Zerodha TradingView ChartIQ Kite

Kite TradingView vs ChartIQ engine

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 19 May 2026. Reading time ~5 min.

Zerodha Kite offers two charting engines: TradingView and ChartIQ. Both are third-party charting libraries licensed by Zerodha and embedded in Kite web and Kite app. ChartIQ was the original default; TradingView was added later and is now widely preferred by Kite users for its richer indicator and drawing library.

This article compares the two engines on feature parity, performance, and use-case suitability for Indian retail traders.

Brief history on Kite

ChartIQ has been Kite’s charting engine since Kite’s initial launch in 2015. TradingView’s library was added to Kite around 2020 to give users access to TradingView’s substantially larger indicator and drawing inventory. Both engines are available on Kite web and Kite app via a toolbar toggle.

Feature parity

Indicators

TradingView ships with 100+ built-in indicators on the Kite-embedded library (the full standalone TradingView library has 200+, but the embedded version trims some). ChartIQ provides ~50 indicators, focused on the most common (Moving Averages, RSI, MACD, Bollinger, Supertrend, VWAP, Volume).

For typical Indian retail strategies (price-action + Supertrend / VWAP / RSI / MACD), both engines cover the basics. For uncommon studies (e.g., Ichimoku Cloud variants, custom Anchored VWAP, exotic oscillators), TradingView wins.

Drawing tools

TradingView’s drawing library is materially larger:

Trend lines, channels, rays.
Fibonacci retracements, extensions, fans, time zones, arc.
Elliott Wave tools.
Gann fans, boxes.
XABCD harmonic patterns.
Text, annotations, icons.
Brushes.

ChartIQ’s drawing library covers the basics (lines, channels, Fibonacci retracements, text) but with less polish.

Chart types

Both engines support candlestick, OHLC bar, line, area, Heikin Ashi, and Renko. TradingView additionally supports Kagi, Point & Figure, Hollow Candles, and Equivolume. See Kite chart types explained .

Saving layouts and drawings

Both engines support saving chart settings, drawings, and indicator templates. Persistence works across sessions when the user is logged into Kite. Each engine maintains its own saved-layouts namespace; you cannot import a ChartIQ layout into TradingView or vice versa.

Trade From Charts (TFC)

Both engines support TFC: clicking the chart to place an order at the clicked price level. The UX for order placement, modification, and cancellation directly from the chart is similar across both engines.

Performance

TradingView

Slightly heavier client-side rendering (vector-heavy drawings, more indicators loaded).
Smooth performance on modern browsers; can lag on low-spec Android devices.
Web Workers used for indicator computation; reduces UI blocking.

ChartIQ

Lighter footprint; faster initial load.
Performant on lower-spec devices.
Older codebase; rendering can feel less polished.

For most users on modern devices, the performance gap is negligible. For traders running 4-6 charts simultaneously, TradingView consumes more memory.

Indian retail trader preference

Anecdotally and in Zerodha’s published support content, TradingView is the more popular engine among active traders for its drawing breadth and feature richness. ChartIQ remains the default for some Kite versions and for users who prefer the lighter UX.

When to choose ChartIQ

You’re a beginner who values simplicity over feature breadth.
You’re on a low-spec mobile device where every MB of RAM matters.
You’ve built your workflow around ChartIQ’s saved layouts and drawings (no migration path).
You use only the basic indicator set.

When to choose TradingView

You need indicator breadth (Anchored VWAP, exotic studies, custom volatility indicators).
You use Fibonacci tools extensively (retracements + extensions + fans + arcs + time zones).
You draw Elliott Wave, Gann, or XABCD harmonic patterns.
You want chart types not in ChartIQ (Kagi, P&F, Equivolume).

Switching between engines

In Kite, the engine selector is in the chart toolbar (the settings / gear icon). Switching engines re-renders the current chart in the new engine. Drawings and layouts are engine-specific; switching engines does not migrate your work.

TradingView library version

The version of TradingView Kite uses is the embedded TradingView Charting Library (not the full TradingView.com web product). Some features available on TradingView.com (such as TradingView Pine Script alerts, social features, screener) are not present in the Kite-embedded version.

ChartIQ version

Kite uses ChartIQ version 7-8 series across its products. ChartIQ 8 added improved theming and additional chart types versus ChartIQ 7. See ChartIQ 8 features overview .

Both engines are licensed via Zerodha

Both libraries are paid commercial products. Zerodha licenses them; users do not pay separately. Both work on Kite web and Kite app for all account types.

External references

References

Zerodha support documentation on Kite charting engines.
TradingView Charting Library documentation.
ChartIQ version 8 documentation.

Reviewed and published by

WebNotes Editorial Team

The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

Last reviewed: 19 May 2026
Conflicts of interest: WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.