Trading journal app for Windows: a desktop journal for MT5

Most trading journals live in a browser. This one runs on your own Windows PC, reads your MT5 terminal directly and saves its trades in your own journal on your PC (with an optional copy in your own Notion workspace).

Why a Windows desktop journal

Most trading journals live in a browser. That is convenient, but it means your trades and often your account details sit with a vendor. A desktop journal runs on your own computer, next to your trading terminal, and decides for itself where your data goes. For traders who use MetaTrader 5 on Windows, a desktop app also has a practical advantage: it can read your terminal directly, so nothing needs to be exported, uploaded or attached to a chart.

What AI Trading Journal is

AI Trading Journal is a Windows 10 and 11 desktop app that lives in the system tray. It reads your closed trades from your own MetaTrader 5 terminal and saves them in your own journal on your PC (with an optional copy in your own Notion workspace) about every 5 minutes. It also shows a local dashboard with win rate, profit factor, cumulative and daily P&L, and drawdown.

One Notion row per closed position, with partial closes combined and hedged positions kept separate.
A daily recap database with result, win rate and drawdown.
A Notes field that is never overwritten, for your own comments.
Several accounts, one database each, any of which you can pause.
Read-only. It never places, changes or closes a trade.

How it protects your login and your data

It reads the MT5 account already logged in on your PC. No broker password or investor password is entered into any website.
Your trades go from your MT5 terminal into the journal on your PC. They do not pass through our servers.
If you connect Notion, it is a cloud service and the copy lives in your Notion account; protect it with a strong password and two-step verification.

Windows options compared

Search results for Windows trading journals show a mix of small tools. Here is how the main types differ. These descriptions come from each type's usual design, not a review of any single product.

Type	Strength	Limit
Offline manual desktop journal	No cloud, no account, works anywhere	You type every trade
Desktop journal with CSV import	Fast bulk import	Import is manual, so data can lag
Web journal installed as a browser app	Works on any device	Data is held by the vendor
Local app that reads MT5 and keeps the journal on your PC (AI Trading Journal)	Automatic, no export, journal on your PC with an optional Notion copy	Windows and MT5 only, 5-minute sync

What you need

Windows 10 or 11 with the MetaTrader 5 desktop terminal installed and logged in
Optional: a free Notion account and your own integration token, only for the Notion copy
A 7-day free trial, then a one-time $19.99 purchase and one computer at a time per license

What it does not do

No Mac, Linux, web or mobile version
No MetaTrader 4, cTrader or other platforms
No trade replay, backtesting or AI coach; see how it compares with cloud journals

Setup takes a few minutes: see how the journal on your PC works. If you are comparing prices, an MT5 trading journal with no subscription shows the three-year cost, and MT5 brokers explains how it finds your account.

An honest note on privacy. Notion is itself a cloud service, so your trades do sit on Notion's servers, in your own workspace, under your own account and token. What AI Trading Journal removes is the extra middleman: there is no separate journal vendor holding your trades and no broker login sent to a website. No tool is risk-free, so protect your accounts, including Notion if you connect it, with a strong password and two-step verification.

This page is general information, not trading or investment advice.

What to expect day to day

The app runs quietly in the system tray. You open the dashboard when you want to look at your numbers.
MetaTrader 5 needs to be installed and logged in to the account you want to journal, because that is where the app reads closed trades.
The PC needs to be on for trades to reach your journal, and online for the optional Notion copy.
New closed trades appear in Notion about every five minutes. You do not press anything.
Your notes stay in place. The Notes field on each row is never overwritten by later syncs.

Desktop and web journals: the trade-offs

Question	Desktop journal (local)	Web journal
Where is the data collected?	On your PC	Uploaded to the vendor
Which devices can read the journal?	The dashboard on the PC; the Notion journal anywhere Notion runs	Any browser
Who needs your credentials?	Nobody; it reads a logged-in terminal	Often a login, an investor password or an EA
What if your PC is off?	No new trades are collected until it is on	Depends on the sync method
Which platforms?	One at a time, here MT5 on Windows	Often many

Neither approach is better for everyone. A web journal is more flexible; a local app holds fewer of your details. If you trade on one PC with MT5, the local approach is usually enough. If you review on a tablet at weekends, the Notion side covers that.

A privacy checklist for any desktop app

Does it ask for any password, and if so which one and why?
Does it send your data to its own server, or only to a service you control?
Can it place trades, or is it read-only?
What does it write to disk, and can you find and delete it?
What happens to your data if you uninstall it?

For this app, the answers are: it never asks for a broker password, your trades stay on your own PC (and go to your own Notion workspace only if you connect it), never through our servers, it is read-only, and your journal stays yours if you stop using it. Notion is a cloud service, so protect that account with a strong password and two-step verification.

Before you buy any journal, run the trial properly

Install it on the PC where you trade and log in to MT5.
Set it up with a real account or a demo account, whichever you are comfortable with.
Close a trade and check that it appears with the right numbers.
Add a note to a trade and check that it survives the next sync.
Decide on day seven, not before, whether it saved you time.

The setup guide shows each step, and the no-subscription guide explains the one-time price.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a trading journal app for Windows?

Yes. AI Trading Journal is a Windows 10 and 11 desktop app that reads your MetaTrader 5 trades and saves them in your own journal on your PC (with an optional copy in your own Notion workspace) automatically.

Does a desktop journal need an internet connection?

Not for the journal itself: reading your MT5 terminal and saving to your PC are local. Only the license check and the optional Notion copy need an internet connection.

Is AI Trading Journal free?

It has a free 7-day trial of the full app, then costs $19.99 once. There is no subscription.

Does it work on Mac?

No. It runs on Windows 10 and 11 only.

Related guides

Download the 7-day free trial for Windows

Free for 7 days, no card required. After that, a one-time $19.99 purchase. No subscription. Also on the Microsoft Store.

One-time $19.99, no monthly fee · your MT5 login never leaves your PC · trades go into your own journal on your PC, not through our servers.

Start free 7-day trial