What it does
VWAP is the average price of the session weighted by volume: it sums price times volume for every bar since the session open and divides by total volume. Because big trades move it more than small ones, VWAP represents the true average cost of everyone who traded that day. It resets at each session open and is primarily an intraday tool.
Typedraws on the price chart
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Volume Weighted Average Price” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Use it as the intraday bias line: price holding above VWAP favors longs, price below favors shorts.
- Buy pullbacks to VWAP in an up-trending session; institutions often work orders around it, making it act like dynamic support or resistance.
- Judge execution quality: buying below VWAP means you paid better than the session average, a common institutional benchmark.
- Watch reclaim and rejection: a failed attempt to reclaim VWAP from below is a low-risk short entry with a stop just above it.
- Combine with standard deviation bands around VWAP to frame overextended intraday moves.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hide VWAP on 1D or Above | boolean | Off | — |
| Anchor Period | select | session | Session / Week / Month / Quarter / Year / Decade / Century |
| Source | select | hlc3 | Close / Open / High / Low / HL2 / HLC3 / OHLC4 |
| Offset | number | 0 | -500–500 |
| Bands Calculation Mode | select | Standard Deviation | Standard Deviation / Percentage |
| Show Band #1 | boolean | On | — |
| Bands Multiplier #1 | number | 1 | 0–100 |
| Show Band #2 | boolean | Off | — |
| Bands Multiplier #2 | number | 2 | 0–100 |
| Show Band #3 | boolean | Off | — |
| Bands Multiplier #3 | number | 3 | 0–100 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| VWAP | line | #2196F3 |
| Upper Band #1 | line | #4caf50 |
| Lower Band #1 | line | #4caf50 |
| Upper Band #2 | line | #808000 |
| Lower Band #2 | line | #808000 |
| Upper Band #3 | line | #008080 |
| Lower Band #3 | line | #008080 |
Every plot's color, line width and visibility can be changed on the Style tab. Precision, price-scale labels and status-line values are configurable at the bottom of the Style tab.
Tips
- Its price-scale label can be switched off per-indicator at the bottom of the Style tab if the axis gets crowded.
- Drag the indicator to its own pane from the legend ⋯ menu if it crowds the price chart.
- Double-click any of its lines to jump straight into the settings dialog.
Watch out for
- VWAP resets every session and becomes less meaningful late in the day as its large accumulated volume makes it slow to move.
- It requires reliable volume data and is not designed for multi-day swing analysis unless an anchored variant is used.