Bookmap Review

This Bookmap review will provide you valuable insights. I reviewed Bookmap’s website and took a real-time test drive with their futures and stock analysis platform.

Does using a limited amount of data limit your potential profits?

If you heard about market depth, then you are aware of the order book, or DOM (Depth of Market), as well as Level 2 and Time & Sales data.

There is a tool called Bookmap that visualizes everything going on in the market depth. It displays the whole market liquidity. This Boomap review reveals all the crucial things you have to know about this tool. Let’s discover if it provides meaningful advantages.

Transparency: We may get compensated when you click on links in this article.

Table of Contents

What is Bookmap?

They like to set new standards for precise real-time data visualization. Bookmap aims for a graphic illustration of “deeper” market data with the highest possible accuracy. That’s is done with an interesting heatmap functionality.

The CEO Tsachi Galanos explains the essence about the name components of the platform. These stand for OrderBOOK and HeatMAP. They released the first version in 2014. Boomap is meanwhile a robust platform for the visualization of market depth data.

While there are hundreds of charting tools out there, there is no other tool that compares to Bookmap. A classic charting tool not always leads to more transparency. Some have already filtered data or summarized it in advance. Some use only data from ECN’s,

100% of the market data is the key for accurate analysis. And this is where Bookmap comes into play. Instead of pre-filtering data, they visualize the full market depth. In this Bookmap review, I will talk about the benefits and disadvantages.

Features

Heatmap and Volume Dots

Bookmap has some unique features „on board“ on the platform. A heatmap is clearly showing the dynamics in the order book showing every change in the order book. An easy to understand color scale is used. Out of the box, warm colors like yellow, orange and red reflect the support and resistance levels.

The heatmap shows how the entire order book and traded volume at the current time and how it was in the past. This provides a quicker and deeper insight into the market dynamics.

The second cool feature is the volume dot. The concept of the volume dots is simple. Bigger dots stand for a big volume and small dots stand for less volume. So the sizes are relative to the traded volume. The dots can be turned on and off and sizes can be adjusted.

Iceberg Detector and Large Lot Tracker (LLT)

A unique feature that allows you to find out the largest limit orders in the order book, the “big fish in the pond.”

Replay Mode

Convenient because it records real-time trading sessions for later analysis in replay mode. The development of the order book can be studied at leisure, which may provide clues for new ideas and strategy improvements.

One-click Trading

Trading from within the chart with one-click trading is possible. You can place your orders right from the chart. On the highest subscription level, you can trade right from the Bookmap chart. All popular order types are supported, even OCO-orders and bracket orders.

Real-time data

This tool is event-driven and refreshed every 30 milliseconds. Stock market data is unfiltered “raw” real-time data for all US stocks “at full depth.” It covers the US stock exchanges including Nasdaq TotalView and Nasdaq Last Sale. You can also subscribe to futures data feeds.

Bookmap presents market data with remarkable accuracy. Traders can “zoom in” into:

hours,
seconds,
milliseconds,
microseconds, and even
nanoseconds time ranges.

Plans | Costs | Pricing

The monthly subscription fees vary between 0 and $99 per month. You also need to subscribe to market data. The market data costs vary depending on your subscription

Let’s get a bit more in detail on the Bookmap costs with some examples. Crypto-Trading with the Digital Package is entirely free of charge. Neither Bookmap itself costs money nor the data feed.

So the cryptotrading package is a great starting point for those being interested. You get access to GDAX, BitMEX, Bitfinex, OKCoin, and Okex. As you know trading cryptocurrencies means having high spreads. For that reason, I do not day trade cryptocurrencies.

So let’s take a closer look at the pricing packages for stock and futures traders. Bookmaps pricing model is as simple as it could be. You can choose between the Global Package and the Global+ Package. The only additional differentiator is the subscription duration.

Some analytical indicators make the difference between the Global and Global+ package. With the Global+ package you have access to the:

large lot tracker,
iceberg detector,
advanced volume delta.

I think that only the Global+ package makes sense. That’s because only this subscription gives you full access to market depth. Anything else would limit you from the beginning.

So how much do you have to pay for the Global+ package?

If you subscribe on a month-by-month basis, then you pay $99 for the Global+ package plus the market data.

The market data fees for stocks vary between:

$59 for CBOE/EDGX (BATS) and
$69 (Nasdaq TotalView / Nasdaq last sale).

Futures traders pay $29 for each exchange like CME and CBOT.

This can make the subscription expensive. But no matter what tool you are using, market data is always costly. That’s because exchanges request this market data feeds. Not the tool provider.

I am not a fan of long term subscriptions but it should be part of the Bookmap review. With yearly subscriptions, you can save 20% per month. The pricing for the annual package is between $0 and $79 per month.

There is also a lifetime package available. With a lifetime package, the later upgrades are limited to version 7 and the next major release candidate Bookmap 8.

Connectivity Options

At the moment, using the inhouse dxFeed subscription from Bookmap is the only way to get full-depth market data for the US stock market. However, depending on your broker, you can use the brokerage data feed to avoid the additional Bookmap market data subscription fees.

The list of supported market data providers includes Rithmic, dxFeed, TradeStation, CQG, Interactive Brokers, NinjaTrader and various crypto exchanges.

One thing you should note is that the brokerage data feeds normally don’t have unfiltered tick data. For example, you can use Interactive Brokers as a data feed source. But Interactive Brokers officially filters tick data. Since Bookmap unfolds it’s power based on unfiltered tick data, a subscription along with the additional costs is kind of needed.

Here is a full list of compatible brokers and data feeds with a detailed explanation of what data feed you can use. Also, in what cases you can only use the API to send trades from Bookmap directly to your brokerage account: https://www.bookmap.com/knowledgebase/docs/KB-IntroductionToBookmap-Connectivity.

To avoid unnecessary costs, you should always try to use a data feed that you already pay for. Test it alongside with Bookmap to ensure that it works in the way you want.

It is crucial to understand the cumulative cost of market data subscriptions can significantly exceed the standard Bookmap platform subscription costs.

Free Trial | Promo Code

You can test Bookmap for free using crypto markets. Futures and stock trading are only available in the Global Package and Global+ Package. While there is no promo code available, you can save at least 20% on yearly subscriptions.

But please be aware of the fact, that you have to know that you will use this tool for a year. Otherwise, an annual subscription would be a strange idea. You can use existing data feeds that you already have and if they are compatible. Otherwise, the costs for the market data is always on top of the Bookmap subscription.

Provider Checklist

Founded: 2014
Company address check: VeloxPro ltd. 125 Harrison Street Hoboken New Jersey, USA and 6 Australias Street Limassol, Cyprus, support@bookmap.com, +1-917-708-8171
Free trial: yes, full free trial with Crypto-market data
Coupons and promo codes: 20% off on yearly subscription, special offer’s for newsletter subscribers
Money back guarantee: No
Price range: monthly: $0-$99/m; yearly: $0-$79/m; lifetime $0-$1,990 one time, plus market data

Who Is Bookmap Best For?

Bookmap is clearly best for day traders, scalpers, swing traders and algo-traders. It is for order flow enthusiasts, tape reading specialists and data geeks.

Beginners should try the free cryptocurrency mode first (digital package). This way you to get a better understanding of the tool for free. Once ready, you should start with a monthly subscription once you are ready to give it a try for trading stocks.

Why?

Because you have to get a better understanding of how to use Bookmap in your daily trading routine. Bookmap might be the all-in-one solution for your needs. But maybe it’s only an addition to your trading tools arsenal.

I use Trade Ideas as my #1 stock screener, and Bookmap provides great additional insights. That’s’ especially true for visualization of support and resistance levels.

Bookmap’s target audience

According to their website, customers include:

hedge funds
proprietary trading companies, and
individual traders in various market sectors.

They use the tool for trading futures (including CME, Eurex), US equities and cryptocurrencies. In particular, the platform developed “by traders for traders” targets:

Daytraders (short-term trading within one day)
Scalpers (ultra short-term trading)
Swing traders (trading at all time levels in corrections against market trends)
Algo/quantitative traders (computer-programmed trading) as well as
High-Frequency Trading (HFT, High-Frequency Trading)

Bookmap Review Summary

Bookmap is one of the most advanced market data visualization and trading platforms. Many traders are already using the extensive real-time trading capabilities. They trade at major exchanges such as CME, Eurex, NASDAQ or others.

Bookmap makes the market depth visually compelling and easier to understand. It is an interesting addition to traditional market depth visualization like DOM and Level II.

One fact you should be aware of is that the market depth frequently changes within seconds. So the visualization might be of help and be an excellent alternative to looking to a standard DOM.

What Bookmap does is to visualize the market depth. It will be of help to identify those support and resistance levels based on the order book. That might be a good addition to technical analysis pattern identification.

The price for the platform itself is fair and the monthly subscription is the best way to start with. Keep in mind though, subscribers to Bookmap (Global and Global+ for futures and stocks) do also need a separate data feed.

And such data feed costs some extra money. If you have a broker compatible with Bookmap, then you can use the brokerage data feed as a source. Otherwise, you need a data feed subscription.

The Digital Package is a great option for those interested. I am not a big cryptocurrency fan, but the free package is a great way to get used of Bookmap. You can understand the Bookmap digital package as a risk-free demo account. Perfect for trying out the functionality. The subscription to the free account is the next logic step after having read this Bookmap review.

Bookmap review pro-tip: As mentioned above, Bookmap is compatible with Interactive Brokers. If you are going to use IB as data source, then you should be aware about the fact that they use filtered market data. Bookmap can only display the data the source provides. Make sure that your data is accurate. Also ask the Bookmap team for a discount, they often provide discounts of up to 50% off.