TradingView setup: watchlists, a screener, and alerts in about 15 minutes
A charting setup. Register, group a watchlist, save a layout, and turn on a screener and alerts in about 15 minutes.
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Short answer: the free plan is enough to chart. Set up the watchlist, one layout, a screener preset, and alerts. After two weeks, pay only if the alert cap or the layout cap is what stops you.
Open TradingView →The price is the same as going to the site yourself.
How to choose: Start on the free plan. Split the watchlist by job, save one multi-chart layout, save one screener preset, and set alerts on holdings and on the watchlist. Use that for two weeks. Pay only if the cap on alerts that can be active at once, or the cap on layouts, actually blocks you. Some markets, especially US stocks, are delayed on the free plan. Real-time data is a per-market add-on. It is not a reason to upgrade the whole plan. TradingView is for charting, screening, and a light strategy check. It is not a China A-share Level-2 feed, and it does not show a five-level order book. A deep quant backtest belongs on a research framework. Plan entitlements and prices follow the official pricing page. This page does not copy those numbers. This page is not the tool-order guide, not the site FAQ, and not the broker-terminal comparison.
Who it is for: An individual investor who wants stocks, ETFs, forex, crypto, and futures in one browser charting account. Watchlists, drawings, and chart style should sync in the cloud. Someone who cannot watch the screen all day, and who would rather narrow a universe with a screener and then let an alert find them. In China, the interface can be switched to Simplified Chinese, and an A-share symbol is searched by its six-digit code. Whether a given symbol has data is whatever the site actually shows.
Who it is not for: Someone who needs China A-share Level-2 quotes or a five-level order book. Someone who wants a deep quant backtest. That work belongs on a research framework and on a paper-trading ledger, not on this page. Someone who treats a paid charting plan as a promise of returns. This page does not publish plan prices or alert quotas. Those change, and the official pricing page is the source. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.
The same walkthrough in Chinese is the TradingView setup. Broker terminals that send orders on a China stock account are how to choose a quant trading platform, and the QMT versus PTrade note is how to choose between QMT and PTrade. A machine that stays on for crawlers and cron is the cloud quant desk. After a research backtest passes, the two-week ledger is paper trading. Choosing an open-source backtest engine is how to choose a backtesting framework. None of those is a language version of this page. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.
Facts below follow the Chinese walkthrough. This page does not copy plan prices or the number of alerts a plan allows. Those follow the official pricing page. The note about access from mainland China is marked as a speculation on the Chinese page. This is not investment advice. A paid charting plan is not a promise of returns.
01 · What it is
TradingView is a large online charting platform. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install. One account covers stocks, ETFs, forex, crypto, and futures. Charts, community scripts, a screener, and alerts are the product. For an individual investor, two things carry the value:
- One charting setup across devices. Watchlists, chart style, and drawings sync in the cloud. You pick up on another machine where you left off.
- A screener plus alerts. If you cannot watch the screen all day, the screener narrows the universe, and an alert brings the move to you.
It is not a China A-share Level-2 feed, and it does not show a five-level order book. A deep quant backtest belongs on a research framework. The backtest comparison is how to choose a backtesting framework, and the ledger after that backtest is paper trading. TradingView's job on this page is charting, screening, and a light strategy check.
02 · When the free plan is enough
Run the loop on the free plan first. The limits that matter are four:
| Capability | On the free plan | Does paying change it? |
|---|---|---|
| Charts and indicators | One chart works fully. Indicators per chart, and how many layouts you can open at once, are capped | Only a heavy multi-chart user hits this |
| Alerts | You can set them. The number that can be active at once is limited | The cap people hit first |
| Real-time quotes | Some markets, especially US stocks, are delayed on the free plan | Buy the feed for that market. You do not have to upgrade the whole plan |
| Screener and community | The basic tools work | Most people do not notice the paid difference |
The rule is simple. If two weeks do not run into the alert cap or the layout cap, do not pay. Entitlements and prices change quickly. Read the official pricing page. This walkthrough does not copy the numbers.
03 · A 15-minute setup
- Register, and switch the language if you want Chinese. After email signup, open the avatar at the bottom right, then settings, and set the interface to Simplified Chinese. The rest of the site follows.
- Group the watchlist. Use the star on the left and make lists by job:
Core holdings,Watchlist, andIndexes and FX. Do not put a hundred symbols in one list. The groups are what the rest of the setup hangs on. - Three chart habits. Set the timeframe at the top. Daily bars are the main view. Weekly bars set the direction. Practice trend lines and horizontal lines. Save the layout from the top right so the next visit restores it.
- A multi-chart layout. Pick a 1+2 layout or a 2 by 2 layout. Pin the index, the holdings, and the first page of the watchlist. One look at the open is enough.
- A style template. Once the colors and moving averages look right, save the style as the default. Every chart then matches, and switching later costs nothing.
04 · The screener
The Stock Screener at the top is one of the most useful free-plan tools. The order is set the universe, then add conditions, then save:
- Set the universe. Pick the market first, such as US stocks, China A-shares, or Hong Kong. Then narrow by market cap and sector. Do not start by stacking technical indicators.
- Add conditions. A usable set is a market-cap range, a turnover floor that drops dead names, and one technical rule, such as price above a moving average or an N-day high.
- Save it. Store the preset. After the close, open it and read the new hits. That is more reliable than scrolling a forum.
Discipline: the screener returns a candidate pool, not a buy list. Any condition set only narrows attention. The buy and sell decision stays in your own process.
05 · Alerts
- Right-click the chart and choose add alert, or use the shortcut. The condition can be a price cross or an indicator cross.
- Send both an app push and an email. A position you care about should not depend on one channel.
- An alert fires once. After it triggers, you turn it back on. Set a cross below for a holding that breaks. Set a cross above for a watchlist name that reaches a level.
This is the free-plan limit people hit first: how many alerts can be active at once. When you hit it, delete the dead ones first. If you stay short for a long time, then consider an upgrade. That is the usual reason people pay.
06 · Community scripts
Under the chart, Indicators, then Community, lists scripts other people published: variants of moving averages, visualizations of flow, and similar tools. Two rules. Fewer indicators is better. Leave moving averages and volume on the main chart. Treat a name that calls itself a holy grail with suspicion. Eyeball any script on history before you use it.
07 · Notes for users in China
- Interface language. Settings can switch to Simplified Chinese. Search an A-share by its six-digit code. Coverage of some symbols is whatever the site actually shows.
- Delayed quotes. Some markets are delayed on the free plan. That is enough to read structure and to learn the tools. Buy real-time data for a market only if you need it to the second.
- Paying. Whether a payment method works is whatever the checkout page shows. Confirm that before you subscribe, so a payment does not stall halfway.
- Access. It loads in a browser. If it is slow, check the network first. The Chinese page marks the rest as a speculation, to be judged by what you actually see: TradingView has several global endpoints, and it does not promise acceleration for mainland China.
08 · Pitfalls
- An alert that did not fire. Check whether it expired after the last trigger, then check notification permission. The phone has to be logged into the same account, with push enabled.
- A chart that went messy. Layouts autosave. Before a large change, save a new layout and keep the original.
- An indicator maze. Too many indicators make the chart slow, and the signals fight. Subtract first. Two or three, used carefully, beat ten.
- Buying software is not making money. The tool saves time. It does not improve the decision. A paid plan on any platform is not a promise of returns.
Spend 15 minutes on the charting desk today. The time you do not spend staring at the screen later is the return on that setup.
Open TradingView →This site has an affiliate relationship with TradingView. The price is the same as going there yourself. Entitlements and prices follow the official site. This walkthrough is not investment advice.
Related English guides: quant trading platforms · a cloud quant desk · paper trading · backtesting frameworks · all guides · all tools
Frequently asked questions
How to choose a TradingView setup?
Start on the free plan. Split the watchlist by job, save one multi-chart layout, save one screener preset, and set alerts on holdings and on the watchlist. Use that for two weeks. Pay only if the cap on alerts that can be active at once, or the cap on layouts, actually blocks you. Some markets, especially US stocks, are delayed on the free plan. Real-time data is a per-market add-on. It is not a reason to upgrade the whole plan. TradingView is for charting, screening, and a light strategy check. It is not a China A-share Level-2 feed, and it does not show a five-level order book. A deep quant backtest belongs on a research framework. Plan entitlements and prices follow the official pricing page. This page does not copy those numbers. This page is not the tool-order guide, not the site FAQ, and not the broker-terminal comparison.
Who it is for?
An individual investor who wants stocks, ETFs, forex, crypto, and futures in one browser charting account. Watchlists, drawings, and chart style should sync in the cloud. Someone who cannot watch the screen all day, and who would rather narrow a universe with a screener and then let an alert find them. In China, the interface can be switched to Simplified Chinese, and an A-share symbol is searched by its six-digit code. Whether a given symbol has data is whatever the site actually shows.
Who it is not for?
Someone who needs China A-share Level-2 quotes or a five-level order book. Someone who wants a deep quant backtest. That work belongs on a research framework and on a paper-trading ledger, not on this page. Someone who treats a paid charting plan as a promise of returns. This page does not publish plan prices or alert quotas. Those change, and the official pricing page is the source. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.
Is the free plan enough?
The free plan is enough to chart. Four limits matter. One chart works fully, but the number of indicators on a chart and the number of layouts open at once are capped, and only a heavy multi-chart user hits that. Alerts can be set, but the number that can be active at once is limited, and that is the cap people hit first. Some markets, especially US stocks, are delayed on the free plan. Real-time data is bought per market, not by upgrading the whole plan. The screener and the community scripts work at a basic level, and most people do not notice the paid difference. If two weeks do not run into the alert cap or the layout cap, do not pay. Entitlements and prices change. Read the official pricing page. This page does not copy the numbers.
What is the 15-minute setup?
Five steps. Register, and switch the interface to Simplified Chinese from the avatar menu at the bottom right if you want that language. Create watchlist groups by job: core holdings, a watchlist, and indexes and FX. Do not put a hundred symbols in one list. On the chart, use daily bars as the main timeframe and weekly bars for direction, practice trend lines and horizontal lines, and save the layout so it restores next time. Pick a 1+2 layout or a 2 by 2 layout, and pin the index, the holdings, and the first page of the watchlist. After the colors and moving averages look right, save the style as the default.
What does the screener return?
A candidate pool, not a buy list. Set the market first, such as US stocks, China A-shares, or Hong Kong, then narrow by market cap and sector before you add a technical condition. A usable preset is a market-cap range, a turnover floor that drops dead names, and one technical rule such as price above a moving average or an N-day high. Save it and review new hits after the close. Any condition set only narrows attention. The buy and sell decision stays in your own process.
Why do alerts go quiet, and when is paying for them justified?
An alert fires once. After it triggers, you turn it back on. If one does not fire, check that it did not expire after the last trigger, then check notification permission. The phone has to be logged into the same account with push enabled. Use app push and email together for a position you care about. Set a cross below for a holding that breaks, and a cross above for a watchlist name that reaches a level. The free plan's simultaneous alert count is the limit people hit first. Delete dead alerts before you pay. A lasting shortage of alert slots is the usual reason to upgrade.
What should users in China watch for?
The interface can be Simplified Chinese. Search an A-share by its six-digit code. Coverage of some symbols is whatever the site shows. Some markets are delayed on the free plan. That is enough to read structure and to learn the tools. Buy real-time data for a market only if you need it to the second. Whether a payment method works is whatever the checkout page shows. Confirm that before you subscribe. The site loads in a browser. If it is slow, check the network first. The Chinese page marks the next point as a speculation, to be judged by what you actually see: TradingView has several global endpoints, and it does not promise acceleration for mainland China.
What pitfalls does this walkthrough call out?
Four. An alert that seems silent is often one that expired after it fired, or a phone that is not logged into the same account. Layouts autosave, so save a copy before a large change and keep the original. Too many indicators make the chart slow and the signals fight each other. Two or three, used carefully, beat ten. Buying the software is not the same as making money. The tool saves time. It does not improve the decision. A paid plan is not a promise of returns.