Howard: I would recommend R. It has all the functionalities of Matlab and much better price ($0 ). You may also try to use Amibroker if you are not so familiar with coding. You must write a code in Amibroker but it is relatively easy to learn even for non-coders. There are a lot of backtesting/analytic softs with various price, some are more demanding for your code skill, some less. We tried to do a comprehensive list of backtesting software options, maybe you will find something more suitable for you: Backtesting Software