Best Trading Apps for 2024

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According to the Mordor Intelligence stats, the smartphone industry is currently worth about 7.15 billion US dollars. Additionally, Statista reports that about 45 percent of the world's population owns smartphones. That's because modern smartphones offer intelligent functionalities that allow people to do pretty much anything. The same is the case with stock trading, which has become incredibly easy by using a smartphone. In fact, both seasoned traders, as well as first-time investors, use trading apps as their main trading platform.

Whether a person wants to purchase and hold or actually want to play as a bull, trading apps come in handy and make the investing experience much easier. In order to provide investors with an efficient trading experience, organizations provide mobile-friendly trading apps that cater to the growing interests of digital investors. For that matter, we have come up with the list of best trading apps for 2023 that anyone can start using today. We understand that a trading app must have the latest tools that provide users with real-time data and risk assessment.

Anyone who is more interested and wants to take a hands-on approach to play with active stock trading, they can pick any trading app from the following list. It's equally important to keep in mind that a trading app that suits someone might not be a good fit for someone else.

Best Trading Apps

In order to make the selection process seamless, we have compiled a comparison table that discusses the most important features of all the best trading apps for 2023.

Do you prefer watching videos? Then watch the video summary of this article.

Below you will find all the information.

Best Trading Apps for 2024: Comparison Table

Name Best For Approves Clients From Commissions Account Minimum App Score Learn More
FXTM Best Automated Investing App Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America $4 in total ($2 while opening a position and $2 when closing) $10 4.5

Open an account

Your capital is at risk.
80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

TD Ameritrade Best Self-Directed Trading App United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China $0 per trade $0 5.0

Study review

eToro Best App for Beginners Globally $1 per trade $200 5.0

Open an account

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Interactive Brokers Best App for Active Traders Globally $0 per trade $0 4.0

Study review

Robinhood Best App for Options Traders US $0 per trade $0 5.0

Study review

FXTM: Best Automated Investing App

Open an account
Your capital is at risk.
80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

FXTM or otherwise known as ForexTime, is one of the best trading apps out there. It holds authorizations and licenses from international and globally renowned regulators such as:

FXTM was founded back in 2011, and it's a global FX and CFD broker that offers the trading ability on over 250 CFD instruments that covers:

  • Stocks

  • Metals

  • Indices

  • Commodities

  • Currencies

The FXTM app offers two main categories (ECN and Standard) with six different account types. Depending upon the account type, a user receives a range of commission-based as well as commission-free trading options with minimum deposits and low spreads. Additionally, the app is also considered safe to use because it possesses reliable licenses, and the top-tier FCA regulates it. By using the FXTM trading app, users can easily access a wide array of trader research, updated and helpful material via:

  • Educational Videos

  • Webinars

  • Seminars

  • eBooks

  • Research Articles

  • Market Analysis Videos

  • Other Educational Resources

One of the most impressive things about the FXTM trading app is its exceptional customer care services. Anyone can access the company’s customer support between 8 am to 6 pm from Monday to Friday via email, live chat, or telephone. Valuing the customers is also one of the key factors that play a critical role in the success of the company. That’s why within the course of only a few years, ForexTime has established and become popular worldwide as a global broker.

As mentioned earlier, FXTM offers six trading account types to match the needs of both advanced traders and beginners. The majority of these accounts are commission-free and don’t come with high starting spreads. Users can easily open their accounts by reaching the open account button, and they can fund their accounts in EUR or USD. A registration page is also required to fill in order to complete the signing up process that contains the email address, phone number, country, and name fields. Here are some of the key features that FXTM offers.

Key Features

FXTM comes with a couple of distinct and unique features, which are as followed:

  1. FXTM Invest: The company’s copy trading program

  2. Strong Regulatory Regime: FXTM is widely recognized in a couple of industry centers (Cyprus, UK) that allow this trading app to offer higher-level regulatory protection.

Other than that, FXTM users also enjoy the following great features:

  • The app is available in more than 20 different languages.

  • Built-in technical and effective trading indicators

  • Users can trade on several asset classes.

  • Users can access MQL4 for the best automated and algorithmic trading experience.

  • Users can also access trading signals and useful information from MetaTrader Market.

Pros and Cons

👍 Pros

It has multiple regulations such as FSC, CySEC, FCA, etc.

A commission-free trading option is also available.

It offers more than 250 financial CFD instruments.

Access to a wide array of research and educational material.

👎 Cons

FXTM is still not available in Japan, Canada, and the USA

TD Ameritrade: Best Self-Directed Trading App

TD Ameritrade is considered a rare broker that offers one of the most efficient and self-directed trading apps. It comes with all the basic and enhanced functionalities that an excellent trading app should offer. In order to use this trading app, a user doesn't need any minimum investment and still receives free standout features such as:

  • Data and the latest research

  • About 300 branches where a user can get face to face customer support

  • Exchange-traded fund trades

  • No commission for stock

  • Portfolio building guide and information

As far as TD Ameritrade's tradable security features are concerned, it is excellent in the category of investment selection. It even offers trading of bitcoin futures for its approved customers along with the futures and forex. The app also excels at providing its users with low-minimum and low-cost funds. It has more than 700 mutual funds available, along with a 50 percent or lower expense ratio. These functionalities make it the best self-directed trading app for investors and beginners. TD Ameritrade offers a lot of digital educational material in all types of formats, such as:

  • Live in-branch presentations and online seminars

  • Quizzes

  • Slideshows

  • Articles

  • Videos

  • Research papers

Depending upon the skill level of a user (Guru, Scholar, Rookie), the app also guides thoroughly according to its comprehensive curriculum. Other than that, there is also an option (Chatbot) in the application "Ask Ted" that provides the users with the right directions. It explains all the tools and options such as key data, tutorials, and investing tools wherever the user wants. In order to team the right trading and investing techniques, the company also conducts eight hours of educational webcasts a day. It also hosts 40 live events at its local branches every year.

Features

  1. It offers completely free access to all of its trading platforms

  2. Live and in-app customer support and help

  3. The free platforms offer level two and real-time streaming quotes for beginners and non-professionals

  4. Users can easily make forex, futures, and options by using the mobile app

  5. Customers can use current and previous real marketing data to practice trading

  6. Users can reach, search, and also chart more than 400,000 economic indicators that come directly from the Fed

  7. The app offers access to Social Sentiment Tool that allows the users to use charting indicators to measure social media trends

Pros and Cons

👍 Pros

Free research

Tradable Securities

Investor support and education

High-quality trading platforms

Selection options for large investments

Great customer support

No account minimum

$0 commission per trade

👎 Cons

No fractional shares

eToro: Best App for Beginners

Open an account
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.

eToro is a global and one of the leading online financial trading applications that came into existence back in 2006. Over the course of 14 years, eToro has progressed by leaps and bounds and now offers nice different ways of trading, which are:

  • ETF (Exchange Traded Funds)

  • Index-Based Funds Trading

  • Cryptocurrency Trading

  • Indices Trading

  • Social Trading

  • CFDs Trading

  • Forex Trading

  • Commodities Trading

  • Stocks Trading

One of the most important considerations of all the users while choosing a trading app is the safety and security of their money. For that matter, eToro is a great option because it is supervised and regulated by the following regulatory bodies:

It's a multi-asset application that offers more than 2000 tradable assets. All the withdrawal requirements from the users are always honored because the regulated status of eToro can be stripped if it violates any of the regulatory rules. That’s why using the eToro trading app is completely safe where all the user interests are protected. The company charges 5 US dollars on each withdrawal request. All the withdrawal requests with currencies other than USD are also charged for currency conversion services. It’s important to keep in mind that all the brokers do not share the same rules regarding withdrawals from users’ trading accounts. That’s because different firms have different methods and offer different processing times and fees.

eToro is an Israeli stockbroker, and it's not listed on any of the stock exchanges. Moreover, it doesn't disclose its annual financial figures on any platform. As far as the live chat and email support is concerned, eToro has one of the quickest response times. It also offers customer support in multiple languages and resolves customer queries in record time. Here are some of the most important features of this trading app.

Features

  1. Offers API Trading

  2. Offers Demo Account

  3. Users can avail of social trading

  4. Users can avail of copy trading

  5. Comes with advanced financial chart comparison tools

  6. Offers research-based analysis on investment and financial market directly from top analysts and experts

  7. The application is available for both of the major operating systems Android, iOS.

  8. Offers tools for beginners to understand the trading process easier.

Pros and Cons

Below are the pros and cons of the eToro trading app.

👍 Pros

Best for beginners

Available in five different languages

Free stock trading

Social trading capability

Seamless and easy account opening

Times cheaper as compared to many brokers

Allows the users to buy fractional shares

👎 Cons

Only one base currency

Slow withdrawing process

High forex fees

Interactive Brokers: Best App for Active Traders

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR) was created by its President and CEO, Thomas Peterffy. Over the past 42 years, the company has grown to become one of the world's largest brokerage firms, with equity capital exceeding $ 8.5 billion. Interactive Brokers conducts its broker-brokerage activities in more than 135 marketplaces around the world. As part of its broker-brokerage activities, IBKR offers professional and institutional traders direct online access to trading, execution, and clearing services on a wide range of products traded electronically worldwide:

  • Stocks

  • Options

  • Futures

  • Forex

  • Fixed Income

  • CFDs

  • Funds

Interactive Brokers Group and its affiliated entities execute over 1,832,000 transactions per day. The company's headquarter in Greenwich, Connecticut, and it has more than 1,850 employees worldwide. IBKR is regulated by several regulatory authorities across the globe, and some of the most important ones are:

Interactive Brokers offers low commissions and privileged access to stocks, funds, futures, currencies, bonds, and options from a single account. If a stock exchange applies a discount, the company passes all or part of the savings on your costs. According to Barron's 2023 Online Broker Survey, IBKR is the broker with the lowest margin loan interest rates.

The most prominent feature of IBKR is its low commissions. It's difficult to compete with the free trades that the IBKR trading app offers, especially if you're a casual investor. On the other hand, it's also equally effective for the users who choose IBKR Pro because of its low EFT and stock commission terms. It's helpful for the users with high volume and frequent trades with a commission of only 0.005 dollars per share. The trading platforms that the IBKR application offers come with the tools and functionalities that meet the requirements of both experts and occasional investors.

Features

  1. Offers stock yield enhancement program

  2. Comes with portfolio analyst tool

  3. Offers fund parser

  4. Offers portfolio checkup functionality

  5. Offers mobile check deposit functionality

  6. Offers integrated security features

  7. Fit-to-mobile design

  8. Offers enhanced account features for the US residents

  9. Investment and asset management

  10. Research, news, and market data

  11. Financial strength and security

Pros and Cons

As stated, Interactive Brokers is one of the most successful trading platforms. Along with its amazing features, it comes with the following advantages.

👍 Pros

Lower Trading Fees

Great research and learning tools

Massive range of products

A quick and comprehensive application that offers all the functionalities of a desktop version

A wide array of tradable assets

Enhanced screening options for convenience

👎 Cons

High inactivity fee

A little complicated interface for the desktop version

Complex account opening and signing up process

Robinhood: Best App for Options Traders

Robinhood is all about options trading, and it offers a free-trading experience, which is undoubtedly one of the best ones out there. It allows users to trade the following without charging any commission and fees:

  • Options

  • Stocks

  • Exchange-traded funds

  • Cryptocurrency

This trading app was launched as a commission-free pioneer back in 2013. At that time, there was no other platform or application that was offering this feature. Currently, the Robinhood app values 7.6 billion US dollars and flaunts more than 10 million users. It offers one of the simplest and seamless user experiences because it truly comes with a mobile-first design. The company launched its mobile app before its official website.

  • Being a pioneer in offering a completely free trading experience, the company disrupted the whole industry. It's available for both desktop and mobile users and offers free options trading and ETF trading Moreover, the app is not only about offering a free stock trading experience because of some unique features, such as offering cryptocurrency. Users can sell and buy approximately all the major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. Robin hood also offers functionality to track the price movement of many other cryptocurrencies as well.

  • Another unique feature that Robinhood offers is fractional investing that allows users to buy a certain share with a fraction. It means that users can even invest in expensive stocks such as Apple, Amazon, etcetera, where they can't buy a complete share. However, Robinhood offers pretty decent customer care support. But the company doesn't have any physical location where customers can actually visit to get an in-person customer care experience. Still, the Robinhood trading app is a solid choice, especially for the option traders.

Features

FXTM comes with a couple of distinct and unique features, which are as followed:

  1. Users can set an automatic deposit cycle on a biweekly, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis

  2. Cash dividends that users receive can automatically be reinvested in stock or ETF

  3. Robinhood offers its customers advanced order support such as stop orders, stop-limit orders, limit orders, and market orders

  4. The Robinhood trading app comes with Robinhood instant features that allow the users to access their deposits under $1,000 instantly. There is no traditional waiting for 72 working hours

  5. Robinhood gold feature allows its users to deposit large amounts instantly, line of credit, and after-hours trading

  6. The options trading features stands Robinhood trading app out that offers commission-free options trading experience

  7. Users can invest in Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin using Robinhood

Pros and Cons

The following are some of the benefits, along with the downsides of the Robinhood trading app.

👍 Pros

Here are some of the key points where the Robinhood trading app shines

No account minimum is required

Offer cryptocurrency trading option

Streamlines and user-friendly interface

Commission-free trading option on ETFs, options, and stocks

Users can instantly deposit cash

👎 Cons

Doesn’t offer retirement accounts

Limited customer support

No mutual bonds or funds

How to Choose the Best Investment App?

We have only chosen the best trading apps that cover both ends of the spectrum for both beginners and regular investors. The fact of the matter is the market is filled with tons of trading apps that offer somewhat the same functionalities along with some unique features. Choosing the right app can be overwhelming from a wide range of options available. For that matter, the following list can help users to choose the right trading app that meets their unique needs.

  • Prioritize the Requirements

    The first and the most important consideration while choosing a trading app is prioritizing the requirements. It's recommended to make a list of needs that you want to achieve from a trading app. Once it's done, the very next step is to research.

  • Research

    Researching is also a very important aspect to choose the right trading app. It’s important to understand the fundamental definitions such as SIPP, ISA, and ETF. Moreover, reading about all the trading apps and platforms that offer you the functionalities according to your priority list is also important. It allows you to find the most suitable trading app that you can also list down. Now what you only need to do is to narrow the list of the best trading apps down and find the best and most suitable option.

  • Reputation

    Reading the reviews online and figuring out the reputation of each candidate trading app will allow you to narrow down your list. In order to find out the reputation of a certain trading app, consider reading the following points:

    • Read and understand the “About Us” page of each candidate trading app

    • Study the white papers and legal documents provided by the company

    • Look for the personal records of the people mentioned in the board of directors or team

    • Contact the customer support team and find out how long does it take to receive a reply

  • Compare the Offered Features with Risk Factors

    The best way to compare the opportunities and risks is to acquire a demo version of each trading app which you are considering. People who don’t already have any portfolio should utilize the service provided in the demo version to create one. Find out if the company charges any commission and pay attention to bonuses and discounts. Moreover, it’s also critical to find out if there are any exit charges or penalties.

  • Ask for Recommendations and Help

    Don’t hesitate to ask for help from people who are already in investing and trading apps. It’s specifically important for the people who don’t have any previous experience in trading and investing. Asking experts and regular investors can be of great help.

Best Trading Apps for Market Data and News

Trading and investing can be challenging. Not only does it require background knowledge of how everything works, but a user must be constantly connected with the news and updates in order to understand new trends. Many trading apps are available in the market that offers news and the latest market data for investors and traders. Here are two of the best apps for market data and news.

Investing.com

Best Apps for Charting and Trading Ideas

Having the right charting and trading ideas can help users a great deal who are investing and trading. Here are two of the best apps that can help you with trading and charting ideas.

TradingView

TradingView

It’s the best platform for people who want easy, fast, and sleek access to real-time charts. The charts that TradingView offers are smooth, reliable, and easy to understand with a modern look and feel. The application offers a wide array of technical indicators and also updates the indicator’s library constantly. Moreover, instead of coming up with the long and complex dropdown list, TradingView offers buttons to access all the indicators. Users just need to tap the button that opens a popup dialog with all the necessary information. Here are the most important features that TradingView offers.

  • Smoothest and user-friendly charting

  • A complete community-produced indicators library

  • Great backtesting features and tools

  • Scripting language (Pine Script) which is easy to use and proprietary

  • Great free plan

  • One charting package offers a huge amount of functionality

Stocktwits

Stocktwits

This trading app for charting and trading ideas provides a great way to learn specific stocks and market sentiments. It also provides real-time financial information and the latest trends in the investing and trading market with the following tools:

  • Trending

  • Suggested

  • Equities

  • Charts

  • Futures

  • Forex

  • Companies

  • Private

It can be very helpful for traders and investors for profitable purchasing and selling. It also offers some unique features such as Trending Now and Unusual Social Volume to allow its users to see what is trending at a glance. Here are some of the most significant features the Stocktwits offers.

  • Social media feed to learn about favorite topics and stocks

  • Feature to create and manage a personal chat room along with the features to join other interesting rooms to find out the latest information

  • News about the most recent and featured stories trending in the financial market

  • Market data that helps the users with their personal, customizable portfolio such as currencies, commodities, bonds, futures, equity indexes, etc.

  • Watchlist to track portfolio seamlessly by adding security to a watchlist that can be stocks, currencies, ETFs, mutual funds, etc.

Reviews

FXTM

Initially, I traded on a cent account, but the constantly widening spread was eating up all the meager profit. I had to switch to Standard. I didn’t leave FXTM because the conditions here were generally okay. The only caveat is that the cent account seems incomplete to me. But on a standard account, there were no troubles at all. I eventually worked on MT4, although there is an opportunity to migrate up to MT5. I like the old version of MetaTrader 4. The Standard account has the same floating spread as the cent account. The leverage is very high - from 1:2,000. There are no hidden fees. And as for withdrawals, everything is smooth so far, there have been no delays.

Trader_Name_1

Murat

Valladolid


FXTM

In addition to the standard trading in currency pairs, FXTM offers the opportunity to trade shares of the world's largest companies. There is an investment program of passive income which is similar to PAMM accounts. But I was more attracted by the affiliate program. The broker promises to pay $50 for each attracted person. Now I'll check out how everything works and what it is all about, and then I can attract friends. So far, I work with a USD cent account, which is also offered in euros. The spread is from 0.1 pips, and floats. A minimum deposit is from $10. I use MetaTrader 4 from my smartphone, it's more convenient for me. The site also has training materials, but there are no abstruse concepts, so it’s perfect for beginners.

Trader_Name_2

Chidozi

Ibadan


TD Ameritrade

At first, I got a positive impression of working with this broker, especially the opportunity to practice with a demo account. Still, when I began to immerse myself more and more in trading with this broker, all the negative aspects of this company were revealed. Starting with the site’s interface and its absolutely incompetent technical support, to whom you must explain every detail, as well as an outdated form of withdrawal of funds. They offer many beautiful but unfulfilled promises. While talking with a staff member, I experienced the broker’s “the devil-may-care” attitude.

Trader_Name_3

Joe

Orlando


TD Ameritrade

There is a spirit of cooperation with Thinkorswim. There were no significant problems, the money was withdrawn without unnecessary delays, but I did not like the platform because there were several problems with the connection. Sometimes, I noticed that the platform freezes, preventing the most prompt execution of orders. If you are not a US resident, then don't even try to register. Or you must have a relative or friend here to be able to withdraw the money. I wish you all the best.

Trader_Name_2

Bill

Las Vegas


eToro

I bought into eToro's licenses issued by such reputable regulators as CySEC, FCA, and ASIC. Moreover, the company has an office in the USA, which is an additional guarantee of reliability for me. The broker offers a wide variety of trading instruments. Except for transactions with currencies, it is possible to purchase contracts for fractional shares, that is, to invest amounts less than the cost of one share. I am testing the trading platform while copying transactions. When there are no problems with withdrawals I will invest in contracts.

Trader_Name_2

Elwood

Boston

FAQs Regarding the Best Trading Apps for 2024

Can I use a trading app to make money?

Many people confuse trading apps as money-making platforms. It’s important to know that trading apps themselves can’t make money for users. In fact, users can use a trading app as a source or tool to make money by investing and trading.

Are trading apps safe and legit?

There is no straightforward answer to this question because it solely depends upon a certain app and its regulatory authorities. If it's supervised and regulated by renowned and reliable authorities, then it's completely safe to use. Moreover, all the apps mentioned above are legit and safe to use.

What is the best trading app for beginners?

The best trading app for beginners is eToro because of its unique features, educational material, and customer support.

What are the best stocks that beginners should buy?

Here are some of the best stocks that beginners should consider investing in.

  • Amazon – NASDAQ: AMZN

  • Apple – NASDAQ: AAPL

  • Facebook – NASDAQ: FB

  • Netflix – NASDAQ: NFLX

  • Microsoft – NASDAQ: MSFT

Team that worked on the article

Alamin Morshed
Contributor

Alamin Morshed is a contributor at Traders Union. He specializes in writing articles for businesses who want to improve their Google search rankings to compete with their competition.

Over the past four years, Alamin has been working independently and through online employment platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr, and also contributing to some reputable blogs. His goal is to balance informative content and provide an entertaining read to his readers.

His motto is: I can dream or I can do—I choose action.

Bruce Powers
Contributor

Bruce Powers is an expert trader and technical analyst with over 20 years of experience in Forex, commodities, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and other assets. He is an active trader, technical and fundamental analyst, media commentator, educator and a writer. As an author for Traders Union, he contributes his deep analytical skills, expertise and understanding of the global economy and financial markets to provide market analysis and insights. Powers is also a frequent guest on business TV news shows.

Mirjan Hipolito
Cryptocurrency and stock expert

Mirjan Hipolito is a journalist and news editor at Traders Union. She is an expert crypto writer with five years of experience in the financial markets. Her specialties are daily market news, price predictions, and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). Mirjan is a cryptocurrency and stock trader. This deep understanding of the finance sector allows her to create informative and engaging content that helps readers easily navigate the complexities of the crypto world.