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Chart analysis
Volume Profile vs Market Profile: Price by Volume and Price by Time
Volume profile is a histogram of the volume traded at each price over a chosen period, with a point of control and a value area. Market Profile, developed by J. Peter Steidlmayer, uses time-price opportunities (TPOs) instead: one mark per time period at each price. Both usually set the value area at 70%.
In brief
What is volume profile vs Market Profile?
Both tools show where price was accepted over a chosen window. Volume profile weights each price by the volume traded there, while Market Profile counts how many time periods visited it.
Key takeaways
- Volume profile sums the volume traded at each price level. Market Profile counts the time blocks that traded at each price, marked with TPO letters.
- Both tools use a point of control, the most active price, and a value area, the band around it that holds a set share, commonly 70%. TradingView stops the two calculations at different points, so the share held can differ.
- Volume profile depends on your platform's volume data. Market Profile depends on time-stamped prices and a block size, usually 30 minutes.
- Neither profile predicts price. Both describe one chosen window, and the result changes when the window, the block size or the settings change.
What volume profile measures
A volume profile, sometimes called volume by price, splits a chosen period into price levels and totals the volume traded at each one. The result is a horizontal histogram: a long bar marks a price where much traded, a short bar a price where little traded. It does not show the order of those trades or who placed them.
TradingView's support article defines the point of control as the price with the highest traded volume and builds the value area outward from it. It compares the next row above with the next row below, takes the larger, and includes it "if adding it does not exceed the remaining target volume". Otherwise: "If it would exceed the target, stop". For the basic volume count, read volume in trading.
What Market Profile measures: time-price opportunities
Market Profile, often shown as a TPO chart, does not weight prices by volume. It divides the profile period into equal time blocks, labels each block with a letter (A to Z, then a to z), and places that letter at every price traded during the block. It answers how many time periods traded at each price, not how much traded there.
TradingView's support article on time-price opportunity charts gives a default block of 30 minutes, and a value area that holds 70% of the TPOs by default. Its TPO indicator article credits J. Peter Steidlmayer with formulating the concept at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in the 1980s.
Its value-area procedure also starts at the point of control and adds the neighbouring row with more blocks, but it "Repeats steps four-six until the total number of VA blocks reaches the target". The last row added can therefore take the total past the target.
Volume profile and Market Profile compared
Both tools are built from the same price data but count different things, so their point of control can match while their sizes do not.
| Aspect | Volume profile | Market Profile (TPO) |
|---|---|---|
| What is counted | Volume traded at each price level | Time blocks (TPOs) in which each price traded |
| Data needed | Traded volume for the period, in the volume type your platform uses | Time-stamped prices and a chosen block size, usually 30 minutes |
| Point of control | The price level with the highest traded volume | The price level with the most TPOs |
| Value area | The band around the point of control holding a set share of volume, often 70% | The band around the point of control holding a set share of TPOs, default 70% |
| Typical use | Showing where volume concentrated in any chosen window of a chart | Showing the shape of a session by time spent at each price; TradingView says it has gained widespread acceptance in futures and commodity markets and is now widely used across all sectors |
| Main limits | Depends on the volume type your platform uses, as set out in the defaults table | Ignores how much volume traded; the shape changes with block size and period |
The first four rows follow the TradingView articles in the sources; the futures and commodities remark is from the TPO chart article. The other typical-use and limits entries describe general practice, not official definitions.
Worked example: one period, two profiles
This is an Example with invented numbers, not market data. One profile period covers six price levels, 101 to 106, and both profiles use the same levels.
| Price level | Volume (contracts) | TPO count (30-minute blocks) |
|---|---|---|
| 106 | 120 | 2 |
| 105 | 280 | 5 |
| 104 | 540 | 9 |
| 103 | 860 | 12 |
| 102 | 610 | 8 |
| 101 | 190 | 3 |
| Total | 2,600 | 39 |
Example figures only. The 30-minute block is the TradingView TPO default.
Volume profile (TradingView volume procedure). The point of control is 103, with 860 of 2,600 contracts. The 70% target is 0.70 x 2,600 = 1,820, so 960 remain after 103. Of 104 (540) and 102 (610), 102 is larger and fits, leaving 350. Next, 104 (540) beats 101 (190) but would exceed 350, so the value area is complete: 102 to 103, holding 1,470 contracts, or 56.5% of the total.
Market Profile (TradingView TPO procedure). The point of control is 103, with 12 of 39 TPOs. The target is 0.70 x 39 = 27.3. Of 104 (9) and 102 (8), 104 is added, giving 21. Of 105 (5) and 102 (8), 102 is added, giving 29, which reaches the target. The value area is 102 to 104, holding 29 TPOs, or 74.4%.
Reading the two results. The point of control is 103 in both, but the value areas differ, partly because of the stop rules: the volume procedure stops before overshooting, so it ends below 70%, while the TPO procedure ends above. With only six rows each step is large. The sizes are not comparable either: 860 contracts against 12 half-hour blocks. This example assumes a period of 12 thirty-minute blocks (A to L, 6 hours), with price trading at 103 in every block. The 39 TPOs count each block at each price it traded, so they are not 39 blocks of time. Neither result shows what price will do next.
Default settings and variants by source
Defaults differ by platform and source. The table records each with its source, and shows both where sources differ.
| Setting | Default or variant | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Value area, volume profile | 70% is typical; the article says the percentage is at the trader's discretion | TradingView Volume Profile support article |
| Value area, TPO | 70% default, set in the indicator inputs | TradingView TPO chart and TPO indicator articles |
| Value area stop rule | Volume profile: stop before a row that would exceed the remaining target. TPO: keep adding rows until the target is reached | TradingView Volume Profile and TPO indicator articles |
| TPO block size | 30 minutes default; 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or 1, 2 or 4 hours | TradingView TPO support article |
| Profile period | One day by default; can run for days, weeks or months | TradingView TPO support article |
| Volume by Price (StockCharts) | 12 bars by default, based on closing prices; highs and lows are omitted | StockCharts ChartSchool Volume by Price |
| Volume type | Trade volume for stocks; tick volume for indices, forex and crypto CFDs on TradingView | TradingView Volume Profile support article |
StockCharts Volume by Price is a different tool from a TradingView volume profile, so its 12 bars will not match other platforms. Two charts can both show a 70% value area and still differ in row count, block size, volume type and stop rule.
How traders read each profile
Volume profile is often read for where activity concentrated. A high-volume price is one where much volume traded, and a low-volume price is one where little traded. Traders often compare value area edges with earlier levels, such as support and resistance levels. These are ways of describing the chart, not rules that predict a result.
Market Profile is often read for its shape and for where the market was accepted. Practitioners describe whether a profile looks wide or narrow, and where the value area sits. These descriptions are subjective.
Limits of volume profile and Market Profile
- Past data only. Both profiles use past prices and describe a chosen window. They do not forecast the next move.
- Window choice matters. A one-day, one-week and one-month profile can give different points of control. Start and end times, block size and volume type all change the result.
- Data quality. Volume profile depends on the volume data your platform supplies. Market Profile depends on block size and on the session times your platform uses.
- No order flow. Neither profile shows order-book depth, who placed trades or why. That is a different data set, covered in the Level 2 trading guide.
Volume profile differs from an indicator such as Chaikin money flow, which summarises volume over a set period as a line rather than a price histogram.
Risk disclosure
- This guide is educational. It does not recommend a trade, a position size or a price level.
- Both profiles describe past prices in a chosen window. They are descriptions, not signals, and this guide does not claim that any setting works.
- A point of control or value area edge is not a support, resistance or target. Price can move through it or ignore it.
- Settings, time windows and data sources change the result. Check them before you compare two charts or act on a reading.
- Trading futures, forex and stocks carries a risk of loss, and leverage can increase losses. Read your broker's risk disclosures before trading.
RTX5 status
This guide explains volume profile and Market Profile 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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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: Volume ProfileExplains that volume profile sums the volume at each price level over a period, defines the point of control and value area, says the value area is typically set to 70%, and gives the value-area procedure that stops before a row would exceed the remaining target. Checked 10 November 2026.StockCharts ChartSchool: Volume by PriceStates that StockCharts displays 12 Volume-by-Price bars by default, builds them from closing prices with highs and lows omitted, and states that each bar shows total volume for its price zone. It also says the indicator can identify high-volume price ranges. Checked 10 November 2026.TradingView support: Time Price Opportunity charts explainedGives the 30-minute default block, the one-day default period, the letter-per-block TPO construction and the 70% default value area. Says the concept was developed by J. Peter Steidlmayer in the 1980s, that it gained widespread acceptance in futures and commodity markets, and that it is now widely used across all sectors. Checked 10 November 2026.TradingView support: Time price opportunity (TPO) indicatorStates that J. Peter Steidlmayer formulated the time price opportunity concept at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in the 1980s, sets out the TPO value-area procedure that adds rows until the target is reached, and gives the 70% default value area percentage. 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 difference between volume profile and Market Profile?
Volume profile totals the volume traded at each price over a chosen period. Market Profile, also called a TPO chart, counts how many time blocks traded at each price, with each block marked by a letter. Both can show a point of control and a value area, usually set at 70%. Volume profile needs volume data, while Market Profile needs time-stamped prices and a block size.
What is the point of control?
The point of control is the price level with the most activity in the profile. In volume profile it is the price with the highest traded volume. In Market Profile it is the price with the most TPOs. It describes the chosen window only, and it does not prove that price will return to that level.
What is a value area?
The value area is the band of prices around the point of control that holds a set share of the profile, commonly 70%. It is built outward from the point of control, adding the larger neighbouring row each step. TradingView's volume procedure stops before a row would exceed the target; its TPO procedure adds rows until the target is reached. Its top and bottom are the value area high and low.
Does Market Profile use volume?
Standard Market Profile counts TPOs, which are time blocks, not traded volume, so a TPO chart does not show how much traded at each price. Some platforms show a volume profile beside a TPO chart, so check which data each part uses.
Do these profiles predict price?
No. Both describe activity inside a chosen window using past prices. A high-volume price or a value area edge does not prove that price will hold, break or return to that level. Treat either profile as one description of the chart, alongside your own risk limits.
Keep learning
Volume in tradingThe volume count behind volume analysis, and why volume is not a price prediction.Chaikin money flowA volume-based indicator that summarises volume over a set period, unlike a price histogram.Level 2 tradingWhat order-book depth shows, and how it differs from a volume or time-price profile.Support and resistanceHow price levels are read on charts, and why they do not predict price.What is price action trading?How chart reading based on price moves compares with volume-based methods.