TradeLens vs a Trading Journal Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is where almost every trading journal starts, and for good reason: it is free, instantly customisable, and you already know how to use it. It stops working not because it lacks features but because the manual steps — recalculating expectancy, grouping by setup, keeping screenshots with the right trade — are the ones that get skipped first on a busy week.
Excel and Google Sheets details verified from their own site. Pricing changes — check before deciding.
Where Excel and Google Sheets is stronger
- Free, and you already have it.
- Completely customisable — any column, any formula, no waiting on a vendor.
- Your data sits in a file you own outright, with no export step.
- Perfect for working out which fields you actually use before committing to a tool.
Where TradeLens is stronger
- Metrics calculate themselves — expectancy, R-multiple, profit factor and drawdown update per setup tag with no formula maintenance.
- Screenshots stay attached to the trade they belong to instead of living in a folder.
- CSV import from your broker rather than typing fills in by hand.
- The analysis step survives a bad week, because it does not depend on you having the energy to rebuild a pivot table.
TradeLens vs Excel and Google Sheets: side by side
| TradeLens | Excel and Google Sheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $9/mo Starter, $19/mo Pro | Free |
| Setup time | Sign up and import a CSV | Hours, and ongoing formula upkeep |
| Metric calculation | Automatic, per setup tag | Manual formulas you maintain |
| Broker import | CSV on all plans, broker sync on Pro | Manual paste and reformat |
| Screenshots | Attached to the trade | Separate files or linked images |
| Customisation | Fixed fields plus tags and custom reports | Unlimited |
| Data ownership | Yours, exportable at any time | Yours, local file |
Choose Excel and Google Sheets if…
You are still working out what to record, you enjoy building your own analysis, or you are journaling a handful of trades a month where the manual overhead is genuinely small.
Choose TradeLens if…
Your spreadsheet has already been abandoned once, you are trading often enough that manual entry is the bottleneck, or you want per-setup expectancy without maintaining the formulas that produce it.
Frequently asked questions
Is a spreadsheet good enough for a trading journal?
For a low trade count, yes — and starting there is a sensible way to find out which fields you actually use. It breaks down at volume, because the analysis step is manual and is the first thing dropped on a busy or losing week, which is exactly when the data matters most.
What should a trading journal spreadsheet include?
One row per trade with date, symbol, setup tag, direction, entry, stop, target, exit, size, R-multiple, planned vs. actual, emotional state and a one-line lesson. Setup tag and planned vs. actual are the two fields most people skip and the two that make review possible.
Can I move my spreadsheet into TradeLens?
Yes. Save it as CSV and import it on any plan, including Starter. Existing setup tags and R-multiples carry over if those columns are in the file.