In simple English
This tool draws charts for stock and crypto prices. It is fast enough to show hundreds of thousands of data points at once. You do not need to spend hours configuring colors, scales, or zoom settings. It is meant for people who write Python scripts to test trading ideas. You need to know basic Python to make it work.
What it is
Finplot is an open-source Python library built on top of pyqtgraph (a library for fast data plotting in Python). It renders candlestick charts, volume profiles, and trade indicators with low memory use.
What it is good for
Solo builders and traders who need to draw price charts quickly in a desktop window and test trading strategies without the lag of web-based charting tools.
- Handles large datasets with hundreds of thousands of points smoothly.
- Comes with sensible defaults so you write less boilerplate code.
- Supports real-time updates and multiple synchronized time axes.
- Does not work inside Jupyter notebooks.
- Requires a local Python environment and desktop display, not a web app.
- Small community maintenance means you might fix edge cases yourself.
mpl_finance or Plotly for local financial charts
yfinance
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source venv/bin/activate pip install finplot