Every common question, answered straight

MetaStock is Windows desktop software for technical analysis: charting, market scanning, backtesting and forecasting across stocks, forex, futures and commodities. It has been in continuous development since the 1980s, and the current release is MetaStock 20. Two things it deliberately is not: it does not execute trades at a broker, and it has no built-in AI assistant. It is an analysis workbench; the decisions stay yours. For the longer version, see what MetaStock actually does.

Neither, and this is the answer most old pages get wrong. Equis International was founded by Steve Achelis in 1982, shipped MetaStock 1.0 in 1986, and was acquired by Reuters in 1996 (later Thomson Reuters). In 2013, Thomson Reuters sold the MetaStock business to Innovative Market Analysis, who develop and sell it today under the MetaStock name. Any page telling you MetaStock is "a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomson Reuters" is describing the world of 13 years ago.

Nothing dramatic: it is the same product line. "Equis" was the name of the original company, and for years people said "MetaStock Equis" the way they said "Excel Microsoft". Since the 2013 sale, the software has simply been MetaStock, from Innovative Market Analysis. If you used an Equis-era version, MetaStock 20 is its direct descendant.

MetaStock 20 (current in 2026). The headline additions over recent versions: OptionScope, a dedicated options analysis tool; the Power Console, a unified workspace the whole program runs from; and Japanese candle pattern recognition included free, where it used to be a US$399 add-on. Underneath sit the long-standing core tools: 300+ indicators, the Explorer, the System Tester, the Forecaster and 58 built-in Expert Advisors.

Real-time traders work with intraday prices that update through the session, making decisions while the market is open. End-of-day traders collect the day's data (open, high, low, close, volume) after the close and do their analysis in the evening, placing orders for the next day. MetaStock sells an edition for each: D/C (Daily Charts) for end-of-day, and R/T (Real Time) for intraday.

Both editions come as a subscription or a one-time licence. Indicatively: D/C runs about US$59/month or about US$499 one-time; R/T runs about US$100/month, about US$1,080/year, or about US$1,395 one-time. Treat all of these as indicative and confirm the current numbers at MetaStock's checkout, since offers change. Note that a one-time licence covers the software only: market data is always a separate subscription. The sister site's buying guide walks the options in detail.

Those Equis-era product names are gone. The real-time tier today is simply MetaStock R/T, covered on our Pro and R/T page. There is no separate forex-only edition any more; currency traders use the standard editions, and the forex page covers what that looks like in practice.

DataLink is MetaStock's end-of-day data service: date, open, high, low, close, volume and open interest per symbol, with deep history and automatic adjustment for stock splits so your charts stay clean. Indicatively it runs about US$27.95/month or about US$299/year, confirmed at signup. It is the natural pairing for MetaStock D/C. Full detail on our market data guide.

XENITH is the modern descendant of the old QuoteCenter idea: a Refinitiv-powered terminal delivering news, fundamentals and market data alongside MetaStock. It comes in two flavours: paired with D/C at about US$39.95/month, or as the full real-time feed at about US$165/month (which brings an R/T setup to roughly US$265/month all-in). Prices are indicative; MetaStock's checkout has the current figures. QuoteCenter itself, the Reuters-era product, is long retired.

The software is designed around DataLink and XENITH, and that pairing is the path of least resistance: connect it at signup and prices simply appear when you type a symbol. Third-party data routes have existed historically, but compatibility varies by version and format, so if you have a specific feed in mind, confirm it with MetaStock before committing.

With real-time data, R/T charts intraday timeframes down to minute resolution as well as daily and longer. D/C works from daily bars up: daily, weekly, monthly and combinations of them. If you need to watch a five-minute chart, that is the R/T edition's job.

MetaStock 20 is 64-bit Windows software: Windows 10 or Windows 11. Any reasonably modern Windows PC handles it; scanning and backtesting are the only tools that reward extra hardware. The system requirements page covers what "reasonably modern" means in practice.

Not natively. Mac users run it inside a Windows environment via Parallels or another virtual machine, and plenty do so successfully, but MetaStock does not officially support Mac setups. The honest test is free: install the 30-day trial in your VM and see how it behaves on your machine before any money changes hands.

No. MetaStock 20 requires 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. If your machine is stuck on an older Windows, budget for the computer before the software; analysis tools deserve hardware from this decade.

Download. The CD-and-manual era is over: you download the installer after starting a trial or purchase, and documentation lives in the product. Our download walkthrough covers the signup screens step by step.

It works on its own, and more completely than in the Equis days: charting, 300+ indicators, scanning, backtesting, forecasting and options analysis are all built in, and Japanese candle pattern recognition, once a paid add-on, is now included free. Around 49 third-party add-ons exist for traders who want a specific expert's toolkit bolted on, but they are enhancements, not requirements. Learn the core first.

The full classical drawing kit: trendlines, channels (equidistant, linear regression, Raff regression, standard deviation and standard error), Fibonacci arcs, fans, retracements and time zones, Gann lines, fans and grids, Andrews' Pitchfork, cycle lines, quadrant and Tirone levels, speed resistance lines and basic shapes. If a technical analysis textbook draws it, MetaStock draws it.

Packaged interpretations of established trading methodologies, 58 of them built in, from names like Martin Pring and Bill Williams. Attach one to a chart and it marks up the price action with that approach's signals and commentary. They are educational tools, not autopilots: nothing trades on your behalf. More on the Expert Advisor page.

Two resources on this site, in order. The getting-started guide takes you from install to a confident daily routine. Then the free formula language course teaches the skill that unlocks the serious tools: writing your own indicators, scans and system tests.

You get the full version of MetaStock for 30 days, not a cut-down demo: every tool covered on this site works during the trial, and you can cancel anytime within the window. It is genuinely the best answer to most "is it right for me?" questions, because you stop guessing and start looking at your own watchlist in the real software. Start the trial here.