Sierra Chart pricing: the two cheapest packages can't connect to a broker
Sierra Chart sells five monthly packages from $26 to $56. The two at the bottom of the list cannot connect to an external data or trading service at all, and that is the fact that decides which one you actually need.
Sierra Chart publishes its prices plainly, which already puts it ahead of most trading software. Five packages, monthly, from $26 to $56:
| Package | Per month | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Base Standard | $26 | the core platform |
| 5 Base with Advanced Features | $36 | TPO charts, Numbers Bars, volume profile, market depth history |
| 10 Integrated Standard | $36 | connects to external data and trading services |
| 11 Integrated with Advanced Features | $46 | package 10 plus the advanced tools from 5 |
| 12 Integrated, Advanced, Market by Order | $56 | package 11 plus market-by-order data |
The list looks like a straight ladder of features. It isn’t. There’s a wall between package 5 and package 10, and it has nothing to do with charting.
The two base packages cannot reach a broker
Packages 3 and 5 are described by Sierra Chart as base packages, and both carry the same limitation in the firm’s own documentation: they cannot connect to external data or trading services. No Rithmic, no CQG, no Interactive Brokers, no Denali feed.
That makes them offline analysis tools. You can chart data you already have, study recorded sessions, build and test studies. You cannot see a live market through them, and you cannot send an order.
Package 5 and package 10 cost the same $36. One of them has the advanced charting tools and cannot connect to a broker. The other connects to a broker and does not have the advanced tools. Anyone comparing on price alone will pick between them at random.
For a futures trader routing through Rithmic or CQG, which is the usual setup behind futures prop firms, the honest floor is package 10 at $36, and $46 if you want the volume profile and Numbers Bars that most people came to Sierra Chart for in the first place.
The monthly price is not the monthly cost
Two things sit on top of the package fee.
Exchange data. Real-time futures and stock data through the Denali feed carries exchange fees, set by the exchanges rather than by Sierra Chart. Those are billed separately and vary by which markets you subscribe to. A CME data subscription for a non-professional user is a different line item from the platform itself.
Whatever your broker or data provider charges. Rithmic, CQG and the rest have their own monthly fees, usually passed through by the prop firm or broker you route through.
So the question “what does Sierra Chart cost” has a platform answer of $36 to $56 and a real answer that depends on which markets you watch. The platform fee is often the smaller half.
Paying ahead lowers it
Sierra Chart discounts multi-month purchases: buying 3, 6 or 12 months up front takes between 15% and 35% off, according to its purchase page.
That is a genuine saving and also a commitment. At package 11, twelve months at the top discount saves roughly the cost of four months. It is worth taking once you know the platform suits you, and worth skipping in the first month, when the thing you are actually testing is whether the workflow fits.
Where this sits against the alternatives
Sierra Chart is not priced like retail charting software, and it is not sold like it either. There is no free tier with ads, no bundled brokerage, and no attempt to hide the number. What you get for the money is a platform that is fast, deeply configurable, and noticeably unfriendly for the first week.
The comparison people usually want is against a broker’s own platform, where the charting is free because the broker earns on your trades instead. That trade is covered in how brokers actually make money: free tools are paid for somewhere, usually in the spread.
What to check before you subscribe
Which package your data or trading service requires. If you plan to connect anything at all, packages 3 and 5 are out, whatever the feature list says.
What the exchange fees come to for your markets, in a normal month, at non-professional rates. Ask the number rather than assuming it is small.
Whether the advanced tools are the ones you actually use. TPO charts, Numbers Bars and volume profile are the reason most futures traders end up here. If you don’t use them, package 10 at $36 does the job, and the $10 difference is a year of data fees.