TradingView Free vs paid: what you need for alerts & automation
You don't need the top plan to trade systematically — but the Basic (Free) tier can't automate: it carries 3 price alerts, no technical alerts, and no webhooks. Automation starts at Essential, which unlocks webhook alerts and 20 alert slots. Here's the per-plan breakdown that matters for running a strategy, verified against TradingView's published limits in August 2026.
Alert limits by TradingView plan (2026)
| Plan | Active alerts | Webhooks | Alert expiry | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (Free) | 3 price alerts, 0 technical | No | Expire | $0 |
| Essential | 20 | Yes | ~2 months, need re-arming | $14.95 |
| Plus | 100 | Yes | ~2 months, need re-arming | $29.95 |
| Premium | 800 active (400 price + 400 technical) | Yes | No expiry | $59.95 |
| Expert | ~800 (TradingView lists the split between price and technical alerts inconsistently — verify on your plan page) | Yes | No expiry | $99.95 |
| Ultimate | 2,000 active (1,000 + 1,000) | Yes | No expiry | $199.95 |
Sources: TradingView's own support documentation for the Premium and Ultimate counts; plan-level counts and pricing per third-party plan guides checked April–August 2026. TradingView raised prices roughly 17–20% in April 2026, so cached reviews quote older numbers — and annual billing runs about 16–17% below monthly. Confirm the live pricing page before subscribing.
Two definitions prevent most of the confusion. "Active alerts" means simultaneously armed alerts, not alerts per month — a strategy alert that fires daily occupies one slot. And "technical alerts" covers everything driven by an indicator, strategy or drawing; the Basic plan's allowance is price alerts only, which is why any Pine-Script-driven alert requires a paid tier at minimum.
What matters for automation
- Webhook alerts. The single must-have — a bridge like TradersPost or PineConnector needs TradingView to POST a webhook on each alert. Available from Essential up, and TradingView requires two-factor authentication on the account to enable them (TradingView Help, 2026).
- Number of active alerts. A strategy typically needs one alert per instrument (order-event alerts carry entries and exits in one), so even Essential's 20 covers a multi-instrument setup with room to spare. The counts climb fast for people running many indicator-level alerts instead.
- Alert expiry. On Essential and Plus, alerts expire after roughly two months and have to be re-armed — a silent failure mode for a live system, because the strategy keeps running on the chart while the alert that executes it has lapsed. On Premium and above, alerts don't expire. For unattended automation this one feature is the practical argument for Premium.
- History depth. More bars of history on higher tiers means deeper, more honest strategy tests.
The practical answer
The Basic plan is fine for charting and learning, but it can't send webhooks, so it can't automate. Essential is the minimum for a bridge: webhooks plus 20 slots covers most single-strategy, few-instrument setups, with the caveat that you own the re-arming calendar. Premium removes that calendar and multiplies the headroom, which is why it's the default recommendation for anything running unattended. Plans above Premium buy alert volume most retail setups never touch.
Manual vs automated
If you only want to trade alerts manually, a lower paid tier (or even Basic, for a single price alert) can work — you read the alert and place the order. For true hands-off execution you need webhooks plus the alert headroom. See how to automate MNQ and the alert templates.
Puravida Edge works on either path — manual from alerts, or automated through a bridge once you're on a webhook-capable plan.
FAQ
Can I automate TradingView strategies on the free plan?
No. The Basic plan has 3 price alerts, no technical alerts and no webhooks — and a bridge needs a webhook to receive signals. Automation starts at Essential.
How many alerts do I get on each TradingView plan?
As of August 2026: Basic 3 price alerts, Essential 20, Plus 100, Premium 800 active (400 price + 400 technical), Ultimate 2,000. Counts are simultaneous active alerts, not a monthly quota.
Which TradingView plan do I need for automation?
Essential at minimum — it adds webhook alerts (with two-factor authentication required) and 20 slots. Premium is the practical choice for unattended systems because its alerts never expire, removing the re-arming failure mode that Essential and Plus carry.
Do I need a paid plan to trade alerts manually?
Not necessarily — for manual trading you just read the alert and place the order yourself, so a lower tier (or a single Basic price alert) can work. Automation is what requires webhooks.
Not financial advice. Plan limits and prices are TradingView's and change — verified August 2026 against TradingView documentation and current plan guides; confirm on the live pricing page before subscribing.
Not financial advice. Performance figures referenced are hypothetical, modeled outputs (1,500-path Monte Carlo on a backtest + live sample). Past performance does not guarantee future results. Tool names are referenced for education; verify current features and prop-firm rules directly.