If you have ever tried to find a good futures trade by opening chart after chart on OKX or Binance, you already understand the problem: there are over 500 perpetual contracts available, and reviewing each one manually would take hours. A crypto screener solves this by scanning every instrument in real time and surfacing only those that match your criteria — so you spend your time analysing setups, not hunting for them.
What does a crypto screener actually do?
At its core, a futures screener applies a set of filters across every listed instrument on one or more exchanges. Each filter tests a specific market condition — an EMA alignment, a volume threshold, a price-structure pattern. The screener then returns only the instruments that pass every filter you have selected.
Think of it as a highly automated chart review. Instead of you visually checking whether a candle is above the 50 EMA, the screener does it for every instrument every hour and shows you only the ones where the answer is yes.
The difference between a screener and a scanner
The terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference in practice. A scanner typically fires alerts when a condition is first met — it is event driven. A screener shows you a ranked list of all instruments currently meeting your criteria — it is state driven. The Strong Charts screener is state driven: it scores every instrument and ranks them so you can compare the best setups side by side.
What filters matter for futures traders?
Not all screener filters are equally useful. For crypto futures, the filters that have the most practical value are:
- EMA stack alignment — are shorter EMAs above longer ones, confirming trend direction? The Strong Charts screener checks three EMAs: 10, 21, and 50.
- Grade quality — a composite score (like the SSX grade, ranging from A+ to D) that combines multiple factors into a single signal of setup quality.
- Timeframe — screener results change significantly across 1H, 4H, 1D, and 1W timeframes. Daily alignment is more durable; hourly setups are more numerous but noisier.
- Consolidation — instruments in tight sideways ranges often precede large moves. A consolidation filter removes high-volatility runners and surfaces calmer setups.
- Volume — high relative volume signals conviction behind a move; low volume warns of thin markets prone to slippage.
How the Strong Charts screener works
The Strong Charts screener scans over 500 OKX USDT perpetual and Binance USDT-M futures contracts across four timeframes: 1H, 4H, 1D, and 1W. Every instrument is evaluated against a set of EMA-based signals and assigned an SSX grade (A+ to D) that captures setup quality as a single number.
Data is refreshed every hour, aligned to HH:05 UTC. When a new sync cycle completes, the screener re-evaluates all instruments and updates the rankings. You can also press the Refresh button in the compact bar to pull the latest snapshot on demand.
No account is required to use the screener. All filter combinations — timeframe, EMA signals, SSX gate, consolidation — are available for free. An optional subscription adds the AI-powered BUY / WATCH / SKIP recommendation layer.
What a screener cannot do
A screener is not a trading system. It tells you which instruments are currently in a potentially favourable structure — it does not tell you exactly when to enter, where to set your stop, or what size to trade.
The output of a screener is a shortlist. Your job as a trader is to take that shortlist, open the charts that rank highest, apply your own entry rules, and manage the trade yourself. Combining a screener with a consistent entry checklist is how you extract real value from the tool.
Choosing the right screener for crypto futures
When evaluating a screener, look for:
- Exchange coverage — does it cover the exchanges you trade? Strong Charts covers OKX and Binance, the two largest USDT perpetual markets.
- Data freshness — hourly or better. Stale data means you are acting on old signals.
- Filter quality — the screener should expose meaningful filters, not just price-based thresholds that any spreadsheet could replicate.
- Cost — the most capable free screener available for OKX and Binance futures today is the Strong Charts screener.
Getting started
Open the Strong Charts screener and start with the 1D timeframe. Enable the SSX grade gate and sort by grade descending. You will immediately see the top-quality setups ranked from A+ down. Click any instrument to open its detail page and review the full EMA stack, grade factors, and AI recommendation if available.
From there, refine by enabling the Consolidation filter to surface instruments in tight sideways ranges — these are often the setups that produce the sharpest continuation moves when they break out.