I use both NT8 and Tradestation 10.
I am disappointed with Ninjatrader .They advertise that their platform is free.
But it is misleading. In the "Free" version many functions are not available (ATM,Order flow etc).
They are available only for the buyer of lifetime licence at a price of 1100 $ or leasing quarterly.
Why they do not offer a monthly subscription?
In free version the commission are higher considerably than in lifetime version ,sometimes double..
It seem to me they are very greedy .They are pushing the sale of the platform and of indicators.
They charge many hidden fees like margin violation in futures trade of 50 $ for each violation.
Many other brokers do not charge these fees ,just liquidate the position.
Now many brokers cancelled commissions totally.
One think good in NT is the low margin for futures trade .
The connectivity with Tradestation 10 do not exist in NT 8.(was in earlier versions)
We can not not send orders from strategies running in Tradestation automatically to Nt platform.
Writing a code is difficult in NT8 especially for a beginner
So it is mandatory to check the cost in trading in NT before your decision.

I used to trade with NT7 back in 2014 and the platform was great, now it is worth nothing + you can use it only with their broker. Try to check Agena Trader platform. It is a little bit similar to NT7, but with many other and much better functions.

You are at least second contributor who mentions that you can use NT only with their broker, which is not true! I wonder where you got this opinion?
My point of view is that NT8 is much, much better than NT7!!

You are at least second contributor who mentions that you can use NT only with their broker, which is not true! I wonder where you got this opinion?
My point of view is that NT8 is much, much better than NT7!!

Well yes you can go through other brokers, but for those looking for brokers that specialize in futures it only makes sense to use Ninjatrader brokerage. Most traders want to do something like Amp or EdgeClear using Rithmic or CQG data. You can only use Rithmic and CQG data through other brokers if you're grandfathered in.

I use NT8 with Rithmic as data-feed and IB as a broker...

but this is a very pricy solution because you have to pay full rithmic fees, no data discount as most brokers provide. As everybody knows IB data is not suitable for charting purposes, so you do have to pay too much for data in this combination. This is especially an important issue for beginners.

I also have a lot of experience with NT8 (new license). Finally if you want to have competitive running costs as a beginner, you do have to choose NinjaBoker with CQG + Lifetime License (1100 USD), no other option possible.

In my eyes this is a highly questionable marketing approach used by NT, because most beginners are not able to understand the implications. Everybody I know who started out with NT8 lifetime license realizes after a couple of month that it was bad decision to pay 1100 USD for NT8 for different reasons.

My advice to all trading beginners: Be very carefull with this NinjaTrader offering. There are way better solutions available to learn about trading. At a later point when you really know what it means to trade, you can still choose NinjaTrader. But I wouldnt expect many more experienced traders to switch to NT.