MotiveWave review 2026: Toronto-built charting for Elliott Wave and order flow

Our score: 9.4/10

Editorial desk: Priya Raman

Official site: motivewave.com

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MotiveWave Software has built its platform in Toronto since 2010, which makes it the only Canadian company in our ranking. It takes second place on charting depth and licence flexibility. Every edition can be leased monthly or bought outright, and the software runs natively on Windows, macOS and Linux. What it does not do is supply prices. You bring the data.

What we like

  • Every edition can be leased or bought outright, from $245 one-time
  • Elliott Wave tools and a wave scanner in the Ultimate edition
  • Native Windows, macOS and Linux builds, plus iOS and Android apps
  • Free Community edition keeps 280+ studies after the trial
  • 14-day trial without a credit card

Drawbacks

  • No market data included; you connect your own broker or feed
  • Questrade and other Canadian brokers are missing from its connections list
  • A year of updates and support on bought licences costs $55 to $295
  • Help comes by email and forum, with no phone line listed

Key facts

CompanyMotiveWave Software
Founded2010
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Editions (lease or buy)Standard $24/mo or $245; Order Flow $49/mo or $595; EW Lite $89/mo or $1,395; PRO $99/mo or $1,495; Ultimate $159/mo or $2,295
Other payment terms3- and 6-month leases; purchase in 4 payments
Updates and support1 year for $55 (Standard) to $295 (Ultimate) on bought licences
Free plan and trial14 days without a card (normally Ultimate), then the free Community edition
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
MarketsStocks, futures, forex, options, crypto, CFDs
SupportEmail, user forum, documentation and video library

Five editions, two ways to pay

MotiveWave sells one platform in five editions. Standard ($24/mo or $245) is the charting base. Order Flow ($49/mo or $595) adds order flow studies and an advanced DOM. EW Lite and PRO sit at $89 and $99 a month, with PRO bringing strategy backtesting and harmonic scanners. Ultimate, at $159/mo or $2,295, includes the Elliott Wave scanner.

Leases renew automatically. Buying gets you a licence you keep, and a year of updates and support then runs $55 to $295 depending on the edition. On Standard, the purchase price equals about ten months of lease payments; on Ultimate, about fourteen.

Elliott Wave and order flow

Elliott Wave work is where MotiveWave stands apart from everything else on our list. Ultimate pairs the wave drawing tools with a scanner, so you can search a watchlist for wave setups rather than marking each chart by hand. Futures traders who care more about the ladder than about waves can stop at the cheaper Order Flow edition. Developers get a Java SDK for custom studies, a different language from the C# used by NinjaTrader and Quantower, which matters if you already have code.

Bring your own data

This is the drawback that matters most. MotiveWave does not include market data, so the platform is only as good as the connection behind it. It lists 30+ broker and data-feed connections, Interactive Brokers among them, and that is how most Canadians will run it. Questrade and other Canadian brokers are not on the connections page, and no TSX data source is listed. Check the page against your own broker before you pay for a licence, and read our guide to market data fees in Canada.

Beyond Windows

MotiveWave is the only platform in our six with a native Linux build, and it runs on macOS without a workaround. iOS and Android apps cover the phone. For traders who left Windows years ago, that alone can settle the shortlist.

Bottom line

MotiveWave is the pick for Elliott Wave traders and for anyone on macOS or Linux who wants desktop-grade charting. The licence model rewards commitment, and the Community edition is a real free tier rather than a demo. Line up a data connection first, since the software will not show a price without one.

How MotiveWave scores

MotiveWave: our 12 scores
CriterionScore out of 10
Feature depth 9.8
Charting and visual analysis 10.0
Scanning and signal tools 9.6
Strategy automation 9.4
Backtesting and replay 9.4
Market data access 8.6
Canadian usability 9.4
Pricing clarity 9.4
Free plan and trial value 9.8
Device coverage 10.0
Onboarding and ease of use 8.4
Support and documentation 9.0
Overall average9.4 / 10 (4.7 / 5)

Start with the 14-day trial. No card is needed, and the Community edition stays free afterwards.

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