5 Best Day Trading Platforms (stock apps) in 2024 (2024)

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Are you interested in investing in the stock market and becoming a day trader? Here are the five best day-trading platforms of 2023.

Day trading is when an investor purchases stocks or securities at a low price at the beginning of the trading day and sells them when they hit a higher price at the end of the day.

In this article, we review the five best day-trading platforms in today’s market. According to SSRN, approximately 15% of day traders that start their trading journey stick with it for three or more years.

A study of day traders within Taiwan revealed that 75% of them quit day trading within two years of starting, and 85% stopped altogether within three years.

Do not let these statistics put you off. Day trading can be beneficial if you learn the market trends and know when to stay with or pull out of an investment.

Top 5 Best Platforms for Day Trading

1. Lightspeed – Editors’ choice
2. Webull – Best for beginners
3. Robinhood – Best for crypto
4. TradeStation – Best for small accounts
5. Interactive Brokers – Best for advanced day traders

Methodology

We ranked the best day-trading platforms based on different factors, such as commission fees, customer service reviews, the type of investments available for day traders, special platform features and other free resources for investors to utilize.

Platforms with little to no minimum deposit and commission-free trades ranked higher than those with higher fees.

Day Trading Broker Reviews

Below, you will find company reviews of five day-trading broker websites. Each platform has its own specialties, which is reflected in our rankings.

Lightspeed – Editors’ Choice

Lightspeed considers itself the home for professional day traders, which is the main reason why we have selected them as the best company for day trading.

The quality of the platform’s trade execution and the reliability of the system are the key reasons why professional investors trust Lightspeed.

Lightspeed understands the volatility of the market and is poised to sell traders’ investments quickly to lock in their profit value. You can view the most active trading options or those investments with a high trading volume to create watchlists.

Evaluate the market risk with Lightspeed’s risk management tools. Receive one-on-one assistance from a Lightspeed representative to help you understand how to purchase and navigate the markets.

Company Highlights

• Location: New York and Chicago, Illinois
• Accounts: Stock brokerage, options trading, futures, crypto
• Investor type: All investors
• Fees: Max. $4.50/stock trade, $0.60/options contract
• Minimum balance: $10,000

Why we choose Lightspeed: We chose Lightspeed as the best platform for day trading because of its exceptional customer service, fast order execution and more than 100 order-routing destinations.

Webull – Best for Beginners

If you are just getting started with day trading, try the Webull online broker for day trading. With no deposit minimums and no commissions on trades, you can make money when selling while working within your trading budget, no matter how large or small.

When you sign up for a Webull trading account, you will receive your first stock trade for free. Plus, signing up for a new account will make you eligible for a maximum of 12 free fractional shares.

Your stock investments can be as small as $5. Try Over-the counter (OTCs), where you do not have to work with a day-trading broker without being on a specific exchange.

Company Highlights

• Location: New York, New York
• Accounts: Stock brokerage, crypto, options trading, paper trading
• Investor type: All investors
• Fees: Commission-free trades
• Minimum balance: $0 (low cost)

Why we choose Webull: We chose Webull because of the first-time day trader perks for joining, no minimum deposit and the simple and interactive trading software available for desktop platforms, laptops and mobile devices.

Robinhood – Best for Crypto

Who hasn’t seen a Robinhood commercial? The platform’s popularity has grown due to its commission-free trades and easy-to-use trading strategies interface.

What sets Robinhood apart from other day-trading platforms is its Snacks newsletter. When you sign up, you receive a daily email with easy-to-understand financial news that gives you an insight into the trading market for that day.

Robinhood is a budget-friendly charting platform that allows you to invest in crypto for as little as $1. This means that you could purchase part of a crypto coin rather than a whole one.

Investing in crypto is seamless and only takes about five minutes after you sign up for an account.

Company Highlights

• Location: Menlo Park, California
• Accounts: Stock brokerage, crypto, retirement, cash card
• Investor type: All investors
• Fees: Commission-free trades
• Minimum balance: $0

Why we choose Robinhood: We chose Robinhood because of its many cryptocurrency trading options, daily insights into market news and low-budget trading opportunities.

TradeStation – Best for Small Accounts

TradeStation has proven to investors of all experience levels that it is one of the best day-trading platforms for charting online. The company has received multiple awards that demonstrate its excellence among day-trading platforms in the industry.

In 2023, StockBrokers.com recognized TradeStation as the #1 Crypto Technology for the third time in a row and stated that TradeStation was best for penny stocks.

Also, for the fourth year in a row, StockBrokers said that TradeStation excelled in futures trading, and for the 12th consecutive year, it named TradeStation as the best in class for active trading.

Company Highlights

• Location: Plantation, Florida
• Accounts: Stock brokerage, options trading, futures, mutual funds, bonds
• Investor type: All investors
• Fees: $0 per trade (low cost)
• Minimum balance: $500

Why we choose TradeStation: We chose TradeStation because of the recognition it has received from industry reviewers, its in-depth manifesto showing the company’s values, and how it helps investors with small accounts excel in day trading.

Interactive Brokers– Best for Advanced Day Traders

Interactive Brokers helps advanced active traders to carry out advanced charting to get the most out of their investments.

You can trade stocks and other investments using any of the 26 acceptable currencies and become a member of a large community of global investors across 200 countries.

This is one of the online trading platforms that has margin rates that are about 50% lower than the industry norm. Hence, pattern day traders will pay fewer interest rates to brokers when investing in stocks and other financial products on Interactive Brokers.

Company Highlights

• Location: New York, New York
• Accounts: Real-time stock brokerage, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options trading, futures, paper trading
• Investor type: All investors
• Fees: $0
• Minimum balance: $0

Why we choose Interactive Brokers: We chose Interactive Brokers because of the company’s attention to detail in creating a platform that’s catered toward advanced day traders.

Its low industry margin rates and high recognition from industry reviewers also influenced our decision.

Benefits of Day Trading Platforms

There are many benefits of day trading, including:

• No contribution limits
• Flexibility
• Withdraw money anytime
• Borrow money
• FDIC insurance
• Lots of investment options
• Promotions and savings

Day-trading platforms allow you to maintain flexibility when choosing which stocks to purchase and sell. With no contribution limits, you can maintain this flexibility in investing as much as you wish into the stock market.

When you make money from your day-trading investments, withdrawing money at any time means you have immediate access to your funds and can use them for anything you like.

Some brokers allow you to borrow money to purchase stocks so you can turn around and pay them back with the profits you could receive from them.

Many investment options to choose from, along with promotions for trading on a specific platform, allow you to get the most out of profitable investing activities.

Disadvantages of Day Trading Platforms

Some disadvantages of day trading include:

• No tax advantages
• Capital gains taxes
• Limited financial advice
• Commissions and fees

Unfortunately, the FDIC states that it does not insure U.S. stocks, mutual funds, annuities or bonds. Stock investments do not have tax advantages, so you will be taxed on your annual earnings from day trading.

While it has great customer service, there is not as much financial advice available for you to make the soundest decision when interacting with day trading. Some platforms enforce commissions and other fees that eat into your investment profits.

Which Day Trading Platform Should I Choose?

An easy-to-use investment platform that offers commission-free trading and a great customer service background can help you to choose the best platform for day trading.

Select one with promotions that allow free stocks or other perks for first-time investors on the platform.

Day Trading Platform FAQs

Here are some answers to some common questions about day-trading platforms.