ATAS (Advanced Trading Analytical Software) is a professional-grade order flow and market analysis platform designed for serious futures, crypto, and stock traders. Unlike traditional charting platforms that focus on price and time, ATAS specializes in visualizing the hidden layer of market data: order flow, depth of market, volume distribution, and trade-by-trade analysis. It's the microscope that lets you see what's happening beneath the surface of price charts.
What Is Order Flow Trading?
Order flow trading is the practice of analyzing the actual buying and selling activity in the market — every individual trade, every limit order in the book, every aggressive market order hitting the bid or ask. While most traders see a green or red candle, order flow traders see exactly how many contracts were bought at each price level, whether aggressive buyers or sellers dominated, and where large institutional orders were placed.
This information is invisible on standard charts. ATAS makes it visible through specialized visualization tools:
Core ATAS Features
1. Footprint Charts (Cluster Charts)
Footprint charts are the cornerstone of ATAS. Instead of showing a simple candlestick, each bar is broken down into a detailed grid showing the exact volume traded at every price level, separated into bid and ask volume. This reveals whether a price level was dominated by aggressive buyers (hitting the ask) or aggressive sellers (hitting the bid). ATAS offers multiple footprint modes including Bid x Ask, Delta, Volume, and custom calculations.
2. Volume Profile
ATAS provides advanced Volume Profile tools that show the distribution of traded volume across price levels over any time period. Key levels include the Point of Control (POC) — the most heavily traded price — and the Value Area (where 70% of trading occurred). Volume Profile helps identify where institutional traders have built positions and where price is most likely to find support or resistance.
3. Smart Tape (Time & Sales)
The Smart Tape goes beyond a simple time and sales window. It filters, groups, and highlights trades based on size, aggression, and speed. Large institutional orders (often called "iceberg" or "block" trades) are highlighted, and the tape can group rapid-fire trades that likely came from the same participant. This helps identify when big players are entering or exiting the market.
4. DOM (Depth of Market) Visualization
ATAS provides advanced depth of market tools including DOM Levels that show how the order book has changed over time. Unlike a static DOM snapshot, ATAS records historical order book data, allowing you to see patterns in how liquidity builds and disappears — a key technique for identifying spoofing and institutional order placement.
5. Market Statistics & Analytics
ATAS includes built-in analytics dashboards for tracking cumulative delta, absorption patterns, unfinished business (price levels where the market traded but didn't complete buying/selling), and various market microstructure indicators. These statistics help identify the "story" behind price movements.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Trial) | $0 for 14 days | All features unlocked for trial period |
| Monthly | $69/month | Full platform access, all indicators, real-time data |
| Annual | $499/year ($42/month) | Full platform access, discounted annual rate |
| Lifetime | $1,499 one-time | Permanent access, all future updates included |
Data feed costs are separate from the ATAS platform subscription. You'll need a connection to a data provider like CQG, Rithmic, or a supported exchange for real-time market data.
Supported Data Feeds & Markets
- CQG — Futures (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX)
- Rithmic — Futures with ultra-low latency
- IQFeed — Stocks, futures, forex
- Binance, Bybit, OKX — Cryptocurrency spot and futures
- Interactive Brokers — Stocks, options, futures
- MOEX — Moscow Exchange (Russian markets)
- dxFeed — Multi-asset data provider
Who Should Use ATAS?
- Futures day traders — Order flow analysis is most valuable for short-term futures trading where market microstructure provides real edge.
- Crypto traders — Cryptocurrency markets have transparent order books, making order flow analysis highly effective.
- Traders who want to understand "why" price moves — Instead of just reacting to price patterns, order flow shows you the cause of market movements.
- Institutional trader analysis — Use ATAS to identify where large players are building positions and learn to trade alongside institutional flow.
Pros and Cons
- ✅ Best-in-class order flow visualization tools
- ✅ Advanced footprint charts surpass all competitors
- ✅ Real-time DOM recording and playback
- ✅ Strong cryptocurrency market support
- ✅ Regularly updated with new indicators and features
- ✅ Active educational community and resources
- ❌ Steep learning curve — order flow trading requires significant study
- ❌ Windows only — no Mac or web version
- ❌ Not suitable for forex CFD traders (requires exchange data)
- ❌ Monthly cost adds up on top of exchange data fees
- ❌ No built-in automated trading or strategy execution
ATAS works best paired with a direct market access broker. Use BrokersDB to find brokers with the fastest server connections to CME and other exchanges for the best order flow data quality.
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