A heatmap turns the order book into a picture: every resting order, colored by size, stacked over time. You literally see the liquidity — the walls big players leave — long before price reacts to them. It's the most intuitive way to read order flow. Try the live interactive demo.
How to read a heatmap
Bright bands are liquidity walls. Watch their behaviour: a wall that soaks up aggression is absorption (price caps and often reverses). A wall that vanishes as price approaches is spoofing. A level that refuses to break despite fills hides an iceberg order. And a sudden sweep of liquidity beyond an obvious level is a stop run — read alongside the order book (DOM).
Heatmap + order flow
The heatmap shows passive liquidity; the footprint and delta show aggressive volume. Combine them and you see both sides of every level. For the full method, read our pillar guide on order flow, and the glossary for each concept.
Trade it on a funded account
Several order-flow prop firms bundle DeepCharts so you can trade the heatmap with their capital. Compare them in the comparator, then learn with our free courses.
FAQ
What is a heatmap in trading?+
A trading heatmap is a live map of resting liquidity: buy and sell limit orders colored by size. It shows where large orders sit before they act, so you can anticipate where price will react.
How do you read a heatmap?+
Bright zones are large resting orders (liquidity walls). Watch how they appear, hold or vanish: a wall that absorbs aggression caps price; a wall that disappears as price approaches is often spoofing.
Heatmap vs footprint — what's the difference?+
The heatmap shows resting (passive) liquidity in the order book over time. The footprint shows executed (aggressive) volume, buy vs sell, per price. Used together they reveal intent and exhaustion.
What software shows a heatmap?+
Tools like DeepCharts and DeepDom render the heatmap and order book. Several prop firms bundle DeepCharts into their evaluations, so you can trade the heatmap on a funded account.
Want to get better at order flow?
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