What Kyra is
A privacy-first trading journal for iOS focused on equities. Pattern detection runs on-device. Every pattern shows its sample size and an uncertainty range — the four tiers (Tracking, Emerging, Developing, Established) sharpen as your history grows, so claims stay honest about how much evidence supports them. Primary buyer: a retail self-executor who wants the gap between strategy and execution made visible. $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr after a 7-day trial.
What Trade Buddy is
Trade Buddy is a multi-asset journal for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro covering forex, crypto, stocks, futures, options, and gold. It pairs manual logging and screenshot import from MT4, MT5, TradingView, and other platforms with an "AI Coach," win/loss streak tracking on the calendar, and iCloud sync (per its listing). Its release notes say its XP, quests, achievements, and levels were removed in version 2.1.3 to keep the focus on trades and decisions; earlier versions, including the one we reviewed hands-on in May 2026, shipped that full progression system. It requires no account, and its App Store privacy label says the developer does not collect data. Pricing on the listing (2026-09-05) spans nine SKUs: $1.99/week, $2.99–$9.99/month, $24.99 or $39.99/year, and a $99.99 lifetime unlock.
How they compare
| Dimension | Kyra | Trade Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | On-device + iCloud user-private sync | Local + iCloud sync |
| Account required | No | No |
| Streaks and rewards | None | Win/loss streak tracking on the calendar; XP and quests removed in v2.1.3 |
| Pattern approach | Sample-size-gated statistical inference; n and uncertainty range shown | AI Coach analyses (emotional cycle, consistency, edge decay, per its release notes); no sample size shown (May 2026 review) |
| AI recommendations | No (not a recommendation engine) | In the version we reviewed (May 2026), a coach card recommended focusing on a specific currency pair |
| Trade import | No (manual / CSV) | Screenshot import from MT4, MT5, TradingView, and other platforms (per listing) |
| Asset classes | Equities and single-leg options | Forex, crypto, stocks, futures, options, gold |
| Platforms | iOS | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro |
| Pricing | $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr | $1.99/wk to $39.99/yr across nine listed SKUs; $99.99 lifetime |
Who should pick which
Pick Trade Buddy if:
- You want multi-asset support and trade import from your platform
- You want iPad, Mac, or Vision Pro coverage
- An AI coach that comments on your trades and a streak on the calendar keep you logging
- You prefer a lifetime option or the lowest entry price
Pick Kyra if:
- You want a journal with no streaks and nothing that rewards you for winning
- You want patterns gated by sample size, with the evidence shown on each card
- You want the journal to stay an observer, not a coach that comments on your next trade
The trade-off
Trade Buddy offers a lifetime unlock and lower entry prices, covers more asset classes and platforms, and imports from more sources. If you need any of those, they are real advantages.
The deliberate difference is the coach and the streak. Trade Buddy's AI coach comments on your trades and its calendar tracks streaks; Kyra ships neither, on purpose. Kyra's view is that a journal's value is the honesty of its record, so it keeps rewards and verdicts out of it: the engine reads what is in your history and reports it with a sample size, and nothing else. The reasoning is in the manifesto.
Trade Buddy details reflect its App Store listing as checked on 2026-09-05, plus a hands-on review in May 2026 where noted. Features and pricing change; verify current details with the developer. Kyra details reflect v1.7.
Download Kyra on the App Store · Principles · Pattern detection · Compare to other journals
