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For a free spreadsheet trading journal, choose by what you want to review—not by the biggest dashboard. Exhibit A emphasizes setups and monthly review; Actal adds weekly reviews and rule-adherence tracking; Traders Casa and TapeSheet foreground performance metrics; TradingJournal.com offers a Google Sheets copy and Excel download; Traders Make Money lists Sheets, Excel, and Notion versions. These are provider-described features, not a hands-on test or a universal ranking.
Free trading journal templates compared
The table summarizes each provider’s stated format, access route, and distinguishing review features. Availability and access conditions can change, so confirm them on the linked provider page before downloading.
| Provider | Format and access described | What the provider says it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Exhibit A | 43 KB XLSX; page says no email required. Use in Excel or Numbers, or import into Google Sheets. | Setup, trades taken, missed setups, monthly review, and a read-me tab; review tools include results by rule adherence and setup rankings. |
| Traders Casa | XLSX and CSV; page says no email, account, or card required. Lists Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice compatibility. | Journal, dashboard, plan, and lists; stated metrics include win rate, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown, and R, with mistake review. |
| Actal | XLSX; page says no email required. Use in Excel or import into Google Sheets. | Five tabs for skipped setups, rule adherence, grades, mistakes, notes, and lessons, plus a weekly review and dashboard. |
| TapeSheet | XLSX; page says no signup or email required. Lists Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, and Numbers compatibility. | 18 columns and 500 rows of formulas; summary metrics include win rate, profit factor, expectancy, R, and peak-to-trough closed-trade drawdown. |
| TradingJournal.com | Google Sheets copy and Excel download; page describes email delivery. | 15 fields and automatic calculations for P&L, R multiple, win rate, profit factor, and average winner versus loser. |
| Traders Make Money | Notion, Google Sheets, and Excel versions; page describes free copies or downloads. | Trades and dashboard tabs, with P&L, win rate, and R multiple; its Excel description notes offline use. |
Choose a template by the review you will actually do
A journal earns its place when you enter trades consistently and use the records to answer a specific question. More fields are not automatically better: a detailed workbook can become busywork if you do not maintain it.
- To examine setups and missed opportunities: Exhibit A describes tracking setups taken and missed, then reviewing monthly results and rule adherence.
- To review process and mistakes: Actal describes fields for skipped setups, rule adherence, grades, mistakes, notes, and lessons, with a weekly review.
- To focus on performance summaries: Traders Casa and TapeSheet describe dashboards with several common trading metrics. TradingJournal.com and Traders Make Money also describe automatic calculations and summary views.
Before settling on one, decide whether you want to record outcomes alone or also capture the setup, rule-following, missed trades, mistakes, or lessons. Pick a workbook whose fields support that review and that you can fill in reliably.
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Check the access workflow before you download
“Free” does not guarantee the same route to a file. Exhibit A, Traders Casa, Actal, and TapeSheet describe direct downloads without an email requirement; TradingJournal.com describes email delivery. Traders Make Money describes free copies or downloads. These are statements on provider pages, not independent verification of the current file or access flow.
Also check whether you are getting an XLSX or CSV file, making a copy of a Google Sheet, or receiving a link by email. If offline use matters, Traders Make Money specifically describes its Excel version as usable offline.
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Import an XLSX workbook into Google Sheets
Several providers describe using Google Sheets’ import flow for XLSX workbooks. The exact import choice depends on whether you want to replace the open spreadsheet or add the workbook’s sheets to it.
- Open Google Sheets and choose File → Import → Upload.
- Select the downloaded XLSX file.
- Choose whether to replace the current spreadsheet or insert the imported sheets, according to the options Sheets presents.
- Inspect the converted workbook before entering live records: check formulas, dropdowns, formatting, and any example calculations.
Actal advises checking example calculations after import. Conversion can affect workbook behavior, so do not assume every formula or dropdown transferred correctly just because the tabs appear.
Set up the sheet without breaking its calculations
- Save an untouched copy before changing fields, formulas, or layout.
- Understand which cells are inputs and which contain formulas before removing sample data.
- Traders Casa specifically advises clearing cells rather than deleting rows in its journal; deleting rows can disrupt a workbook’s structure.
- Enter costs and planned risk consistently. A formula can only calculate from information you provide, and planned risk cannot safely be reconstructed after the fact.
What the dashboard metrics can—and cannot—tell you
Provider pages describe calculations such as realized P&L, R multiple, win rate, profit factor, expectancy, and drawdown. Definitions and assumptions may differ between workbooks, so inspect a template’s instructions and formulas before treating two dashboards as directly comparable.
TapeSheet describes its drawdown as peak-to-trough on closed trades. That measure may not show adverse price movement while a position is still open. TapeSheet also says planned risk is an input. More broadly, a spreadsheet dashboard is a summary of the data entered—not a forecast or proof that a strategy is profitable.
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When a spreadsheet may not fit your workflow
Manual entry is a meaningful trade-off if you want trades imported automatically, several accounts combined, or more extensive analysis. Provider pages describe those needs as reasons some readers may consider automated journaling tools, but they do not establish a universal point at which switching makes sense. Decide based on the time and review quality your current process requires.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is—and is not—established about these templates
The comparison reflects feature and access descriptions on provider pages, not an independent test of downloaded workbooks. It does not establish that one template is best for every market, trading style, or trader. Exhibit A’s founder, Martin Cargeeg, writes, “The spreadsheet did not fail me — the admin did,” in the context of explaining why he later built another product; that is his view, not a general finding about spreadsheet journals.
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Exhibit A’s page is dated 4 September 2026, and Actal’s page is marked updated 11 September 2026. The other provider pages consulted did not show a publication or update date in the available page extracts. Confirm current features and access terms directly with each provider.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
