- A challenge ends the moment you touch the daily loss or maximum loss limit. A journal is a tool to stop that from happening
- Try the free options first (a spreadsheet, or FTMO’s Account MetriX and Trading Journal) and pay for an app only if they fall short
- Pricing: TradeZella from $35/month, Edgewonk $197/year, TraderSync from $29.95/month, Tradervue from $29.95/month (all checked on the official sites on 26 September 2026)
- All four official sites were English only, with no Japanese interface mentioned
We have no partnership with any of the journal companies in this article and earn nothing from links to them (as of 26 September 2026). Prices and features change, so check each official page before you buy.
Why a journal helps in a prop challenge
A prop challenge asks you never to break a rule before it asks you to hit the target. The two big ones are the daily loss limit and the overall maximum loss. How they differ and what each is measured from is covered in daily loss vs max drawdown.
A journal turns these into numbers you can check:
- How much room is left before today’s loss limit
- Which sessions and instruments your losses cluster in
- Whether you raise size after a losing streak (revenge trading)
- How much of your total profit came from a single day (important where a consistency rule applies)
Whether a consistency rule applies, and at what threshold, depends on the firm and plan. See the consistency rule explainer and test your own numbers with the consistency calculator.
Comparison table (checked 26 September 2026)
| TradeZella | Edgewonk | TraderSync | Tradervue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Essential $35 / Pro $59 / Ultra $99 | No monthly plan | Pro $29.95 / Premium $49.95 / Elite $79.95 | Silver $29.95 / Gold $49.95 |
| Annual | $26 / $44 / $74 per month | $197/year | List $359.40 / $599.40 / $959.40 per year (first-year discount shown) | Not listed on the pricing table |
| Try before buying | Not stated on the pricing page | 14-day money-back guarantee | 7-day free trial | Trial on paid plans |
| MT4 / MT5 | Auto-sync + file | Auto-sync | Sync (MetaTrader) | File import |
| cTrader | Auto-sync + file | Supported | Import supported | Could not confirm |
| DXtrade | Auto-sync | Not listed (Excel import as fallback) | Could not confirm | Could not confirm |
| TradingView | File (paper trading only) | File (paper trading only) | Could not confirm | Could not confirm |
| Prop-specific features | Prop Firm Sync (no extra cost) | FTMO named on the import list | — | — |
| Japanese interface | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
“Could not confirm” does not mean unsupported. It means we could not find it on the official pages.
TradeZella — built-in tracking for prop rules
TradeZella costs $35 (Essential), $59 (Pro) or $99 (Ultra) per month, or $26, $44 and $74 per month billed annually (official pricing page, 26 September 2026). Essential allows one active account, Pro 50, Ultra unlimited. If you run a challenge and a funded account side by side, check the account limit first.
Its Prop Firm Sync feature tracks daily loss and maximum drawdown in real time, progress toward the profit target and trading days, and consistency rules such as 30%, 40% or 50%. The page says it is free for all TradeZella users with no add-ons. It names TopStep, Apex and Tradeify, and the homepage also names FTMO.
Imports: MT4, MT5 and cTrader support both auto-sync and file upload; DXtrade and TradeLocker auto-sync; Match-Trader file upload; TradingView file upload for paper trading only (official integrations list).
Edgewonk — one simple annual price
Edgewonk has a single plan at $197 per year with every feature included and a 14-day money-back guarantee (official pricing page, 26 September 2026; VAT varies by country). Journals, accounts and strategies are unlimited, and prop firm accounts are explicitly supported.
MT4/MT5 auto-sync is offered for “all other MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 brokers and prop firms”, and FTMO is named on the import list. cTrader, Tradovate and NinjaTrader are also supported. DXtrade and TradeLocker are not on the list; Edgewonk points unlisted platforms to its Excel import.
Its strength is reviewing whether you followed your rules: a mental journal, setup checklists and discipline tracking.
TraderSync — monthly billing and a 7-day trial
TraderSync costs $29.95 (Pro), $49.95 (Premium) or $79.95 (Elite) per month. Annual list prices are $359.40, $599.40 and $959.40; on 26 September 2026 the page showed first-year prices of $179.64, $269.64 and $383.76. That discount may be temporary, so check at checkout. Every plan has a 7-day free trial.
The official pages describe MetaTrader sync, including Expert Advisor trades, and import of forex and CFD trades from cTrader. A Market Replay practice tool is included and covers forex and futures.
Tradervue — a free plan with a monthly cap
Tradervue’s paid plans are Silver at $29.95 and Gold at $49.95 per month. On the official comparison table both plans are marked for futures and forex support; Gold adds exit analysis and commissions and fees support, among others.
There is a free plan, but the help center caps imports at 30 trades per month. The 30 counts grouped trades, not single executions. If you trade a few times a day during a challenge, you may hit the cap mid-month.
MT4 and MT5 history is imported by saving the MetaTrader account history as an HTML report and uploading it (official MT5 page).
Free options — start here
The firm’s own tools (FTMO)
FTMO’s official tools list (checked 26 September 2026) includes Account MetriX and the Trading Journal with Free Trial, Challenge and FTMO Trader accounts. According to FTMO’s blog, the Trading Journal records symbol, volume, direction, SL/TP and entry and exit times automatically, and shows statistics such as MFE/MAE. You can add notes and screenshots.
If you take an FTMO challenge, see whether these tools are enough before paying for an external app.
A spreadsheet
Excel or Google Sheets works well. With these columns you can check every day how close you are to the rules:
- Date, instrument, direction, lot size
- Entry and exit price, P&L
- Start-of-day balance (or equity) and the room left to the daily loss limit
- Whether you followed your rules (yes/no) and why
Use the position size calculator to set risk per trade and the drawdown calculator to check your buffer.
Which one to pick
- Taking an FTMO challenge: start with Account MetriX and the Trading Journal. If you need more, Edgewonk (FTMO named on its import list) or TradeZella (Prop Firm Sync)
- Managing several firms and accounts: TradeZella Pro or higher, or Edgewonk with unlimited accounts
- Want a short trial: TraderSync (7-day trial) or Edgewonk (14-day money-back guarantee)
- Want to spend nothing: a spreadsheet or Tradervue’s free plan (30 trades per month)
No app follows the rules for you. A journal is for spotting the same mistake before you make it again. Common ones are listed in why prop traders fail evaluations.
A firm where you can try a journal for free
FTMO lets you try its own journal from the Free Trial. For the full field, see our prop firm ranking, ordered by trust.
FTMO — official Trading Journal from the Free Trial
Running since 2015. FTMO’s tools list includes Account MetriX and the Trading Journal from the Free Trial onward (checked 26 September 2026).
The free trial lets you test everything at no cost, and the 2-Step Challenge fee is refunded with your first payout after passing (no refund if you fail). See the FTMO free trial guide.