The post Best Day Trading Software by Rachael Green appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.
Day trading can be an exciting way to make money in the stock market. It’s open to anyone, but there are some basic requirements you need to maintain. To trade effectively, you need reliable trading software with the most up-to-date prices to allow you to quickly execute trades at a moment’s notice. Learn more about day trading now, and find our recommendations for the best day trading software.
Want to jump straight to the best? Our readers love CenterPoint Securities for day trading + Benzinga Pro for fast news.
Quick Look at the Best Day Trading Software:
- Best for Advanced Charting: CenterPoint Securities
- Best for Stock Trading: Webull
- Best for News: Benzinga Pro (This is us!)
- Best for Auto Trading: StreetBeat
- Best for Long Term Investors: Magnifi
- Best for Futures Trading on Desktop: NinjaTrader
- Best for Professional Investors: Stock Rover
- Best for Beginners: Robinhood
- Best for Day Traders: moomoo
- Best for Swing Traders: Zen Trading Strategies
- Best for Global Traders: Interactive Brokers
- Best for Trading Information: Capital Markets Laboratories
- Best for Risk Managers: Seasonax
Contents
- Best Day Trading Software
- Best for Advanced Charting: CenterPoint Securities
- Best for Stock Trading: Webull
- Best for News: Benzinga Pro
- Best for Auto Trading: StreetBeat
- Best for Long Term Investors: Magnifi
- Best for Advanced Day Traders: NinjaTrader
- Best for Stock Screening: Stock Rover
- Best for Beginners: Robinhood
- Best for Full-Time Day Traders: moomoo
- Best for Algo Trading: Zen Trading Strategies
- Interactive Brokers
- Best for Trading Information: Capital Markets Laboratories
- Best for Risk Managers: Seasonax
- What is Day Trading?
- Pros and Cons of Day Trading
- Best Features of the Best Day Trading Software
- Find the Best Day Trading Software for You
- Frequently Asked Questions
Best Day Trading Software
While you can technically trade frequently enough to be a day trader with any stock trading software, some offer better tools and resources than others for fast-paced trading.
Here’s our list of the best day trading software for beginner to advanced traders:
Best for Advanced Charting: CenterPoint Securities
CenterPoint Securities is a great place to trade because it offers direct access to all the assets you could want. The platform offers several helpful features like:
- Advanced charting
- Level 2 order routing
- Short inventory access
- Capacity for advanced and high-volume traders
- Pro, Web and Mobile account types
- Built-in scanners
- Custom alerts
- Advanced order entry
The customer service team is very responsive, and you can be sure that all your orders are routed quickly so that you have complete control of your portfolio.
get started
securely through CenterPoint Securities’s
website
CenterPoint Securities is ideal for active traders who demand access to advanced tools and services. While investors and casual traders are likely to be content with the basic offerings of traditional online brokerages, active traders will benefit from CenterPoint’s suite of advanced trading tools. If you value execution quality, access to short inventory, advanced trading platforms, and accessible customer service, CenterPoint is an excellent choice.
Best For
- Intermediate to Advanced traders
- High-volume traders
- Momentum traders
- Short sellers
- Unrivaled access to short inventory
- Flexible order routing for improved executions
- Discounts for active traders
- Advanced platform with fast executions
- Reliable customer service
- Not designed for beginner or low-volume traders
Best for Stock Trading: Webull
With $0 commissions and low margin rates, Webull is a great pick for investors looking for low-cost trading. In addition to low-cost trading, day traders gain access to pre-market and after-hours trading, charts with 25 technical indicators, advanced quotes and the latest news.
The broker strives to be your all-in-one platform for day trading by combining fast, low-cost trades with all the market research you could possibly need in a single place. The only thing day traders might miss is the lack of forex trading capabilities.
get started
securely through Webull’s
website
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.
Best For
- Active traders
- Intermediate traders
- Advanced traders
- No account maintenance fees or software platform fees
- No charges to open and maintain an account
- Intuitive trading platform with technical and fundamental analysis tools
- Does not support trading in mutual funds, bonds or OTC stocks
Best for News: Benzinga Pro
A day trader is only as good as the information they can access. To spot opportunities early, you need to stay on top of market trends, the latest earnings reports and other market news that can influence stock performance.
With Benzinga Pro, you get exclusive access to breaking news fresh off the BZ wire, and real-time alerts the second a headline that matters to your portfolio pops up. You can set custom filters and sentiment indicators for quickly scanning your news feed.
While you can’t trade directly on the platform, it’s a powerful weapon to have in your day trading arsenal.
get started
securely through Benzinga Pro’s
website
Best for Auto Trading: StreetBeat
Streetbeat is a fintech firm that is looking to make it easier to invest by mixing fintech innovations and software. Located in Palo Alto, the firm has a mobile app that offers self-trading services and auto trading.
You can invest in a range of assets like stocks and ETFs, but you can also invest in crypto, allowing the platform to do much of the work for you. The client-focused approach from the firm makes it more palatable for most investors, and it also offers:
- Functionality for investors of all skill levels
- Auto trading innovations
- No trading commissions
- You can start with as little as $1
- Generous bonuses
- Low management fees
Remember, though, as useful as this platform is, your management fees could rise depending on the size of your portfolio. Either way, you get the support you need and can enhance your portfolio without doing all the math on your own.
get started
securely through Streetbeat’s
website
Streetbeat is a fintech company that aims to change investing by using a combination of financial technology and software. The company, located in Palo Alto, California, offers a mobile app that has manual and auto-trading. Investment opportunities range from standard investments such as stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to cryptocurrencies. Streetbeat uses a client-focused approach that implements data solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) to build financial investment solutions.
Best For
- Individuals interested in auto-trading
- Investors from various skill levels
- No trading commissions
- Investments can begin as low as $1
- Bonuses extend to $10,000
- Less than 1% management fee for strategies
- Fees can accumulate on larger accounts
Best for Long Term Investors: Magnifi
Magnifi is a marketplace that allows you, as the 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.
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securely through Magnifi’s
website
Magnifi is an intelligently designed marketplace that allows investors to access data-backed information about various investment opportunities. The company combines standard brokerage tools with artificial intelligence (AI) to promote financial competence. Magnifi distinguishes itself from the crowd by offering an AI-powered search feature and an AI-powered investment assistant. Magnifi offers a technology-forward platform that aims to promote confident and capable long-term financial investments.
Best For
- Long-term investors
- Individuals interested in personalized assistance
- New investors that are eager to learn how to start investing
- Access to an AI-powered investing assistant with a Magnifi Personal account
- Commission-free investing
- Over 15,000 possible investments
- Available mobile application
- Limited methods of communication with customer service
Best for Advanced Day Traders: NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader offers some of the best charting, backtesting and automation tools available to retail investors. For more advanced traders looking for full customizability of charts and the ability to leverage thousands of indicators, this platform is hard to beat.
You also get backtesting and simulation tools all in the same platform, so you can continue refining your strategy in the same place you do your actual trading.
With access to stocks, forex, futures, options and contracts for differences (CFD), day traders can also leverage custom trading strategies in almost any market they choose.
The main drawback is the lack of educational resources. Beginners might feel lost in the platform and struggle to use the full suite of tools available.
get started
securely through NinjaTrader’s
website
NinjaTrader is a powerful derivatives trading platform specializing in futures, forex and options. The platform has a number of unique trading tools. A free version does exist without the extra goodies provided by Trader + and OrderFlow + but users can still break down charts, backtest strategies and trade without upfront payment. NinjaTrader hosts its own brokerage services but users have their choice of several different brokerage options. Accounts have minimums depending on the securities traded and commissions vary depending on the version of the platform. Advanced derivatives traders will have endless fun with the platform’s mighty array of tools and analyzers.
The free version, which is included with all brokerage accounts is a great starting platform for new traders without the financial commitment. As you grow in your trading and are ready for more tools and functionality, you can add more complexity.
Best For
- Futures Traders
- Traders looking for 24/7 action
- Advanced Traders
- Powerful analysis tools
- Free download and simulated trading
- Open source trading apps to enhance experience
- Can only trade derivatives like futures and options
Best for Stock Screening: Stock Rover
With thousands of securities to choose from, it’s impossible to sift through the market and find the best day trade opportunities without a screener to help you. That screener should be Stock Rover. With over 650 financial metrics, charting tools, and historical financial data, it’s among the best platforms for quickly finding day trading opportunities.
Even with so much data, Stock Rover’s platform is intuitive enough for beginners to navigate and learn how to use the screening tools. The key drawback is that it does not offer brokerage accounts, so you have to do your trading on a separate platform.
get started
securely through Stock Rover’s
website
Stock Rover is a comprehensive stock analysis and screening tool that gives investors access to high-quality research tools, educational content, expert analysis and more. Stock Rover goes well beyond standard analysis tools, offering account holders 1 of the most comprehensive sets of screening criteria and research qualifications that we’ve seen. For example, users can filter investment opportunities using over 650 metrics with Premium Plus access.
Stock Rover offers 4 different plan tiers, which can become confusing for new investors who aren’t exactly sure which tools they’ll use. However, free accounts offer a wide range of functionality that gives users a better feel for Stock Rover’s setup, along with a free trial of Premium Plus functionality. Getting started with a Stock Rover account is also exceptionally easy — we were able to open our free account in under 60 seconds.
Best For
- Professional investors who need high-quality analysis and research tools
- Visual learners who benefit from seeing data laid out using charts and graphs
- Anyone searching for the widest array of screening metrics
- Incredibly comprehensive range of investment analysis tools
- Over 650 screening criteria included on Premium Plus plans
- Simple account opening and brokerage account linking
- Free accounts available
- Wide variety of plan options that can be more confusing for new investors
Best for Beginners: Robinhood
Robinhood strives to make financial markets accessible to everyone by providing an intuitive platform and tons of educational tools for new traders to learn the ropes. With real-time quotes and a responsive platform, you can reliably execute trades based on the most up-to-date pricing data.
Traders of all skill levels will also appreciate the $0 commission fees and low margin rates that make frequent day trading cost-effective.
However, Robinhood offers limited indicators, so mobile day traders or more advanced traders who need better charting tools and indicators may find the platform lacking.
get started
securely through Robinhood’s
website
Robinhood is a broker designed for traders who want a simple and easy-to-use platform. It takes out all the bells and whistles that can be confusing to the modern day trader, serving as the perfect place for beginners to learn the markets. The interface is intuitive and easy to master, streamlined to ensure you don’t get distracted as you build a portfolio. Though advanced traders might like more thorough analysis tools, Robinhood gives you everything you need to start trading and learn the ropes.
Best For
- Beginner traders
- Mobile traders
- Streamlined, easy-to-understand interface
- Mobile app with full capabilities
- Can buy and sell cryptocurrency
- Fewer analysis tools than most
Best for Full-Time Day Traders: moomoo
Offering high-quality executions, extended hours, and high-volume order capabilities, moomoo is a great app for the serious day trader. The platform offers commission-free trading, $0 options contracts, and a wide range of market analysis tools.
You can use over 50 indicators, access level 2 market data, and find the latest news on all your positions, all in the same platform where you do your actual trading. The best part is all of this is available at no extra cost when you open an account.
However, it is missing backtesting and automation tools that might make it feel incomplete for some traders.
get started
securely through Moomoo’s
website
Moomoo is a commission-free mobile trading app available on Apple, Google and Windows devices. A subsidiary of Futu Holdings Ltd., it’s backed by venture capital affiliates of Matrix, Sequoia, and Tencent (NASDAQ: FUTU). Securities offered by Futu Inc., regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
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.
Best For
- Cost-conscious traders
- Active and Advanced traders
- Over 8,000 different stocks that can be sold short
- Access trading and quotes in pre-market (4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET) and post-market hours (4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET)
- No minimum deposit to open an account.
- No chat support
Best for Algo Trading: Zen Trading Strategies
Zen Trading Strategies was developed by a team of quantitative algorithmic traders—that is, traders who use an algorithm programmed with their own custom buy and sell triggers to automatically execute trades.
It offers pre-tested and ready-to-use strategies for day trading and other styles of investing so that investors using the platform can dive right in, even if they aren’t experts.
You can use the strategies as is, tweak them to better fit your needs or develop fully-customized strategies based on your preferred indicators. This is a great option for investors interested in automating day trading activity so they can sit back while an algorithm handles the leg work.
Rad more: Best Day Trading Platforms
get started
securely through Zen Trading’s
website
From proven, prebuilt strategies and indicators to professional consulting for advanced traders who build their own trading scripts, Zen Trading Strategies offers services for algo traders of all skill levels. With free trials, tiered pricing options, and a wide variety of plans, this company aims to offer something that fits every budget and every trading style.
Best For
- Investors who are new to algo trading and want to learn the ropes without losing money in the process.
- Algo traders looking for customizable trading scripts to use in any financial market.
- Scalpers, day traders, swing traders and other higher frequency traders who want access to hundreds of indicators, including automated trading indictors.
- 4 regularly updated, customizable trading strategies that can be adapted to any timeframe or asset.
- Unlimited backtesting, performance monitoring, and strategy development
- Indicators that can be synced to live exchanges to automatically place orders for you.
- Comprehensive master course in automated algorithmic trading
- Tutorials, explainers, and other helpful resources that make algorithmic trading accessible at all skill levels
- Optional VPS alert service so you don’t lose money due to servers being down.
- Trading consulting service to get expert feedback and recommendations on your own trading strategy
- Currently only compatible with TradingView
Interactive Brokers
At Interactive Brokers, there are a few software options that make trading easier for retail or institutional investors. IBKR offers:
- The client portal, a web application that allows you to invest within your portfolio
- The trader workstation where you can trade actively
- The IBKR mobile app
- IBKR APIs that allow you to add IBKR to your website or platform
Other items included with the platform are:
- OptionTrader
- Probability Lab
- FXTrader
- Mutual Fund/ETF Replicator
- IB Risk Navigator
As a publicly-traded company, IBKR has the resources to provide traders with all the services they need, ensuring that you can build wealth and manage your portfolio appropriately.
get started
securely through Interactive Broker’s
website
Interactive Brokers is a comprehensive trading platform that gives you access to a massive range of securities at affordable prices. You can buy assets from all around the world from the comfort of your home or office with access to over 135 global markets. Options, futures, forex and fund trading are also available, and most traders won’t pay a commission on any purchase or sale.
IBKR is geared primarily toward experienced traders and investors but now with the availability of free trades with IBKR Lite, casual traders can also acclimate to IBKR’s offerings.
Best For
- Access to foreign markets
- Detailed mobile app that makes trading simple
- Wide range of available account types and tradable assets
- Comprehensive, quick desktop platform
- Mobile app mirrors full capabilities of desktop version
- Access to massive range of tradable assets
- Low margin rates
- Easy-to-use and enhanced screening options are better than ever
- Trading platform may be intimidating for new investors
Best for Trading Information: Capital Markets Laboratories
When you use Capital Markets Laboratories to learn about your investments, you gain a massive amount of high-level information that you can use for any investment in the stock market, futures markets and more. While this platform doesn’t allow you to make trades, it tells you everything you need to know.
Services from the CML website include:
- TradeMachine Stock, is designed for the backtesting, scanning, and alerting you need when managing a stock portfolio
- TradeMachine Pro, including backtesting, the Pro Scanner, intra-day alerts, the trade discovery model and technical signals.
- CML Pro, focuses on “world-changing trends” that help you make better investment decisions
- Pattern Finder, helps you uncover advantageous entries and exits
You can demo the service you need for 30 days, and the TradeMachine Pro is only $199 per month, helping you maximize profits and point your portfolio in the right direction at all times. You can also tap into the large community that’s grown up around the site to learn more about the markets, ask questions and share insights.
Best for Risk Managers: Seasonax
Seasonal investing is an oft-overlooked technique that can bring diversity, vitality and value to your portfolio. However, it can be difficult to leverage all that data to determine when and if stocks or assets will rise or fall in value.
With Seasonax, you get:
- Access to seasonal trading signals for around 20,000 assets
- An easy-to-use dashboard
- Seasonal charts going back 125 years
- Customizable tools
- Newsletters, video tutorials
- Advanced filtering
- Detailed statistics
- Seasonality screener and more
After a 3-day trial, the subscription sits at just under $50 per month, allowing you access to all the data you need to become a seasonal trader and add layers of insight to your investment portfolio and overall net worth.
get started
securely through Seasonax’s
website
Seasonal investing is an age-old investment strategy that leverages historical data to try to predict how certain stocks or sectors will perform over a specific period. By leveraging readily available historical trends and performance data, investors can quickly identify and try to catch the next big trend.
Seasonal investing can potentially return a year’s profit from a traditional investing strategy in under 20 days. It is an effective strategy that can outperform most other popular investment strategies, especially for multi-asset portfolios as shown by a comprehensive scientific study encompassing 200+ years and 68 markets. However, timing the market is vital for optimal return on investment (ROI). Without a distinct daily seasonal chart, traders may not accurately depict historical market changes, leading to losses over time. That’s where Seasonax comes into play.
Founded by Christoph Zenk and Dimitri Speck in March 2014, Seasonax is a seasonality trading analytics company headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The tool helps traders and investors identify and evaluate the seasonal trends of various tradable assets to maximize returns. It provides empirical facts drawn from up to 200 years of historical seasonal charts and trade data. By offering data-driven insights into optimal buy and sell timeframes for individual assets, the company allows investors to benefit from seasonality.
Seasonax delivers its services via a highly intuitive and robust web application that is highly versatile and easy to use across various browsers (Windows, Android and iOS). It incorporates features like data visualization, data import and export, scheduling, a screener feature and much more, which makes it easy for users to optimize investments. The company’s innovative service offerings and efficient delivery across the board position it as a significant trading analytic company. However, the company’s subscription services are relatively pricey.
Best For
- Risk managers
- Fund managers
- Hedge fund managers
- Private investors
- Access to seasonal trading signals for more than 20,000 instruments
- Versatile and easy to use
- Comprehensive seasonal charts with up to 125 years of accurate historical data
- Highly customizable
- Educational and research materials (free bi-weekly newsletters, video tutorials, and more)
- Subscription fees
- No API
- No mobile apps
What is Day Trading?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) official definition of a day trader is an investor who executes 4 or more day trades within a 5 business day period. A day trade is any trade that you open and close inside of 24 hours.
It requires a clear strategy and strong discipline to avoid impulsive or emotional decision-making. Anyone interested in day trading should take a day trading course and do plenty of research to develop a solid strategy before they dive into this fast-paced mode of trading.
If you trade frequently enough to fit the SEC’s criteria, you have to meet and maintain certain requirements in order to continue day trading:
- Maintain a minimum balance of $25,000. If the account’s value drops below that minimum on any given day, your broker will block day trading activity until you make a deposit to bring it back above $25,000.
- Don’t trade more than 4x the maintenance margin excess. Maintenance margin excess is anything above the $25,000 minimum. If you have a balance of $40,000, that’s $15,000 above the minimum. You can trade up to $60,000 (4 x $15,000) on margin. If you trade more, your broker will issue a margin call that you must meet within 5 business days.
Keep in mind that some brokers might impose even stricter requirements than these SEC rules, especially if you’re trading on margin.
Pros and Cons of Day Trading
Day trading can be both fun and profitable, but it does come with risks. Here’s a breakdown of the major pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
If you stick to your strategy, you can make a living from day trading.
More transactions mean more transaction fees.
Fast-pace trading is exciting.
The more often you sell, the more taxes you pay.
You set your own pace and strategy.
The stocks you trade are generally high risk.
Day trading allows you to profit off of volatile markets.
Day traders are subject to more restrictions and limitations than long-term traders.
If you’re good at it, you can work with a large institution and gain access to proprietary software and special trading privileges.
For steady gains, you need to stick to a strategy and avoid impulse decisions.
Best Features of the Best Day Trading Software
Your skill level and trading strategy will determine what specific features you want in your day trading software.
However, some of the most important features that all-day traders need include:
- $0 commissions and fees: Commission fees add up if you do multiple transactions per day.
- Great order execution quality: Execution quality means trades execute quickly and with minimal spread.
- User-friendly: If the desktop or mobile app is hard to navigate or regularly experiences delays while you’re in the middle of executing trades, you could end up losing money or missing opportunities.
- Real-time quotes: When you need to enter and exit trades in a matter of hours, you need access to the most up-to-date pricing data.
- Charts: Look for charts with lots of indicators so you can customize them to show the technical details you use in your strategy.
- Backtesting: When developing a strategy, one of the first steps is to backtest it by simulating how your strategy would have performed in the past. Some software includes backtesting tools so you can do everything in one platform.
Find the Best Day Trading Software for You
When choosing day trading software, cost management is key. Look for low transaction fees and fast trade execution.
For beginners, software that offers educational resources can help develop your skill into the advanced day-trading veteran you’ve always dreamed of becoming. Beginners and advanced traders alike can benefit from software that also has built-in screening and technical analysis tools.
Review our picks for the best day trading software to find your fit today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I day trade with $100?
There are 3 ways you can trade with $100.
The first is to keep a $25,000 portfolio and then only risk $100 in any given trade. This is a great way to dip your toes in without exposing too much of your portfolio to high-risk trades.
Option 2 is to trade less frequently. Avoid triggering minimum requirements by doing just 3 day trades per 5 day window. Infrequent day trading is a good option for beginners because you have time for post-trade analysis to learn what is and isn’t working.
Your third option is to trade currency only. Minimum account requirements don’t apply to currency markets so you can trade as often as you want with as little starting capital as you’re comfortable with.
Answer Link
Q. How do day traders pay taxes?
You have to pay taxes on any sale of securities during the year. Calculating that tax bill is tricky because the IRS makes a distinction between investors and traders. Whether your trading activity qualifies you as a “trader” instead of an investor depends on how much you trade, how often, and the time you devote to it.
The key difference, from a tax perspective, is that a trader’s earnings are taxed as business income while an investor’s earnings are taxed as capital gains.
Answer Link
Where can I find good day trading software?
To find the best day trading software, see the list above.
Answer Link
Related content: Interactive Brokers vs. Merrill Edge
The post Best Day Trading Software by Rachael Green appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.
