Top 14 trading apps: find the best one for your needs

What is the best trading app to start investing online? The world of online trading is vast and complex, with hundreds of trading apps emerging every year. For those who want to turn trading into a daily activity, it might be hard to choose the right one. In this article, we will propose the best 14 apps for online trading in 2023.

With a world seemingly in constant recession, many are turning to online trading to make some money on the side every month. On the other hand, passionate traders with little experience might want to find an app more suitable to their needs but don’t know where to look.

At the same time, though, the number of trading apps that emerged is so high that newcomers might feel lost. For this reason, in this article, we’ll list the best 14 trading platforms for every need.

What is online trading and how does an app work

Until a few years ago, trading and finance were extremely elitist professions, accessible only after years of study and experience. Outside of the mainstream circuit of banks and stock exchanges, finance was a very closed industry.

After the 2008 financial crisis, however, a series of internet apps and websites opened trading to basically anyone with a checking account. Now, everyone could hope to start trading online, turning their hobby into a full-time (and profitable) job.

The way a trading app works is by acting as a broker between the user and the stock exchange. The trader places an order on the app, which will immediately conduct this trade on the financial market.

Some apps are faster than others, with some blocking the “instant” trade feature behind a premium subscription. In general, however, the world of trading has become much more open and readily available than ever before.

How to choose a trading app

First of all, new traders (as well as professionals) should consider a few things before choosing a trading platform. After all, we’re talking about exchanging real-life money, definitely not something to be taken lightly.

The main criteria for choosing a trading platform are:

• Type of investor: a day trader has different needs than a casual investor who wants to see their assets mature over the years. Some platforms are better suited for active traders, while others offer educational content for newcomers, and so on. Investors should decide which type of traders they are and base the decision of the platform on this,
• Tools and data available: trading is a highly technical and complex activity. Over the years, countless mathematical indicators have been developed to aid traders in their daily activities, but not every indicator is available on every app,
• App usability: similarly, amateur traders might be scared off by an unintelligible layout, which on the other hand might be what professionals look for,
• Minimum amount invested: some apps, especially those aimed at professionals, require a minimum amount on their accounts. This could draw new investors away for fear of losing money.

With all this in mind, let’s now analyze the 14 best trading apps on the market.

1. Charles Schwab

There is wide consensus among experts that Charles Schwab is the best trading app on the market. It can suit the needs of every investor, from amateurs to professionals. It can trade basically any asset on any global market and has an option for advisor-managed trading accounts.

The only drawbacks of Charles Schwab are a couple of minimum amounts to trade specific kinds of securities: $100 for no-load funds and $5,000 for automated portfolios.

2. Fidelity

The best part about Fidelity is that it charges no commission for stocks, ETFs, fractional shares, and option trades. Furthermore, Fidelity has no minimum amount for any type of asset. For these reasons, Fidelity is one of the best trading platforms for beginners.

Indeed, balances with higher amounts are charged more, testifying that the main target of Fidelity is small investors.

3. Vanguard

Similar to Fidelity, Vanguard charges no commissions on exchanges and, similar to Charles Schwab, has automated accounts available.

Unfortunately, users cannot trade cryptocurrencies on Vanguard and are also unable to purchase fractional shares. This means that novice investors have fewer buying options because some assets can truly have inaccessible prices. One single share of Meta, for example, trades as high as $335.

4. JP Morgan Self-Directed Investing

Obviously, JP Morgan is not known first for its trading platform, but rather because it’s the world’s largest bank. JP Morgan is one of the “Big Four” US financial institutions together with Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.

It’s therefore no surprise that JP Morgan Self-Directed Investing aims specifically at professional investors. It requires a $2,500 minimum balance and connects directly with other JP Morgan Chase services. Unfortunately, even for such a large institution, the platform’s research tool is more limited than in other apps in this list.

5. TD Ameritrade

Thinkorswim (Ameritrade’s trading platform) is one of the best choices for active investors, i.e. those who follow markets and put (or short) options almost daily. On TD Ameritrade’s platform, users can invest in all kinds of assets, including cryptocurrencies. It has no commissions or minimum amount.

Curiously, this platform was bought by Charles Schwab a few years ago. For the moment, however, it remains a separate app.

6. eToro

For investors who prefer social trading, eToro is the platform of choice. EToro has many options for copy trading, i.e. the possibility of following trading moves from professional investors, with a very user-friendly website and app. Finally, it also has strong educational tools for novice investors.

The focus on social trading, however, takes the focus away from other important features. Etoro is only available in a selected number of countries and doesn’t even work in every US state. For example, eToro is not available for use in the states of New York, Nevada, and Hawaii (among others).

7. Webull

Of all the other apps on this list, Webull has one of the best mobile services with its intuitive interface and easy access to indicators. Even though it’s very easy to use, Webull has a wide array of trading indicators and other tools for professional traders.

However, the educational support on Webull is rather weak, which might draw novice investors towards other amateur-friendly platforms.

8. ETrade from Morgan Stanley

Once again a trading platform linked to a major US bank. This time it’s Morgan Stanley, a major American institution with 80,257 employees and $53.7 billion in revenues last year. ETrade, Morgan Stanley’s platform, has one of the best watch lists on the market and has a very easy-to-use mobile application.

However, eTrade forces very high margin rates compared to other platforms, and doesn’t allow the trading of cryptocurrencies.

9. Robinhood

Robinhood is one of the easiest platforms to use for new investors and has also some of the best educational content on the market. Robinhood is particularly focused on cryptocurrency trading, with no commissions, markups, or markdowns.

Other than cryptocurrencies, however, Robinhood has a limited set of exchangeable assets. It also charges $5 dollars a month for research tools that are normally offered for free on other platforms.

10. SoFi Invest

SoFi Invest is only available in the United States, allowing particular attention to this market. For this reason, SoFi Invest implemented a tax advantage to US users in the form of a 1% IRA match. On the other hand, SoFi has no tax-loss harvesting options.

Overall, SoFi Invest is a pretty solid trading platform: it supports cryptocurrency trading, charges no commission, and has no minimum amount. Its biggest drawback, however, is its lack of an option for stop-loss orders. For this reason, traders should be particularly careful when trading on this platform.

11. Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers generally requires no minimum amount and charges no commissions for ETFs and shares. However, things change for slightly more experienced traders: automated accounts need a minimum of $100, and commissions go from as low as $0.15 for options to as high as 0.85 for futures.

Nevertheless, Interactive Brokers also has several positive features, including international trading opportunities in 33 different countries and many account types available.

12. Axos Self-Directed Trading

This platform is connected with Axos Bank, a $20 billion financial institution based in San Diego. For this reason, Axos Self-Directed Trading might be the right choice for Axos Bank’s clients. On Axos Self-Directed Trading, ETFs and stocks can be exchanged without commission fees and have a wide array of choices for no-transaction-fee securities.

Unfortunately, Axos Self-Directed Trading has quite a lot of downsides. Many features require a premium subscription, it has a smaller selection of exchangeable securities than some traders might want, and has quite underwhelming educational tools.

13. Ally Invest

Ally Invest has a specific focus on banking and financial loans. Indeed, Ally Invest is the trading platform of Ally Bank, a Detroit-based financial institution with revenues of over $8 billion annually.

On Ally Invest, users can both trade different types of securities (except cryptocurrencies) and manage their financial obligations, including house mortgages, car payments, and personal loans.

14. tastytrade

Tastytrade is an interesting platform for options and futures traders. It charges $0.50 per options contract but requires no minimum amount and has 0 fees for stock trading. Tastytrade has a particularly intuitive and pleasant layout for active traders, which makes it very good for futures exchanges.

While professional traders will find tastytrade very good, it presents a rather steep learning curve for novice investors. Amateurs, therefore, might want to look for other platforms first.