Over the past few years, apps have revolutionized the way people interact with the world’s financial markets and stock exchanges. Today, the best stock trading apps can help you monitor market trends, make investments, and learn about the world of finance.
Stock trading app developers are constantly innovating and adding new features to make portfolio management easier to do on the go. Many of the latest-gen trading platforms now feature AI-based tools to help you evaluate investment risks. Because these apps are frequently standing in for human brokers, who would traditionally provide insights into potential market scenarios, it’s vital you find a service that enables you to make prudent decisions about your assets.
Warren Buffet once said, “never invest in a business that you cannot understand”. Equally, in 2020, never use a stock trading app that doesn’t help you to understand investment decisions better.
Trading on your mobile might be easier than ever, but with an expanding selection of services to choose from, working out which to use remains a challenge for many first-time users. To narrow down your choices, decide what your priorities are before downloading a stock trading app.
Will you be making trades frequently? If so, find a trading app that comes with free trades. On the other hand, if you want to put together a stable portfolio and watch your nest egg grow over the years, the cost of performing an individual trade matters less.
Also, ask yourself whether you plan to manage your trades on desktop as well as on your mobile. If you do, it’s vital that you select a stock trading app with a consistent cross-device experience.
1. M1 Finance
All you need for long term investing
Based in Chicago, M1 Holdings Inc is a robo-advisor financial services company that produces the M1 Finance app for Android and iOS devices. You can also make use of the M1 Finance platform on your desktop too, thanks to a handy web interface. Unlike other robo-advisors, M1 Finance enables you to take full control of your investments.
M1 Finance is notable for its well-rounded finance package, which it refers to as Smart Money Management. Besides making investments, you can use the app to borrow — as long as you have $10,000 invested — and spend, with an M1 checking account and debit card.
When it comes to trading stocks, you’ll find that M1 enables you to assemble your portfolio as you see fit, thanks to an impressive suite of automated investing features. With M1, You can decide to base your investing strategy around individual stocks, low-risk ETFs, or create a hybrid of both.
Trading with M1 works through a system of so-called investment Pies. A Pie contains up to 100 Slices, each representing an investment such an ETF, stock, or a different Pie. Once you’ve created your Pie, the app will automatically purchase investments in proportion with your selection. Pre-made investment Pies are also available.
Happily, M1 is totally free from trading fees. That means no maintenance payments, no trading commissions, and zero up-charging for deposits or withdrawals. However, the platform will charge you $100 for account termination if you close a retirement account early and $20 for inactivity if you have a low balance and don’t use the app for over 90 days.
The basic version of the app is known as M1 Standard, and you don’t have to pay anything to use it. If you want to get a better borrowing rate, debit card cash back, and a 1% APY checking account, you can upgrade to M1 Plus which costs $125 annually with a $25 discount applied for the first year.
It’s worth noting that M1 isn’t a great option for day or high-frequency trading where you need to make a purchase or sale at an exact price point. That’s because M1 places orders during a single 9:30 am EST trading window. However, M1 Plus members do get access to a secondary 3 pm EST trading window.
Read our full M1 Finance review.
2. TD Ameritrade
Advanced trading tools for the experienced investor
TD Ameritrade is one of the most influential and popular stock trading services on the market today, and it’s easy to see why.
This broker was one of the first major trading services to remove all commission charges on ETFs and stocks in late 2019. Today, with TD Ameritrade, you can trade commission-free on ETFs, exchange-listed stocks, and options. However, a $0.065 fee does apply for contracts on options trades. Also, non-US OTC stock trades incur a $6.95 charge.
You can actually access your TD Ameritrade trading account on multiple apps. First up, there’s the TD Ameritrade Mobile App. This is targeted toward relatively simple investments. With it, you can create price alerts, view stock watch lists, and examine charts with custom indicators. If you’re trading stocks for the first time, this will certainly be the right option to use. The app makes it easy to see a summary of your trading activity and access a host of TD Ameritrade content and research to better understand the market.
However, if you’re an experienced trader or day trading rather than using a buy and hold strategy, the thinkorswim app will be a better choice for developing your TD Ameritrade portfolio. This mobile tool is powerful enough that you can use it to develop and execute a complex trading strategy while on the move. The thinkorswim app makes that possible by, essentially, providing the same functionality you’d find in a fully-fledged desktop trading platform, meaning you can stream data in real-time and trade directly from a chart interface.
The TD Ameritrade thinkorswim platform was, in fact, originally launched as a desktop-only tool, which you can still use alongside the mobile application. What’s more, the company recently launched a thinkorswim web edition for a more paired-down trading experience within your browser.
Read our full TD Ameritrade review.
3. SoFi Invest
Beginner-friendly stock trading
There are plenty of complex stock trading apps out there that can help hardened investors make decisions about their trades based on the market’s latest fluctuations, but that’s not what SoFi Invest is for. This app is self-consciously aimed at users who want a streamlined, user-friendly trading experience and guidance about what stocks to purchase.
SoFi offers two main account types, Active Investing and Automated Investing. Both of these work alongside other SoFi financial products — such as loan refinancing — and can be used to access a range of stocks and ETFs
A SoFi Invest Automated Investing trading account is effectively a robo-advisor service where the platform decides how to handle a portfolio on your behalf. This option is worth considering if you want an almost completely hands-off stock trading experience. When you sign up for an Automated Investing account, the platform will ask a few questions about your risk preferences and then suggest an appropriate pre-made portfolio. Most robo-advisory tools charge management fees of up to 0.5% per year, but SoFi’s is totally free.
On the other hand, SoFi’s Active Investing accounts are totally self-directed, so you can decide exactly how to divide up your capital between different ETFs and stocks. Like many of the other best stock trading apps we’ve assembled here, SoFi is commission-free so you can make as many trades as you want without paying a cent.
One of the coolest things about SoFi is what the company refers to as Stock Bits. These are effectively fractional shares that can be purchased by dollar amount. You can use Stock Bits to get a slice of your favorite companies without having to commit to an entire share.
Although it lacks some of the advanced search tools, metrics, and customizability you’ll find with other stock trading tools, the SoFi Invest app design is clear and easy to navigate on desktops and mobile. This makes the platform an ideal option if you don’t want to be overwhelmed by stats each time you log in to check on your holdings.
4. Fidelity Investments
A stock trading app ecosystem that adapts to your needs
Fidelity Investments is a reputable global stockbroker that was originally founded in 1946. Like TD Ameritrade, if you open an investment portfolio with Fidelity, you’ll be able to manage it through multiple mobile, web, and desktop applications.
If you want a capable service that provides access to a wide range of asset classes and holdings, Fidelity could well be the brokerage for you. Unlike many of the simpler stock trading apps featured here, you can actually choose your base currency — 16 are available — and you can use Fidelity to invest in non-US stocks and bonds.
So that you can monitor your investments wherever you are, the standard Fidelity app is compatible with a large selection of devices including Apple TVs and Amazon products.
No matter what you install the Fidelity app on, you’ll be able to use it to find detailed charts and important data to inform your investing strategy. On the app, you’ll be able to request real-time quotes, access the broker’s latest research, and set up multi-leg options trades. In case you run into trouble, you can call a Fidelity representative from within the app itself.
To enhance and complement Fidelity’s core app, the company has recently released Fidelity Spire, a free tool to help match your investments with your financial goals. Also available is Fidelity’s Active Trader Pro, which can be used to create a tailor-made news feed for day trading. If you have sufficient assets held with Fidelity, another desktop tool, known as Wealth-Lab Pro, can be used to test and develop advanced trading strategies.
5. Revolut
Convenient trading for European users
Revolut was first launched as an international finance management tool in 2015. It’s best known for enabling users to hold balances in multiple currencies and exchange between them with minimal fees and no red tape.
But did you know that since mid-2019, Revolut users have also been to buy and trade stocks with no commission? Standard — or rather, unpaid — Revolut account holders can make up to three trades per month for free. Meanwhile, Revolut Metal subscribers who pay £12.99 or €13.99 per month get eight free trades. After the free monthly trades are used up, Revolut charges £1 per additional trade. Additionally, the platform has a fairly minimal 0.01% annual custody fee.
Currently, it’s possible to trade in the stocks of more than 850 companies through Revolut. As stock trading remains a new feature for the app, other assets are likely to become accessible soon.
Unfortunately, Revolut has not yet activated its stock trading feature for US-based users. All the same, this remains an excellent choice for casual traders in European countries where the feature is already live.
6. Interactive Brokers
Trade using a broad selection of assets
Executing close to two million trades every day, and with a capital of approximately $8.2 billion, Interactive Brokers is one of the largest US stockbrokers. Advanced traders who need access to all major global markets are sure to love the Interactive Brokers platform as the service can be used to trade at more than 135 unique market destinations.
Interactive Brokers, or IBKR as it’s better known, runs a useful stock trading app for iOS and Android devices. It might not be quite as user friendly as some of the other options listed here, but it does an impressive job of making it easy to find niche assets through an advanced search function.
One of the most unique IBKR app features is something called Ibot. You can use natural language commands to get this AI-based chatbot to execute and close orders, or to set price alerts. You can also tell Ibot to search for or plot key stock metrics such as current trading price and earnings-to-growth ratios.
7. Stash
Get to grips with the basics of stock trading
Stash was founded to make stock trading accessible for inexperienced investors. To facilitate easy multi-portfolio investing, Stash supports micro-investing with fractional stocks. That means that, like with SoFi’s Stock Bits, you don’t have to put up the cash to purchase an entire share.
A complete lack of account minimums similarly makes Stash a worthy option for newbie investors. You can open and begin investing with whatever level of capital you have access to.
Even better, Stash will actually help you to find extra funds to expand your investment portfolio through something called Automated Investments and SmartStash. If you enable these options, whenever you buy something using a Stash-linked account, the platform will automatically round up your purchase to and invest the additional cash. If you buy a $3.55 latte, for example, Stash will withdraw and invest an extra $0.45.
To help you put together a set of holdings that matches your risk appetite, Stash uses a robo-advisor system known as the Stash Coach. While most robo investment platforms actually manage your portfolio directly, Stash’s advisor simply presents you with advice about which trades to make. The big advantage of doing things this way is that you maintain complete control of your assets and can organically learn about how to respond to market movements from the Coach’s feedback.
So that you can make prudent choices about where to put your cash, Stash provides plenty of easy-to-digest information about any ETF or stock it recommends investing in. This includes a brief synopsis regarding the nature of the investment, a price ticker, and a visual depiction of the risk associated with investing.
Stash works on a monthly subscription model that costs between $1 and $9 per month depending on the level of functionality you require access to. To open a retirement account or a custodial plan, for instance, you’ll need to upgrade to one of the move expensive Stash subscriptions.
- Read our guide to the best forex trading apps
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