A Discipline-Focused StonkJournal Alternative

LearnApr 12, 2026
Timothy Cahill

Stonk Journal is a free trading journal for manual trade logging and basic stats. Rize Trade is a paid journal built for automatic trade import, deeper analytics, and psychology + rule-compliance tracking.


Stonk Journal vs Rize Trade

What is the difference between Stonk Journal and Rize Trade?

Stonk Journal focuses on simple, manual trade journaling. It’s ideal for beginners who want a clean, free tool to build the habit.

Rize Trade focuses on automation and behavior change. It imports trades from brokers, then shows what’s working (setups, time windows, sizing) and what’s breaking you (revenge trades, FOMO, rule-breaking).

What is Stonk Journal?

Stonk Journal is a free, donation-supported trading journal that helps you manually log trades and review basic performance. It’s more polished than most free spreadsheet-style journals.

It supports multiple asset classes including stocks, options, futures, forex, and crypto, and includes:

  • Manual trade entry

  • Rich text notes

  • Custom tags

  • PnL calendar

  • Quick filters

  • Hold time tracking

  • Multi-currency support

  • Trade setup tool to calculate risk/reward before entries

For a tool that’s completely free, runs with no ads, and is donation-supported, the feature set is genuinely strong.

What are the limitations of Stonk Journal?

Stonk Journal’s main limits are manual entry and limited analytics depth. That’s why traders often outgrow it once they trade more frequently or need clearer answers about what to change.

Why do traders stop using Stonk Journal (manual entry friction)?

Every trade must be entered manually, one at a time. There’s no broker connectivity and no way to upload a CSV of past trades.

If you make 20 trades in a session, you’re entering 20 trades manually after the market closes. That friction is a common reason traders stop journaling.

For traders making a handful of trades per week, manual entry isn’t a dealbreaker. For active day traders, scalpers, or anyone running 10+ trades a session, it often kills consistency.

As one reviewer put it, “It may be a good software but I can't write each of my trades manually. Importing the data from various stock broker should be a must feature.”

What analytics does Stonk Journal not cover?

Stonk Journal gives basic stats (win rate, profit factor, average winner/loser), but it doesn’t answer the questions that usually change performance.

Examples of the “missing” questions:

  • Which specific setups make money vs. lose money?

  • What time of day is most profitable (down to 15-minute blocks)?

  • Are losses coming from a weak strategy or rule-breaking?

  • How much do revenge trades, FOMO entries, and early exits cost in real dollars?

What is Rize Trade?

Rize Trade is a trading journal built to reduce journaling friction and expose the behavior patterns behind your P&L. It’s designed to show not just what happened, but why it happened and what to fix.

How does Rize Trade import trades?

Rize Trade imports trades through broker sync (API) or CSV upload. You can connect brokers and platforms like Interactive Brokers, Thinkorswim, Webull, TradeStation, NinjaTrader, and more.

  • Auto-sync means no copy/paste and fewer missed trades

  • Past history can be imported quickly

  • Future trades appear automatically

What analytics does Rize Trade provide that Stonk Journal doesn’t?

Rize Trade adds structured performance analysis (time-of-day, setups, R multiples, MAE/MFE) plus psychology and rule-compliance reporting.

What is playbook compliance scoring in Rize Trade?

Playbook compliance scoring measures how often you follow your own trading rules. You build rule checklists into the platform, then mark what you followed on each trade. Rize Trade calculates compliance by trade, session, and week.

This answers a core question: Is my strategy the problem, or am I the problem?

How does Rize Trade track emotions and psychology?

Rize Trade lets you tag trades with mental states and then filter performance by those tags. Common tags include FOMO, revenge, boredom, anxiety, overconfidence, and fatigue.

Practical example: seeing that revenge trades cost you $2,400 last month makes the problem measurable, not theoretical.

What are Rize Trade time-of-day reports (15-minute blocks)?

Time-of-day reports show exactly when you make or lose money in 15-minute increments. This helps you spot “silent leak” windows (for example, trades after 11:00 AM undoing morning gains) and build rules around when to trade and when to stop.

What is cross-analysis and filter stacking in Rize Trade?

Cross-analysis lets you overlay variables to find patterns that single stats hide. You can stack filters like:

  • Setup type + day of week

  • Emotion tag + position size

  • Time frame + symbol

This is where deeper journals pull ahead: they show which combinations drive results.

Does Rize Trade include daily journaling templates?

Yes. Rize Trade includes structured templates for premarket prep, if/then planning, intraday check-ins, and end-of-day recaps. The goal is consistency without staring at a blank page.

What is the Rize Trade progress tracker (discipline heat map)?

The discipline heat map tracks whether you followed your process rules (max loss, max trades, stop time), not just whether you made money. It’s a compliance metric designed to improve consistency over time.

Stonk Journal vs Rize Trade (feature comparison)

FeatureStonk JournalRize TradePriceFree (donations)Essential $24/mo · Pro $49/moTrade ImportManual only, one at a timeBroker API sync + CSV uploadBroker ConnectivityNoneInteractive Brokers, TOS, Webull, TradeStation, NinjaTrader + moreAnalyticsWin rate, profit factor, avg winner/loserFull reports: time-of-day (15-min blocks), symbol, strategy, risk, R multiples, tags, trade duration, cross-analysisPlaybook / Strategy BuilderNoYes — with rule checklists and compliance scoringEmotion / Psychology TagsConfidence meter + notesFull emotion tagging with P&L filtering by mental stateDiscipline TrackerNoDaily rule compliance with heat mapDaily Journal TemplatesNoPremarket prep, intraday check-ins, end-of-day recapsChart PlottingBasic visualizationAuto-plotted entries/exits with custom indicatorsR Multiple TrackingNoPlanned vs. realized R on every tradeMAE / MFE AnalysisNoYes — shows money left on the table and worst drawdown per tradeTrade ReplayNoYesCommunityNoActive Discord with recap competitions and accountabilityProp Firm SupportNo direct integrationDemo account import for prop firm challengesMoney-Back GuaranteeN/A (free)30-day money-back guarantee

When is Stonk Journal the better choice?

Stonk Journal is the better choice when you want a free, simple journal to build the habit.

  • You’re new to journaling and want to prove you’ll actually do it

  • You take a small number of trades and manual entry is manageable

  • You mainly want clean logging, notes, tags, and basic performance stats

When should you switch from Stonk Journal to Rize Trade?

You should switch when manual entry and basic stats stop improving your results. The signals are usually obvious:

  • Manual entry is a barrier. You skip trades, journal inconsistently, or dread logging. Manual entry takes 20–30 minutes daily. Auto-import takes seconds.

  • Your stats don’t tell you what to change. Knowing your win rate is 48% doesn’t tell you which setups, times, or mental states are dragging it down.

  • You keep repeating the same mistakes. If revenge trading, overtrading, or cutting winners short keeps happening, you need reporting that shows the real cost of each behavior.

  • You’re trading prop firm challenges. Many users trade funded account challenges (Think Capital, Apex, etc.) and need structured risk tracking against firm rules, daily loss limits, and compliance monitoring.

  • You want to run trading like a business. Rize Trade tracks KPIs like playbook compliance, R multiple performance, psychology tags, and daily rule adherence.

How much does Rize Trade cost?

Essential Plan — $24/month 3 accounts, unlimited imports, broker sync, full analytics suite, daily journal, progress tracker, chart plotting, strategy builder.

Pro Plan — $49/month Everything in Essential plus unlimited accounts, voice notes, priority support, and the complete feature set.

Both plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

Is Rize Trade worth it compared to Stonk Journal?

Rize Trade is worth it if you need automation and analytics that directly target discipline problems. If your journal is only a record of what happened, it’s a diary. If it shows you why it happened and gives you structure to change it, it’s a performance tool.

Stonk Journal earns its place as a quality free journal for beginners building consistency. Rize Trade fits the next phase: when you need auto-import so journaling sticks, and deeper reporting so you can stop guessing what’s working and what’s costing you money. For context on broker relationships and account protections, see FINRA’s guidance on working with a broker.

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