Signal Share vs Webhooks
Webhooks and Signal Share solve the same outer problem: get a trade onto a NinjaTrader account based on something that happened elsewhere. The result on the receiving NinjaTrader is the same in both cases. Everything upstream of that order is different.
Side by side
| Aspect | Webhook | Signal Share |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | An external system sends an alert to your CrossTrade webhook URL | A fill on the broadcaster's source account |
| Originator | Anything that can hit a URL (TradingView, a custom script, an AI agent) | A live NinjaTrader account on someone's NT8 |
| Message format | Free-form text alert that CrossTrade parses | Structured order event emitted by the broadcaster's NinjaTrader |
| Reach | One account | Any number of receivers, each on their own NinjaTrader and account |
| Position sync | Not part of the model. Each alert is one instruction. | Optional. The broadcaster can ship "where my position should be" along with the order. |
| Plan tier | Open to every plan for webhook trading; Pro for richer alerting features | Elite to broadcast (open to every plan during the beta); any plan can receive |
| Required add-on | Any current version | v1.13.0 or later |
When to reach for each
Use webhooks when
- The trigger lives outside NinjaTrader (a TradingView indicator, a custom script, a third-party signal provider, an AI agent).
- You are dispatching to one user's account.
- You want CrossTrade to parse a text alert, substitute accounts, enforce trading windows, and so on.
Use Signal Share when
- The trigger is the order itself, on a real NinjaTrader account.
- You want to mirror that activity to many receivers at once, each on their own NinjaTrader and account.
- You want the broadcaster to control how strictly receivers must stay in sync, not just send one-off orders.
Can they coexist?
Yes. On the broadcaster side, the Share Webhook Signals option on a broadcast source picks up fills that came from a webhook. So a webhook can drive the broadcaster's NinjaTrader, which in turn broadcasts to receivers. The webhook trade is the source of truth; the broadcast is a downstream propagation of it.
On the receiver side, your NinjaTrader does not care where an instruction came from. Webhook trades, Signal Share signals, manual fills, and AI-driven orders all run through the same order pipeline and meet the same protections.
What Signal Share is not
Signal Share is not the Trade Copier. The Copier runs inside one NinjaTrader and copies between accounts that share that NT8 instance, with no network involved. Signal Share copies between NinjaTrader instances. Use the Copier when both accounts live in the same NT8; use Signal Share when they do not.