Trade Ideas costs $127 a month for TI Basic or $254 a month for TI Premium, and annual billing drops those to $89 and $178 a month ($1,068 and $2,136 billed up front). Holly, the AI, lives only in Premium, so the real decision isn’t Basic versus Premium pricing. It’s whether you’re paying for a fast scanner or for AI signals on top of one.
Every number on this page was checked against trade-ideas.com’s pricing page and official billing documents in June 2026. Plans, the math behind annual billing, the add-ons, the $11.11 Test Drive, and the billing terms that matter before you hand over a card: all of it is below. For the full verdict on whether the software earns its price, read our Trade Ideas review.
The three plans at a glance
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | What you’re buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Browser dashboards on 15-minute delayed data, 1 chart |
| TI Basic | $127/month | $89/month ($1,068/year) | The real-time scanner: custom scans, charts, paper trading, in-app trading |
| TI Premium | $254/month | $178/month ($2,136/year) | Everything in Basic plus Holly AI signals, backtesting, auto trading |
Annual billing saves $456 a year on Basic and $912 on Premium against the same plan paid monthly. Both paid tiers run on the same engine; Premium doesn’t scan faster, it adds the AI and strategy-testing layer.
What Basic includes, and what sits behind the Premium wall
TI Basic is the scanner most people picture when they hear the name. You get real-time data including premarket and after-hours, custom scans and screeners built from more than 500 alerts and filters, the in-app formula editor, 10 charts on screen with drawing tools, multi-monitor layouts, real-time paper trading, and live order entry through Brokerage Plus with chart trading and one-click orders. If your routine is hunting premarket gappers, filtering by RVOL and float, and firing alerts at the open, Basic covers that workflow on its own.
Premium adds the layer Trade Ideas is actually famous for. Per the official pricing table, these features are Premium-only: Holly’s AI entry and exit signals, system design and backtesting (the OddsMaker), auto trading, Smart Risk Levels on charts, the RBI/GBI windows, the Channel Bar with its 20+ curated templates, Compare Count windows, customizable multi-strategy windows, customizable stock races, and unlimited personal watchlists. Premium also doubles the chart count to 20.
That gating is product architecture, not a hidden catch, and it makes the buying decision simple. If you came for Holly or for backtesting your own setups, Basic won’t get you there at any price; only Premium carries them. If you came to scan, Basic is the complete scanner and the extra $89 a month buys you nothing you’d use.
Annual versus monthly: the break-even math
The annual price equals about 8.4 months of monthly billing on either tier ($1,068 ÷ $127, or $2,136 ÷ $254). Stay subscribed past month nine and annual wins; quit before then and monthly was the cheaper mistake.
Put it in per-session terms. A trader at the desk four mornings a week logs roughly 200 sessions a year. Premium on annual billing works out to about $10.70 per session; Basic, about $5.34. Trade twice a week and those figures double. That’s the honest lens for this product: not the sticker, but the cost per morning you actually show up.
The catch with annual billing is the refund policy covered below: there’s no refund window, so a $2,136 charge is final the moment it lands. The protection play is to start on monthly, confirm the software fits how you trade, and only then take the annual discount with a calendar reminder set ahead of renewal.
Add-ons and the newsletter
Three paid extras sit alongside the plans, each requiring an active subscription:
| Add-on | Price | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Alphatrends AVWAP | $49/month | Automated anchored VWAP scans and auto-drawn AVWAP setups (pinch, pullback) |
| GoNoGo | $49/month | Trend-strength color-coded charting in a Market Explorer window |
| TI Strength Swing Picks | $17/month | 5 curated swing picks emailed weekly, long side only |
One derived note on the Swing Picks: the official Test Drive FAQ states the newsletter’s picks are generated by the TI Strength scan inside Market Explorer, which subscribers can already open in the software with new top picks daily. If you hold a paid plan, the scan behind the $17 newsletter is already on your screen. The email is convenience, not extra signal.
The free plan and the $11.11 Test Drive
The free account gives you the browser-based Market Dashboards on 15-minute delayed data with a single chart. Delayed data is useless for intraday entries, and that’s the point: it’s a look at the interface, not a trading tool.
There is no free trial of the full software. Trade Ideas states this outright in its help center, citing exchange requirements around real-time data. The substitute is the Test Drive: a quarterly event selling 10 full trading days of Premium, live data and all three AI engines included, for $11.11. The terms are rigid and worth knowing before you pay even that much. Dates are fixed and can’t be shifted, signing up late earns no extension, the fee is non-refundable, and auto trading through an external brokerage account is switched off for the event. The one friendly term: it ends automatically, with no subscription to cancel afterward. Full details and the sign-up route are in our Trade Ideas free trial breakdown.
Billing, renewals, and refunds: read this before picking annual
Start with the category norm so the policy reads in context. Nobody in this software class refunds monthly plans as a matter of course. On annual plans, peers verified in June 2026 give you a short escape hatch: TradingView refunds annual subscriptions requested within 14 calendar days of payment, and TrendSpider refunds renewal charges within 72 hours, provided you cancel first.
Trade Ideas gives you zero. The official billing policy is all sales final, with store credit or exchanges as the only remedy. That is the strictest annual-refund stance among its direct peers, and on a $2,136 Premium annual plan it has real teeth: a forgotten auto-renewal is a four-figure charge with no path back to your card.
The rest of the billing mechanics, from the same official policy:
- Every subscription auto-renews monthly or yearly from your purchase date until you cancel. There’s no contract term beyond that.
- Cancellation is yours to prove. The policy states it is the customer’s responsibility to confirm the cancellation, and that Trade Ideas isn’t responsible for continued billing if you forget. Cancel inside Account Management or by emailing the billing department, and keep the written confirmation.
- Payment runs on credit card or PayPal, with wire, Western Union, or check accepted in special cases.
- Exchange fees for real-time data are covered for non-professional users. If you qualify as a professional trader (you trade other people’s money or hold certain licenses), you pay additional exchange fees to NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ on top of the subscription.
- Promo codes discount the first installment only; the subscription renews at the normal rate afterward. Current public savings routes are tracked on our Trade Ideas discount page.
So the playbook writes itself: monthly first, annual once you’re certain, renewal reminder on the calendar a week early, cancellation in writing. None of that is paranoia. It’s just the correct response to a no-refunds policy stacked on auto-renewal.
Who the pricing makes sense for, and who should skip it
At $1,068–$2,136 a year, this is a tool priced for traders who treat the open like a job. If you’re at the screen most sessions, the per-morning cost is a rounding error next to a single bad fill on size. If you check the market twice a week, the same subscription is an expensive habit, and the free plan plus a cheaper screener will serve you better; we run through lower-cost options in our Trade Ideas alternatives roundup and the wider field in our stock scanner rankings.
One more reality check belongs in any pricing decision: most day traders lose money, and no subscription tier changes that math by itself. A scanner pays for itself only if there’s an edge for it to feed. If you’re still building one, the $11.11 Test Drive and paper trading are the right-sized spend, not an annual plan.
If charting automation matters more to you than scan speed, the closest rival prices differently and gates differently; see how the two compare in our Trade Ideas vs TrendSpider matchup. And for everything beyond price, from Holly’s mechanics to the learning curve, the full Trade Ideas review is the place to start. More scanning and analysis tools live in our day trading software hub.
FAQ
How much does Trade Ideas cost per month?
TI Basic runs $127 a month, or $89 a month on annual billing ($1,068 up front). TI Premium runs $254 a month, or $178 a month annually ($2,136 up front). A limited free plan with 15-minute delayed data costs nothing.
Is there a free trial of Trade Ideas?
No. The official help center states there are no free fully functional trials because of exchange requirements around real-time data. The closest thing is the quarterly Test Drive: 10 trading days of Premium with live data for $11.11, on fixed dates, ending automatically.
What does Premium include that Basic doesn’t?
Holly’s AI entry and exit signals, backtesting through the OddsMaker, auto trading, Smart Risk Levels, the RBI/GBI windows, the Channel Bar’s curated templates, Compare Count and multi-strategy windows, customizable stock races, unlimited watchlists, and 20 charts on screen instead of 10.
Can you get a refund from Trade Ideas?
No. The billing policy is all sales final on every plan, with store credit or exchanges as the only remedy. Peers handle annual plans more gently (TradingView allows 14 days, TrendSpider 72 hours), so set a renewal reminder before committing to annual billing here.
Does Trade Ideas work on a Mac?
Not natively. The desktop software is built for Windows; Mac users run it through virtualization like Parallels or a cloud Windows machine, or use the browser-based web version, which carries all 500+ alerts and filters with no speed difference per the official help center.
Is the annual plan worth it?
The annual price equals about 8.4 months of monthly billing, so it wins if you’ll stay past month nine. Given the no-refund policy, the safer sequence is a month or two on monthly billing first, then the annual switch once the software has earned its seat.
Sources
- Trade Ideas subscription plans and pricing (verified June 2026)
- Trade Ideas billing, cancellation, and refund policy
- Trade Ideas Test Drive FAQ
- Trade Ideas help center: free trial policy
- Alphatrends AVWAP add-on and GoNoGo add-on pages
- TradingView refund policy (peer comparison, verified June 2026)
- TrendSpider cancellation and refund policy (peer comparison, verified June 2026)