TradeStation Desktop is for TradeStation clients only.

TradeStation has let its Desktop program go stale, instead putting effort into other platforms aimed at the unsophisticated crowd, while touting how sophisticated those products are.

TradeStation does continue to update its Desktop, but only with fixes to longstanding bugs. Numerous anomalies linger. TradeStation does not publicly publish release notes of Desktop revisions.

MultiCharts is broker agnostic, though Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and TradeStation are the only recommendable brokers for USA stocks.

You connect MultiCharts to your broker, which is a one-time extra step (compared to TradeStation).

Unlike TradeStation, MultiCharts proclaims its development history.

MultiCharts DOM has order quantity and order type as part of its DOM: no need for the separate Trade Bar that TradeStation Matrix (DOM) has. Hence, the MultiCharts DOM sports a more efficient appearance than the TradeStation Matrix.

Order quantity is by stock in MultiCharts, not the universal (all stocks) setting it is on the TradeStation Trade Bar. For minuting, the MultiCharts approach is a convenience, as safe stake tends to be somewhat stable for individual crackers, but can differ substantially between them.

TradeStation may spontaneously change order type (from straight limit orders to a hybrid form), which can be a hazard.

Profit/Loss

The TradeStation Matrix offers a profit/loss column. MultiCharts DOM has a separate profit/loss area as an adjunct to its DOM which consumes considerable screen real estate. MultiCharts charts can show current proft/loss as text for an open position, though that is inferior to having it on the DOM (as TradeStation does).

There is the salient issue of whether seeing open-position profit/loss is a good thing. PryPri should guide minuting timing. Outcome is only outcome, not the goal. The goal is dancing: minuting well.

You know whether your position is long or short, and where you entered: these are visibly marked. Further emphasizing profit/loss is not a good thing. Dancing involves taking what profit is on offer and taking as little loss possible by exiting as soon as uncertainty strikes (about what may happen next when the price moves).

The look of charts is largely selfsame in MultiCharts and TradeStation.

But what is on the chart differs. TradeStation packages bars more coarsely than MultiCharts: a detrimental effect in accuracy that is modest but real, and can affect minuting.

Workspace layout/arrangement is definitely easier in MultiCharts than TradeStation, though this is a non-issue once you are content with your workspace.

TradeStation is a satisfactory minuting platform. If you already have a TradeStation account, the extra expense of MultiCharts may not seem worthwhile. Fair enough.

Overall, MultiCharts is a better minuting platform than TradeStation: not by a wide margin, but sufficiently so that if your bread-and-butter business is stock trading – which it really can be using the Dragonfly Regime – MultiCharts has advantages that make it worthwhile, even if TradeStation is your broker.