Short answer: yes, TC2000 has a free version, but it comes with real limits that matter the moment you're trading with actual money on the line.
You can download TC2000 and use it at no cost, no credit card required. What you're actually getting for free versus what pushes you into a paid plan is where most traders get confused, so let's break it down plainly.
What's actually free in TC2000
The free tier of TC2000 isn't a crippled demo. It includes:
Stock and options charting
An options chain
A basic watchlist
Delayed market data
Unlimited paper trading
That last one is worth pausing on. Unlimited paper trading with no time limit means you can build and stress-test a strategy for as long as you need before you ever pay a dime. That's rare among charting platforms, most cap free simulation to a trial window.
What the free version does NOT give you
This is where the free plan stops being useful for anyone trading live:
No real-time data. Everything you see is delayed. If you're day trading or scalping, delayed quotes aren't just inconvenient, they're dangerous. You'll be reacting to prices that already moved.
No EasyScan. TC2000's real-time server-side scanner is the reason most traders pick this platform in the first place. It's locked behind Premium.
No PCF-based custom scanning conditions.
Limited alerts.
If you're paper trading to learn the platform, the free version is genuinely fine. If you're planning to place real orders based on what you see, the delayed data alone makes the free tier unsuitable.
TC2000 pricing if you outgrow free
TC2000 runs three paid plans, all of which include real-time U.S. stock data from Nasdaq Basic:
Plan | Monthly | Annual (effective) | Biennial (effective) | What you unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic | $24.99 | $20.82/mo | $18.74/mo | Real-time stock data, charting, watchlists |
Premium | $49.99 | $41.65/mo | $37.49/mo | + EasyScan real-time scanner, PCF conditions, up to 100 alerts |
Premium+ | $99.99 | $83.32/mo | $74.99/mo | Full feature set, highest alert limits |
Annual billing saves you roughly 17% (two months free), and biennial billing saves about 25%. Most active traders land on Premium, since EasyScan and real-time scanning are the actual reasons people upgrade off free in the first place.
Is the free version worth using at all?
Yes, for two specific situations:
You're new and want to paper trade without commitment. Learn the interface, test a strategy, get a feel for TC2000's charting before spending anything.
You already have real-time data elsewhere and just want TC2000 for charting or scanning setup between sessions.
For everyone else placing live trades, delayed data defeats the purpose. You're better off starting a Premium trial (or the discounted first month some resellers offer) once you're past the exploration phase.
The bigger question: charting is only half the job
TC2000 helps you find and time trades. It doesn't tell you why you keep making the same mistake three Fridays in a row, or that 70% of your losses happen on trades held past 2pm. That's a journaling and analytics problem, not a charting one, and it's exactly the gap a tool like RizeTrade closes: import your executions from TC2000 or any of 800+ other brokers and platforms, and see the patterns in your own trading that no scanner will ever surface.