Platform and market data
NinjaTrader 8 and Kinetick: the trading platform and market data we recommend
In short: every DC TradeLab indicator and DC Copier run inside NinjaTrader 8, and the platform’s free licence is enough for all of them. Order flow also needs a data feed that delivers every individual trade. For NinjaTrader we recommend Kinetick, whose end-of-day data is free — order flow itself needs a real-time, tick-level subscription from Kinetick or another feed.
Last updated 20 October 2026
What do DC TradeLab tools need from the platform?
NinjaTrader 8 Desktop on its free licence, a data feed that delivers every trade, and Tick Replay switched on for charts that read historical order flow. The indicators that read bid and ask volume at each price also need NinjaTrader’s Order Flow+, which a Lifetime licence includes. Nothing else is required, and DC TradeLab receives none of these fees.
| Requirement | What it is for | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| NinjaTrader 8 Desktop — the free platform licence is enough | Every DC TradeLab indicator and DC Copier run inside it | $0 |
| A tick-level data feed: Kinetick, Rithmic, Tradovate, Continuum or IQFeed | Order flow is built from every individual trade | Set by the feed |
| CME real-time data, non-professional | Live charts | ~$4–12/mo |
| NinjaTrader Order Flow+, or a Lifetime licence which includes it | Bid and ask volume at each price, for the indicators that read it | ~$59/mo, or $0 with Lifetime |
| Tick Replay switched on | Order flow on bars that closed before the chart was opened | $0 — costs memory |
The exchange bills its data through your broker or feed, and Order Flow+ is a NinjaTrader product. The home page lists which DC TradeLab indicators need Order Flow+ and which run without it.
Our Recommended Trading Platform
NinjaTrader® is our #1 recommended trading platform, preferred by traders worldwide including our clients.
Download NinjaTrader and receive immediate free access to:
- Simulated trading with real-time futures data
- Advanced charting, including the ability to trade directly from your charts
- A high-performance backtesting engine to analyze your trading strategies on historical data
- Advanced Trade Management, featuring automatically submitted stop orders, target orders and trailing stops
NinjaTrader’s award-winning trading platform is consistently voted an industry leader by the trading community. Featuring thousands of apps and add-ons for unlimited customization, NinjaTrader is used by over 1.9 million traders for advanced market analysis, professional charting and fast order execution.
For new traders, start preparing for the live markets with a free trading simulator featuring real-time market data.
Our Recommended Market Data Feed
Kinetick® delivers reliable, fast and cost-effective market data to help level the playing field for active traders. Take advantage of unfiltered, real-time quotes for stocks, futures and forex that exceed the expectations of the world’s most demanding traders.
Get started with free end-of-day historical market data directly through the NinjaTrader platform, and learn how you can significantly reduce CME Group Globex exchange fees on real-time market data with Kinetick.
Which data does what. End-of-day data gives you daily bars, which is plenty to learn the platform. Footprints, absorption and volume profiles are built from every individual trade, so they run on a real-time, tick-level subscription — from Kinetick or from any of the feeds in the table above.
Frequently asked questions
Is NinjaTrader 8 free to use?
Yes, to download and to use for charting and simulated trading. That free licence is enough to install and run every DC TradeLab indicator and DC Copier. Paid NinjaTrader licences add features of their own, such as Order Flow+, which only the indicators that read bid and ask volume need.
Do I need Kinetick to use DC TradeLab indicators?
No. Any feed that NinjaTrader 8 connects to and that delivers every trade works: Kinetick, Rithmic, Tradovate, Continuum or IQFeed. We recommend Kinetick for traders who do not already get data through their broker. Its free end-of-day data covers daily bars only; order flow needs its real-time service.
Do I need Order Flow+?
Only for the indicators that read bid and ask volume at each price, such as DC OrderFlow Chart and the two absorption indicators. Order Flow+ is included with a NinjaTrader Lifetime licence and with most funded accounts, and costs about $59 a month on its own. DC Market Profile, DC VWAP and DC Volume Profile run without it.
Which platform do DC TradeLab tools run on?
NinjaTrader 8 Desktop. Every DC TradeLab tool is written in NinjaScript for the desktop version of NinjaTrader 8 and tested on it, so that is the one to install.
Why do you recommend NinjaTrader and Kinetick?
Because every tool we sell is built for NinjaTrader 8 and tested on it, and Kinetick is the market data service made for that platform. The recommendation is ours alone: no NinjaTrader company endorses, recommends or approves DC TradeLab’s products.
Platform installed? Start with the free indicator
DC POC Candle marks the price inside each bar where the most volume traded. It runs on the free NinjaTrader licence without Order Flow+, so it is the quickest way to check that your platform and data are set up.