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Trading indicators
Supertrend Indicator: ATR Bands, Flips and Custom Versions
The Supertrend indicator is a trend-following overlay on price. It uses basic bands set around a source price, the bar midpoint in TradingView and TA-Lib, plus or minus a multiplier times Average True Range (ATR). The line follows the lower band in an uptrend and the upper band in a downtrend, and it flips when the close crosses it.
In brief
What is the Supertrend indicator?
Supertrend is a trailing line built from ATR bands around a source price. Here is the formula, why implementations differ, a worked example and where the line lags.
Key takeaways
- Supertrend starts from a source price. TradingView and TA-Lib use the bar midpoint, (high + low) / 2, while cTrader uses the average of the highest and lowest prices over the period. Either way, the bands add or subtract a multiplier times ATR.
- TA-Lib and cTrader state defaults of 10 for the ATR length and 3 for the multiplier. The TradingView support article leaves both as user inputs.
- The final bands are carried forward from bar to bar, so each band moves in one direction until a close breaks through it.
- Implementations differ in the source price, the ATR settings and how flips are read, so record the settings before you compare two charts.
- Supertrend describes past closes. It lags turning points, can flip repeatedly in ranges and does not forecast price.
How the Supertrend indicator is built
The Supertrend indicator is a trailing line drawn on the price chart. It is built from two bands, one above a source price and one below it. Each band sits a distance equal to a multiplier times the Average True Range (ATR). The indicator is credited to Olivier Seban, who is named as the creator in the TradingView support article, the TA-Lib documentation and the cTrader help page.
At any moment the line is one of the two bands. In an uptrend it follows the lower band, and in a downtrend it follows the upper band. When a close crosses the active band, the trend state changes and the line moves to the other side of price. This guide calls that change a flip. The average true range guide explains how ATR is measured. This page uses ATR only to set the width of the bands.
Supertrend formula: the basic bands
The basic bands use three inputs: the source price, the ATR value and the multiplier. The reference formulas are set out below.
- Source price, TradingView and TA-Lib: the bar midpoint, (High + Low) / 2
- Source price, cTrader: the average of the highest and lowest prices over the period
- Basic upper band: source price + (multiplier x ATR)
- Basic lower band: source price - (multiplier x ATR)
The TradingView article names the midpoint hl2 and the ATR lookback atrLength, and it gives the same three formulas. TA-Lib calls the ATR period TimePeriod and gives a default of 10. The cTrader help page uses the same band structure with the period average in place of the midpoint. The multiplier default in both TA-Lib and cTrader is 3. The TradingView article states no defaults, so its values are whatever the user sets.
Final bands, the line and the flip
The basic bands are not drawn exactly as calculated. Each band is carried forward from bar to bar, so it moves in one direction until a close breaks through it. The rules below follow the TradingView and TA-Lib descriptions.
- Upper band: takes the new basic upper band if that value is below the previous upper band, or if the previous close was above the previous upper band. Otherwise it keeps the previous upper band.
- Lower band: takes the new basic lower band if that value is above the previous lower band, or if the previous close was below the previous lower band. Otherwise it keeps the previous lower band.
- Plotted line: in an uptrend the line equals the lower band. In a downtrend it equals the upper band.
- Flip: in a downtrend the trend turns up when the close moves above the upper band. In an uptrend it turns down when the close falls below the lower band.
Some platforms colour the line green in an uptrend and red in a downtrend, as the TradingView article describes. The colour is a display choice. The trend state, which follows from the close and the carried bands, is what the flip depends on.
Supertrend worked example: upper and lower basic band
This is an Example. The prices, ATR value and multiplier are chosen to make the arithmetic easy to check. They are not taken from a market or an RTX5 feature.
| Item | Calculation | Example value |
|---|---|---|
| Bar midpoint, TradingView and TA-Lib form | (110.00 + 100.00) / 2 | 105.00 |
| ATR offset | 3 x 4.00 | 12.00 |
| Basic upper band | 105.00 + 12.00 | 117.00 |
| Basic lower band | 105.00 - 12.00 | 93.00 |
Example only. The bar has a high of 110.00 and a low of 100.00, the ATR length is 10 and the ATR value is 4.00, and the multiplier is 3. The midpoint is the TradingView and TA-Lib form.
Carry-forward example. On the next bar, suppose the previous upper band was 115.00 and the previous close was 113.00. The new basic upper band of 117.00 is not below 115.00, and the previous close did not close above 115.00. The upper band therefore stays at 115.00.
Flip example. Suppose the trend is down and the line is the upper band at 115.00. If the next close is 116.20, it is above 115.00, so the trend flips up. The line then follows the lower band.
Why Supertrend implementations differ
The three cited references use the same three-part structure, but they do not state the same source price or inputs. A charting platform can also add its own settings. The table lists what each reference states.
| Reference | Source price | ATR length default | Multiplier default | ATR smoothing | Flip rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TradingView support | hl2, the bar midpoint | Input atrLength; default not stated | Input multiplier; default not stated | Not stated on the page | Close above the upper band, or below the lower band |
| TA-Lib SuperTrend | Median price, (High + Low) / 2 | 10 (TimePeriod) | 3 | The period is the smoothing length of ATR | Close falls below Lower in an uptrend; close rises above Upper in a downtrend |
| cTrader built-in Supertrend | Average of the highest and lowest prices over the period | 10 periods | 3 | Not stated on the page | Price crossing the line, read as buy and sell signals |
Verified on 10 November 2026 from the three pages linked in the first section. Defaults are shown as each reference states them.
The source price differs most clearly in cTrader, which describes an average over a period rather than the midpoint of a single bar. ATR smoothing is the least clear point. The TA-Lib page ties the ATR period to smoothing, but none of the cited pages say whether ATR is a simple, exponential or Wilder average. Ask your platform before comparing two charts.
Limits of the Supertrend indicator
- Lag: the line changes only after a close crosses a band, so a turning point is confirmed after price has already moved.
- Ranges: in a sideways market, price can cross a band several times, and each crossing is a flip.
- Volatility: the bands use ATR, so they widen when volatility rises. The line can then sit a long way from price.
- Settings: a change to the ATR length or the multiplier changes every flip. Results from one setting do not carry over to another.
- Scope: the indicator describes past closes. It does not forecast price, and this page gives no win rate or performance figure.
For a second view of trend direction, compare Supertrend with the Parabolic SAR guide and the Donchian and Keltner channels guide.
Custom Supertrend versions: what to record
Charting platforms often let users change the source price, the ATR settings, the multiplier and the flip rule. Each change produces a different line, so the name Supertrend alone does not identify the calculation.
- The source price, whether a bar midpoint, a period average or another value
- The ATR length and the smoothing method, where the platform states one
- The multiplier
- The flip rule, and the price that triggers it
Write these inputs beside any chart, backtest or screenshot you share, so another reader can check the calculation. This guide does not describe a particular custom build and does not offer to create one.
Check your settings before you compare
Before you read a flip on your own chart, open the indicator settings and note the source price, ATR length and multiplier. Then read the trendline guide to compare the line with a drawn trend. Use the same settings on every chart you compare, and do not treat a flip as a prediction.
Risk disclosure
- Supertrend describes past price action. It does not forecast price, and a flip does not confirm that a reversal has happened.
- The line lags turning points. By the time a flip appears, price may already have moved sharply.
- In a range the line can flip repeatedly. Trading every flip can mean many small losses.
- Results depend on the ATR length, the multiplier, the source price and the smoothing method. Record these before you compare charts or platforms.
- This page is educational and is not personal financial advice. Trading can lose money, and the Example numbers are illustrative only.
RTX5 status
This guide explains the Supertrend indicator in general and does not describe an RTX5 feature. No RTX5 release record confirms which indicators, chart types or alerts the product includes. Its Windows desktop client is in preview, and the web and mobile clients are planned. A Google Play listing for Android is published, but the mobile client has no approved release record yet; check the product-availability record before relying on any RTX5 feature.
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How this research was prepared
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Primary references
Sources were checked on 10 November 2026. They explain market rules and concepts; they do not certify RTX5 or provide individual financial advice.
TradingView support: SupertrendGives hl2 as the source price, the basic band formulas, the carried upper and lower band rules and the trend flip rule. Names Olivier Seban as the creator. Does not state default values for the ATR length or multiplier. Gives no date for the indicator's origin. Checked 10 November 2026.TA-Lib: SuperTrendGives a default time period of 10 and a multiplier of 3, the median price and basic band formulas, the carried band rules and the trend rules. Says the period is the ATR smoothing length. Attributes the indicator to Olivier Seban. Gives no year or date for the indicator's origin. Checked 10 November 2026.cTrader help: SupertrendGives defaults of 10 periods and a multiplier of 3, the average-based upper and lower band formulas, and the buy and sell signals from price crossing the line. Names Olivier Seban as the developer. Says the indicator was introduced in the early 2000s. Does not explain bar-to-bar band adjustment. Checked 10 November 2026.RTX5 product availabilityRTX5 status record. Use it to check which RTX5 products and clients are live before relying on any feature.
Questions readers ask
What is the Supertrend formula?
The basic bands are a source price plus and minus a multiplier times ATR. In TradingView and TA-Lib the source price is the bar midpoint, (high + low) / 2. cTrader uses the average of the highest and lowest prices over the period. The final bands are carried forward. The upper band can move down, or reset up only after a close above it, and the lower band can move up, or reset down only after a close below it. The plotted line follows the lower band in an uptrend and the upper band in a downtrend.
What are the default Supertrend settings?
TA-Lib and cTrader both state an ATR length of 10 and a multiplier of 3. The TradingView support article does not state defaults and leaves the ATR length and multiplier as inputs. Check the values on your own platform before comparing results, because a different setting produces a different line.
Who created the Supertrend indicator?
The TradingView, TA-Lib and cTrader references all name Olivier Seban as the creator or developer. The cTrader help page says the indicator was introduced in the early 2000s. The TradingView and TA-Lib pages give no date, so this guide does not verify that date. TA-Lib lists a book by Olivier Seban, Tout le monde mérite d'être riche (Maxima), with no year, so this guide cites no year for the indicator.
Does a Supertrend flip mean a trade signal?
No. A flip shows that a close has crossed the active band and the trend state has changed. The cTrader page describes crossings as buy and sell signals, but a flip describes past closes only. It does not show that a trade will work, and this guide gives no win rate.
How does changing the multiplier affect Supertrend?
The multiplier scales the ATR offset from the source price. Because a higher multiplier places the bands further from price, a close needs a larger move to cross them, so flips can be less frequent and later. A lower multiplier keeps the bands closer and can produce more flips in a range. This follows from the basic band formula and is not a test result.
Can Supertrend be used on any market?
The formula needs high, low and close prices, so the calculation can be applied wherever those values exist. Its behaviour still depends on the instrument's volatility, the bar data your platform uses and the ATR settings. Read the chart with those inputs in mind, and treat the line as a description of past prices.
Keep learning
Average true rangeHow ATR is measured, and why it sets the width of the Supertrend bands.Parabolic SARAnother trailing indicator that sits on price and changes side at a reversal point.Donchian vs Keltner channelsHow two channel indicators differ in their width and in the price data they use.How to draw trendlinesA manual method for comparing price with a trend, to read beside a trailing line.