Why Zapier Is Overkill (and Overpriced) for Trading Alerts
If you’ve ever Googled “TradingView alerts to Discord,” you probably found a dozen articles recommending Zapier. And sure, Zapier works. The same way taking a private jet to the grocery store works. It gets the job done, but you’re paying $50/month for something that should cost $9.
Make.com (formerly Integromat) does the exact same thing at a fraction of the cost, with one major advantage for traders: it handles high-volume webhooks without throttling you. When the market opens and your scanner fires 30 alerts in two minutes, you need a system that doesn’t choke. Make.com was built for that kind of throughput.
Think of it like plumbing. Zapier is the fancy touchless faucet, nice to look at, easy to install, expensive when it breaks. Make.com is the industrial-grade pipe, not as pretty, but it handles pressure.
I’ve been running my alert pipeline on Make.com for over a year now, processing 200+ alerts per day, and my total monthly cost is under $10. Here’s exactly how to build the same system.
What You’re Building
The pipeline is simple: TradingView detects a condition → fires a webhook → Make.com receives it → formats a clean message → posts it to your Discord channel.
The whole setup takes about 20 minutes, and once it’s running, you never touch it again. It’s the trading equivalent of setting up a sprinkler system instead of watering your lawn by hand every morning.
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you have:
- TradingView account (Pro plan or higher. You need webhook alerts)
- Make.com account (free tier works for testing; $9/month Pro for production volume)
- Discord server with a channel for alerts (you need admin permissions)
- 20 minutes of uninterrupted setup time
Step 1: Create a Discord Webhook
This is the endpoint where your alerts will land. Think of it as giving Make.com a mailing address for your Discord channel.
- Open Discord → right-click your alerts channel → Edit Channel
- Click Integrations → Webhooks → New Webhook
- Name it something like “TradingView Alerts”
- Click Copy Webhook URL, save this somewhere safe
- Click Save Changes
That URL is the “mailbox” where formatted alerts will be delivered. Never share it publicly, anyone with that URL can post to your channel.
Step 2: Build the Make.com Scenario
- Log into make.com → click Create a new scenario
- You’ll see a blank canvas with a ”+” button
Module 1: Webhook Trigger
- Click the ”+” → search Webhooks → select Custom webhook
- Click Add → name it “TradingView Alerts”
- Make.com generates a webhook URL, copy it. It looks like:
https://hook.make.com/abc123xyz - Click OK
This URL is what you’ll paste into TradingView. Every time TradingView fires an alert, it sends data to this URL, and Make.com catches it.
Step 3: Configure the TradingView Alert
- Open TradingView → navigate to any chart
- Create an alert (right-click on chart → Add Alert, or press Alt+A)
- Set your alert condition (e.g., RSI crossing above 70, EMA crossover, VWAP reclaim, etc.)
- In the Notifications section, check Webhook URL
- Paste your Make.com webhook URL
- In the Message field, enter this JSON:
{
"ticker": "{{ticker}}",
"price": "{{close}}",
"timeframe": "{{interval}}",
"exchange": "{{exchange}}",
"alert": "{{strategy.order.alert_message}}",
"time": "{{timenow}}"
}- Click Create
Now when this alert triggers, TradingView sends that JSON payload to Make.com automatically.
It’s like setting a mousetrap. You build it once, place it where the action happens, and it does its job without you standing there watching.
Step 4: Parse the Data in Make.com
Back in your Make.com scenario:
- Click ”+” after the Webhook module → search JSON → select Parse JSON
- In the JSON String field, map the webhook data (it shows as {{1.data}} or similar)
- For the Data Structure, click Add → Generator → paste the same JSON template from Step 3 → click Generate → Save
This tells Make.com the shape of the data coming from TradingView so it can pull out individual fields like ticker, price, and timeframe.
Step 5: Post to Discord
- Click ”+” after the JSON module → search Discord → select Send a Message to a Channel (using Webhook)
- Webhook URL: paste the Discord webhook URL from Step 1
- Content: Map your fields into a clean alert message:
🔔 **Alert: {{ticker}}**
💰 Price: ${{price}}
📊 Timeframe: {{timeframe}}
⏰ Time: {{time}}
📝 Signal: {{alert}}- Click OK
Step 6: Test the Pipeline
- Go back to TradingView
- Find a stock where your alert condition is close to triggering (or create a simple price alert just above/below current price for testing)
- Wait for it to fire, or manually trigger by adjusting the alert condition
- Check your Discord channel. You should see a formatted message within 5-10 seconds
If the message appears in Discord, your pipeline is live. If it doesn’t:
- Check Make.com → Scenario → History for error logs
- Verify the webhook URL is correct in TradingView
- Make sure the JSON format in TradingView matches your Parse JSON data structure
Step 7: Activate and Schedule
- In Make.com, toggle the scenario ON (bottom-left switch)
- Set it to Immediately (not scheduled, webhooks trigger instantly)
- Done
From now on, every TradingView alert automatically appears in your Discord channel within seconds. No manual effort, no copying and pasting, no missed alerts because you were in the shower.
Advanced: Adding Multiple Alert Types
Once the basic pipeline works, you can level it up:
Color-coded alerts: Use Discord embeds (Make.com’s Discord module supports them) to send green embeds for bullish signals and red embeds for bearish ones. This way your channel is scannable at a glance.
Filtering by ticker: Add a Make.com Router module after the JSON parser to send different tickers to different Discord channels. Your large-cap alerts go to #large-caps, your penny stock alerts go to #small-caps.
Adding chart screenshots: TradingView doesn’t send chart images via webhooks, but you can add a link to the TradingView chart in your Discord message: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol={{exchange}}:{{ticker}}
Cost Comparison: Make.com vs. Zapier vs. Custom Bot
| Solution | Monthly Cost | Alert Limit | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make.com Free | $0 | 1,000 ops | 5-10 sec |
| Make.com Pro | $9 | 10,000 ops | 3-5 sec |
| Zapier Starter | $20 | 750 tasks | 5-15 sec |
| Zapier Pro | $50 | 2,000 tasks | 5-10 sec |
| Custom Discord Bot | $5-10 (hosting) | Unlimited | 1-3 sec |
For most active day traders running 50-200 alerts per day, Make.com Pro at $9/month is the sweet spot. You get reliable delivery, decent speed, and you don’t have to maintain code.
A custom bot is faster but requires coding knowledge. If you want to go that route, check out how to host a trading bot on Oracle Cloud free tier. You can run it for $0/month.
The “Set It and Forget It” Mindset
The whole point of automation is to remove yourself from the repetitive parts of trading so you can focus on the decisions that actually matter, reading Level 2, managing your stop losses, and maintaining discipline.
Every minute you spend manually copying alerts from TradingView to Discord is a minute you’re not watching the tape. Build the pipeline once, test it thoroughly, and let it run. Your future self will thank you.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making trading decisions.