In short: NinjaTrader 8 and a chart. That is all SuperTrend needs.
At the default settings the line appears after 20 bars (NinjaTrader’s own bars-required-to-plot setting) and the bar colors after 10. On Renko and Heikin-Ashi it uses the chart’s own bar prices.
SuperTrend has 21 settings in six groups of its properties panel. The names in bold are the names you will see there.
ATR period (1 to 1000, default 10) is how many bars the average true range covers; Multiplier (0.1 to 100, default 3.0, decimals allowed) is how far the line sits from the middle of each bar, in ATRs. From there the line only moves in the trend’s direction. Bull line and Bear line each carry their own color, width and dash style.
In an uptrend the line only rises; in a downtrend it only falls; a bar has to close through it to flip it. That is what makes it an ATR trailing stop line: many traders trail their stop behind it and take the exit when a bar closes through. It draws the level and places no order — NinjaTrader’s ATM strategies handle the order side.
Paint bars (on by default) colors every bar green or red with the trend. Past bars are painted in one pass when the chart reaches its latest bar, then one bar at a time, so the history loads without lag. The bar still forming keeps the chart’s own color until it closes, which is why nothing repaints at the default settings.
Show flip arrows (off by default) draws an arrow on every confirmed flip, Arrow offset (ticks) 0 to 50 from the bar. Enable flip alerts (off by default) fires a NinjaTrader popup and the Alert sound file once per confirmed flip on live data, also when the chart is on a hidden tab; Alert cooldown (sec), 0 to 3600, holds back a repeat in the same direction.
Enable ADX filter (off by default), ADX period (1 to 100, default 14) and ADX threshold (0 to 100, default 20). While ADX sits below the threshold a flip is ignored and the line keeps its direction, so a range does not flip it every few bars. It starts filtering after twice the ADX period in bars.
Show label puts an arrow, the run’s Show bar count and the line’s Show price beside the latest bar; Show distance to line (ticks) and Show % since flip update with every price change. Six fonts, Font size 6 to 72, Bar offset (px) 0 to 200. Strategy Builder sees two plots, SuperTrend Up and SuperTrend Down, and NinjaScript reads TrendDirection, IsBull and IsBear — a trend filter for any strategy.
An arrow on every confirmed flip, up to 50 ticks off the bar.
Trend duration, line price, and live ticks and % since the flip, both optional.
Set it up to look exactly how you prefer.
Flips are ignored while ADX is below your threshold, so chop does not flip the line.
You might ask: why is this free, what is the catch? There is none. We want to change the market for third-party NinjaTrader tools, and giving our work away is part of how we do it.
To say it plainly: this market is overpriced and full of low-quality tools with missing features and bugs. Vendors charge hundreds of dollars for simple indicators. No indicator, add-on or tool will make you profitable. A good one makes your trading environment better, and you know that already, or you would not be here looking.
Our goal is the highest-quality products we can build, tools that make a real difference on the chart. We get there by testing hard: weeks on live charts before release, feedback from the traders who use them, and a close read of what the forums complain about. We offer a full refund within 14 days, we adapt tools for customers who ask, and we give most of our work away.
Most of our tools are free for a reason. We want you to try them, see the quality and the features for yourself, and not spend a dollar with us until you think a tool deserves it. We are a business and we intend to make money, by solving real problems for traders.
So yes, SuperTrend is completely free, no strings attached. If you like it, there are more free tools and paid ones priced well under what is usual in this market. Leave a review if you want to, good or bad, we read every one. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].
No card, no license key, no expiry. Nothing to cancel because nothing was started.
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Four ways traders work with a trend line. None of them is a signal; the entries, the stops and the discipline are still yours.
Only look for trades on the line’s side: longs while it is green below price, shorts while it is red above it. The point is not to fight the move all session.
The flip is final when the bar closes, with an arrow if you want one. Traders use it as the moment to reassess, with the new line as a common place for a stop.
The line follows the move at a distance set by the ATR: wider when the market is fast, tighter when it is quiet. The label can show how far away it is, in ticks.
Switch it on and flips are ignored while ADX sits below your threshold, so a sideways market stops flipping the line every few bars.
New to SuperTrend? Read the full guide →
Question or idea for improvement? Email us. We reply fast.
Genuinely free — no trial period, no locked settings, no license key, nothing to upgrade to. We sell other indicators; free tools like this one are how we show you the quality of the work first.
Download the zip, then in NinjaTrader 8 go to Tools → Import → NinjaScript Add-On and pick the file. Add it to any chart from the Indicators list, where it is called SuperTrend — most traders are done in under a minute. The step-by-step guide covers every message NinjaTrader can show and the update rule.
Not at its default settings. It calculates when each bar closes, so the line, the bar color and the flip are final at the close and never move afterwards; the bar still forming keeps the chart’s own color until then. If you switch NinjaTrader’s Calculate setting to On price change, the line and the bar colors update live, which means they can change during a bar. Flip alerts still wait for the bar to close in that mode.
The line starts a set distance from the middle of each bar, the multiplier times the average true range, and from there it only moves in the trend’s direction. The ATR period (10 by default, 1 to 1000) is how many bars that average covers; higher is smoother and flips later. The multiplier (3 by default, 0.1 to 100, decimals such as 2.5 allowed) sets the distance; higher means fewer flips. Values under 1 make the bands cross over each other, as in any SuperTrend.
The same standard logic: bands from the ATR, a line that only ratchets in the trend’s direction, and a flip when a bar closes through it. NinjaTrader’s own ATR starts up differently from some other platforms’, so the first bars after the chart loads can differ slightly; after that warm-up they follow the same rules.
It is off by default. Switch it on and a flip is ignored while ADX is below your threshold (20 by default, ADX period 14): the line keeps its previous direction until ADX rises again. While a flip is being held back, the line can sit on the wrong side of price — that is the filter doing its job of holding the trend through chop. It waits for twice the ADX period in bars before it starts filtering.
By default an arrow for the direction, how many bars the trend has lasted and the line’s price — the trailing reference, not the market price. You can add the distance from price to the line in ticks and the percent move since the flip; those two update with every price change. Pick one of six fonts, a size from 6 to 72 and the gap to the last bar. It sits beside the latest bar and hides when you scroll back through history.
They are off by default. Switched on, NinjaTrader shows a popup and plays a sound from its sounds folder once per confirmed flip, on live data only — also when the chart is on a hidden tab. A cooldown (60 seconds by default, 0 to 3600) holds back a repeat alert in the same direction.
Yes. Strategy Builder sees two plots, SuperTrend Up and SuperTrend Down, which both carry the current line price. In your own NinjaScript, TrendDirection reads 1 for up, −1 for down and 0 before the line has started, with IsBull and IsBear as true or false.
No. It paints no bars while the history loads; all past bars are colored in one pass when the chart reaches the latest bar, then one bar at a time. If your chart ever lags with it on, email us: that’s a bug, not normal. One tip: run one bar-painting indicator per chart, because the last one drawn sets the bar colors.
Yes, in the sense that matters. The line is built from the average true range and only ratchets in the trend’s direction, so it behaves as a trailing stop level that never gives ground until a bar closes through it; many traders trail their stop behind it. It draws the level only — it places no order and moves no stop for you; NinjaTrader’s ATM strategies do that. How the line is built →
No. Among NinjaTrader 8’s built-in indicators there is an ATR, an ADX and a Parabolic SAR, but no SuperTrend, no ATR trailing stop line and no Chandelier exit — checked against the platform’s own files. This one is free and installs like any other add-on: Tools → Import → NinjaScript Add-On.
There is no best setting, only a trade-off. A higher multiplier or a longer ATR period flips later and sits further from price; lower values hug price and flip more often in chop. The defaults, 10 and 3, are the SuperTrend standard on every platform and a sound start on any timeframe from a 1-minute chart to daily. Starting points for scalping, intraday swings and multi-day holds are in the guide: Choosing settings for how you trade →
Yes. On Renko and Heikin-Ashi it uses the chart’s own bar prices, so the line and the flips follow the bars you see. It runs on tick, minute, volume and range charts as well, and on daily and weekly, and it needs price only — no volume.
Email support, answered by the traders who built it. Bugs get fixed — this tool gets the same updates and support as our paid indicators.
Free, no card, no license key. Download it, import it, and the trend line is on your chart in under a minute.
Not for you if you want the tool to tell you when to buy and sell. SuperTrend shows which way the trend points and when it flips; the trade is yours.
Pairs well with Free EMA cloud indicator (EMA Color Zones) · Multi-timeframe trend indicator (MultiTrend) · ProVWAP VWAP indicator
Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. SuperTrend is a charting and decision-support tool only — it is not a trade signal, recommendation, or financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
NinjaTrader®, NinjaTrader.com and associated NinjaTrader marks are registered trademarks and the property of NinjaTrader Group, LLC. UsefulIndicators is listed on the NinjaTrader Ecosystem; NinjaTrader Group, LLC does not endorse or recommend any third-party product.