VectorVest is a stock analysis and market-timing platform that reduces hundreds of data points on a stock into a single rating and a plain buy, sell, or hold call, refreshed every trading day. It fits self-directed swing and position traders who want a disciplined system instead of a pile of raw data, and the guardrails suit newer investors as much as experienced ones building their own screens. The catch sits in the pricing. Real-time US data is locked to the top plan at $149 a month, which means the genuinely active use case is the expensive one.
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What VectorVest Actually Does
The platform is built around one idea. A flood of fundamental and technical inputs gets compressed into the VST rating, which stands for Value, Safety, and Timing, and that rating drives a buy, sell, or hold recommendation on every stock the system covers. A market-timing signal sits on top, telling a subscriber whether conditions favor buying, tightening stops, or moving to cash. VectorVest has run this model since the 1990s and lets subscribers replay its past market calls inside the software, which is a stronger claim than most analysis tools are willing to put in front of a buyer.
What separates this from a stock screener is the verdict. A screener returns a list and leaves the interpretation to the trader. VectorVest takes a position on each stock and on the market as a whole, and that opinion is the entire reason to pay for it.
The VST Rating System
Each stock carries three sub-ratings on a scale of 0 to 2, where 1.00 is the average and anything above it reads as favorable. Value measures long-term appreciation potential against the return on a safe alternative such as AAA corporate bonds. Safety reflects how stable and predictable the underlying company is. Timing tracks short-term price behavior. A stock showing Value of 1.30, Safety of 1.20, and Timing of 1.40 is, in the platform’s language, undervalued, financially sound, and already rising, the exact combination the system is built to surface. Reading those three numbers takes seconds, which is the practical payoff for an investor who has no interest in parsing balance sheets.
Market Timing and Market Climate
The market-timing gauge is the feature VectorVest leans on hardest, and it is where the platform makes its boldest historical claims. The software flags shifts between bullish and bearish conditions and turns them into instructions: buy long, tighten stops, raise cash, or short. For a trader who tends to fight the broader tape, a daily directional read is the part of the system most likely to change actual behavior. The signal reads the same whether an account holds $5,000 or $500,000, so its value depends entirely on whether the trader is willing to act on it.
Screeners, Watchlists, and Charting
Every tier includes pre-set screeners that auto-rank stocks by VST, which covers most of what a casual investor needs to build a morning watchlist. Custom screener and watchlist building, along with advanced charting, unlock only on the middle and top tiers. The Premium plan adds ProTrader, a set of pre-built and customizable technical searches that surface breakouts without manual chart reading. A trader who works mainly from chart patterns will find the entry plan thin on that front.
Stops, Automation, and Alerts
The Advanced Trading Stop is a dynamic stop that adjusts to a stock’s own price movement rather than sitting at a fixed percentage, and it is absent from the entry plan entirely. Two further tools live only on Premium. AutoTimer handles trading-plan automation and backtesting, letting a trader test a strategy before risking capital and then alerting when the plan calls for a trade. WatchDog monitors positions tick by tick and fires an alert when a stock reaches a set price. These are the features that move the platform from analysis toward execution discipline, and the decision to gate them behind the top tier is deliberate.
Markets, Instruments, and Integrations
Coverage spans equities and ETFs across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe, though European and Australian data is end-of-day on every plan. VectorVest is not a broker, so trades execute elsewhere. Integrations with TradeNow, TradeStation, and Questrade connect the analysis to a live brokerage account, which is the closest the platform comes to an all-in-one setup. Options and shorting are handled through courses and strategy education rather than as separate data products. The software runs on Windows desktop alongside iOS and Android apps.
Pricing and Plans
Three tiers all open with the same $9.95 30-day trial, then renew at the standard rate. Each plan can be paid monthly or annually, and the annual commitment lowers the effective monthly cost.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Effective monthly on annual | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Launchpad | $49.99 | $499/year | $42 | $9.95 for 30 days |
| Enhanced | $99.00 | $995/year | $83 | $9.95 for 30 days |
| Premium | $149.00 | $1,495/year | $125 | $9.95 for 30 days |
The plans separate on two lines that matter more than the feature checklists suggest. The first is data speed. Market Launchpad and Enhanced both run on 15-minute delayed quotes, while real-time US data appears only on Premium, and Canadian data stays on a 15-minute delay even there. The second is market access. Launchpad is United States only and reaches the roughly 9,500-stock US universe, whereas Enhanced and Premium open the full 16,000-stock set across all four regions.
For an investor making end-of-day or multi-day decisions, the 15-minute delay on Enhanced is irrelevant, which makes it the sensible middle choice for most self-directed traders who want custom screeners and broker integration. A trader who needs live quotes has exactly one option, and it is the $149 plan.
Rules and Restrictions That Affect the Real Cost
On paper the pricing reads as three tiers, but the data-delay rule quietly sets the real entry point for active trading. Anyone placing intraday trades on prices that are 15 minutes stale is working blind, so the practical floor for that trader is Premium at $149 a month or $1,495 a year, not the $49.99 headline. Judging the plans on their feature lists alone misses this entirely.
The $9.95 trial is a paid entry, not a free one, and it renews automatically at the full plan price after 30 days unless cancelled through the online portal or by phone. Trial pricing applies once per customer, so a lapsed subscriber comes back at standard rates. The money-back guarantee, as the company describes it, refunds the cost of the trial rather than promising open-ended refunds on later subscription months, a narrower assurance than a quick read suggests. None of this is buried, but each point changes what the platform actually costs.
Account size is the last thing worth weighing. VectorVest’s own guidance points to accounts of $50,000 or more as the level where its diversification-heavy approach pays off, while stating that no minimum is required. The system runs fine on a small account. Its logic simply assumes enough capital to spread risk across many positions.
Bottom Line
VectorVest does something most tools refuse to do. It tells a trader what to buy, when to buy it, and when to sell, and it stands behind a market-timing record reaching back to the 1990s that subscribers can inspect for themselves. It rewards investors who will follow a system rather than override it, and it carries enough education and live US phone support to bring a newer investor up to speed. The further a trader moves toward pure intraday day trading on a budget, the weaker the fit becomes, because the live data that style demands sits behind the most expensive plan, and the product is an analysis engine rather than a broker or a real-time scanner.
Pros
- VST collapses fundamental and technical analysis into one 0-to-2 rating with a clear buy, sell, or hold call, which makes each per-stock decision fast.
- The market-timing signal carries a documented call history back to 1995 that subscribers can verify inside the software.
- Equity and ETF coverage spans US, Canadian, Australian, and European markets on the higher tiers.
- Direct integrations with TradeStation, Questrade, and TradeNow link the analysis to a live brokerage account.
- Free US-based phone support, a one-to-one coaching session, and ongoing courses back up the software for less experienced users.
Cons
- Real-time US data is restricted to the $149-a-month Premium tier. The two cheaper plans run on 15-minute delayed quotes that are unworkable for intraday entries and exits, so any active trader is pushed to the top plan regardless of which other features they need.
- There is no free trial. Access starts at a paid $9.95 30-day period that auto-renews at full price, and the money-back guarantee covers only that trial cost rather than later subscription months.
- Market Launchpad is United States only, leaving international coverage and the Advanced Trading Stop off the entry plan entirely.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does VectorVest cost?
VectorVest has three tiers: Market Launchpad at $49.99 per month or $499 per year, Enhanced at $99 per month or $995 per year, and Premium at $149 per month or $1,495 per year. All three start with a paid $9.95 30-day trial that auto-renews at the full plan price. Real-time US data is included only on the Premium tier, while the two cheaper plans run on 15-minute delayed quotes.
How does VectorVest work?
VectorVest compresses hundreds of fundamental and technical inputs into one VST rating, for Value, Safety, and Timing, scored from 0 to 2 where 1.00 is average. That rating drives a plain buy, sell, or hold call on every stock it covers, and a market-timing signal sits on top telling a subscriber whether to buy, tighten stops, or move to cash. The verdict is the point; unlike a screener that returns a list, VectorVest takes a position on each stock and on the market as a whole.
Is VectorVest worth it?
It rewards self-directed swing and position traders who will follow a system rather than override it, and it backs its market-timing calls with a record reaching back to the 1990s that subscribers can replay in the software. The fit weakens for budget intraday traders, because the real-time data that style needs sits behind the $149 Premium plan. For end-of-day or multi-day decisions, the Enhanced tier’s 15-minute delay is irrelevant, which makes it the sensible middle choice.
Does VectorVest have a free trial?
No, access starts with a paid $9.95 30-day trial rather than a free one, and it renews automatically at the full plan price unless cancelled. Trial pricing applies once per customer, so a returning subscriber comes back at standard rates. The money-back guarantee covers the cost of that trial rather than later subscription months.