Best Stock Trading Apps for 2023

Best Stock Trading Apps for 2023

Ordering lunch. Paying a bill. Tracking your daily steps. Smartphone tasks like these have become everyday habits for millions of people, and now, so has stock trading and investing.

In the highly competitive realm of U.S. online stockbrokers, having a viable mobile app is simply table stakes — for traditional, full-service brokerages like Fidelity and Charles Schwab as well as upstart trendsetters like Robinhood and Webull. The best trading apps are the ones in this crowded field that best suit your particular needs and preferences.

The best stock market apps need to stand out across all categories: They must be easy to use, have excellent design, deliver a fully featured online trading experience and, not least, offer $0 stock and ETF trades.

For our 2023 Annual Review, we meticulously tested 24 top stock trading apps from 17 brokers and reviewed each one across more than 25 different features. To score high marks, a broker had to provide an excellent stock trading experience across many usability categories. Testing was conducted using an iPhone 12 Pro (Apple iOS).

Best Stock Trading Apps for 2023

Here are the online brokers with the best stock market apps in 2023.

• TD Ameritrade - 5 Stars - Best App Overall
• Interactive Brokers 
  - 4.5 Stars - Best Specialty Apps
• E*TRADE - 5 Stars - Best Stock App for Traders
• Fidelity - 5 Stars - Best Novice App
• Merrill Edge - 5 Stars - Best App for Banking and Research

Best stock trading apps comparison

As smartphones become just as capable as the average laptop computer, it’s no surprise that traders demand the same features found in desktop trading platforms to be available in their stock trading app counterparts. But the manner in which those tools are integrated matters significantly.

Features such as real-time streaming quotes, charting with multiple indicators, and synced watch lists are commonly found; other basic offerings might be missing in action. For example, fewer than 50% of stock apps support basic stock alerts.

The best mobile apps manage to pack more tools under the hood in a way that doesn’t make finding what you need overly complex, whether by swiping, tapping a menu or choosing from a drop-down list. See below how our top five finishers measure up.

Winner: TD Ameritrade — Best App Overall

A top contender among mobile apps in 2023 for both iPhone and Android devices, TD Ameritrade offers two powerful apps and $0 commissions when you trade. The suite consists of TD Ameritrade Mobile, which closely resembles the client web portal; and the powerful thinkorswim app, whose tools and advanced charting mirror what’s found in its web and desktop counterparts.

TD Ameritrade Mobile is great for everyday investors, with features such as news, price alerts, syncing watch lists and basic charts, along with ratings and research reports from third-party providers.

The thinkorswim mobile app comes with some of the most advanced charting packages available via mobile, with over 400 indicators — that’s significant for technical analysis pros. The ability to prepare complex order types is also made easy thanks to an intelligent layout and design. Traders can access news headlines and TV streams from CNBC alongside the TD Ameritrade Network, with nonstop broadcasting throughout the trading week. Read our full review of TD Ameritrade.

Runner-up: Interactive Brokers — Best Specialty Apps

Interactive Brokers is a perennial standout for its powerful flagship platform, desktop-based Trader Workstation. It offers three apps: the flagship, do-almost-everything IBKR app, GlobalTrader, which caters to beginner global stock investors, and Impact, which focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

IBKR Mobile, though perhaps not best suited for beginners, puts just about any tool or feature an investor may want at their fingertips. Highlights of the app include lightning-quick streaming data, full-featured order entry, portfolio management, and robust charting, with 70 optional indicators and easy customizations. One puzzling drawback is that stock alerts cannot be delivered via push notification and come via email instead.

GlobalTrader, though it’s new enough to be a bit of a work in progress, is a delight in simplicity. It offers the same ease of use as industry disruptor Robinhood, while providing Interactive Brokers’ tremendous capabilities as your investing interests and knowledge grows. GlobalTrader allows fractional shares, crypto trading, and lets you access 90 markets across the world. Read our full review of Interactive Brokers.

Podium Finisher: E*TRADE — Best Stock App for Traders

E*TRADE ranks at the top for its mobile app suite for both iPhone and Android devices. The E*TRADE package consists of the E*TRADE Mobile app, optimized for everyday investing, and the feature-rich Power E*TRADE app, which is geared more toward trading.

E*TRADE Mobile has lots of features tucked away and is great not just for beginners, but more demanding investors as well, with a surprising amount of depth and variety of tools. There are advanced research reports, and charts come with 10 indicators. It’s easy to navigate the app and discover new features.

Power E*TRADE, in comparison, is the best trading app for very active traders. It offers complex orders for trading, including advanced options orders, and more than 100 charting indicators. It’s a high-powered platform with sophisticated tools for active traders, but its modern design and interface make the app easy to use. Read our full review of E*TRADE.

Fidelity — Best Novice App

Fidelity, our 2023 Best Overall broker, offers multiple mobile apps for Android and iPhone devices, with its investing app the primary offering for trading and everyday investing. Whether you’re doing your banking, transferring money between accounts, managing orders or placing trades, Fidelity’s investing app is excellent for everyday investors, while novices will appreciate Bloom and Spire.

The app features streaming TV from Bloomberg, consistent with Fidelity’s Active Trader Pro desktop platform, in addition to a personalized feed, news headlines and research. Drawbacks: Charting is basic, and the app is not optimized for day trading or more demanding traders. The layout, however, is excellent; and with innovative features continually being added, users can also toggle to a Beta Experience for a more simplified version. Read our full review of Fidelity.

Merrill Edge — Best App for Banking and Research

Merrill Edge provides a unique client experience that makes checking your portfolios or researching stocks and funds a pleasure. Merrill strikes the perfect balance between providing enough information to make informed decisions without drowning users in detail – though there’s plenty of information available when needed. We think it’s a game changer. Customers of Bank of America (Merrill’s corporate parent) will find Merrill Edge a convenient way to add self-directed investing to their banking relationship, too. Read our full review of Merrill Edge.