StrategyTune — Free Manual Backtesting with Tick Data & Rewind
StrategyTune is a free, cloud-based manual backtesting app that replays historical markets like a video player. It offers tick-by-tick data with real spreads, rewind capability, and replay speeds from 1x to 50,000x — all without requiring an account or payment.
For traders who want to practice their strategy on historical data without coding, paying a subscription, or installing software, StrategyTune is the most capable free option available today.
How It Works
Open a link, pick a date, and press play. The chart replays historical price action with actual tick data and real bid/ask spreads. You place buy/sell orders using on-screen controls, and StrategyTune tracks your positions, P&L, and trade history.
The interface uses the TradingView charting library (the same rendering engine, not the TradingView platform), so the charts feel familiar to anyone who has used TradingView.
Key Features
Video-Player Timeline
StrategyTune’s timeline works like a YouTube video player. Drag to seek to any point in time, click play, and the chart moves forward with price updates. You can jump forward and backward through time instantly.
This is fundamentally different from most replay tools where you click “play” and watch bars form one by one. The drag-to-seek timeline makes navigating hours of price data fast and intuitive.
Tick-by-Tick Data with Real Spreads
During replay, the bid and ask prices update independently, showing the actual spread changes that occurred historically. The data is pre-processed per timeframe and speed setting, delivering up to 20 price updates per second.
This matters because spread changes affect trade execution. A tool that only shows mid-price OHLC bars hides the cost of entering and exiting positions. StrategyTune’s real spread data gives a more accurate picture of what trading that instrument actually costs.
The tick data comes from multiple broker data sources (currently 2 brokers, with more planned). You can choose your preferred broker data source.
Rewind and Redo
One of StrategyTune’s standout features. Replay fast to scan price action, spot an interesting setup, pause, rewind to before the setup formed, then replay slowly for a precise entry.
Most replay tools are forward-only — if you miss something, you restart from scratch. Rewind saves significant time during backtesting sessions.
How the future events system works: If you rewind past a trade you already placed, that trade becomes a “future event.” When you play forward again, the trade auto-reproduces at its original time. You can also delete all future events with a trash button, or simply place a new trade which auto-cancels conflicting future events.
Speed Control: 1x to 50,000x
The replay speed ranges from real-time (1x) to 50,000x. The speed multiplier is consistent — at 50,000x you can scan through weeks of price data in seconds, then slow down to 1x for precise entries.
For comparison, TradingView’s replay has an adjustable speed slider but feels slow for scanning weeks of data. Forex Tester’s speed is adjustable but typically slower at the high end.
Cloud Save and CSV Export
Registered users can save backtesting sessions to the cloud and continue later from any device. All users (including anonymous) can export trade history to CSV. Chart theme preferences are stored locally.
Instruments
StrategyTune offers 70+ instruments across multiple asset classes:
| Category | Instruments | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Forex | EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, GBPJPY, and 50+ more pairs | 50+ |
| Indices | S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, DAX, FTSE 100, and more | 12 |
| Commodities | Gold, Silver, Crude Oil, Brent Oil, Natural Gas | 5+ |
| Crypto | BTCUSD, ETHUSD (CFD) | 2+ |
| Stocks | GOOGL (experimental) | 1 |
Quick Links — Click and Start Backtesting
No login required. Each link opens StrategyTune with the instrument pre-loaded:
- EURUSD — Most traded forex pair
- Gold (XAU/USD) — Popular commodity
- Nasdaq 100 — Tech-heavy index
- BTCUSD — Bitcoin CFD
- GOOGL — US stock (experimental)
- Brent Oil — Energy commodity
- GBPJPY — Volatile forex cross
- S&P 500 — Benchmark US index
How StrategyTune Compares
| Feature | StrategyTune | TradingView Replay | Forex Tester | FX Replay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free (OHLC) / ~$100/mo (tick) | $149-299/yr | Free (limited) / $350/yr |
| Tick Data | Yes (free) | Ultimate only (~$100/mo, 7 days back) | VIP data plan | No (seconds data on Pro) |
| Rewind | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (bar-by-bar) |
| Max Speed | 50,000x | Adjustable slider | Fast (variable) | Multi-level |
| Real Spreads | Yes | No (OHLC mid-price) | Yes (VIP) | Yes (Pro) |
| Platform | Web (any browser) | Web | Windows desktop | Web |
| Login Required | No | Yes | N/A (desktop) | Yes |
| Custom Indicators | Not yet | Pine Script + 100K+ | 50+ built-in + API | Basic set |
| Instruments | 70+ | Thousands | 50+ (forex-focused) | 30+ |
| Analytics | Trade history, CSV export | Basic paper trading P&L | Comprehensive | Session stats, journal |
StrategyTune’s main advantages are that tick data and rewind are free and require no login. Its main limitation compared to TradingView is the lack of custom indicators and smaller instrument coverage.
Compared to Forex Tester, StrategyTune is free and web-based but has fewer analytics features and no desktop app.
What’s Missing (Honestly)
- No custom indicators yet. Pine Script is not supported (TradingView charting library limitation). Custom JavaScript indicators are on the roadmap.
- No futures data. Requested by users, planned for future.
- US stocks limited. Only GOOGL currently. Exchange data licensing is in progress.
- No live deal visualization on chart. Trade markers exist but no real-time deal map.
- Early-stage community. ~100 daily users, though 50%+ return daily and some spend 1h+ per session.
- No mobile app. Web-only, though it works in mobile browsers.
Why Is It Free?
From the developer’s Reddit post in r/Daytrading:
- Hosting costs are under $50/month (optimized for static file serving of pre-processed tick data)
- FX/CFD data from small-to-medium brokers is freely redistributable
- The developer is building in public and using community feedback to guide the roadmap
- Pro features are planned (filters, AI-powered conditions, signals) — the core replay functionality will stay free
- The long-term vision goes from manual replay to semi-automated to fully automated backtesting
The Reddit post received ~9.6K views and 15 upvotes with positive reception. Users compared it favorably to NinjaTrader, citing data quality and ease of use.
Roadmap
- Filters — highlight timeline periods where conditions are true (e.g., London session only). Timeline collapses to active intervals.
- AI Filters — ask AI to create complex filter conditions
- Signals — detect events like indicator crossovers
- Semi-automated backtesting — filters + signals assist manual trading
- Fully automated backtesting — auto-backtest with results that are replayable and manually editable
- More broker data sources
- More US stocks (exchange data licensing in progress)
- Futures (user-requested)
The Interface
StrategyTune’s interface has three main areas:
- Video-player timeline at the bottom — drag to seek, play/pause/rewind buttons, speed control. Works like scrubbing through a video.
- Order panel on the right — buy/sell buttons, lot sizing, SL/TP inputs. Place market and pending orders during replay.
- Trade history below the chart — shows all executed trades with entry/exit prices, P&L, and timestamps. Exportable to CSV.
The chart itself uses the TradingView charting library with a dark theme (#131722 background). Chart appearance is customizable through the TradingView settings menu.
Technical Notes
- Built with SvelteKit
- Uses TradingView charting library (rendering engine only, not the TradingView platform)
- Open source: github.com/strategytune/backtesting
- Data pre-processing: bar changes + real bid/ask stored per timeframe + speed combination
- Chart theme stored in browser localStorage
Bottom Line
StrategyTune delivers tick-by-tick data, real spreads, and rewind for free — features that competitors charge $30-100/month for. The trade-off is a smaller instrument list than TradingView and no custom indicators yet. For forex, indices, and commodities manual backtesting, it’s the strongest free option available.
Ready to try it?
Open StrategyTune — Free, No Login70+ instruments. Tick data with real spreads. Rewind. Up to 50,000x speed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is StrategyTune really free?
Yes. StrategyTune is completely free with no paywall. You don’t even need to create an account to start backtesting. Registration is optional and enables cloud save. The developer has stated hosting costs are under $50/month, and the tool is sustained through planned Pro features (filters, AI conditions, signals) while the core replay functionality stays free.
Does StrategyTune have tick data?
Yes. StrategyTune provides tick-by-tick data with real bid/ask spreads that change during replay. The data is pre-processed per timeframe and speed, delivering up to 20 price updates per second. This is rare for a free tool — most competitors charge $30-100/month for tick-level replay.
Can you rewind in StrategyTune?
Yes. StrategyTune supports full rewind. If you replay fast and spot an entry signal, you can pause, rewind, then replay slowly for precise entry. A future events system handles trades placed before the rewind point — they auto-reproduce on forward play, or you can delete them.
What instruments does StrategyTune support?
70+ instruments: 50+ forex pairs, 12 indices (S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, DAX, FTSE), commodities (Gold, Silver, Crude Oil, Brent Oil, Natural Gas), crypto (BTCUSD, ETHUSD), and experimental stocks (GOOGL). More US stocks and futures are on the roadmap.
How does StrategyTune compare to TradingView Bars Replay?
StrategyTune offers tick data and rewind for free. TradingView requires Ultimate (~$100/mo) for tick data (limited to 7 days of history) and has no rewind at all. TradingView has more instruments and Pine Script indicators. StrategyTune has faster max speed (50,000x) and a dedicated backtesting UX.
Does StrategyTune support Pine Script or custom indicators?
Not yet. StrategyTune uses the TradingView charting library (not the TradingView platform), which does not support Pine Script. Custom JavaScript indicators are planned for the future.