CrossTrade is the established automation suite for NinjaTrader 8. PitBridge is a local-first guardrail bridge. They overlap on exactly one job, connecting an AI agent to NinjaTrader 8, and they make opposite architectural choices about it. This page lays those out with sourced facts, including the ones that favor CrossTrade.
CrossTrade began as a TradingView to NinjaTrader webhook bridge and grew into a broad hosted suite: alerts, a trade copier, an account manager, a REST API, a hosted Windows VPS, and since mid 2026 a hosted MCP server that lets Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP client drive NinjaTrader 8. The MCP server sits on its Elite plan at $99 per month ($949 per year) and runs in CrossTrade's cloud at app.crosstrade.io (crosstrade.io/pricing, verified ).
PitBridge targets a narrower job. It is a local-first bridge whose reason to exist is the guardrail engine: a deterministic layer between the agent and NinjaTrader 8 that refuses any order breaking the limits you set, before the order leaves your machine. The MCP server is free and local. You pay when you unlock live execution, not to speak the protocol.
Their MCP safety is prompt instructions. Ours is a deterministic engine outside the model.
That sentence is the honest core of the difference. CrossTrade's own MCP guide tells you to grant the mcp:trade scope only to agents you trust and to "always start your prompts with a safety frame" (crosstrade.io/mcp-trading, verified ). That is safety the model is asked to follow. PitBridge's limits run in code the model cannot reach: no tool weakens a limit, releases the kill switch, or arms live, and that is tested against prompt injection, not just asserted.
A missing feature on either side is a design choice, not a mark against it. Rows state what each product does; the two "no" rows for PitBridge are real losses if those features are your job.
| Property | CrossTrade | PitBridge |
|---|---|---|
| MCP access and price | Hosted MCP server on the Elite plan: $99 per month or $949 per year. Standard is $29 and Pro is $49, without MCP. | MCP is free in the open core, served locally over stdio. Pro ($49 per month) buys live execution, not MCP access. |
| Order path | Cloud in the loop: the MCP endpoint is app.crosstrade.io, and agent instructions route through CrossTrade's servers to the add-on in NinjaTrader 8. | Local only: agent to daemon to add-on, on machines you own. No PitBridge server can sit in the order route. |
| Guardrail enforcement on the agent path | OAuth scopes (mcp:read, mcp:trade) plus safety instructions written into the agent's prompt. Its own guide says to start prompts with a safety frame. | A deterministic engine outside the model: 12 default-on rules in the daemon, with no agent tool to weaken a limit, un-kill, or arm live. Tested against prompt injection. |
| Audit trail | Trade journal and account monitoring. Its docs describe no tamper-evident audit log on the MCP path. | Append-only, hash-chained audit log of every decision. pitbridge audit verify proves the chain is intact. |
| Open source | Proprietary. You cannot read the code that handles your orders. | Apache-2.0 open core: daemon, guardrail engine, and audit log are public. The live provider and rule packs are paid closed plugins. |
| Mac support | Web dashboard works from any OS; the add-on and NinjaTrader 8 run on Windows. A hosted Windows VPS is offered. | The daemon runs natively on macOS, Windows, or Linux. Paired mode: daemon on your Mac, add-on next to NinjaTrader 8 on Windows, over your own network. |
| NinjaScript authoring | Yes, and it is genuinely strong: the agent writes NinjaScript, compiles it, backtests through NT8's actual Strategy Analyzer, optimizes, and deploys. | No. PitBridge ships no NinjaScript authoring, backtesting, or strategy deployment. If that loop is your job, CrossTrade does it and we do not. |
| TradingView webhooks | Yes, a mature ecosystem: webhook alerts, Strategy Sync, and alert routing on every plan. | No. PitBridge has no TradingView integration. The agent is the signal source, not webhooks. |
| Tradovate | Yes, in beta: a cloud Tradovate destination is included with every plan, no desktop add-on needed. | No. NinjaTrader 8 is the only platform today; further platforms are demand-driven on the roadmap. |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly tiers: $29, $49, $99. Not per-trade. 7-day trial. | Free open core (paper and read-only). Pro $49 per month or $470 per year; founder price $39 locked for life for the first 100 accounts. |
CrossTrade
PitBridge
What CrossTrade has that PitBridge does not:
What PitBridge has that CrossTrade does not:
You want a broad, hosted toolkit. You run TradingView alerts, you want your agent to write and backtest NinjaScript in the real NT8 engine, you like a ready Chicago VPS, and you are comfortable with a hosted AI bridge you do not operate yourself. Breadth and a managed cloud are the point.
You want an AI agent on NinjaTrader 8 with the order route and your keys on your own machine, hard limits enforced in code the agent cannot prompt its way around, an audit log that proves what happened, and an MCP that costs nothing until real money is at stake. Control of the order path is the point.
The deciding question is where you want the order path and the risk checks to live. If you want reach across signals, strategy authoring, and a hosted bridge, CrossTrade is built for that and charges $99 per month for the MCP part. If you want a local-first order route and guardrails enforced outside the model, that is what PitBridge is for, and the MCP part is free. The two are not mutually exclusive, and neither one promises an outcome for your account.
Both, in a specific way. CrossTrade installs an add-on inside NinjaTrader 8 on your machine, and instructions route through CrossTrade's cloud to reach it. Its MCP server is explicitly hosted: AI clients connect to app.crosstrade.io. Execution lands locally while the control path passes through their cloud. PitBridge keeps both on your machines.
As of 2026-07-09: Standard $29 per month ($279 per year), Pro $49 ($469), Elite $99 ($949). The MCP server is exclusive to Elite. Source: crosstrade.io/pricing. Pricing changes; verify before deciding.
Yes. CrossTrade offers a hosted MCP server on its $99 Elite plan. PitBridge offers a free local MCP server inside a daemon you run. Both let an MCP client reach NinjaTrader 8. The differences are where the MCP server lives, what the safety layer is made of, and what you pay for it.
Real things: the agent-driven NinjaScript write, compile, backtest, optimize, deploy loop against a real NT8 install, TradingView webhooks, a trade copier, a hosted VPS, and Tradovate in beta. PitBridge is deliberately a narrow safety layer and ships none of that.
Not exactly. They aim at different jobs. CrossTrade is a broad hosted automation suite. PitBridge is a narrow local-first layer whose whole purpose is guardrails the order pipeline cannot skip. Some traders could reasonably run both.
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