when you fund a live account, on any plan, and others are free.
If you trade often, you can pay for the Monthly plan to lower your commissions. You can also buy the Lifetime plan for a one-time fee, or pay in four monthly installments that cost more in total. It gives you NinjaTrader’s lowest commissions for the life of your account.
The advanced features are the strongest traits of NinjaTrader. For instance, they include complex orders such as Automated Trade Management (ATM) strategies, which NinjaTrader says you can use with a free NinjaTrader account.
ATMs include specific rules. You can create them to manage stop-loss and profit target orders, as well as trailing and breakeven stops.
Researching the Market With NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader has a high-performance backtesting engine. It enables you to test and verify your trading strategy using historical data.
The platform also offers a wide range of educational materials. It can help you become familiar with the platform and enhance your trading skills.
NinjaTrader also offers platform training videos for NinjaTrader Desktop, NinjaTrader Web and the NinjaTrader mobile app. They’re ideal for inexperienced users who want to learn the powerful tools available with NinjaTrader.
You can also watch NinjaTrader Live, its market livestream, six days a week. In addition, you can access NinjaTrader’s on-demand video library, the guides in its help center, and the NinjaTrader YouTube channel to learn more about the platform and trading.
NinjaTrader Fees
The cost of using NinjaTrader will vary based on your activity. The main kinds of fees are:
- Inactivity fees
- Non-trading fees, such as wire withdrawal and market data fees
- Trading commissions
- Exchange, clearing and NFA fees
- Plan and add-on fees, such as the Monthly or Lifetime plan and the Multiple Broker add-on
NinjaTrader charges a trading commission per contract on each side of a trade, so a round trip costs double the listed rate. Exchange, clearing and NFA fees are added to each trade on top of the commission. Deposits by ACH, debit card, check or wire are free, but you may pay non-trading fees for wire withdrawals and market data.
You can use simulated trading and the charting analysis features of the platform for free. You do not need a funded account to do so. To trade live through NinjaTrader’s own brokerage, you need a funded account. Funding it also unlocks real-time market data, Market Replay and Order Flow+.
New accounts include a free 14-day trial of live market data. After the trial, you can keep using the simulator with delayed data, pay for a live data feed, or fund a NinjaTrader account.
There is no account minimum for futures. NinjaTrader sets no minimum deposit for opening a brokerage account. NinjaTrader’s own brokerage does not offer forex accounts.
More on NinjaTrader Fees
You can also subscribe to or buy custom NinjaTrader indicators from third-party developers. The prices for data feeds can vary widely, depending on the exchanges, the depth of data and whether you are a professional or non-professional user.
Likewise, brokerage costs can vary. As an example, ACH withdrawals are free, while a domestic wire withdrawal costs $30. On the Free plan, an account that logs in but makes no live trades in a 30-day period is charged a $35 inactivity fee. Accounts still on pricing from before June 20, 2025 pay $25 instead. The full list of account, withdrawal and market data charges is on NinjaTrader’s account fees page.
The commissions for NinjaTrader differ depending on your plan. For example, you can trade through the NinjaTrader brokerage on the Free plan. If so, you pay $1.29 per side for each standard contract for futures.
On the Monthly plan, you’d only pay $0.99 per side. However, if you purchased the Lifetime plan, you’ll pay only $0.59 per side. Micro and e-Nano contracts cost less: $0.39, $0.29 and $0.09 per side on the Free, Monthly and Lifetime plans. Exchange, clearing and NFA fees are extra, and current rates are on NinjaTrader’s pricing page.
NinjaTrader Asset Classes
You can access the basic range of asset classes using the NinjaTrader platform. NinjaTrader Brokerage focuses on futures from the CME Group exchanges (CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX), Eurex, ICE and Coinbase Derivatives. Its contracts include micro, crypto and single stock futures. NinjaTrader lets you trade the following asset classes:
- Futures, through NinjaTrader Brokerage
- Forex, through a supported third-party broker
- Contracts for difference (CFDs), through a supported third-party broker
- Stocks, through a supported third-party broker
You can also use other brokerages such as Interactive Brokers or Schwab. Third-party brokers work only on NinjaTrader Desktop and need NinjaTrader’s Multiple Broker add-on, which costs $99 a month for most users. Customers who bought a Lifetime License Key before March 4, 2023 have it at no extra cost. Supported brokers also include FOREX.com / City Index, FXCM and cTrader.
NinjaTrader says an Interactive Brokers account can also be used to trade futures on Desktop, while Schwab accounts cannot. If you want to trade shares, read our article Can You Trade Stocks on NinjaTrader?
Options are different. NinjaTrader’s help center says options trading is not currently supported on live NinjaTrader brokerage accounts.
NinjaTrader Safety
NinjaTrader’s brokerage, NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a futures commission merchant (FCM). It is also a National Futures Association member (NFA ID 0309379). Customer funds are held in segregated accounts, as CFTC regulations require. You can also protect your NinjaTrader account with two-factor authentication.
As with any kind of speculative investment, using the platform comes with risks. You must consider your circumstances carefully before committing to real money trades. It’s essential you protect your financial resources when trading.
Diving Into NinjaTrader
First, download NinjaTrader Desktop to a Windows PC, or open NinjaTrader Web in your browser, to get started with the platform. The best place to start learning NinjaTrader is its platform training page.
There, you can watch video tutorials. Most likely, it will take a while for you to set up the perfect dashboard based on what you’ve learned.
The platform is highly customizable with options such as NinjaTrader indicators. Also, there are many advanced features.
There’s a learning curve when figuring out how to use NinjaTrader. It will take some time to learn to use the software confidently. Our NinjaTrader guide hub collects our own step-by-step guides, from getting started to installing indicators.
Customer Support
NinjaTrader has extensive online support. Its help center has how-to guides and a chat assistant that can pass you to a support agent.
NinjaTrader lists technical support 24 hours a day, five days a week. You can reach support online, by phone, and by email.
The platform also has an active user community. Its forum is community-driven and no longer staffed by NinjaTrader’s official support team, so use the help center for official answers.
Again, NinjaTrader also hosts its NinjaTrader Live livestream six days a week. In addition, the site offers a library of on-demand training videos and other resources.
During your trading career, you could have a critical issue. In that case, NinjaTrader Brokerage clients can call its 24-hour emergency trade desk, which is for emergencies and live orders only.
NinjaTrader: The Big Picture
NinjaTrader is highly versatile. You can customize the platform in just about any way you desire.
For example, you may perform high-volume futures day trades. Alternatively, you may prefer to do long-term analyses, use indicators for NinjaTrader, and watch the market.
In these instances, you’ll find NinjaTrader ideal. It’s great if you have a special niche. You can easily use the software to customize it for your work.
The Best NinjaTrader Indicators
Now you know more about NinjaTrader futures trading software.
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