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ProRealTime on IG: the £30 a month fee, how the waiver works, and how it compares with TradingView

SystemlySystemly Team
·18 October 2026
ProRealTime on IG: the £30 a month fee, how the waiver works, and how it compares with TradingView

Thirty pounds a month, or nothing at all. That is the price of ProRealTime for an IG client in the UK, and which one you pay depends on a single number: whether the spread or commission IG earns from your trading that month passes £15.

For an active spread bettor, that makes one of the deepest charting packages in retail trading effectively free. For a beginner placing a handful of small trades, it is £360 a year, about $482 at an assumed illustrative $1.34 to the pound, for tools they may never open. And for anyone tempted to trade more just to dodge the fee, it is a quiet trap.

The direct answer: ProRealTime through IG is good value if you already trade enough to have it waived and you want screening, backtesting and automation. If you do not, TradingView or IG's own charts cost less, and neither of them, nor ProRealTime, will tell you whether there is a trade worth taking or how big it should be.

Quick answer: ProRealTime through IG UK is free for the first month, then £30 a month, waived in any month where IG's spread or commission on your trading exceeds £15. It suits active UK spread bettors and CFD traders who want 100+ indicators, automatic trend lines, a screener and 30 years of backtesting, but it has no AI features. TradingView suits traders who want a modern interface and a free starting plan. Systemly is a planning layer that works beside either and draws a checked plan with lot size and cost for your account.

Systemly publishes this comparison. We have tried to be fair, and every competitor fact below is sourced and dated 13 October 2026.

What is ProRealTime?

ProRealTime is a French-built charting, screening, backtesting and automated-trading platform for PC, Mac and Linux desktops, the web and mobile, with its own programming language, ProBuilder. UK traders can use it through IG for spread betting and CFDs, through Interactive Brokers, or by subscribing directly (IG; ChartingLens).

IG's page lists over 100 indicators, unlimited timeframes, orders placed from charts and trend lines, ProRealTrend automatic trend lines updated every five minutes, the ProScreener, backtesting on 30 years of history, automated strategies running 24 hours, and more than 15,000 markets. One reviewer calls it "a particularly good option for advanced day traders owing to the extensive charting suite" (DayTrading.com).

The £30 fee and the £15 waiver, explained

IG's terms are short. ProRealTime is free for the first month. After that it costs £30 a month, waived in any month where the spread or commission IG earns on your trading exceeds £15. IG adds: "Trading four or more full contracts in a month typically meets this."

The word that matters is "spread". The waiver is not based on how many trades you win or how much you deposit. It is based on what your trading costs you. Here is how that plays out over a year.

  • Quiet month, two small trades: IG earns from your trading: £6 (illustrative); ProRealTime fee: £30; What it means: You pay £30 for charts you barely used
  • Normal month, eight trades: IG earns from your trading: £16 (illustrative); ProRealTime fee: £0; What it means: Waived, because £16 passes £15
  • No trading at all: IG earns from your trading: £0; ProRealTime fee: £30; What it means: You still pay if the subscription is on
  • Twelve months, never waived: IG earns from your trading: n/a; ProRealTime fee: £360 (about $482); What it means: The full annual cost

The trading-cost figures are illustrations, not IG quotes. Suppose each of your trades costs you about £2 in spread. Seven trades come to £14 and do not pass the line. Eight trades come to £16 and do.

The trap: trading more to make the charts free

The common mistake is to treat the waiver as a target. A trader who has made three trades by the third week of the month looks at the £30 fee and places a few more to cross £15.

The consequence is that they pay the spread on trades they did not plan, to save a charting fee. If those extra trades lose, the "free" charts cost far more than £30. Even if they break even, the spread was a real cost and the fee saving was the only gain.

It is the same as adding things you do not need to a shopping basket to reach the free-delivery threshold. You save the delivery charge and spend more than it would have cost. If you are not trading enough to have the fee waived naturally, switch the subscription off or use a free chart instead.

ProRealTime direct prices, with VAT

You can also subscribe to ProRealTime directly. Its pricing page, as shown to our research on 13 October 2026, lists a free tier for web and mobile, Complete at $32 a month and Premium at $91 a month, excluding VAT, with real-time data for several markets included and extra markets from €2 a month (ProRealTime). UK visitors may see euros or pounds instead.

If UK VAT at 20% applies, Complete becomes $38.40 a month and Premium $109.20. If UAE VAT at 5% applies instead, they would be $33.60 and $95.55. One third-party review says the free tier is end-of-day only and real-time feeds cost "around €12.50 to €30+ per month". That conflicts with the vendor's page, so check the current offer before you subscribe.

ProRealTime vs TradingView: features and cost

TradingView is the obvious comparison, and IG offers it too. IG's TradingView connection is free to sign up and covers indices, commodities and forex, with stocks "coming soon", 400+ indicators and 110+ drawing tools (IG).

  • Monthly cost: ProRealTime via IG: £30, or £0 if IG's spread or commission passes £15; ProRealTime direct: Free tier; Complete $32; Premium $91, excluding VAT; TradingView: Free Basic; Essential $14.95, Plus $34.95, Premium $69.95 monthly, plus VAT
  • Indicators: ProRealTime via IG: Over 100; ProRealTime direct: Over 100; TradingView: 400+ built-in; 100,000+ public
  • Timeframes: ProRealTime via IG: Unlimited; ProRealTime direct: Unlimited; TradingView: Seconds on Premium and above; ticks on Ultimate
  • Screener: ProRealTime via IG: ProScreener; ProRealTime direct: ProScreener; TradingView: Six screeners; no forex screener listed on its features page
  • Backtesting: ProRealTime via IG: 30 years of history; ProRealTime direct: Yes; TradingView: Pine Script strategies; Bar Replay depth by plan
  • Automation: ProRealTime via IG: Automated strategies running 24 hours; ProRealTime direct: Yes; TradingView: Pine Script strategies and alerts
  • Scripting community: ProRealTime via IG: ProBuilder, "substantially smaller"; ProRealTime direct: Same; TradingView: Pine Script, 150,000+ community scripts
  • AI: ProRealTime via IG: "zero AI features at any tier"; ProRealTime direct: Same; TradingView: AI Copilot, a paid add-on from 28 September 2026
  • Design: ProRealTime via IG: "feels dated", per ChartingLens; ProRealTime direct: Same; TradingView: Modern web and app
  • Best device: ProRealTime via IG: Desktop; web "lacks several features"; ProRealTime direct: Desktop; TradingView: Web, desktop and mobile

Sources: IG, ProRealTime, ChartingLens, TradingView pricing, TradingView features.

TradingView adds VAT on top of its dollar prices, at 20% for UK users and 5% for UAE users (TradingView support). Plus at $34.95 a month becomes $41.94 with UK VAT, and Premium at $69.95 becomes $83.94. Billed annually, Plus is $29.95 a month before VAT. Our full breakdown is in is TradingView worth it in 2026.

And IG's own charts?

There is a third option that costs nothing extra. IG's own web charts offer 32 indicators, 19 drawing tools, candlestick, Heikin-Ashi and other chart types, timeframes from tick to monthly, up to four split views and trading from the chart (IG). On Trustpilot, where IG scores 3.5 from more than 10,000 reviews, one user said "the usability of charts and analysis could be improved". For a beginner with two indicators and a trend line, though, IG's charts may be all the platform you need.

Spread betting, CFDs and UK tax

ProRealTime through IG is mainly a tool for spread bettors and CFD traders, so the tax wording matters. For most UK individuals, spread betting profits are generally free of Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty, because HMRC treats most spread bets as gambling. CFD profits are generally subject to CGT, and CFD losses can be offset against gains. HMRC's own manual says "you will need to examine the contract", and treatment depends on your circumstances and can change (HMRC; IG). This is not tax advice. Check with HMRC or an adviser.

IG's own risk warning, on its UK TradingView page, is worth reading next to the fee: "70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider" (IG).

What about IG and ProRealTime in the UAE?

IG has an office in Dubai's DIFC and its MENA chief executive said in April 2026 that it offers retail and professional products from Dubai and plans "a new app later this year" (Finance Magnates). A UAE broker comparison lists IG as DFSA-regulated. We could not confirm whether IG offers ProRealTime to UAE clients, or on what terms, so do not assume the UK £30 offer applies in Dubai. We could not confirm whether a direct ProRealTime subscription is available to UAE residents either. The UAE also has mainland brokers licensed by the CMA, which was the SCA until 1 January 2026.

What none of these charts do: plan the trade

ProRealTime can draw trend lines for you every five minutes, scan thousands of markets and run a strategy for 30 years of history. What it cannot do is look at today's chart and tell you whether there is a trade, where the idea is wrong, and how big the position should be for your account. Neither can TradingView or IG's charts.

Here is a spread-bet sizing example that shows the gap. A UK trader has £2,000 and wants to risk 1% on the UK 100 with a stop 40 points away.

  • 1% of £2,000 is £20.
  • £20 ÷ 40 points = £0.50 per point.
  • At £1 per point, the same stop would risk £40, which is 2% of the account.

The arithmetic is simple. The hard part is the 40: where the stop should sit, and whether the trade should exist at all. Our guide to risk per trade and the risk-reward calculator covers the first half, and position sizing: the part signals leave out covers the rest.

Systemly (systemly.ai) is a UK-built forex and gold trade-planning app that turns live price data into a complete trade plan, with entry, stop, targets, position size and plain-English reasoning, and teaches the terms in a built-in academy of 32 courses. A plan opens on a full-screen live chart with the trade drawn on it, a numbered moves card, a countdown to the next decision and one money figure with trading cost included at the stop. When the strategy's checks fail, it says "no trade" and lists which checks failed. Times show in your local time.

Two honest limits for ProRealTime users. Systemly prints a lot size, not a stake per point, so a spread bettor needs to convert it using their provider's contract terms; the free Risk Doctor tool checks a trade's risk and position size before you place it. And indices such as the UK 100 are on Systemly's Plus and Pro plans; Free and Starter cover the major forex pairs and gold.

Where ProRealTime is the better choice

  • You trade actively at IG and the £30 fee is already waived most months.
  • You want a screener and backtesting on 30 years of history without paying for a premium TradingView plan.
  • You want automated strategies running 24 hours from the same platform you chart on.
  • You want automatic trend lines refreshed every five minutes, a feature TrendSpider also sells, as our TrendSpider vs Systemly comparison shows.
  • You work on a desktop and do not mind an older interface.

Where TradingView is the better choice

  • You trade small or occasionally, so the IG fee would rarely be waived.
  • You want a modern interface on your phone as well as your desktop.
  • You want the large Pine Script community and its open-source scripts.
  • You want to try AI features, which ProRealTime does not offer at any tier. Our guide to the best AI trading platforms covers the wider field.
  • You want one chart that connects to several brokers.

For a broader ranking, see the best charting platforms for UK forex and gold traders in 2026 and our list of TradingView alternatives for UK and UAE traders.

How we compared

We compared ProRealTime through IG, ProRealTime direct and TradingView on monthly cost, VAT, features and fit for a UK spread bettor or CFD trader. Prices and features come from IG's ProRealTime, TradingView and charts pages, ProRealTime's pricing page and TradingView's pricing, features and support pages, with reviews from ChartingLens, DayTrading.com and Trustpilot. Tax wording follows HMRC's manual and IG's guidance. Systemly facts come from its product documentation of 6 October 2026 and its changelog to 8 October 2026. All were checked on 13 October 2026, and prices and terms change.

FAQ

How much does ProRealTime cost on IG?

ProRealTime through IG UK is free for the first month, then £30 a month. IG waives the fee in any month where the spread or commission it earns on your trading exceeds £15, and says four or more full contracts in a month typically meets that. If it is never waived, the cost is £360 a year.

How do I get ProRealTime free on IG?

The fee is waived automatically in any month where the spread or commission IG earns from your trading exceeds £15. You do not need to apply. Do not place extra trades just to reach the threshold, because the spread on unplanned trades can cost more than the £30 you save. If you trade rarely, switch the subscription off.

Is ProRealTime better than TradingView?

It is better for some jobs. ProRealTime offers automatic trend lines, a strong screener, 30 years of backtesting and 24-hour automated strategies, and is free at IG for active traders. TradingView has more indicators, a far larger scripting community, a modern mobile app and AI features. ProRealTime has none, according to ChartingLens, and its design feels dated.

Does ProRealTime have AI?

No. ChartingLens, in a review updated in April 2026, describes ProRealTime as having "zero AI features at any tier". The nearest thing to automation is ProRealTrend, which draws trend lines automatically and updates them every five minutes. IG also lists automated strategies that run 24 hours. TradingView added a paid AI Copilot add-on on 28 September 2026.

How much is ProRealTime without IG?

ProRealTime's own pricing page listed a free web and mobile tier, Complete at $32 a month and Premium at $91 a month, excluding VAT, on 13 October 2026. With 20% UK VAT those become $38.40 and $109.20. Extra market data starts from €2 a month. UK visitors may see prices in euros or pounds.

Can I use ProRealTime through IG in Dubai?

We could not confirm it. IG has an office in Dubai's DIFC and is listed as DFSA-regulated, but its UAE platform offer, including ProRealTime, was not stated in the sources we found. Do not assume the UK £30 terms apply. Ask IG's UAE team, or check whether a direct ProRealTime subscription is available to you.

Is spread betting tax-free in the UK?

For most UK individuals, spread betting profits are generally free of Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty, because HMRC treats most spread bets as gambling. CFD profits are generally subject to CGT, and CFD losses can be offset. HMRC says it depends on the contract, and rules can change. Check with HMRC or a qualified adviser.

Plan the trade first, then decide what the charts are worth

The best charting deal is the one you would use anyway. See what a full plan on a live chart looks like with Systemly, or browse real community plans. If you trade on cTrader too, read cTrader vs TradingView vs Systemly.

Sources

Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money, and most retail accounts do. Systemly is an educational and trade-planning tool. It does not provide financial advice or personal recommendations, and it is not authorised by the FCA or licensed in the UAE to do so. Past outcomes do not predict future results.