Why limit your testing to just the free platforms if you're not getting all the features you want? MotiveWave connects to AMP/CQG. Our Trade Edition includes a very advanced DOM and is $29/month or $295 for a lifetime license and we are very similar to Sierra Charts or Multicharts.
I did test Motivewave and it is very good..the chart bar close does not lag the DOM print like Sierra does..however..the main reason for going with Qtrader is the ability to get live data feed into Excel via RTD..I have done a good bit of work on this already and although the RTD is not as good as an API feed..it is still a big advantage for customizable charts and data analysis
it all depends on what way you want to trade and what you base your trading decisions on..for me a big part of my approach is being able to have Excel integration
thx