AmiBroker

Table of Contents

Useful Links

Charting Guide – beginners’ charting guide.

Backtesting – guide of how to backtest your ideas in AmiBroker

Backtesting systems for future contracts – read article of how to backtest systems for future contracts

Background

Used by: Technical Analyst and Systems Developers

AmiBroker is comprehensive technical analysis platform designed with advanced traders in mind. In addition to detailed technical charts, AmiBroker offers some of the most in-depth strategy back testing options available to traders. AmiBroker (1.0) was released in 1995 as one of the first technical analysis programs.

Affiliations or Secondary Platforms

AmiBroker related 3rd party sites

Market Data and Software Costs

Market Data AmiBroker fees and margin rates are frequently discussed topics. While many reviews offer basic information, Quant Savvy provides a detailed breakdown and comparison with other trading platforms
Data Feeds Compatible
Data Sources
Desktop
Single-user licenses (can use single license on multiple computers) Standard Edition: $279 Professional Edition: $339 Ultimate Pack Pro: $499 (includes AmiQuote and AFL Code Wizard) Optional Extras: “AmiQuote” universal quote downloader +$99 “AFL Code Wizard” +$99
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best day trading platform: amibroker cost

User Interface and Technology

Charting, Indicators and Tools

Charting: Ability to quickly and easily add a wide variety of technical analyses to the charts, switch between multiple timescales, and completely customize the appearance of your charts as needed.

Indicators: All classic indicators included: Hundreds of well-known indicators such as: ROC, RSI, MACD, OBV, CCI, MFI, NVI, Stochastics, Ultimate oscillator, DMI, ADX, Parabolic SAR, TRIN, Advance/Decline line, Accumulation/Distribution, TRIX, Chaikin oscillator and many more.

The whole platform including charting and indicators is very dated and not polished.

Platform Reviews by Users

Advantage of AmiBroker. It is faster, light wight, almost no bugs, almost no limits and cheaper.

Source 2020

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amibroker analysisamibroker chartingamibroker exploration scatter

 

AmiBroker Ranked Third for Charting

AmiBroker offers a wide range of charting options and technical indicators, allowing users to customize their charts extensively and perform in-depth technical analysis. The platform supports various chart types like line, bar, and candlestick charts, and includes hundreds of classic indicators such as ROC, RSI, MACD, and more. However, the overall interface is dated and less polished compared to modern trading platforms. Users appreciate its speed and functionality, but the steep learning curve and lack of user-friendly design can be challenging, especially for new users. Despite these drawbacks, AmiBroker remains a powerful tool for technical analysis and backtesting

Day Trading Platform Tools, Live Trading, Research and Portfolio Risk Software

Scanners, Screeners, Watch Lists, Software tools, Alerts

AmiBroker Scanning and backtesting are impressively fast in AmiBroker – a simple scan takes less than a second on a single CPU.

 

AmiBroker Exploration: exploration works in a similar way to scan but instead of looking for and reporting just buy/sell signals it allows you to generate customizable screening (or exploration) report that can give you much more information than simple scan. So, for example, the following formula will accept all symbols with closing prices greater than 50 : filter = close > 50; Exploration mode allows you to create and then export a report with completely customizable columns. Exploration allows Scatter charts to display relationships between many symbols such as correlation, risk, etc. They can be seen as replacement and upgrade to “Risk/yield” map that was hard coded to just one function. Now you can code your own X-Y charts that are not limited to just risk/yield maps.

 

AmiBroker Scan: monitor the occurrence of trading signals, chart patterns and other market conditions. This can be done in Analysis module with Scan or Exploration features. Scan performs search for at least one of Buy, Sell, Short, Cover signals and displays predefined set of columns. See some more information on scans and Amibroker multithreading capabilities: Click here

Placing Live Trades and Trading Technology

No DOM (depth of market): AmiBroker can be a superior automated software, but it’s seriously lacking as a full trading program. There is no DOM and thight might be because DOM requires maintenance between DOM and API for various brokers rests on the developers. It’s also limited by having to use expensive market data options if one is not using Interactive Brokers.

Chart Trading: AmiBroker does not allow easily adding trendlines or support/resistance lines which can be automated as an order. You must create an ATF script for this functionality. You can use place order dialog box which will bring up a order ticket – this makes it kind of pointless to try to live chart trade directly from AmiBroker charts. Live trading requries automated scripts and that is what AmiBroker is designed for.

Portfolio, Risk Management and Software Tools

True Portfolio-Level Backtesting: Test your trading system on multiple securities using realistic account constraints and common portfolio equity. Trade portfolios to decrease risk/reward ratio. Find out how changing the number of simultaneous positions and using different money management affects your trading system performance.

Dynamic portfolio-level position sizing: Use current portfolio equity (sum of cash and all simultaneously opened positions value) to calculate new trade size, or use any other position sizing method by specifying dollar value or number of contracts/shares. Position size can be constant or changing trade-by-trade.

Research and News Feeds

Web Research Window: Web Research window allows you to view on-line news, research, profiles, statistics and all kind of information related to currently selected symbol. The whole thing is very dated and barely usable. AmiBroker is not a fundamentals research tool. 

3rd Party News Feeds: With AmiBroker you do have some compatible plugins such as MarketCast and Tenfore real time news feed. These are both very cumbersome to install and you need to install them as plugins and then apply various settings to get them to work. To be honest we would not bother using AmiBroker for any news or research as the alternatives are far superior.

AmiBroker Platform Tools

AmiBroker offers impressively fast scanning and backtesting, with simple scans taking less than a second on a single CPU. The Exploration feature allows customizable screening reports and scatter charts for advanced analysis. However, AmiBroker lacks a DOM (Depth of Market) and straightforward chart trading, requiring automated scripts for live trading.

True portfolio-level backtesting and dynamic position sizing enhance its risk management capabilities. Research tools are outdated and not user-friendly, and integrating third-party news feeds like MarketCast and Tenfore can be cumbersome. Despite these drawbacks, AmiBroker remains a powerful tool for automated trading and backtesting

Mobile App

Mobile App Rating

Apple Store Rating: no app Android Rating: no app

Programming Language

Language

AmiBroker AFL: Allows to write trading system rules, define your own indicators and custom commentaries. Full guide here.

Easy to use: AFL is not different from programming in any other langauge. Thus, AFL is syntactically similar to plain C and Java Script but easier to use. It also has lot of funcions that are trading related but general concepts are common in languages. Contrary to many general-purpose languages, Amibroker is able to process entire arrays (data series) without using loops which makes it both faster and easier to use than regular language.

Functionality: The editor is extremely functional, with an in-line syntax verifier that you can use to check your code before running an analysis. In addition, as you type, you can choose from a drop-down list of functions to speed up your coding.

ATF is a consise language: indicators written in AFL will take less typing and less space than in other languages because many typical tasks in AFL are just single-liners. For example dynamic, ATR-based Chandelier’s stop is just:

ApplyStop( stopTypeTrailing, stopModePoint, 3* ATR(14), True, True );

Learning Curve

Support: AmiBroker’s manual and online support forum together offer a lot of insight into how the code editor works for advanced functions, although there is a significant learning curve to getting up and running with designing functions.

Significant learning curve: Most of default functions in the editor are templates with stand-in variables rather than actual values. This is great for experienced users who just want a quick reference when designing a new formula, but the lack of numerous basic formulas (for things like Bollinger bands, for example) can be trying for users who are new to AmiBroker.

YouTube Video Channel

No video resources

 

Compatibility and Design

AmiBroker can be customised heavily by advanced users so there are not major limitations but at that point it might just be easier to create your own platform. The compatibility with plug and play brokers APIs is non existant beyond Interactive Brokers. The easiest way to live trade using specialised backtesting and chart trading software would be to use Multicharts which is easy to setup and live trade with mutliple brokers

Speed and Performance Considerations

AmiBroker is written in C++, it runs natively on the CPU without need of any kind of virtual machine or byte-code interpreter, unlike Java or .NET programs. The fact that CPU runs native machine code allows achieving maximum execution speed. The AFL language can process as much as 166 million data bars per second on 2GHz CPU. The AmiBroker code has been hand optimized and profiled to gain maximum speed and minimize size. Small code runs many times faster because it is able to fit into CPU on-chip caches. Full setup program with example database and help files is just about 6 (six) megabytes, half of that is documentation and data. The executables alone (.exe and .dll libraries) are just 3.5 MB. 

Resilience and Limitations

AmiBroker seem to be run and developed by a single developer. AmiBroker should be use where it is inherently strong (e.g., indicator building, scanning, optimization, etc.) and other programs particularly for more advanced charting than offered by AB’s “out of the box” options and/or a more user-friendly charting environment.

User Reviews

The general opinion seems to be, AFL is not an easy language to understand and that too is my experience, I think the software is great but understanding the coding difficult. Even if you go online looking for answers, many of the AFL crowd be making comments; “work it out yourself, that’s the only way you’ll learn.”

Source 2019

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best day trading platform: amibroker programming language

AmiBroker Great Programming Platform

AmiBroker earns a strong 4 out of 5 stars for its rapid scanning and backtesting capabilities. Simple scans complete in under a second on a single CPU, while the Exploration feature provides customizable screening reports. AmiBroker excels in portfolio-level backtesting and dynamic position sizing, allowing traders to test systems on multiple securities with realistic constraints. Its ability to create scatter charts for analyzing symbol relationships further enhances trading decisions.

However, AmiBroker's lack of Depth of Market (DOM) and cumbersome chart trading features limit its usability as a full trading program. Live trading relies on automated scripts, and the Web Research window is outdated. Integrating third-party news feeds can also be cumbersome. Despite these drawbacks, AmiBroker remains a top choice for algorithmic trading, offering speed, customization, and robust portfolio management.

Automated Trading and Backtesting

Backtesting

AmiBroker claims they are the world’s fastest portfolio backtesting and optimization. AmiBroker supports multithreading (parallel execution on all CPU cores) in both charting and New Analysis window. This enhances speed of operation and improves responsivity of application as worker AFL execution threads do not block the user interface. We ran some basic optimisations across all platforms and AmiBroker was the fastest. AmiBroker is a great backtesting tool. It is great piece of software. Highly customizable, stable, very fast and optimized C++ based. Way faster than institutional grade plataforms such as Deltix and QuantHouse. Amibroker is our prefered platform for prototyping (single and portfolio strategies). Moreover, you can call R and javascript form AB.

Live Automated Trading

AB does not send orders to you broker with built in functions. You most have a DLL made for your broker. So, this DLL will make some specific functions available and they will be different from broker to broker.

AmiBroker is not plug and play for real-time trading such as Multicharts, NinjaTrader, Sierra Charts (read MultiCharts and NinjaTrader review). There is a lot of coding between the backtest and live production. But depending on how good coder you are, there is no limit what can you achieve with AB. Unless you have strong coding skills or extensive knowledge of the pitfalls of live trading with AmiBroker we would suggest you another platform for live automated trading. Many newbie users have had multiple issues with sending repeat orders.

Trade Management and Historical Trades

AmiBroker Account Manager: Account manager is a tool for keeping track of your trades and your performance. You are able to enter trades you make, deposit/withdraw funds, check the statistics and historical performance. All transactions are recorded so you will never forget what happened in the past. Account manager allows you to keep track of unlimited number of accounts.

 

AmiBroker’s portfolio backtester lets you combine trading signals and trade sizing strategies into simulations which exactly mimic the way you would trade in real time. A core feature is its ability to perform dynamic money management and risk control at the portfolio level. Position sizes are determined with full knowledge of what’s going on at the portfolio level at the moment the sizing decision is made. Just like you do in reality.

Portfolio Testing and Trading

AmiBroker supports true portfolio backtesting with realistic currency conversion. Rotational trading, ranking etc. Also portfolio trading is possible.

Data Stability and Speed

AmiBroker Crash Recovery System: AmiBroker is now able to recover from such unexpected situations. AmiBroker’s crash recovery system introduced in v3.47 beta intercepts the exception generated by Windows and instead of standard dead-end message box and allows you to Try to recover, Exit program, Copy to clip, Troubleshoot, Send report.

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amibroker automated trading and backtesting

 

AmiBroker Great Automated Trading Platform

AmiBroker shines with a 4 out of 5-star rating for its exceptional automated trading and backtesting capabilities. It boasts the world's fastest portfolio backtesting and optimization, utilizing multithreading for enhanced speed and responsiveness. AmiBroker's backtesting tool is highly customizable, stable, and optimized, outperforming institutional-grade platforms like Deltix and QuantHouse. It's ideal for prototyping both single and portfolio strategies, offering the flexibility to integrate R and JavaScript. AmiBroker’s portfolio backtester enables dynamic money management and risk control, making it a top choice for serious traders.

However, live automated trading with AmiBroker is not straightforward. It requires custom DLLs for broker-specific functions, making it less plug-and-play compared to platforms like MultiCharts or NinjaTrader. Significant coding is needed to transition from backtesting to live trading, posing challenges for those without strong coding skills. Despite these hurdles, AmiBroker excels in trade management, portfolio testing, and crash recovery, making it a robust tool for experienced traders who can navigate its complexities.

Customer Support and Learning Resources

Online, Telephone, Email and Account Services Support

Open 5 days a week: Regular support is open 5 days a week from Monday to Friday (8:00-18:00 GMT).

ChatBot: offers artificial intelligence support assistant (AISA) to quickly answer general questions No support during weekends

No phone support: AmiBroker does not provide phone support. Instead, they offer an email contact option.

Forum and Community Support

Forum: AmiBroker has a very active forum. AmiBroker founder is also actively contributing in conversations, answering various questions.

Fast support: Installation and basic support questions are answered within 24 hours (usually 1-3 hours in office hours). Advanced support question may take a few days depending on complexity and time availability.

Opening and Account

Not applicable

User Reviews

“Registered ( and having up-to-date licenze) users, have lost one way of receiving support (via email) and at the same time, not registered (probably illegal) AmiBroker users, acquired possibly of receiving support from AmiBroker’s official community and most importantly – from AmiBroker’s developer – Tomasz Janeczko. That is very questionable to me – because I don’t know why Tomasz and official AmiBroker’s community should support illegal users if they don’t support AmiBroker…” Source 2017

 

“Tomasz is one of the most intelligent, diligent and cool headed person I have encountered. Amibroker is one and the forum are perfect example. With the search funcion, despites it has been introduced only recently, I could easily find solution to my problem. With the forum growing, I think Tomasz will be freed to answer advanced questions and development. I also liek to thank adsvanced AB users help and guidance on the forum” Source 2017

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best day trading platform: amibroker quant trading forum

 

Average Customer Support & Learning

AmiBroker earns 3 out of 5 stars for customer support and learning resources. Support is available Monday to Friday, 8:00-18:00 GMT, but lacks weekend and phone support. An efficient email system and ChatBot assistant provide quick answers, while the active forum, with contributions from founder Tomasz Janeczko, addresses queries within 1-3 hours during office hours, though complex issues may take longer.

User reviews are mixed. Registered users praise the founder's involvement and the helpful forum, but there is dissatisfaction about support for non-registered users. AmiBroker's community engagement and responsiveness are strengths, but it lacks comprehensive support options like phone support or weekend availability.

AmiBroker Summary 3 out 5 Stars

Flexibility and Customization: AmiBroker is a software engineer's dream due to its flexibility and extensive customization options. You can customize nearly every aspect of the software to suit your needs, and the AmiBroker AFL language allows users to create and test trading systems efficiently, making backtesting blazing fast.

Programming Skills Required: While AmiBroker offers powerful tools, non-programmers face a steep learning curve. Automating strategies is challenging without broker API plugins, and the dated interface may deter some users despite the software's robust capabilities. For non-programmers, the significant learning curve makes it difficult to easily automate a strategy.

Support and Community: The support and forum are satisfactory, with the developer actively addressing user queries. However, the reliance on a single developer raises concerns about the product's long-term viability. The user reviews tend to be good but might be biased as most users are experienced in this field and have development and programming skills.

Limitations: AmiBroker is not a broker and lacks a mobile app. It also doesn't support chart trading without custom coding and lacks an easy method to connect to a broker for direct trading with a DOM. The dated look of the program and website should not distract from the quality of the product, but the lack of a real easy method to connect to a broker is a significant drawback.

Best Use Case: AmiBroker excels as a backtesting tool for users with programming skills, offering extensive customization and optimization. However, beginners may find easier alternatives like TradeStation or MultiCharts more suitable for automated trading. We recommend AmiBroker as a great backtesting tool but only for those with existing knowledge and skillset.

Overall, AmiBroker is a powerful tool for experienced users looking to backtest and create automated systems, but its limitations and steep learning curve make it less ideal for beginners.

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**Commodity Future and Trading Commission Futures has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures markets. Do not trade with money you cannot afford to lose. The past performance posted on quantsavvy.com is not necessarily indicative of future results. Quant Savvy provides trading algorithms based on a computerized system. All advice is impersonal and not tailored to any specific individual’s unique situation. Quant Savvy, and its principles, are not required to register with the NFA as a CTA and are publicly claiming this exemption. Information posted online or distributed through email has NOT been reviewed by any government agencies — this includes but is not limited to back-tested reports, statements and any other marketing materials. Carefully consider this prior to purchasing our algorithms. For more information on the exemption we are claiming, please visit the NFA website: http://www.nfa.futures.org/nfa-registration/cta/index.html. If you are in need of professional advice unique to your situation, please consult with a licensed broker/CTA. **DISCLAIMER: Commodity Futures Trading Commission Futures trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose. This is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell futures. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this website or on any reports. 

The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results. ***All returns posted on this site and in our videos is considered Backtested Trading Performance. Backtested trading results have many inherent limitations, some of which are described below. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown. In fact, there are frequently sharp differences between backtested trading results and the actual results subsequently achieved by any particular trading program. One of the limitations of backtested trading results is that they are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, backtested trading does not involve financial risk, and no backtested trading record can completely account for the impact of financial risk in actual trading. For example, the ability to withstand losses or adhere to a particular trading program in spite of trading losses are material points which can also adversely affect actual trading results. There are numerous other factors related to the markets in general or to the implementation of any specific trading program which cannot be fully accounted for in the preparation of backtested performance results and all of which can adversely affect actual trading results. 

CFTC RULE 4.41 – Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under — or over — compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown. Statements posted from our actual customers trading the algorithms (algos) include slippage and commission. Statements posted are not fully audited or verified and should be considered as customer testimonials. Individual results do vary. They are real statements from real people trading our algorithms on auto-pilot and as far as we know, do NOT include any discretionary trades. Tradelists posted on this site also include slippage and commission. All advice and/or suggestions given in Quant Savvy website are intended for running automated software in simulation mode only. Trading futures is not for everyone and does carry a high level of risk. All past performance shown is backtested data only.