Trade Ideas Review 2026: Holly AI, Money Machine, Pricing

Trade Ideas has been scanning US stocks since 2003, which by fintech standards is ancient, and its Holly AI engine has been generating daily trade alerts since 2016, years before “AI” became a buzzword every scanner slapped on its homepage. The platform fires real-time alerts on 8,000+ tickers, runs 20+ simultaneous scans, and integrates broker-direct execution through Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, and TradeStation. The question is not whether Trade Ideas is sophisticated: it is whether the $127 to $254 a month is worth it for how you actually trade.

Key Takeaways

• Trade Ideas Basic ($127/mo or $89/mo annual) covers real-time scanning and 500+ filters; Premium ($254/mo or $178/mo annual) adds Holly AI signals, OddsMaker backtesting, Smart Risk Levels, and automated execution through Brokerage+.
• Holly AI runs three distinct strategies (Holly Grail conservative, Holly 2.0 balanced, Holly Neo aggressive) and publishes its full trade log including losers, which is uncommon transparency for retail AI tools.
• The platform fits active day traders who want setups found for them; it is hard to justify if you take a handful of trades per month or rely on fundamental analysis.

What Trade Ideas Does and Who It Is For

Trade Ideas is a real-time stock scanner that monitors 8,000+ US tickers simultaneously using 500+ filters, a machine-learning AI signal layer through Holly AI and Money Machine, and broker integration through Brokerage+ for direct in-app execution. The platform never stops scanning: unlike broker screeners that refresh on a cycle, Trade Ideas runs continuously and fires alerts the moment a setup forms.

Active day traders who want the platform finding setups for them benefit most. If you trade five or more times per week, use momentum or breakout strategies, and want real-time alerts rather than manual screening, Trade Ideas is built for that workflow. Swing traders who take a handful of trades per month, fundamental analysts, and beginners new to scanning will find the price hard to justify and the platform overwhelming. One more constraint worth knowing upfront: US stocks only. No forex, no crypto, no European markets.

Real-Time Stock Scanner and 500+ Filters

The scanner is the foundation. Where most broker screeners refresh every 15 to 60 seconds, Trade Ideas monitors continuously, which matters for intraday strategies where a setup appears and closes in under a minute. You can run 20+ simultaneous scans at once, each filtering for a different setup type across the full universe of US-listed stocks.

The pre-configured scanner library covers the most common intraday setups: gap-ups and gap-downs at open, unusual volume spikes, new 52-week highs, low-float runners, and opening range breakouts. The filter builder is drag-and-drop. You add criteria, set thresholds, and run. No Python required, no spreadsheet work. For traders who want custom rules, the formula editor handles more complex conditions, but the pre-builts cover most practical use cases.

One data-cost detail most reviews skip: Trade Ideas bundles US exchange data into the subscription fee. You pay one price and get real-time data for all US exchanges. TradingView’s exchange data fees are separate add-ons billed per exchange, so the all-in cost comparison between the two platforms is closer than headline prices suggest.

Holly AI and the Three Strategies

Holly AI is Trade Ideas’ machine-learning signal engine. It scans the entire US market overnight, runs probability analysis on historical patterns, and generates specific trade recommendations each morning with entry prices, stop losses, and profit targets. It has been doing this since 2016, which gives it a training dataset that spans actual market cycles including the 2018 correction, 2020 crash and recovery, and the 2022 rate-hike drawdown.

Three strategies run independently and you can follow all of them or filter to one:

• Holly Grail: Conservative. Prioritizes win rate over average gain size. Fewer trades, tighter criteria.
• Holly 2.0: Balanced risk/reward with a momentum focus. The most widely followed of the three.
• Holly Neo: Aggressive plays. Lower win rate, larger potential gains on the winners. Higher variance.

The transparency angle is worth calling out. Trade Ideas publishes Holly’s full trade log including the losing trades. That is uncommon for retail AI tools, most of which surface wins prominently and bury losses in fine print. You can audit Holly’s actual performance rather than relying on curated highlights. The honest counter: stockbrokers.com noted in their review that headline results can feel cherry-picked and that the platform should surface weaker strategy performance alongside stronger results. Verify the full log yourself before treating the published stats as gospel.

Here is the angle competitors do not surface: Holly’s published trade log shows what happened on Holly’s hypothetical execution. Your own results depend on your slippage, your position sizing, your timing, and whether you actually followed the signal. The only way to know whether Holly’s strategies are working in your account specifically is to log every AI-triggered trade in your own journal and track your results separately from the published log. A trader who follows Holly signals and journals each entry will know within 30 to 60 trades whether the strategy fits their execution style. A trader who does not journal has no systematic way to tell.

Money Machine: AI Execution Layer

Money Machine is Trade Ideas’ second-generation AI layer, layered on top of Holly rather than replacing it. Where Holly identifies setups, Money Machine adds a signals-plus-execution model: it selects momentum direction, ranks live candidates in real time, and can trigger orders automatically when Brokerage+ is configured. The 2026 rollout is phased: Wave 1 completed, Wave 2 currently expanding to more Premium accounts.

Simulation mode is available to all Premium subscribers before live execution lands in their account. That is the right way to approach it. Run Money Machine in simulation for 30 to 60 days before enabling live execution. Automation amplifies a working strategy and amplifies losses just as fast on a strategy that does not fit your account. The simulation data gives you a baseline to evaluate before real capital is at stake.

OddsMaker Backtesting (Premium Only)

Most retail backtesting tools run on time series: you define a strategy and the tool simulates buy/sell signals on historical price data bar by bar. OddsMaker uses a different model. It triggers on actual market events: breakouts, volume spikes, gap opens, and the other conditions your scans are built on. That is how day trading actually works, so the backtest methodology matches real execution more closely than a time-series model does.

The workflow is unusually fast. Right-click any alert in a scan window, select “OddsMaker,” and the tool runs the backtest on that alert’s criteria immediately. No setup file, no coding. Metrics returned: profit factor, win rate, average winner and loser size, max drawdown, equity curve, and a trade-by-trade log. The optimization tab shows which filters in the scan are adding edge versus dragging performance, which is a practical way to refine a scanner without manual trial and error.

For traders who want to validate options strategies backtested in OddsMaker style, the event-driven model translates reasonably well to options setups triggered on scanner conditions. The equity curve and profit factor give enough signal to evaluate whether a setup has edge before committing capital.

Charts, TI Wave, and Picture-in-Picture

Trade Ideas charting covers the standard intraday toolkit: VWAP, moving averages, RSI, customizable indicator sets, pre- and post-market toggle, and a dark theme on Premium. The layout handles up to 10 charts simultaneously on Basic (20 on Premium), which is enough for most multi-scanner workflows.

TI Wave is an EMA-based signal overlay that draws buy and sell markers directly on the chart, recalibrated per ticker by the AI engine. It works across timeframes and gives a visual signal layer for traders who do not want to interpret raw indicators manually. Picture-in-Picture embeds multiple timeframes in a single chart window so you can watch the 5-minute and 1-minute simultaneously without switching windows. Idea Surfing auto-rotates through all results in a scan, cycling each result across timeframes automatically.

An honest note on charting depth: Trade Ideas charts are improving but TrendSpider’s deeper charting layer is still ahead for pure technical analysis work. If automated pattern recognition, multi-timeframe analysis, and advanced indicator scripting are your primary need, TrendSpider is the better fit for that specific surface. Trade Ideas wins on scanning speed and AI signal generation.

Brokerage+ Direct Execution (Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, TradeStation)

Brokerage+ is Trade Ideas’ direct execution layer. With a supported broker connected, you can click buy/sell directly on a Trade Ideas chart, use a trading DOM for order entry, or configure Holly signals or Money Machine to trigger orders automatically. In 2026 the supported brokers are Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, and TradeStation. For traders who want to evaluate Interactive Brokers’ execution depth, the Brokerage+ integration handles order routing from inside Trade Ideas without switching to a separate platform.

For traders who keep their own broker platform, External Linking handles the handoff: click on a symbol in Trade Ideas and the platform opens it in thinkorswim, TradingView, or whichever platform you are running. It is a one-click workflow rather than copy-paste, which matters when an alert fires and you have 30 seconds to act.

Trade Ideas Pricing 2026

Three tiers in 2026:

Plan	Monthly	Annual (per month)	Annual total	Best for
Par (Free)	Free	Free	n/a	Learning the interface, delayed data
TI Basic	$127	$89	$1,068	Manual scanning, no AI signals
TI Premium	$254	$178	$2,136	Holly AI, OddsMaker, automated execution

Basic covers real-time data, 10 charts per screen, customizable layouts, real-time paper trading, in-app trading via Brokerage+, TI Wave, 500+ filters, pre/post market data, price alerts, chart drawing tools, and the formula editor. Premium adds Holly AI signals, OddsMaker backtesting, Smart Risk Levels, Channel Bar templates, RBI/GBI Window, automated trading, customizable multi-strategy windows, and 20 charts on screen.

Add-ons available to Premium subscribers: AVWAP at $49/month for anchored VWAP setups, GoNoGo at $49/month for momentum signals (partial overlap with TI Wave, evaluate before subscribing to both), and Weekly Swing Picks at $17/month for five curated swing trade ideas delivered each week.

Annual vs monthly economics: annual billing saves $456 on Basic and $912 on Premium over a full year. If you are still evaluating fit, start monthly. If you commit, annual is materially cheaper. If $127 or more per month is not the right entry point right now, a free trading journal template can handle trade tracking and basic performance review while you assess whether the full scanner is worth the subscription.

Paper Trading and Education

Trade Ideas includes a paper trading simulator at no extra cost on both Basic and Premium. It runs on real-time data under real market conditions, so you can follow Holly signals and test scanner configurations without risking capital. The recommended workflow before enabling live execution through Brokerage+ or Money Machine is to run the same setup in simulation for at least 30 days and review the results. Automation amplifies, and knowing your fill rates and slippage profile in simulation first is worth the time.

Education infrastructure: TI University (written guides covering every feature), YouTube tutorial library, regular webinars, and a daily live trading room during market hours. The daily live room is useful for watching experienced users build scans in real time. Trade Ideas also runs a 12-minute daily YouTube session covering the morning setup, which is a low-commitment way to stay current on how the tool is being used before you invest time building your own workflow.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Holly AI publishes its full trade log including losers, rare transparency for a retail AI signal tool
• 500+ filters and 20+ simultaneous scans running continuously, not on a refresh cycle
• Direct broker execution through Brokerage+ to Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, and TradeStation
• Paper trading on real-time data included at no extra cost on both tiers
• US exchange data bundled into the subscription, no per-exchange fees on top

Cons

• $127 to $254 a month puts it above the range casual or part-time traders can easily justify
• Steep learning curve on the desktop platform; expect a real time investment before it clicks
• Holly signals go to all subscribers simultaneously, which creates crowded trades and slippage risk on popular setups
• Desktop is Windows only; Mac users need Parallels or the web version
• US stocks only, no forex, no crypto, no international markets

How Trade Ideas Compares to Other Platforms

Platform	Monthly Price	Strength	Weakness
Trade Ideas	$127 to $254	Holly AI, real-time scanning, broker execution	Steep learning curve, US stocks only
Finviz Elite	$40	Best value scanner, simple to use	No real-time AI signals, no integrated execution
TradingView	$0 to $60	Best charting, global markets, social network	Scanner is basic, no AI signals
TrendSpider	$33 to $135	Deepest technical analysis, automated backtesting	Smaller scanner library, no AI execution
TC2000	$9 to $90	Excellent screener, integrated broker	Less AI-driven than Trade Ideas

Finviz Elite is the value play for traders who already know what they are looking for and execute manually. TradingView wins on charting depth and global market reach. TrendSpider wins on automated technical analysis. See TC2000 in more depth if you are choosing between those two platforms, or the TrendSpider versus Trade Ideas head-to-head if that comparison is relevant. For scanner-specific questions about TradingView, TradingView’s scanner specifically covers what the platform can and cannot do. Trade Ideas justifies its premium only when you want the platform finding setups for you and you can actually use automated execution through Brokerage+.

For traders who also run a long-term fundamental portfolio alongside their active day-trading account, Stock Rover is the natural fundamentals-first contrast to Trade Ideas. Stock Rover screens on 700+ fundamental metrics with portfolio correlation analysis built in; Trade Ideas scans real-time momentum. The two tools rarely compete for the same use case.

FAQ

Is Trade Ideas worth $127 a month?

It depends on how often you trade. Trade Ideas Basic at $127 a month makes sense if you take multiple trades per week and want a scanner running setups for you continuously. If you take a handful of trades per month or rely mostly on fundamental analysis, Finviz Elite at $40 a month covers most of the same screener ground without the premium. Annual billing drops Basic to $89 a month if you are committing.

How does Holly AI actually work?

Holly AI monitors thousands of stocks overnight, runs probability analysis on historical patterns, and generates specific trade recommendations each morning with entry prices, stop losses, and profit targets. Three strategies run independently: Holly Grail (conservative), Holly 2.0 (balanced), and Holly Neo (aggressive). Trade Ideas publishes Holly’s full trade log including losers, so the historical performance is verifiable rather than cherry-picked.

What brokers integrate with Trade Ideas?

Brokerage+ supports Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, and TradeStation in 2026. From inside Trade Ideas you can click buy/sell directly on a chart, use a trading DOM for order entry, or let Holly signals trigger orders automatically. For traders who keep their own broker platform, External Linking opens the symbol in thinkorswim, TradingView, or whatever you are running.

Does Trade Ideas work on Mac?

The full desktop platform is Windows only. Mac users can run it through Parallels or similar virtualization software. The web version works natively on Mac and covers most features including scanning, charting, Stock Racing, and Money Machine visualization. Serious day trading is better served by the desktop build.

Trade Ideas vs Finviz Elite, which is better?

Depends on what you need. Finviz Elite at $40/month is a solid screener for traders who know what they are looking for and execute manually. Trade Ideas at $127 to $254 a month adds continuous real-time scanning, Holly AI signals, automated execution, and OddsMaker backtesting. If you trade actively and want the platform finding setups for you, Trade Ideas justifies the premium. If you mainly screen for ideas and do your own analysis, Finviz Elite is hard to beat on value.