9 best day trading apps—our top picks
Day traders have particular needs when it comes to online stock brokers. Because they specialize in buying and selling stocks at a rapid pace, often closing all of their trades on the same day they initiated them, day traders need a platform that's safe, fast, and reliable, and with low fees. Here are our picks for the best day trading app.
Leading stock trading platforms for day trading
If you want to day trade stocks, you’ll need one of the best stock trading apps so you have valuable information in your palms or pockets at any given time.
- Best for Low margin rates: Robinhood
- Best for portfolio line of credit: Wealthfront
- Best for options trading: Public
- Best for ease of use: E*TRADE
- Best for competitive stock screeners: Ally Invest
- Best for competitive trading tools: Merrill Edge
- Best for advanced trading tools: TradeStation
- Best for access to a wide variety of assets: Webull
- Best for a variety of optimization tools: Interactive Brokers
Best for Low margin rates: Robinhood
- Assets: Stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and options
- Fees: No commissions on stocks or options trades
- Support: Phone or chat
- Research: Stock screener, advanced indicators, drawing tools, one-click trading, and real-time data
Robinhood has low trading fees and some of the most competitive margin rates for people who want to trade with leverage.
Rates only get as high as 6%, and that’s if you borrow less than $50,000. Other brokers have margin rates as high as 8% for $1 million portfolios (5.25% with Robinhood). Robinhood also lets you trade stocks and crypto from one place.
Pros
-
Low margin rates
-
The ability to trade stocks and crypto from one place
-
Low trading fees
Cons
-
Not as many technical analysis features as other trading platforms
-
The company has restricted trading for some equities in the past
-
Robinhood operates a payment for order flow model
Best for portfolio line of credit: Wealthfront
- Assets: Stocks and bonds
- Fees: No commissions for trading stocks and options. There is a 0.25% annual fee on all assets in Automated Investing accounts.
- Support: Phone and email support
- Research: Detailed research on 1,500+ stocks, investing themes & opportunities section, automated index investing
You can instantly borrow against 30% of your portfolio with a rate as low as 5.66% APR, as of Dec. 13, without a credit check or application fee. You’ll also earn 4.25% APY on any idle cash. The platform has many easier-to-discover individual stocks through its investing themes & opportunities feature.
Pros
-
Save time on researching stocks
-
Get a portfolio line of credit that you can use as margin or for everyday purchases
-
Get 4.25% APY on your idle cash
Cons
-
No crypto trading
-
Not as many trading features as other brokerage firms
-
0.25% annual fee for all assets in Automated Investing accounts
Best for options trading: Public
- Assets: Stocks, bonds, crypto, and options
- Fees: No commissions on stock and options trades. $8/mo for Public Premium membership. $2.99 per trade after-hours or OTC trades for non-premium members.
- Support: Email and live chat
- Research: Unique company KPIs, stock screener, analyst rating history, and advanced crypto data
Public doesn’t charge any fees for options trading, and you can qualify for a rebate of $0.06 to $0.18, based on your monthly trading volume. The brokerage lets you trade stocks and crypto from one place. It also has competitive margin rates if you want to borrow additional money to fund your trades.
Pros
-
Get paid to trade options
-
Competitive margin rates
-
You can trade stocks and crypto from one place
Cons
-
You will need the Public Premium membership to access the best features
-
Other trading platforms are more robust
-
Non-members pay high fees for after-hours and OTC trades
Best for ease of use: E*TRADE
- Assets: Stocks, options, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, and futures
- Fees: $0 commission on stocks, options, mutual funds, and ETFs. $0.65 options contract fee. $1.50 futures contract fee. $1.00 per bond (min. $10, max. $250)
- Support: Phone or live chat
- Research: Chart studies, drawing tools, and technical pattern recognition
E*TRADE is one of our favorite stock brokers. Like many other brokers, it's fee-free. You can trade stocks, ETFs, and options trades commission-free (although you will have to pay a 65 cent contract fee for options). E*TRADE offers the price of a discount broker with all the bells and whistles of a full-service provider. You can trade in 77 international markets, and even get integrated checking with E*TRADE bank.
Pros
-
Many trading tools
-
The ability to invest in bonds and futures
-
Easy to use
Cons
-
No crypto trading
-
Options contracts have fees
-
You cannot buy or sell fractional shares
Best for competitive stock screeners: Ally Invest
- Assets: stocks, bonds, options, and fixed income
- Fees: $0 commission on stocks and options. $0.50 per options contract. $24.95 per transaction for CDs. $1 per bond (min. $10, max. $250)
- Support: Phone and live chat
- Research: Smart Score, screeners, analyst tools from TipRanks
Ally Invest is a great choice for traders who want to cut back on fees. They currently allow you to trade stocks at $0 per trade, which is an incredible offer. For options, the base trading cost is $0, and each option contract is only $0.50. This is one of the best offers out there for day traders.
Relevant: TD Ameritrade vs Ally Invest vs E*TRADE
Pros
-
Smart Score provides a quick rating for each stock
-
Integration with TipRanks
-
Competitive stock screeners
Cons
-
Not as many trading tools compared to other platforms
-
Options contract fees
-
No crypto trading
Best for competitive trading tools: Merrill Edge
- Assets: Stocks, mutual funds, fixed income, bonds, and options
- Fees: No commission on stock or options trades. $0.65 per options contract. $1 per bond (min. $10, max. $250)
- Support: Phone and live chat
- Research: BoA Global Research, Nasdaq Order Book, and advanced charting with 105 technicals and 23 drawing tools
If you want to trade stocks and ETFs, then Merrill Edge is another great option. Its self-directed accounts are commission-free, and there's no account minimum. Merrill Edge is the brokerage arm of Bank of America, which means you can have all of your banking and investment accounts in one place. This is especially convenient if you're already a Bank of America customer.
Pros
-
Competitive trading tools
-
No commissions on stocks and options
-
Options analysis tools
Cons
-
Options have a fee for each contract
-
Merrill's trading platform has a learning curve
-
Merrill does not offer crypto trading or fractional shares
Best for advanced trading tools: TradeStation
- Assets: Stocks, options, futures, bonds, and IPOs
- Fees: No commissions on stocks and options. $0.60 per contract fee for options. $50 per trade for U.S. Treasury Securities. $14.95 plus $5 per bond for corporate and municipal bonds. $14.95 per trade for mutual funds.
- Support: Phone and live chat
- Research: Charting tools with customized indicators, Matrix and options chains, and pre-built hotlists
If you're a research junkie, TradeStation is for you. The platform is well known for its excellent research. And the TradeStation store is jam-packed with apps designed for traders by traders to help tailor the platform to your needs. Plus, the company no longer charges a commission to trade stocks and ETFs.
Pros
-
Advanced trading tools
-
Early access to IPOs
-
Trade various types of assets
Cons
-
Fee for each options contract
-
High fees for fixed income
-
No crypto trading
Best for access to a wide variety of assets: Webull
- Assets: stocks, options, futures, IPOs, bonds, and crypto
- Fees: $0 commission on stocks and options. $0.55 per contract for non-equity options like index options. $0.50 per crypto futures contract. $1.25 per regular futures contract. $0.25 per micro outright futures contract. $0.70 per mini outright futures contract.
- Support: Phone and email
- Research: Advanced screeners, PaperTrade Simulator, and Nasdaq TotalView
If you're looking for a free trading app with a great interface, then Webull could be for you. This no-fee broker allows you to trade stocks, ETFs, and options completely free. We recommend using it if you're a more experienced trader, and you're just looking for an app to buy and sell stocks easily. Plus, they have a paper trading account, so you can try out your investing strategies before you implement them.
Relevant: Webull vs TD Ameritrade Comparison
Pros
-
Access to many asset types, including pre-IPOs
-
No options contract fees for equity options
-
You can paper trade to test your strategies
Cons
-
High fee for futures contracts
-
No mutual funds
-
You need a separate app to trade crypto on Webull
Best for a variety of optimization tools: Interactive Brokers
- Assets: stocks, bonds, fixed income, options, futures, crypto, forex, and spot gold
- Fees: $0 stock trading commissions. $0.15-$0.65 per options contract. $0.25-$0.85 per futures contract. 3% trade value fee for mutual funds (up to $14.95). Spot currencies have a fee of 0.08-0.20 basis point times the trade value of the order. Bonds have a fee of 10 basis points times the face value of the order.
- Support: Phone and live chat
- Research: Fundamentals Explorer, Bracket Orders, and Strategy Builder
If you are a heavy day trader, then we recommend you look at Interactive Brokers. You need to invest at $10,000, and they do charge $0.005 a trade. You can get a lower price in their tiered pricing structure if you trade more than 100 million trades per month. Interactive Brokers is one of the best places to day trade if you're looking for a lot of trading options. You can trade forex, futures, penny stocks, commodities, options, as well as traditional stocks.
Pros
-
Choose from many trading tools to optimize your returns
-
Low fees
-
You can trade many types of assets
Cons
-
High learning curve
-
Complex user experience
-
Some of the fees and how much you’ll have to pay aren’t straightforward
What to consider when choosing a broker for day trading
Even the most successful day's work trading the markets can be negated by hefty commissions and margin rates. Day traders need to factor these costs into how much they'll net from a profitable trade. Commission fees for a single day of high-volume trading can run more than a few thousand dollars.
Speed is also of paramount importance. Day traders tend to target volatile stocks in which every second count. An execution delay of only a few seconds can lose big money. Most stock trading platforms offer real-time trading, but with very fast-moving trades, lag times are still possible.
What are some general day trading strategies?
Day trading is different from long-term investing. While long-term investors prioritize fundamental analysis, day traders focus on technical analysis to gauge how a stock’s price may move within a few minutes.
These are some of the common day trading strategies:
- Swing trading: This strategy involves holding onto a position for a few days instead of selling out of it by the end of the day. Swing trading requires a mix of fundamental and technical analysis.
- Momentum trading: Traders use a figure like the 50-day moving average to assess a stock’s current momentum. Then, they buy or sell shares accordingly.
- Scalp trading: Traders who use this strategy look for small profits within every trade. They immediately sell after realizing any type of profit and put the cash into another stock.
- Market and limit orders: Placing market and limit orders allows you to buy and sell stocks at your desired price points. These orders make it easier to walk away from your computer screen while day trading. However, there’s the risk that a stock does not reach your desired price point, resulting in neither a buy nor a sell.
And these are some of the common best practices for starting out with day trading:
- Only day trade with a little money first: It’s better to learn lessons in the beginning if you’ve allocated $50 to day trading instead of $5,000 to day trading. You can also use a stock market simulator in the beginning.
- Stick with a strategy: Although day trading involves short-term positions, you still need a long-term strategy. Changing the strategy too often, especially based on a red day, can make it more difficult to succeed as a day trader.
- Know when to cut your losses: Determine how much you are willing to lose for each trade before closing the position. Not every trade ends up being profitable.
What are some examples of the best stocks for day trading?
These stocks can be identified by high volatility, resulting in numerous price swings throughout the day that enable small profits within minutes. High liquidity is also important, as it allows traders to quickly exit their positions without excessive bid-ask spreads.
These are some of the best stocks for day trading:
- Supermicro
- NvidiaGames
- Tesla
- Trump Media
- Gamestop
- IonQ
- Intuitive Machines
What are the risks in day trading?
Day Trading stocks online have the potential to create behavioral risks. Here are few.
- Perhaps the biggest is the potential for it to become an addiction. The internet makes trading easy. This could tempt you to trade more than is necessary or reasonable. This is largely the force behind day trading, which would not be possible without online trading.
- Whether or not day trading is profitable is open to debate. But one fact that isn't is that it generates a lot of trading fees. That's good for brokerage firms but not for traders. Frequent trading can cause investor profits to be eaten up by a large volume of small fees, the kind that doesn't seem particularly threatening at the time they're being incurred. But over time, with excessive trading, they can seriously reduce the return on investment.
- Another significant threat is that online trading — like just about everything on the internet — is deceptively easy. It may cause you to underestimate the risks you're incurring with your investing activities.
- In the end, the quality of your investments, not the ease of trading, is what drives investing success. The speed and ease of online trading could even cause you to ignore important research in favor the perceived pursuit of quick profits.
These are not the types of problems that can be solved with advanced firewalls or passcodes. They require a keen awareness of the risks involved in online trading, a commitment to investment fundamentals, and a strong dose of self-discipline.
Keep your accounts secured while stock trading
Cyberattacks and security breaches are becoming more common, which is why it's important to keep all of your investments secure. Using a VPN like ExpressVPN when you day trade is just one way to make sure your financial accounts are secured.
A VPN (short for virtual private network), helps keep your transactions secured by encrypting your data. This means that no one can view your purchases online. It's also important to use a reputable broker that has an encrypted website. But having a VPN like NordVPN adds an extra layer of security.
A word of caution about day trading
- If you're not currently a day trader — but are thinking about becoming one — make sure that you understand the risks before diving in. Becoming a day trader is a big commitment, both of time and money.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires a $25,000 minimum margin requirement for anyone who executes four or more “day trades” within five consecutive business days.
- If you have less than $25,000 and want to invest, we suggest that you check out this practical guide instead.
FAQs about day trading
Kat Peach is a freelance contributor for Moneywise.
Marc Guberti is a certified personal finance counselor and a freelance writer who resides in Scarsdale, New York. His work has been featured in US News & World Report, Newsweek, InvestorPlace, and other publications.
Latest Articles
Disclaimer
The content provided on Moneywise is information to help users become financially literate. It is neither tax nor legal advice, is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, either express or implied, with respect to the data provided, the timeliness thereof, the results to be obtained by the use thereof or any other matter. Advertisers are not responsible for the content of this site, including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete and current information on any advertiser product, please visit their website.
†Terms and Conditions apply.