Forex backtesting is all about sessions — the London open, the New York open, and the killzones in between drive most discretionary strategies. The right tool lets you jump to a session, replay it bar by bar, and test whether the breakout you were taught actually holds up. "Best forex backtesting software" comes down to session handling, replay quality and honest cost modeling.
Honest shortlist below. Disclosure: Secuora is ours — session-open skips and replay on FX majors are included, and we ran the famous session strategies publicly (they lost).
What actually matters
- Session skips — DST-correct jumps to the London (08:00) and New York (09:30) opens, since forex setups are clock-anchored.
- Bar-by-bar replay on FX pairs — practice the move candle by candle, not on a static chart.
- Spread/cost realism — forex spreads vary by pair and session; a backtest that ignores them flatters the result.
- Multi-year history for the majors — forex strategies need a big sample across regimes.
- A free tier to practice the majors before paying.
The honest shortlist
Session-open skips, FX majors on the free plan (short window), full forex on Pro; bundled journal + prop sim.
The veteran manual-backtesting tool with deep forex history — but desktop software with a one-time/sub cost and no journal-first workflow.
Excellent replay feel, forex history back to ~2003 — journal covers sim trades only.
Free with a plan and familiar, but limited journaling/stats and no prop-firm rehearsal.
Where Secuora fits
Secuora gives you DST-correct session-open skips (London, New York, Tokyo) so you can jump straight to the open and replay the killzone bar by bar — exactly the workflow forex session traders need.
The five FX majors (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, gold) are on the free plan with a short history window; full forex depth is on Pro at $29/month.
We tested the London session breakout publicly: 12 months, every signal, fees on — it lost on EUR and gold harder than on crypto. we backtested 60+ strategies across 6 markets — over 80,000 simulated trades, fees on — and published every result (none were profitable after costs). Worth knowing before you trust any session strategy without a rule set.
The killzone reality check
The London and New York killzones are real volatility windows, but "trade the London breakout" without an exact rule set isn’t a testable claim — and when we did pin it down, it lost on the majors after costs. That doesn’t mean give up on sessions; it means your filters and discretion are the edge, and the only way to know if yours work is to replay a few hundred sessions and build your own sample.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free forex backtesting software?
TradingView’s bar replay is free with a plan for a quick look. For session-aware replay plus journaling with the FX majors on a free tier (no card), Secuora fits. Forex Tester is the dedicated paid veteran with the deepest forex history.
Does the London breakout strategy actually work?
We tested it mechanically on 12 months of data: marking the 08:00–08:30 London range and trading the first close beyond it lost on EUR and gold after costs (profit factors 0.08 and 0.19). The session is a real volatility window, but the bare mechanical breakout had no edge — the filtering is where any edge would live.
How do I backtest forex by hand?
Use bar replay: pick a pair, jump to a session open, hide the future, and play candles forward one at a time, placing simulated orders. Secuora’s replay terminal does this with DST-correct session skips; the free demo lets you try it with no sign-up.