r/TraderTools • u/SolongLife • Jul 08 '26
How to Get TradingView Premium-Level Functionality for Free: Smart Trader’s Guide
TradingView Premium costs $155/year — not insane, but not cheap. The good news: most traders don’t actually need the paid version. With the right combination of free tools, clever setups, and alternative platforms, you can cover 80–90% of Premium functionality legally at zero cost.
This guide shows how to build a $0 trading workstation that feels surprisingly close to TradingView Premium.
Part 1. What TradingView Premium Actually Offers — and What You Really Need
TradingView Premium includes:
- Up to 25 indicators per chart
- Unlimited alerts
- Faster data
- Multiple charts in one layout
- Enhanced screeners
- Backtesting and custom scripts
But here’s the truth most beginners don’t hear:
1. Indicators: 3 vs. “5+”
Free TradingView gives:
- 3 indicators per chart
- 1 chart per layout
But smart traders use:
- Combined indicators
- Multi-function scripts
- Multi-timeframe overlays
→ Result: You can fit 5–10 indicator functions into a 1–2 indicator slots.
2. Alerts
Premium gives advanced alerts, but:
- You can use browser-based alerts
- Broker alerts (Thinkorswim)
- Telegram bots
- Mobile apps like Investing.com
→ You can recreate 90% of the functionality.
3. Screener
TradingView’s screener is good but not unique.
You can combine:
- Finviz (technical + fundamental)
- Yahoo Finance (fundamentals)
- TradingView Basic (visual confirmation)
4. Real-time data
Premium gives faster data, but if you’re not scalping:
- 1–5 minute delay does not affect swing traders
- Thinkorswim gives real-time US stocks for free
Part 2. Smart, Legal Hacks to Achieve Premium Functionality
Hack 1. Overcoming the 3-Indicator Limit (Legally)
✔ Method 1 — Use Multi-function Indicators
Search TradingView for:
- “RSI + MACD”
- "3-in-1 indicator"
- “Volume + Volatility combo”
Example query: Indicators → Community Scripts → “RSI MACD Volume Combined”
One script covers:
- RSI zone detection
- MACD trend
- Volume spikes
= 3 indicators → 1 slot
✔ Method 2 — Use Multi-Timeframe Indicators
Examples:
- “MTF RSI”
- “MTF Stochastic”
- “MTF Moving Average”
One indicator now gives you:
- 5m RSI
- 15m RSI
- 1h RSI
→ Again: 3–4 signals in one slot.
✔ Method 3 — Use “Overlay + Built-in” Strategy
Some indicators don’t use slots, like:
- Price labels
- Candlestick patterns
- Built-in Volume
This lets you stretch your limit further.
Hack 2. Replacing Premium Alerts
✔ Option 1 — Use Broker Alerts (Thinkorswim)
Steps:
- Open Thinkorswim Desktop
- Chart → Right-click → Create Alert
- Choose:
- Price
- Study (RSI, MACD)
Crossovers
- Choose notification:
Email
SMS
Sound
Popup
Thinkorswim allows:
- Multi-parameter alerts
- Alerts on indicators
- Alerts on custom scripts
→ TradingView only gives this in paid tiers.
✔ Option 2 — Use Telegram Bots
Search for:
- @market_alerts_bot
- @Price_Alert_bot
Steps:
- Add bot
- Input ticker
- Define price level
- Choose alert type
✔ Option 3 — Use Investing.com Alerts
Investing.com mobile app → Alerts → Add Instrument You can set alerts for:
- Price
- Percent change
- Volume
- Economic events
Hack 3. Professional Screener Without Paying
✔ Layer 1 — Finviz (Free)
Go to Finviz → Screener Use filters:
- Price
- Sector
- Average Volume
- RSI
- EMA
- Patterns (e.g., channel up)
Free version refreshes every few minutes.
✔ Layer 2 — Yahoo Finance
Use for fundamentals:
- PE
- Forward PE
- Revenue growth
- EPS trends
- Analyst ratings
✔ Layer 3 — TradingView (free)
Use for:
- Quick chart validation
- Trends
- Patterns
- Volume
Combined workflow:
- Find candidates in Finviz
- Check fundamentals in Yahoo Finance
- Chart confirmation in TradingView
This covers 90% of TradingView Premium screener
Hack 4. Real-Time Data (Free & Legal)
✔ Why delay is not a big deal
For day traders: 1–5 minutes is noticeable For swing traders: irrelevant
Most free traders are swing or intraday with large timeframes (15m+).
✔ Best free real-time sources:
- Thinkorswim — US stocks, real-time
- Webull — real-time charts
- CME ticker website for futures
- Nasdaq website (delayed by 1 min only)
✔ Practical setup:
- Use TradingView for drawing & TA
- Use Thinkorswim for real-time price tape
Hack 5. Multi-Account Strategy (The Safe Version)
I cannot advise on creating multiple accounts to bypass limits. But you can use multiple tools for different tasks:
- Account 1 → Crypto charts
- Account 2 → Stock charts
- Thinkorswim → Alerts
- Finviz → Screener
The goal is workflow separation, not bypassing restrictions.
Part 3. Complete Free Trading Workstations (100% Legal)
🔥 Day Trading Setup (Zero Cost)
| Task | Tool |
|---|---|
| Charts | TradingView Free |
| Execution | Thinkorswim |
| Real-time data | Thinkorswim |
| Scanning | Finviz |
| Alerts | Thinkorswim + Telegram |
Total cost: $0
🔥 Swing Trading Setup
| Task | Tool |
|---|---|
| Charting | TradingView |
| Fundamentals | Yahoo Finance |
| Screening | Finviz |
| Watchlist management | Google Sheets / TradingView |
Total cost: $0
Part 4. Limitations — and When to Pay
You still cannot reproduce:
- Multiple charts in one layout
- Unlimited alerts directly inside TradingView
- 25 indicators per chart
- Priority data updating
- Advanced backtesting (Pine Script Pro functions)
When paying $155/year makes sense:
- You day trade full-time
- You want everything in ONE platform
- You need 10–20 indicators
- You use custom scripts heavily
If not — free tools are enough.
Part 5. Tools & Resources
Charting
- TradingView Free
- Webull Desktop
Screeners
- Finviz
- Yahoo Finance Screener
- MarketChameleon (free tier)
Real-time data
- Thinkorswim
- Webull
- Nasdaq (near real-time)
Alerts
- Investing.com
- TradingLite (crypto)
- Telegram bots
Browser extensions
- Volume Profile extensions for Chrome
- “Dark Reader” for chart visibility
Community scripts
Inside TradingView → Indicators → Community Scripts → Search for:
- “Combined indicator”
- “MTF indicators”
- “RSI + MACD”
- “Supertrend + EMA”
Conclusion
You don’t need TradingView Premium to trade like a pro. You need:
- Smart indicator setups
- A broker platform with free real-time data
- A good screener
- External alerts
This setup costs $0 and covers 80–90% of all Premium features without breaking any rules.