Trade Ideas vs VectorVest: Stock Ratings, Plus Real-Time Alerts, AI and Backtesting

What VectorVest is

Dr. Bart DiLiddo founded VectorVest in 1988. Its product page says it analyzes 16,000 stocks every day and tells you “when to buy, what to buy, and when to sell.” It has three main parts:

• The VST rating. Every stock gets three scores: Relative Value (RV), Relative Safety (RS) and Relative Timing (RT). Each runs from 0 to 2, and above 1.00 is favorable. Together they make one VST number and a Buy, Sell or Hold call.
• Market timing. A gauge puts the whole market in one of four states: Safe to Buy, Get Ready, Hold or Be Defensive.
• Trading plans and stops. Preset screeners rank stocks by VST. Recommended stop prices tell you when to sell.

Coaching is a big part of VectorVest. A VectorVest coach records the Color Guard market analysis at the close of every trading day. Subscribers also get coach-led onboarding, free education courses and U.S.-based phone support. VectorVest sells Market Launchpad, a simpler app for investors, and two tiers of its VectorVest 7 desktop software, Enhanced and Premium.

Delayed, real-time or end-of-day: what each VectorVest plan uses

VectorVest's pricing page lists a different data speed for each plan:

• Market Launchpad: a 15-minute delayed data stream for U.S. stocks only (9,500+ stocks).
• Enhanced: a 15-minute delayed stream for the U.S. and Canada. Europe and Australia use end-of-day data.
• Premium: real-time U.S. data, with Canada on a 15-minute delay. Europe and Australia use end-of-day data.

On Premium, VectorVest says its VST analysis, Buy, Sell, Hold ratings and preset screeners update as the market moves. VectorVest also explains who needs real-time data. If you open and close positions in the same session, it says a 15-minute delay changes your entry, so Premium is the right fit. If you review your portfolio daily or weekly, it says Enhanced covers you.

Trade Ideas runs on live market data. Streaming Alerts and the Top List are real-time on both plans.

Does VectorVest have a real-time scanner?

Here is what VectorVest's own pages list. Real-time U.S. data is on the Premium plan.

• Real-time screeners on Premium. Preset screeners, auto-ranked by VST, update as the market moves for U.S. stocks.
• ProTrader. 28 built-in technical searches (18 long and 10 short), such as MACD and moving average crossovers. It is included with Premium, or a one-time $495 with Enhanced.
• WatchDog. It watches the stocks you select tick by tick. It alerts you when a MACD or support and resistance condition is met. It is included with Premium, or a one-time $495 with Enhanced.
• Super WatchDog. It alerts you to new stocks returned in a VectorVest built-in search, even when you are away from your computer. It is $99/mo or $995/yr.
• RealTime Derby. It runs 100+ long and 30+ short strategies as of the previous day's close or today's open. It builds a mini-portfolio of the top 10 stocks from each strategy. Then it ranks each portfolio's real-time performance from the open to the close. It is a $99/mo add-on, and it needs Premium.

Here is what we did not find. VectorVest's product and pricing pages don't describe a scanner that watches every stock and reports each price or volume event the moment it prints. That is the job of Trade Ideas Streaming Alerts. The Top List then sorts the qualifying stocks into a live ranking. VectorVest's pages also don't list how often Super WatchDog checks its searches.

Trade Ideas turns the kind of technical searches VectorVest lists, such as MACD and moving average crossovers, into live alerts on intraday bars: a 5-minute MACD crossing below signal, a 15-minute 8/20 SMA cross up, or a 10-minute opening range breakout, with breakout and breakdown versions at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes. Across the product there are 310 alerts and 249 filters, and each has a help page of its own. Any alert can be combined with any filters, each given a min and max, and 191 alerts accept a setting of their own, such as the days of lookback on a New High. That puts the possible scans at effectively unlimited.

Does Trade Ideas have a stock rating like VectorVest? Yes, SCoRE.

SCoRE stands for Stock Composite Rating. It is Trade Ideas' own rating of a stock's technical and fundamental strength. It rolls more than 15 metrics into one number from 30 to 100. Most of those metrics are technical, with key fundamental data points added. A rating of 90 or above is generally excellent. A rating of 80 to 89 is good.

SCoRE updates in real time during live market hours. It also plugs straight into Streaming Alerts and Top Lists as a filter. A common setting is a minimum SCoRE of 90 to surface quality names. Pair it with liquidity and price filters so a high rating still points to a stock you can trade. That way a quality rating and real-time discovery work together. You see a high-rated stock the moment it starts to move. Because SCoRE is a filter (called Composite Rating in Trade Ideas), Trade Ideas' AI can also use it when it designs a strategy. It brings SCoRE in where it is appropriate to look for a statistical advantage. Past results, including backtests, don't guarantee future results.

SCoRE is a quality filter, not a buy or sell signal. Use it to narrow the list. Then confirm with chart structure and your risk rules. VST and SCoRE do different jobs. VST comes with a Buy, Sell or Hold call for investors. SCoRE helps traders find quality names inside a live scan. Learn more in SCoRE explained and the Stock Composite Rating filter guide.

Trade Ideas vs VectorVest, feature by feature

VectorVest details checked on vectorvest.com on Oct 6, 2026. “Not listed” means the detail does not appear on VectorVest's own pages.

New to trading? Get the premium experience on day one

If you are a beginning trader and want the premium experience, Trade Ideas was designed with you in mind. There is no need to configure anything. As the market moves, you watch its speed, power and momentum unfold live.

• The Channel Bar. Channels arrive already organized by theme, for example big momentum movers or S&P 500 stocks moving up fast. Pick a channel to see its live alerts and Top Lists. Every TI Pro plan has it.
• Stock Races. Stock Races let you follow stocks as they race in real time. At a glance, you can tell which stock is carrying the most momentum.
• The free Trading Room. The Trade Ideas Trading Room is run by Barrie Einarson, and a whole community of traders learns there with him live.
• Practice first. You can rehearse with pretend money on live prices in paper trading.

There is room to grow. When you are ready, you can build your own scans from 310 alerts and 249 filters. You can test them in OddsMaker, automate them with Money Machine and add Holly AI Signals. New to trading? Start with our guide for beginners.

VectorVest is also built with new investors in mind, with one number and a plain Buy, Sell or Hold for each stock. The difference is the job. VectorVest helps a new investor choose and hold stocks. Trade Ideas helps a new trader watch the market move and learn to act on it.

Backtesting: AutoTimer and OddsMaker

Both let you test an idea before you risk money. VectorVest's AutoTimer backtests a trading plan. You pick a VectorVest market timing system, a strategy, stop rules and dates. VectorVest's pricing page lists AutoTimer on Enhanced and Premium.

OddsMaker tests a different kind of idea. It replays your alert and filters across all stocks over past trading days, using Trade Ideas history. You set your own entry, stop and exit rules. It reports the trades, win rate and profit factor. OddsMaker will reveal a setup that only works in the first 30 minutes before your account has to learn it the hard way.

Holly finds the trades; Money Machine can place them

Every night Holly runs OddsMaker-style tests to choose which strategies to use. It is not tied to one style or one holding period. See Holly AI Signals.

Money Machine places trades from the Top Lists and Streaming Alerts you set up, with a stop and target for each stock based on its volatility. Orders go through Brokerage Plus to a connected broker. Simulated Mode lets you see it trade with no real money at stake first.

VectorVest's automation works differently. RoboTrader sends you alerts when your trading plan says to buy or sell. You review and approve each pre-filled trade before it goes to your broker. VectorVest lists a 30-day trial for RoboTrader. Its price is not listed on the product page.

Live market data, plus unusual options activity

Live market data drives Trade Ideas Streaming Alerts. Each one can fire on every trade, even several times within a second. If you are okay with static non-refreshing data, Trade Ideas is probably not your best choice.

Trade Ideas also monitors unusual options activity across all stocks, using a dedicated channel found in both TI Pro and the Web Dashboard. VectorVest's options tool does a different job. Options Launchpad, powered by OptionsPlay, compares option strategies for a stock you already like. It is an add-on for VectorVest 7 subscribers at $69/mo, or $695/yr for annual customers. When unusual options volume is part of how you pick stocks, look at the options volume filter.

Who VectorVest is better for

• Long-term investors who want a Buy, Sell or Hold call. A VST score and a clear call on every stock make the choice simple.
• Investors who check in once a day or once a week. Daily analysis and the Color Guard video at the close fit that routine.
• Investors who want market timing. The four-state gauge tells you when to buy and when to get defensive.
• Investors outside the U.S. Enhanced and Premium also cover Canada, Australia and Europe.
• People who want coaching built in. Coach-led onboarding, coaching groups and phone support come with the subscription.

Who Trade Ideas is better for

• Beginners who want the premium experience. Day one starts with the Channel Bar and Barrie Einarson's free Trading Room.
• Traders who want to see the market move. Streaming Alerts and Stock Races show momentum in real time.
• Traders and active investors who want ideas during the day. Holly AI Signals fire during the trading day and are designed for large long-term potential. You choose whether to exit the same day or hold.
• Traders who want to test before they trade. OddsMaker shows how a setup played out on past trading days.
• Traders who want automation. Money Machine can trade your own scans through a connected broker.

What each one costs

Prices checked Oct 2026

VectorVest: Market Launchpad is $49.99/mo, or $499/yr billed annually (about $42/mo). Enhanced is $99/mo, or $995/yr (about $83/mo). Premium is $149/mo, or $1,495/yr (about $125/mo). Enhanced and Premium include Market Launchpad and the Stock Advisory Premium+ app. Every plan starts with a $0.99 30-day trial and then renews at the standard price. Add-ons: RealTime Derby is $99/mo or $1,095/yr, and it needs Premium. Options Launchpad is $69/mo, or $695/yr for annual customers. Super WatchDog is $99/mo or $995/yr. RoboTrader's price is not listed.

Trade Ideas: TI Standard costs $127 per month month-to-month, or $1,068 per year (about $89/mo). The higher plan, TI Premium, is $254 per month or $2,136 per year (about $178/mo). TI Premium adds Auto Trading (Money Machine), OddsMaker backtesting and Holly AI Signals. What both plans share: simulated trading, customizable scans and screeners, 310 alerts and 249 filters, the Channel Bar and the Holly AI Assistant, both in TI Pro.

See Plans & Pricing

How we checked

• VectorVest, page by page. Plan prices come from its pricing page, and each add-on from that add-on's own page, read on October 6, 2026.
• Add-on pages checked too. Market Launchpad's own page lists its annual price as $499.99.

Prices checked Oct 2026. Sources: vectorvest.com/product-pricing; VectorVest 7 products; Market Launchpad; RealTime Derby; WatchDog; Super WatchDog; RoboTrader; Options Launchpad; plus the ProTrader and AutoTimer pages on vectorvest.com (not linked here).

For Trade Ideas, the source is trade-ideas.com/pricing, read on October 6 as well.

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