11 Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading of October 2022 - NerdWallet Advertiser disclosure

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11 Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading of October 2022

The best online day trading platforms offer advanced features, fast execution, a large selection of research, low costs and a robust mobile app for trading on the go. Alana Benson Oct 3, 2022 Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money. The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. If you’re a day trader (or an aspiring day trader), you probably have a good idea of what you want in a brokerage and online trading platform: low costs, premium research, innovative strategy tools and a comprehensive trading platform. But how to the online brokers stack up when it comes to meeting those needs? Below, we’ve selected the best brokers for day trading and platforms in a variety of categories so you can choose one based on your personal priorities. One note before you begin: Pattern day traders — as defined by the SEC — must have at least $25,000 in equity in their accounts and be approved for margin trading, regardless of whether their broker’s account minimum is lower. » New to this world? Learn the basics with our guide to how day trading works. If you’re a day trader (or an aspiring day trader), you probably have a good idea of what you want in a brokerage and online trading platform: low costs, premium research, innovative strategy tools and a comprehensive trading platform. But how to the online brokers stack up when it comes to meeting those needs? Below, we’ve selected the best brokers for day trading and platforms in a variety of categories so you can choose one based on your personal priorities. One note before you begin: Pattern day traders — as defined by the SEC — must have at least $25,000 in equity in their accounts and be approved for margin trading, regardless of whether their broker’s account minimum is lower. » New to this world? Learn the basics with our guide to how day trading works.

Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading

BrokerNerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formulas take into account multiple data points for each financial product and service.FeesAccount minimumPromotionLearn more FidelityLearn more on Fidelity's website 5.0/5$0per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs$0Get $100when you open a new, eligible Fidelity account with $50 or more. Use code FIDELITY100. Limited time offer. Terms apply.Learn more on Fidelity's website Interactive Brokers IBKR ProLearn more on Interactive Brokers' website 5.0/5$0.005per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts$0Exclusive!US resident opens a new IBKR Pro individual or joint account receives 0.25% rate reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply.Learn more on Interactive Brokers' website Merrill EdgeLearn more on Merrill Edge's website 4.5/5$0per trade$0Up to $600when you invest in a new Merrill Edge Self-Directed account.Learn more on Merrill Edge's website WebullLearn more on Webull's website 4.9/5$0per trade$0Get up to 12 free stocks (valued up to $30,600)when you open and fund an account with Webull. Promotion ends 10/31/2022.Learn more on Webull's website TD AmeritradeLearn more on TD Ameritrade's website 5.0/5$0per trade$0Noneno promotion available at this timeLearn more on TD Ameritrade's websiteView More

Fidelity

NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for online brokers and robo-advisors takes into account over 15 factors, including account fees and minimums, investment choices, customer support and mobile app capabilities.5.0/5Learn more on Fidelity's website Fees $0 per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs Account minimum $0 Promotion Get $100 when you open a new, eligible Fidelity account with $50 or more. Use code FIDELITY100. Limited time offer. Terms apply.Our Take Pros Commission-free stock, ETF and options trades. Large selection of research providers. Strong customer service. Expense-ratio-free index funds. Highly rated mobile app. Cons Relatively high broker-assisted trade fee. Why We Like It Fidelity has two trading platforms, Fidelity.com and Active Trader Pro. Fidelity offers advanced screeners using research and strategy-testing tools based on 10 years of historical data. The upper-tier platform includes both a downloadable desktop version and a web alternative, which investors can toggle between seamlessly. The platform includes intuitive shortcuts, pre-built market, technical and options filters, advanced options tools and a multitrade ticket that can store orders for later and place up to 50 orders at a time.

Interactive Brokers IBKR Pro

NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for online brokers and robo-advisors takes into account over 15 factors, including account fees and minimums, investment choices, customer support and mobile app capabilities.5.0/5Learn more on Interactive Brokers' website Fees $0.005 per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts Account minimum $0 Promotion Exclusive! US resident opens a new IBKR Pro individual or joint account receives 0.25% rate reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply.Our Take Pros Per-share pricing. Volume discounts. Large investment selection. Extensive tools for active traders. Powerful trading platform. NerdWallet users who sign up for IBKR Pro get a 0.25% discount on the first $100,000 of a margin loan. Cons Complex pricing on some investments. Website is difficult to navigate. Why We Like It Both IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro traders have access to Interactive Brokers’ Desktop Trader Workstation. This platform is fast and includes both standard features, such as real-time monitoring, alerts, watchlists and a customizable account dashboard, and more unique features as well. The options strategy lab lets you submit multileg options orders and compare up to five options strategies at one time. Interactive Brokers also offers a volatility lab, advanced charting, heat maps of sector and stock symbol performance, paper trading and a mutual fund replicator, which helps users identify ETFs that replicate the performance of a selected mutual fund with lower fees.

Merrill Edge

NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for online brokers and robo-advisors takes into account over 15 factors, including account fees and minimums, investment choices, customer support and mobile app capabilities.4.5/5Learn more on Merrill Edge's website Fees $0 per trade Account minimum $0 Promotion Up to $600 when you invest in a new Merrill Edge Self-Directed account.Our Take Pros Robust third-party research. Integrated with Bank of America. Cons Advanced traders may find fewer securities on offer. Why We Like It Merrill Edge offers website trading and an active trader platform Merrill Edge MarketPro. The website offers several screeners so you can quickly sort through stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and bonds. There's also a "quick trade" feature that lets you make stock and ETF trades from just about any page on the website. The MarketPro platform, available to all Merrill Edge customers, includes much of what active traders expect: interactive charts, alerts, Level II quotes (which show real-time bid and ask prices for Nasdaq stocks), a customizable dashboard, and streaming data and news.

Webull

TD Ameritrade

NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for online brokers and robo-advisors takes into account over 15 factors, including account fees and minimums, investment choices, customer support and mobile app capabilities.5.0/5Learn more on TD Ameritrade's website Fees $0 per trade Account minimum $0 Promotion None no promotion available at this timeOur Take Pros Commission-free stock and ETF trades. Free research. High-quality trading platforms. No account minimum. Good customer support. Large investment selection. Cons No fractional shares. Why We Like It TD Ameritrade offers two main trading platforms, each with a corresponding mobile version. TDAmeritrade.com has just about everything an average investor needs to identify, research, screen and trade stocks, funds, bonds and CDs. The free platform offers screeners, a customizable landing page and the broker's GainsKeep tool, which can help you track capital gains and losses. The desktop platform, thinkorswim, is aimed at serious stock, ETF, futures and forex traders. It offers advanced trading capabilities, technical analysis tools and studies, customizable screeners and charting, backtesting capabilities, real-time news, quotes, market heat maps and more. TD lets you place trades through Twitter, Facebook and Apple Business chat. The company also offers paper trading with access to $100,000 in practice "money." It's available for free through the broker's two platforms and its Mobile Trader app.

E*TRADE

NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for online brokers and robo-advisors takes into account over 15 factors, including account fees and minimums, investment choices, customer support and mobile app capabilities.5.0/5Learn more on E*TRADE's website Fees $0 per trade Account minimum $0 Promotion Get up to $600 or more when you open and fund an E*TRADE accountOur Take Pros Easy-to-use tools. Large investment selection. Excellent customer support. Advanced mobile app. Commission-free stock, options and ETF trades. Cons Website can be difficult to navigate. Why We Like It E*TRADE has two trading platforms — E*TRADE Web and Power E*TRADE. Both are free and available to all customers, with no trade activity or balance minimums. E*TRADE Web offers free streaming market data, free real-time quotes, live market commentary, analyst research, stock screeners and more. Power E*TRADE offers real-time data, more than 100 technical studies, over 30 drawing tools, streamlined trade tickets, customizable options chain views and trading ladders.

TradeStation

NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for online brokers and robo-advisors takes into account over 15 factors, including account fees and minimums, investment choices, customer support and mobile app capabilities.4.5/5Learn more on TradeStation's website Fees $0 per trade Account minimum $500 Promotion Get an extra $150 cash credit with a minimum deposit of $500. Offer Code: NERDAGCU.Our Take Pros High-quality trading platforms. Comprehensive research. Commission-free stock, ETF and options trades. Advanced tools. Active trader community. Cons Free trading on advanced platform requires TS Select. No transaction-fee-free mutual funds. Plans and pricing can be confusing. Why We Like It TradeStation offers direct-market access, automatic trade execution and tools for customers to design, test, monitor and automate their custom trading strategies for stocks, options and futures. TradeStation Simulator allows users to test out new investing strategies before putting any money on the line. Options investors will appreciate free access to the OptionStation Pro platform. With its preview mode, mobile-app users can create custom watch lists, and view charts and trends without opening an account.

Ally Invest

Zacks Trade

SoFi Checking and Savings

5.0NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formulas take into account multiple data points for each financial product and service.APY2.50% SoFi members with direct deposit can earn up to 2.50% annual percentage yield (APY) interest on all account balances in their Checking and Savings accounts (including Vaults). Members without direct deposit will earn 1.20% APY on all account balances in Checking and Savings (including Vaults). Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. Rates of 2.50% APY (with direct deposit) and 1.20% APY (without direct deposit) are current as of 09/30/2022. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheetWith $0 min. balance for APY Bonus$300 Earn up to $300 with direct deposit. Terms apply.Learn more at SoFi, Member FDIC

LendingClub High-Yield Savings

4.5NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formulas take into account multiple data points for each financial product and service.APY3.12% With $0 min. balance for APYLearn more at LendingClub Bank, Member FDIC

Discover Bank Online Savings

5.0NerdWallet rating NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formulas take into account multiple data points for each financial product and service.APY2.35% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is accurate as of 10/20/2022With $0 min. balance for APY Bonus$200 To get your $150 or $200 Bonus: What to do: Apply for your first Discover Online Savings Account, online, in the Discover App or by phone. Enter Offer Code NW922 when applying. Deposit into your account a total of at least $15,000 to earn a $150 Bonus or deposit a total of at least $25,000 to earn a $200 Bonus. Deposit must be posted to account within 30 days of account open date. Maximum bonus eligibility is $200. What to know: Offer not valid for existing or prior Discover savings customers or existing or prior customers with savings accounts that are co-branded, or affinity accounts provided by Discover. Eligibility is based on primary account owner. Account must be open when bonus is credited. Bonus will be credited to the account within 30 days of the account qualifying for the bonus. Bonus is interest and subject to reporting on Form 1099-INT. Offer ends 12/15/2022, 11:59 PM ET. Offer may be modified or withdrawn without notice.Requirements to qualifyLearn more at Discover Bank, Member FDIC

Methodology

NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity. We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.For more details about the categories considered when rating providers and our processes, read our full broker ratings methodology and our full robo-advisor ratings methodology. To recap our selections...

NerdWallet' s Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading of October 2022

FidelityInteractive Brokers IBKR ProMerrill EdgeWebullTD AmeritradeE*TRADETradeStationAlly InvestZacks TradeFirstradeCharles Schwab

Frequently asked questions

How do I learn how to day trade? We’d recommend starting with our guide for how to day trade — it covers a lot of the day trading basics you need to know. But then, practice makes perfect — or as close to it as you can get, as you’ll quickly learn there is no perfect in day trading, and even the pros lose money sometimes. The best way to practice: With a stock market simulator or paper-trading account. Many brokers offer these virtual trading platforms, and they essentially allow you to play the stock market with Monopoly money. Not only do you get to familiarize yourself with trading platforms and how they work, but you also get to test various trading strategies without losing real money. The link above has a list of brokers that offer these play platforms.What are the risks of day trading? In short: You could lose money, potentially lots of it. Day trading is exactly what it sounds like: Buying and selling — trading — a stock, or many stocks, inside of a day. It’s all about making predictions and timing the market, with the goal of making a small profit on each trade. In an ideal world, those small profits add up to a big return. But research has shown that only 1% of day traders consistently earn money; many, many lose it. It’s essentially a full-time job, because you need to constantly be watching — and timing — the market, waiting for your next move. It isn’t for beginner, or casual, investors. If you’re interested in day trading, our recommendation is to allocate a small portion of your overall portfolio to the strategy – no more than 5% or 10%, tops. That way, if you lose money — as you are likely to do, at least at first — those losses are at least capped. The rest of your portfolio should be invested in long-term, diversified investments like low-cost index funds.Is day trading illegal? Day trading is risky, but it isn’t illegal. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposes specific regulations on pattern day traders. The SEC defines day trading as buying and selling or short-selling and buying the same security — often a stock — on the same day. A pattern day trader, according to the SEC, is a trader who day-trades four or more times within five business days and whose day trades represent more than 6% of their total trading activity during that five-day period. If you fall into that category, you’re required to maintain at least $25,000 in equity in your account. That equity can be in cash or securities. Note that once a broker has identified you as a pattern day trader due to the above activity, your account likely will be considered a pattern day trading account going forward, even if you don’t continue to meet the definition. If you decide to stop day trading, you’ll want to contact your brokerage and ask that they remove the minimum equity requirement from your account.How much money do you need for day trading? This is a loaded question. The SEC requires that you maintain a minimum of $25,000 in equity to engage in pattern day trading, but that equity can be in cash and eligible securities. That’s the minimum amount you need to maintain in your account; on top of that, you also need the money you’ll use to day trade. But just as important is setting a limit for how much money you dedicate to day trading. Our recommendation is that those dipping into this kind of active trading should risk only a small portion of their account balance — 5% to 10% of your investable assets, at most.What is margin? Margin is essentially a loan from your broker. When you open a brokerage account, you’ll be asked if you want a cash account or a margin account. A margin account allows you to place trades on borrowed money. Often called leverage, trading on margin can magnify your gains — and, in the worst-case scenario, your losses. To read more about margin, how to use it and the risks involved, read our guide to margin trading.What should I look for in an online trading system? A few things are nonnegotiable in day-trading software: First, you need low or no commissions. You might’ve gathered by now that day traders place a lot of trades. Pay close attention to a broker or day-trading platform’s fees and commissions. Many brokers will offer no commissions or volume pricing. Then research and strategy tools are key. Day traders use data to make decisions: You want not only the latest market data, but you also need a platform that lets you quickly create charts, identify price trends and analyze potential trade opportunities. Finally, prioritize speed. Time is literally money with day trading, so you want a broker and online trading system that is reliable and offers the fastest order execution. Many platforms will publish information about their execution speeds and how they route orders. Another feature we’d recommend is a broker or trading platform that offers paper, or virtual, trading, so you can practice with simulated trades before the real thing.What are the best day-trading stocks? If we knew, we’d be very rich. This is the bit of information that every day trader is after. That said, we can give you some general guidance. There are a few things that make a stock at least a good candidate for a day trader to consider. Generally, those are stocks that are highly liquid, with large trade volume; relatively volatile, so you can buy low and sell high; and known to you (an understanding of the stock’s price history, and how it reacts to various events — earnings reports, economic shifts — is key). Here’s some detailed guidance on how to research stocks. You can use your online broker or trading software’s stock screener to look for stocks that seem ripe for day trading.

About the author

Alana Benson

Alana Benson is an investing writer who covers socially responsible and ESG investing, financial advice and beginner investing topics. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSN, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch and others. Read moreEmail

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