Motivewave vs. NinjaTrader

Motivewave and NinjaTrader are two of the most used trading platforms for numerous financial markets. As with any product, you should always compare to ensure you get the best deal possible for your pocket and trading.

So, let’s explore the two platforms by highlighting their pros and cons.

What is Motivewave?

Based in Toronto, Canada, Motivewave was first established in 2008 initially as software for Elliott Wave analysis (hence the name).

In 2012, Motivewave became a sophisticated trading platform supporting numerous CFDs. Yet, it prides itself on being one of the best charting packages for those trading Elliott Wave, Fibonacci, Gartley, Gann, and ratio analysis.

Still, it doesn’t compromise on providing the most feature-rich platform with scanners, trade simulation, automated strategies, replay mode, walk-forward testing, and more.

Motivewave is broker and data-feed-neutral as it’s presently integrated with tens of brokers, exchanges, and data services.

This software is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Motivewave comes with a 14-day free trial before users upgrade to a paid plan (with more features) for live trading. Alternatively, they can remain on the free ‘Community Edition.’

What is NinjaTrader?

NinjaTrader is an award-winning product of the NinjaTrader Group, founded in 2003. This software-developing corporation is based in the United States and owns the futures brokerage of the same name (NinjaTrader).

NinjaTrader is used by hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide, trading various securities with state-of-the-art charting and strategy-building capabilities.

NinjaTrader is integrated with a handful of popular brokerages: OANDA, FOREX.com, Cityindex, FXCM, Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, and WH Selfinvest. This permits users to trade more than futures through these firms.

Using NinjaTrader for live and demo trading comes at no cost. For the software’s proprietary Trader+ and Order Flow+ products, clients must pay a set subscription or a one-time $1099 license fee.

Unlike Motivewave, NinjaTrader is natively available only on Windows-based computers.

Costs and fees

Based on our comparison, Motivewave is cheaper and more value for money. While NinjaTrader is free for demo and live trading, special features like DOM (depth of market) and volume-based tools come at additional costs.

You can choose between quarterly, semi-annual, and yearly leases for ‘Enhanced SuperDOM’ (the Trader + package). However, you can only select a one-time lease of $1099 for that and the volume-based tools, which is a reasonably large sum.

On the other hand, you pay at least $24 monthly or $245 once-off (the ‘Standard’ package) to have volume profile and VWAP with Motivewave. For DOM, you’d need to upgrade to the ‘Order Flow’ plan, which costs $49 monthly or $595 once-off.

Plus, you receive updates and support for one year. Yet, unlike NinjaTrader, where upgrades are costless, you must pay extra to get the latest software version after a year.

Trading automation and back-testing with Motivewave vs. NinjaTrader

Motivewave uses the Java Software Development Kit for users to develop their automated strategies and custom indicators.

Conversely, NinjaTrader uses NinjaScript, a C#-based programming language. Although both Java and C# are general-purpose languages, the former is easier to learn.

Therefore, traders would have a less steep learning curve with trading automation on Motivewave compared to NinjaTrader. Both platforms have the market replay function for back-testing at no extra cost.

Advantages of Motivewave over NinjaTrader

These are the key advantages of Motivewave over NinjaTrader:

• Lower software costs: Motivewave is much cheaper than its competitor for more or less the same features. Therefore, you can save a lot of money. The only slight downside is paying extra to have the latest version of the software.
• Greater broker/exchange integration: NinjaTrader is quite limited in this regard. On the other hand, over 30 brokers and data services are compatible with Motivewave.
• Wider number of supported operating systems: Motivewave has pre-built software packages for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Meanwhile, you cannot natively run NinjaTrader on the latter two without a third-party program.

Advantages of NinjaTrader over Motivewave

The only main benefit of NinjaTrader is the software has less stringent computer requirements. Running the latest version of NinjaTrader needs at least Windows 8.1 (32-bit or 64-bit processor) with a minimum of 2GB RAM.

Contrastingly, your computer must have at least Windows 7 using a 64-bit processor and 4GB RAM to run Motivewave. Also, you don’t need to pay a fee to have the latest version of NinjaTrader.

Summary

Motivewave and NinjaTrader are equally sophisticated based on the many user reviews online.

However, Motivewave is a cheaper platform, having a comprehensive broker/exchange integration, native operating system support, and a simpler programming language for automated trading.

Of course, this doesn’t downplay NinjaTrader, as it’s also a competent trading platform. Some might prefer to use NinjaTrader if they find a few specific features unavailable on Motivewave. However, objectively speaking, Motivewave provides more attractive benefits.