BTU Pricing
Backtest Units (BTUs) are the platform's usage currency. Each backtest consumes BTUs based on the computational complexity of the run.
What are BTUs?
BTUs (Backtest Units) are the internal currency of the BacktestLM platform. Every time you run a backtest, screener, or analysis, the operation consumes a number of BTUs proportional to the computational resources required.
BTUs are included in your plan each month and can be purchased separately if you need additional capacity. Unused BTUs on paid plans roll over.
What determines BTU cost?
BTU cost scales with the amount of data the engine must process. The primary factors are:
A 10-ticker backtest costs roughly 10× a single-ticker backtest at the same interval and period.
1-minute data has ~390 bars per trading day vs. 1 bar for daily. A 1m backtest over the same period costs significantly more than a 1D backtest.
10 years of data costs roughly 2× a 5-year backtest at the same interval.
Walk-forward with 5 cycles costs roughly 5× the base backtest, since each cycle runs a full optimization.
A grid search testing 100 parameter combinations costs roughly 100× the base backtest.
Reading a chart image to extract a strategy adds a fixed BTU cost on top of the backtest cost.
How to estimate BTU cost before running
The platform shows an estimated BTU cost before you confirm a run. Use this to plan your usage. As a general guide:
- •Single-ticker daily backtest, 5 years: low BTU cost
- •Single-ticker 1-hour backtest, 5 years: moderate BTU cost
- •Single-ticker 1-minute backtest, 1 year: high BTU cost
- •10-ticker daily backtest with walk-forward (5 cycles): high BTU cost
- •Grid search (50 combinations) on daily data, 5 years: high BTU cost
Tips for optimizing BTU usage
- Start with daily data — validate the strategy logic on daily bars first. Only move to lower timeframes once the daily version shows a real edge.
- Narrow your grid search range — test a coarse grid (e.g., steps of 10) first, then refine around the best region.
- Use the AI chat to refine before re-running — discuss changes with the AI before committing to a new full backtest run.
- Save promising strategies — use the heart icon to save strategies you want to revisit, avoiding re-running the same setup.
- Run Monte Carlo after a good backtest — not before. Monte Carlo adds cost; only run it on strategies that pass the initial qualitative and quantitative checks.
Viewing your BTU balance
Your current BTU balance is visible in your account settings. The balance updates after each run. Monthly plan BTUs reset on your billing date. Purchased BTUs are added to your balance immediately after payment.