Best Day Trading Apps

Want to jump straight to the answer? Benzinga reads love TD Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers as the best day trading apps.

Day trading is a type of stock trading where you buy and sell securities in short periods of time. Day traders don’t care if the overall market moves up or down. As long as the stock market experiences volatility, a day trader can make money by purchasing assets when they dip in price and sell them off when they rise in value. Learn more about day trading and find the best day trading apps with our guide.

The 8 Best Day Trading Apps

Based on the criteria above, we compiled the best day trading apps of the year.

• Best for Options Trading: TD Ameritrade
• Best for Active and Global Traders: IBKR
• Best for Beginners: Robinhood
• Best for AI Investing: Magnifi
• Best for Investors Who Maintain Significant Margin Balances: TradeUP
• Best for Intermediate Traders and Investors: Webull
• Best for Active Traders: Moomoo
• Best for Futures Trading: TradeStation

1. Best for Options Trading: TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade offers both iPhone and Android apps for enhanced day trading. TD Ameritrade Mobile lets you trade stocks, options, futures and forex.

You can manage your positions with helpful tools and features, including more than 300 technical charts and indicators.

24/5 trading lets you trade select securities 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. You can expand your list of securities to international markets and specific sectors.

TDAmeritrade also offers the TD Ameritrade Mobile App, a powerful mobile trading app compatible across all your smart devices. You can track your investments, trade stocks, ETFs and options, explore integrated charts, set up price alerts, access watchlists and get 3rd-party research.

2. Best for Active and Global Traders: IBKR

Interactive Brokers has been voted the best online broker by Barron’s for the last 4 years in a row, improving investment automation and services across 4 decades. Clients from over 200 countries can use IBKR to manage their investments, accessing 135 markets in 23 currencies. The technology behind IBKR is so powerful that it supports hedge funds, proprietary trading groups, financial advisors and brokers. The firm provides clients with low execution prices, quality trading services, portfolio management tools, research services and a range of investment products.

3. Best for Beginners: Robinhood

Robinhood allows traders to buy and sell stocks without commission charges. In addition to no-fee trading and a $0 minimum deposit, Robinhood also offers an easy-to-use mobile app that's as responsive as it is intuitive.

Robinhood cuts most of the frills that come along with other brokers but it's impossible to beat the app's free trading platform. Users can buy and sell stocks with a few clicks, and the app's mobile-native platform means nothing gets lost in translation from the website to the phone or tablet. New users can even get a free share of a major company, though the actual share they receive is selected at random.

More seasoned stock traders may be put off by Robinhood's lack of resources and analysis tools but for new traders worried about fees and commissions, the app's design and easy-to-use format is a must-see.

4. Best for Long-Term Investors: Magnifi

Magnifi is a marketplace that allows you, as an investor, to use common brokerage tools and AI to make the best decisions for your portfolio. Because you can pull up all the information you need on a given asset, you can easily invest in the assets that will give you the results you deserve and better match your strategy.

Search for the investment options that meet your needs, invest in specific categories or scan for assets in a price range that’s affordable for you.

Best for long-term investors and those who require a bit of client support, you can also learn more about investing from this platform, utilize the AI-powered investing assistant, enjoy commission-free investing, try the mobile app and take advantage of over 15,000 possible investment options. This makes Magnifi a good place to trade for both seasoned and novice traders.

5. Best for Investors Who Maintain Significant Margin Balances: TradeUP

The TradeUP App, provided by TradeUP Securities, Inc., is a cutting-edge mobile trading platform that empowers investors to trade U.S. stocks, ETFs, and options without incurring any commission or contract fees. 

Additionally, TradeUP boasts an incredibly competitive flat margin interest rate of 1.99%, which remains advantageous, especially in the current high borrowing cost environment where competitors could charge up to 10%.

As a part of their dedication to building a vibrant investor community, TradeUP extends attractive incentives for new investors, friend referrals and account transfers.

TradeUP boasts a user-friendly, multi-platform application that supports not only mobile apps, but also desktop versions (compatible with Windows and Mac download) and a web version. Plus, you can take advantage of:

• The day trade tracker function
• Speedlight order placing on the desktop version
• A full suite of technical analysis tools and drawing tools, a comparison of indicators, etc. 
• And free streaming market data

TradeUP Securities, Inc. is a proud member of organizations like FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation), OCC (Option Clearing Corporation), NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange), and DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), reflecting the platform’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards and adherence to industry regulations. 

6. Best for Active Traders: Webull

Webull, founded in 2017, is a mobile app-based brokerage that features commission-free stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading. It’s regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Webull offers active traders technical indicators, economic calendars, ratings from research agencies, margin trading and short-selling. Webull’s trading platform is designed for intermediate and experienced traders, although beginning traders can also benefit.

Webull is widely considered one of the best Robinhood alternatives.

7. Best for Novice Traders: Moomoo

Moomoo is a commission-free mobile trading app available on Apple, Google and Windows devices. Moomoo is another great alternative for Robinhood. This is an outstanding trading platform if you want to dive deep into smart trading.

It offers impressive trading tools and opportunities for both new and advanced traders, including advanced charting, pre and post-market trading, international trading, research and analysis tools, and most popular of all, free Level 2 quotes.

Get started right away by downloading Moomoo to your phone, tablet or another mobile device.

8. Best for Advanced Traders: TradeStation

TradeStation’s platform used to only be best for professional traders who needed a highly technical platform. Not anymore.

TradeStation’s TS GO account option offers novice traders access to professional-grade stock screeners and extensive educational and development tools.

TradeStation's feature-rich mobile app syncs to your online account so you can trade stocks, options and ETFs, enjoy Hot List, Quote and Matrix features.

You can get:

• Streaming quotes in real time
• Options spread strategies
• In-depth market monitoring
• Mobile price alerts and mobile swing alerts
• Chart analysis with indicators
• Split-second precision

What Do You Need to Start Day Trading?

Put a handful of things in your back pocket before you start trading. Check out our list.

1. Capital

You’ll need capital in your accounts to buy your 1st set of stocks. Though most brokers with account minimums allow traders to start buying and selling assets with as little as $250, you’ll need more capital to see significant profits once you consider the costs associated with commissions.

Most professional day traders recommend that new users start with a small $1,000 deposit to test your trading strategy — you can always put up more later on if you see success. New day traders should be particularly aware of the SEC’s pattern day trading rule; accounts with less than $25,000 at the end of the day are limited to 3 round-trip trades per 5-day period.

Once you exhaust your 3 round-trip trades a week, your broker must cut off your trading privileges until the next 5-day period begins or you make a deposit into your account to bring your account to $25,000. The pattern day trading rule means that it’s important for low-level day traders to be very selective about what you buy and sell because your accounts are limited.

2. A Source for Live Quotes

Unlike long-term investors, day traders buy and sell their stocks quickly. Some traders may even purchase a stock and sell it within the span of 15 minutes. Day traders need a reliable source for instantaneous stock market quotes to know when to buy and sell. Check out our list of the best free sources for stock market quotes on the web and bookmark options that appeal to you.

3. Realistic Aspirations

If a day trading course or website claims that stock trading can make you thousands of dollars overnight or that you can follow  “simple tricks” to wealth, they’re probably trying to sell you something.

Successful stock trading takes time. Many professional traders confess that it took them over 6 months to begin to see regular profits, as well as countless hours of practice with a dummy account. Have realistic expectations for the amount of money that you’ll earn and don’t be afraid to make mistakes — they’re an important part of the learning journey. 

What You Should Look for in a Day Trading App

Ask 100 traders about their favorite feature in a day trading app and you'll likely come away with dozens of different answers. However, the 3 most prevalent are an intuitive layout, low fees/commissions and full web functionality.

An Intuitive Layout

No matter how well it works or how many cool research tools it offers, the best day trading app in the world is useless if you can’t figure out how to use it. Check out YouTube app tutorials and demonstrations before committing to an app to ensure that you like an app’s look and feel and that its functions are intuitive and quick to execute.

Low Fees and Commissions

You’ll probably find your day trading app through your stockbroker — you should already be familiar with the fees and commission schedule. However, if this is your first venture into stock trading, you’ll want to choose an app provider that offers low fees and commissions in order to maximize your trade profits.

Many brokers also offer deep discounts for professional brokers who execute many trades a month.

Full Web Functionality

Some brokers severely limit an app’s functionality, encouraging traders to use their desktop versions. Before you commit to an app, make sure that it offers all of the features and functionality of its desktop counterpart.

Find Day Trading Apps Today

Many traders are drawn to day trading by the possibility of earning huge payouts, but with the possibility of reward comes proportionate risks.

Traders can minimize risks by learning as much as possible about the market and order execution before you begin trading using real money. Check out 1 of our favorite low-cost courses on trading to get started.

Frequently Asked Questions