Free channel or paid VIP: what the money buys
Most signal brands run a free channel and sell a paid VIP group. The pitch is that the free channel is a sample and the real trades are behind the paywall. We measured both sides.
How the VIPs were measured
Exactly like the free channels: every signal entered at the price a follower could get the minute after we received it, closed at the first target or the stop, spread and commission included, and compared with random entries at the same times. Post times are when we received each signal, so a member may have seen some a little earlier. VIP pages show the verdict and the numbers; the signals themselves are the channel's paid content and are not republished.
Free channel against its own VIP
We linked 59 paid VIPs to a free channel with the same name or listed by the same brand (we have not confirmed that the same people run both). In 20 pairs both sides post at least 50 signals a follower could take before the outcome. The VIP did better than its free channel in 5 of 20.
So in most pairs, paying did not buy better trades than the free channel already showed.
Why a VIP can look better than it is
- Screenshots of wins. The free channel shows the VIP's winning trades after they close. The losers are not shown again.
- Win rate without the stop. "37 wins this week" can sit on top of a stop four times the size of the target (see the win-rate trap).
- Prices a follower never got. Results counted from the posted price rather than the price a member could actually fill at a little later.
Before paying for a VIP
Ask for every signal from one full month, losers included, with the time each was sent. Work out the win rate it needs from its stops and targets. If a channel will not show that, its results cannot be checked. Members can see each VIP we have measured side by side with its free channel.