Trade Ideas vs StocksToTrade: Test the Setup in OddsMaker Before You Trade It
Named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies six years in a row (2017–2022).
Investopedia: Best Short Term Stock Screener, 2024
The short answer: StocksToTrade is a small-cap and penny-stock toolkit for $179.95/mo. It is built around pre-made screeners, its Oracle scanner and training based on Timothy Sykes' strategies and lead trainer Tim Bohen. Trade Ideas starts you with ready-made, themed channels on the Channel Bar in every plan, so there is no need to configure anything. When you want more, you can build your own real-time Streaming Alerts and Top Lists. OddsMaker tests a setup before you risk money on it, and Money Machine automates it. Holly AI Signals come on TI Premium (Apex). If you want to follow someone else's scans and learn their method, StocksToTrade is a fair choice. If you want the premium experience from day one, with test results before you trade, use Trade Ideas.
Considering other options too? We group StocksToTrade alternatives by the task they handle.
Trade Ideas publishes this page and makes one of the two tools.
Trade Ideas vs StocksToTrade, side by side
StocksToTrade details come from stockstotrade.com (pricing and features pages), checked in October 2026.
| Question | StocksToTrade | Trade Ideas |
|---|---|---|
| How you find stocks | Pre-built screeners for penny and small-cap plays, pre-programmed scans based on Timothy Sykes' strategies, plus a custom screener. | Streaming Alerts and Top Lists from 310 alerts and 249 filters, built or loaded. |
| Algorithm picks | Oracle: 20 trading opportunities at the opening bell, with Oracle support and resistance levels. | Holly AI Signals all session, with entry, stop and target (TI Premium). |
| Testing an idea | Paper trading with real-time Level 1 data. No backtester found on its pricing or features pages. | OddsMaker backtests any alert or filter set across all stocks (TI Premium), plus simulated trading. |
| Automation | Broker integration for placing trades; no automation listed. | Money Machine and Auto Trading through connected brokers. |
| News and filings | Criteria-based news streamer, SEC filings streamer, Breaking News Chat add-on. | Focused on price and volume events; pair with your news source. |
| Markets | NASDAQ, NYSE, AMEX and OTC. | U.S. stocks, plus unusual options activity on those stocks. |
| Education | StocksToTrade University included, plus paid rooms such as Small Cap Rockets. | Live Trade Ideas Trading Room sessions and the Users Guide. |
| Runs on | Downloadable software for Windows and Mac. | TI Pro for Windows, plus the web Dashboard in any browser (no download, Mac included) with Market Pulse, Top Lists, Races, TreeMaps, charts with Picture in Picture, and stock details and news. |
| Monthly price | $179.95/mo, or $1,899.50/yr. | $127 TI Standard (Core), $254 TI Premium (about $89 and $178 billed annually). |
| AI Assistant (plain-English scan builder) | Check their site. | Included in every TI Pro plan |
| List price (monthly / annual) | StocksToTrade plans listed on stockstotrade.com (see costs section). | TI Standard $127/mo or $1,068/yr; TI Premium $254/mo or $2,136/yr. Holly AI Signals and OddsMaker are on TI Premium. |
Preset screeners vs setups you can test
StocksToTrade is honest about who it is for: traders who want "a shortcut," in its words, built by experienced traders. You open its pre-built screeners for fast-moving penny plays, check Oracle's morning list, and learn the method in StocksToTrade University. That is a real product for a real audience, and the training is a big part of what you pay for.
The catch with any preset is that you are trusting someone else's rules in today's market. Trade Ideas gives you ready-made, themed channels on the Channel Bar to start. When you want to go further, you can build and test your own. Take the small-cap setup you already trade, for example a price range under $10, low float, high relative volume and a break of the premarket high, and build it as a Streaming Alert. Then run it through OddsMaker.
Those building blocks number 310 alerts and 249 filters, each with a page in our help. They include opening range breakout and breakdown alerts at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes (2-minute breakdown, 30-minute breakout) and candle alerts such as a 5-minute hanging man. Put any alert with any filters, bound each filter by min and max, and use the alert-specific setting that 191 alerts offer, such as the minimum share count on Block Trades. The possible scans are effectively unlimited.
OddsMaker: check a setup's history before trading it
OddsMaker goes back through real market events across all stocks. Every time your alert fired, it becomes a test trade with the entry time and exit you choose: a stop, a profit target, a timed hold or a set time of day. You get the trades, the win rate and the profit factor. If the setup has not held up lately, you find out from a report, not from your account balance. Tighten a filter, test again, and only go live with what survives.
Past results, including backtests, don't guarantee future results.
Oracle vs Holly
StocksToTrade's site describes Oracle as a prediction algorithm scanner that "sifts through 15,000 stocks every second, searching for 5-to-1 risk ratios, generating 20 trading opportunities right at the opening bell," with support and resistance levels and suggested buy and sell signals. StocksToTrade also markets two other tools, Silver Dollar Club and IRIS Analytics. We are quoting their descriptions, not grading their results.
The difference in approach: Oracle hands you a morning list. Holly keeps working all session, sending a signal when one of her strategies triggers, and those strategies are tested every night with the same kind of testing you can run yourself in OddsMaker. Holly is on TI Premium.
Who StocksToTrade is better for
- Small-cap traders who want a curriculum. StocksToTrade University and live sessions come with the subscription.
- Followers of Tim Sykes and Tim Bohen. The scans are built around their strategies, so the tool and the teaching match.
- OTC traders. StocksToTrade lists OTC markets alongside NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX.
- Traders who want news and filings in the same window. Its news and SEC filings streamers are built in, with a Breaking News Chat add-on.
- Mac users who want a desktop app. StocksToTrade lists Mac system requirements. TI Pro is a Windows app. Mac traders can open the Trade Ideas web Dashboard in a browser, with no download, for Top Lists, Races, TreeMaps, Market Pulse, Picture in Picture charts, and stock details and news.
What Trade Ideas adds that StocksToTrade doesn't list
- OddsMaker to backtest any alert or filter set before you trade it.
- Money Machine to automate a strategy that passed: it trades from your own Top Lists and Streaming Alerts, sets a stop and target for each stock from its volatility, and can retry or reverse based on your rules.
- Holly AI Signals through the whole session, not only at the open.
- The Formula Editor to script a custom filter only your account runs, then test it in OddsMaker.
- Unusual options activity on small caps. Trade Ideas also monitors unusual options activity across all stocks, which you can watch in a dedicated channel in TI Pro or in your browser on the Web Dashboard. The Options Volume Today (%) filter flags stocks trading far more option contracts than usual.
What each costs
StocksToTrade add-ons listed on its features page: Level 2 data $29/mo, Breaking News Chat $49/mo, Small Cap Rockets $50/mo and TipRanks ratings $8.95/mo. Its FAQ says the trial uses Nasdaq Last Sale data. On Trade Ideas, TI Standard includes real-time Streaming Alerts, Top Lists, paper trading, in-app trading and Holly AI Assistant; OddsMaker, Holly and Auto Trading are on TI Premium.
Which one fits you
Pick StocksToTrade if you want preset small-cap scans, a morning algorithm list and a training program in one subscription. If you are just starting and want the premium experience, Trade Ideas needs no configuration, and its free Trading Room lets you learn live. See Trade Ideas for beginners. Pick Trade Ideas too if you want to build the scan yourself, test it in OddsMaker, automate it with Money Machine and get Holly's signals all day.Building it yourself takes no code: a point-and-click menu holds 310 alerts and 249 filters, and the AI Assistant will set up a scan from a sentence if you prefer. Custom filters can be written in the Formula Editor, and on TI Premium OddsMaker tests them while Holly AI Signals bring an entry, a stop and a target each trading day. Also see Trade Ideas vs Benzinga Pro, the best stock scanners for day trading and all Trade Ideas alternatives.Each night's testing feeds the next session.
Trade Ideas vs StocksToTrade FAQ
Is Trade Ideas or StocksToTrade better for small-cap momentum?
Both are built for active traders. StocksToTrade leans on pre-built screeners, its Oracle scanner and training from its own traders. Trade Ideas lets you build or load real-time Streaming Alerts and Top Lists, test any setup in OddsMaker before you trade it, and add Holly AI Signals on TI Premium. If you want to follow a teacher's scans, StocksToTrade fits. If you want to test the setup first, Trade Ideas fits.
What is StocksToTrade Oracle?
StocksToTrade describes Oracle as a prediction algorithm scanner. Its site says Oracle sifts through 15,000 stocks every second looking for 5-to-1 risk ratios and generates 20 trading opportunities at the opening bell, with support and resistance levels and suggested buy and sell signals.
Does StocksToTrade have backtesting?
We did not find a backtester listed on StocksToTrade's pricing or features pages. It offers paper trading with real-time Level 1 data. On Trade Ideas, that job belongs to OddsMaker (TI Premium): pick any Streaming Alert or group of Top List filters, run it across all stocks, and read the trades, win rate and profit factor.
How much does StocksToTrade cost compared with Trade Ideas?
StocksToTrade lists $179.95/mo or $1,899.50/yr, with add-ons such as Level 2 at $29/mo and Breaking News Chat at $49/mo. Trade Ideas TI Standard runs $127 a month and TI Premium $254 a month; billed annually, they come to about $89 and $178 a month. Prices checked Oct 2026.
Can Trade Ideas automate a small-cap strategy?
Yes. Money Machine trades from your own Top Lists and Streaming Alerts, sets a stop and target for each stock from its volatility, and can retry or reverse based on your rules. Orders go through a connected broker in TI Pro.
Is Trade Ideas good for beginners?
Yes, for a beginner looking for the premium experience. There is nothing to configure before you start. Each TI Pro plan includes the Channel Bar plus the Holly AI Assistant. The channels are themed ahead of time; you might open big momentum movers, or S&P 500 stocks moving up fast. Watch Stock Races to see stocks race one another live. The free Trading Room puts you next to Barrie Einarson and a whole community of traders. With paper trading, your first trades can use simulated money. There is room to grow, too: OddsMaker, Holly AI Signals, Money Machine and 310 alerts and 249 filters. See our guide for beginners.
How we checked
- StocksToTrade sources. We used its plans page, its product overview page and its help-center trial guide, which is where the note about Nasdaq Last Sale trial data comes from.
- What we could not find. When a feature such as a backtester was not on those pages, the page says it was not listed rather than assuming it is missing.
Prices checked Oct 2026. Sources: stockstotrade.com/plans; StocksToTrade product overview; StocksToTrade trial guide. Trade Ideas: trade-ideas.com/pricing.
Trade Ideas list prices: TI Standard costs $127 a month on monthly billing, or $1,068 billed once a year (about $89 a month); TI Premium costs $254 a month, or $2,136 a year (about $178 a month). TI Premium is required for Auto Trading, OddsMaker backtesting and Holly AI Signals. Either company may change these, so confirm on both sites.