Best Mobile Trading Platforms

When looking for the best mobile trading platforms, Benzinga readers often pick Robinhood or Interactive Brokers.

Mobile trade platforms bring the entirety of brokerage account services into a single, centralized point via a mobile application. An excellent mobile trading platform doesn't just facilitate trading via the mobile app but offers you a more holistic service experience through intuitive design and ease of use.

Historically, desktop trading platforms have more features and capabilities than mobile platforms. However, the best mobile trading platforms bridge the technological gap between desktop and mobile interfaces. By leveraging mobile platforms, investors enjoy a synchronized service offering without sacrificing quality.

It's like having the best brokerage services in a trading app right at your fingertips. You can receive trade alerts or important price updates in real-time and execute trades accordingly — all while on the go. You can seamlessly manage your stock trades and monitor your investment goals without needing a Wall Street-grade desktop.

The best mobile trading platform or investing apps are designed with the user in mind. They provide charting and trading tools, educational materials and robust customer support. Benzinga examines the best mobile trading platforms, how they work and how they can help you have an awesome and profitable stock trading experience.

5 Best Mobile Trading Platforms

Based on pricing, trading resources, usability and order types, the following are the best mobile trading platforms.

• Best for Customer Service: Charles Schwab
• Best for Zero Fees: Robinhood
• Best for Stocks and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs): Interactive Brokers
• Best for Active Traders: thinkorswim
• Best for Diverse Market Exposure: Fidelity

1. Best Customer Service: Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is the primary competitor to Fidelity, and Benzinga's closest pick for the best in diverse categories. While it remains the runner-up for the best overall position, its reliable, competent and highly efficient representatives earned it the top spot for customer services.

Like most of its peers, the mobile trading platform charges $0 commission for online stocks and ETF trading and requires no account or trade minimum. There are also no hidden fees. However, it charges $0.65 per contract for options trading and $2.25 for futures and futures options per contract. A broad array of multiple asset types are available on the platform. These include stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, options, futures, IRAs, custodial accounts and trusts.

Schwab's low-cost ETF and index investing is one of the largest in the market. Investors big on mutual funds can leverage the platform's diverse list of OneSource no-commission, no-load mutual funds and Schwab's branded low-cost mutual funds. The platform offers fractional shares. So with as little as $5, you can leverage Schwab’s Stock Slices to buy into S&P 500 stocks. In addition, you can trade stocks on over 30 global markets.

Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, Charles Schwab's stock trading app has you covered. With the app, you can get real-time quotes, place trades, create a stock watchlist and view your positions and balances. You can also view market indices, breaking news and in-depth charts. The Schwab Assistant, one of the app's top-shelf features, allows you to place trades, get quotes, set alerts and receive clarifications on investment questions.

While the platform doesn't match Fidelity in research, it delivers plenty. Equity research reports are available from major providers like Argus and Credit Suisse. You can access daily market reports from Morningstar Morning Notes and Market Edge Daily Commentary. Schwab offers Screener on its web-based platforms, which is highly adapted for mobile views. The Schwab basic account requires zero minimum and is ideal for beginners. For passive investors, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios offers one of the best robo-advisors.

Charles Schwab offers the best customer service via 24/7 live chat and phone support. Phone inquiries are resolved within a minute and chat almost immediately. You can also visit one of its over 300 offices.

2. Best for Zero-Fees: Robinhood 

Robinhood was founded with a single goal — to simplify everyday people's access to the financial market. And as such, the platform is the primary pioneer of $0 commission trading. Robinhood charges zero fees and a $0 account minimum for all its tradable assets. The available asset classes include stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies. It’s a mobile trading platform that offers IRA investing, mutual funds and fixed-income products.

While most other mobile trading platforms now offer no commission trading, Robinhood mobile trading app still has the best fee structure. That's because besides charging no commission, the platform does not impose per-contract fees, unlike some of the best option trading platforms. Although the platform offers only a few crypto coins, investors have the flexibility to trade them as they would on major exchanges.

Robinhood also offers fractional shares for all its asset classes, allowing you to buy your favorite company's stock for as little as $1, just like Fidelity. So suppose Amazon is trading at $500 per share. In that case, instead of waiting till you have up to that amount to buy a unit of the company's share, Robinhood allows you to buy a fraction of the share with what you have. That means if you have $1, you can get 0.002 units of the Amazon share. This policy extends to cryptocurrency. Furthermore, at zero fees (including $0 ATM), Robinhood offers investors cash management accounts that yield returns in line with prevailing interest rates.

The Robinhood mobile trading app's features include customizable alerts, candlestick charts, a newsfeed and the ability to listen to live earnings calls. Its streamlined interface makes it ideal for users of all types. While Robinhood lacks research tools, the premium account — Robinhood Gold which costs $5 monthly — offers investors access to data and research from Morningstar, Nasdaq and more. The premium package offers an instant $1,000 interest-free deposit for margin trading.

The mobile trading app lacks efficient customer service and has run afoul of regulations in recent years. In December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Robinhood for allegedly executing a trade at bargain-basement prices. Within the same period, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts also sued the company for allegedly gamifying trading. In January 2020, Robinhood was fined $57 million and ordered to pay about $12.6 million to harmed clients.

3. Best for Stocks and ETFs: Interactive Brokers

Interactive Broker’s award-winning platform and services were designed with professional international traders in mind. You get market access 24 hours a day, 6 days a week and can trade in 150 different markets in 33 countries with 24 currencies via this truly interactive broker.

The company’s trading platforms include a basic Client Portal, its flagship platform, the Trader Workstation (TWS) and its powerful mobile application, IBKR Mobile.

The IBKR Mobile smartphone app for iOS and Android makes it easy to trade and monitor an IBKR account on the go. It includes many of the same advanced capabilities as the flagship desktop trading platform, such as chart trading and options analysis, and supports trading in all the product types IBKR offers.

However, you may also want to download other apps from IBKR, including:

• IBKR GlobalTrader: A simple app for trading global stocks and options, IBKR GlobalTrader lets investors deposit in their local currency and easily trade global stocks and options from their phone or tablet. Eligible clients also have access to cryptocurrency trading.
• IMPACT: A simple app for sustainable investing, IMPACT makes it easy for investors to find and invest in companies that share their values.
• The firm’s pricing depends on whether you choose IBKR Lite or IBKR Pro, although U.S. stocks and ETFs can be traded commission-free. Because investing can be scaled to your budget, you never feel as though you’re overpaying.

4. Best for Active Traders: thinkorswim 

TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim is an excellent stock trading app offering a wide range of interactive trading features at no cost. Like most mobile trading platforms on Benzinga's list, thinkorswim requires no account minimum or account fees. The platform offers broad asset classes encompassing stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, options, futures (including cryptocurrency futures), bonds, CDs and forex.

Additionally, the intuitive mobile trading platform features an active trader tab, useful for both professional active traders and new traders. The tab offers an advanced interactive interface with handy operation specs like one-click ordering and an intuitive bid or ask price ladder that displays a real-time data table showing bid, ask and volume data for trading assets.

Overall, thinkorswim's sophisticated features make for great interactive trading and ultra-fast trade execution. The platform also provides traders with daily market insights directly from its in-house experts. Additionally, thinkorswim offers multilingual customer services via live chat, phone or email support. However, unlike most other apps in this list, the platform doesn't offer fractional shares. 

5. Best for Diverse Market Exposure: Fidelity

Fidelity is a highly regarded mobile trading platform that offers a wide range of investment and trading services. It has a user-friendly interface and emphasizes diverse market exposure, providing access to various investment options across asset classes.

Through Fidelity's mobile trading platform, investors can explore and trade stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds and digital assets.

The platform provides real-time market data, customizable watchlists, advanced charting tools and research resources, empowering investors to make informed decisions. 

One of the key advantages of using Fidelity is the extensive market exposure it offers. With access to a vast array of investment opportunities, including domestic and international markets, users can diversify their portfolios and capitalize on a wide range of market trends. Whether it's investing in established companies, emerging markets or sectors with potential growth, Fidelity enables investors to tailor their portfolios to their specific investment goals and risk tolerance.

What to Look for in Mobile Trading Platforms

The wrong mobile trading platform can overwhelm you and lead to potential losses. Here are features to look out for before choosing a mobile trading platform.

Great Ease-of-Use

Your chosen mobile trading platform should be intuitive and make for easy use. It must also sync across different trading platforms, including desktops, mobile apps and the web. Thanks to advancements in fintech, you've got many choices.

Graphs and Charting Tools

For successful trading, it is necessary to monitor trading graphs and use charting tools. A mobile trading platform with graphs, charting tools and educational resources to aid learning should be on your radar.

Fee Structure

Choose a platform that provides your required features at the lowest possible cost. Even though some platforms offer different pricing tiers, lower fees usually equate to fewer features. Traders can use low-cost trading platforms independently or with other applications.

Good Customer Service

Good customer service is essential for your mobile trading platform, especially if you lack trading or investment experience. When using a mobile trading app, you're bound to run into technical or related issues at some point. In such cases, reasonable and responsive customer service can mean the difference between your investment campaign's success and failure.

How to Make the Most of the Best Mobile Trading Platforms

Here are some tips on making the most of your mobile trading platform.

Understand How the Platform Works

Before trading on an app, review how the features work. That way, you can better maximize the platform's functionality and ultimately achieve your trading goals.

Leverage Automated Processes

Most mobile trading platforms feature automated investing. While some are programmed to execute a trade based on set goals and risk tolerance, others offer automatic stop loss or take profit. Either way, learning to leverage these automatic processes allows you to maximize the potential of your mobile trading app.

Diversify Your Investment Portfolio

Most mobile trading platforms support more than one investment alternative. Some have support for uncommon alternatives like IPOs and trusts. These typically have assistance tools and expert support tailored to each investment option. Diversifying your portfolio is not only a way to reduce risk but also a brilliant way of maximizing inherent advantages.

Catering to Your Needs

Mobile trading platforms have transformed the way investors participate in financial markets, with the options listed above being among the best. These platforms offer a seamless and comprehensive trading experience, with features catering to different investor needs. Key considerations when choosing a platform include ease of use, graphing and charting tools, fees and customer service. By leveraging automation and understanding platform functionality, investors can diversify their portfolios and potentially maximize returns.

Frequently Asked Questions