Best Free Stock Trading Software

Free stock trading software enables you to analyze stocks, find opportunities, and place trades, all at no cost. Free tools are a great way for traders on a budget to save money or for entry-level traders to try out different analysis strategies.

There are hundreds of free and freemium software tools available for traders, and we’ve tested many of them to find the best ones. Based on our experience, we think these four tools are the best free stock trading software to use today:

• Best Trading Platform – ThinkorSwim
• Best Charting Platform – TradingView
• Best Stock Screener – FinViz
• Best Mobile Stock Trading App – Webull

Best Free Stock Trading Software

Let’s take a closer look at our top-rated free trading tools to see what makes them stand out in a crowded field.

Best Trading Platform – ThinkorSwim

ThinkorSwim is one of the most powerful trading platforms available, and it’s completely free. The only catch is that you need to open a Charles Schwab brokerage account—but there’s no minimum deposit and no trading requirements.

If you do want to trade with Schwab, you can place trades right from your ThinkorSwim charts. ThinkorSwim has a ton of risk management options, including stop losses, one-cancels-the-other orders, and more.

ThinkorSwim also has tons of features that you’d typically have to pay for in a trading platform. It’s packed with indicators, and you can create your own using the platform’s ThinkScript language. You can open multiple chart windows, view price action at the tick level, and set custom alerts based on chart annotations or indicator sets.

It even offers backtesting for custom strategies. We haven’t found another trading software that offers advanced strategy backtesting tools for free.

Key Features:

• Create your own indicators using ThinkScript
• Includes Level 2 time and sales data
• Trade directly from your charts
• Backtest custom trading strategies

Best Charting Platform – TradingView

TradingView is a freemium platform that offers some of the best charting tools we’ve seen. The charts are clean, easy to customize, and packed with indicators and drawing tools. You can create your own indicators and run stock screens within the same window as your charts.

TradingView has a few unique features that we really like. You can stack indicators, which is great for monitoring rates of change or tracking moving averages of other indicators. TradingView will also automatically recognize candlestick patterns and plot Fibonacci retracements.

Perhaps the best thing about TradingView is the community around this platform. Anyone can submit a custom indicator or strategy to TradingView’s forums, and you’re free to copy these indicators onto your charts.

The free version of TradingView does have some limitations. You can only view one chart per window and apply up to two indicators per chart. You’re also limited to one alert on indicators and chart annotations.

Key Features:

• Clean charts with 15 chart types available
• Supports indicators on indicators
• Candlestick pattern recognition
• Create your own indicators or add community-contributed indicators

Best Stock Screener – FinViz

FinViz is a free stock screener that’s ideal for swing traders and active investors. The screener offers a wide range of technical and fundamental metrics, enabling you to combine both types of analysis when searching for stocks to trade.

FinViz doesn’t let you create custom indicators and you can only filter by predefined value ranges for most metrics. However, we never found this limiting when running screens.

Our favorite thing about FinViz is that there are multiple ways to display your screen results. You can look through a data table or view miniature charts annotated with moving averages and trendlines. The mini-charts are great for quickly spotting technical setups without having to click on every ticker your screen turned up.

You can also view your screen results in a bubble chart. These charts are great for visualizing stocks based on metrics that are relevant to your trading strategy, like percent gain or trading volume.

One thing to keep in mind is that FinViz’s data is delayed by up to five minutes with the free plan, so it’s not suitable for fast-paced day trading. 

Key Features:

• Offers 70+ technical and fundamental screening metrics
• View screen results in a data table or as annotated charts
• Bubble charts let you visualize stocks by technical and fundamental metrics
• Price data is delayed by up to five minutes

Best Mobile Stock Trading App – Webull

Webull is an online brokerage that offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and select cryptocurrencies. While Webull now has an online trading platform, it started as a mobile-only brokerage—and its outstanding mobile app reflects its roots.

The Webull app is a great alternative to ThinkorSwim or TradingView for traders on the go. While those platforms have mobile apps, they try to pack in a little too much on a smartphone. Webull finds a better balance, giving you the ability to analyze charts and place trades with a more user-friendly interface.

We especially like that you can switch between an order execution screen with basic line charts and more complex technical charts. While line charts typically aren’t ideal for trading, they’re a lot easier to look at when you’re trying to enter a basic market or limit order on your phone.

The Webull app also offers basic stock research, including news and price targets from Wall Street analysts. So, you can use the app to research stocks and then dive into more detailed technical analysis when you’re back to your computer.

Key Features:

• Commission-free trading on stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies
• Clean, user-friendly mobile interface that doesn’t feel crowded
• Includes market news and analyst research
• Advanced technical charts available on your smartphone

What Type of Free Trading Software Do I Need?

There are many different types of free software for traders. Examples include:

• Charting tools
• Stock screeners
• Market news platforms
• Fundamental research tools

Which type of free trading software you need depends on how you trade and what software you already have. For example, if you’re a swing trader, you might need an advanced charting tool that lets you create your own indicators and offers alerts. If you’re a news trader, you might be more interested in free market news software.

Are Free Stock Trading Tools Any Good?

While some free trading tools aren’t very good, the majority are worthwhile. We’ve been very impressed by the features that some stock trading platforms offer for free. For example, backtesting from ThinkorSwim and automatic Fibonacci retracements from TradingView.

Ultimately, whether a free tool is worth it depends on whether it offers the features you need. If it does, there’s nothing wrong with using a free tool and saving some money. If you need more features in the future, you can upgrade to a paid plan or switch to a paid software.

FAQs: Free Stock Trading Software

Can I trade stocks for free?

Many major stock brokers now offer fully commission-free trading. You can buy and sell stocks with no fees and even get access to advanced charting software at no cost.

Does free trading software offer real-time data?

Some free trading tools offer real-time price data for stocks. However, some platforms delay data by 5-10 minutes, which can be a problem for day trading. Be sure to check whether data is delayed before signing up for free software.

Should I use free trading software?

Free trading software can save you money while helping you make better trading decisions. Many beginner traders will find all the features they need in free software. You can always upgrade to a paid platform when you find yourself in need of features that you can’t get for free.

Conclusion: Best Free Stock Trading Software

Free stock trading software can help you find, plan, and execute trades. The best free tools offer advanced features with relatively few limitations, all at no cost. We recommend ThinkorSwim as the overall best free trading platform, TradingView for charting, and FinViz for stock screening. If you want to trade on the go, we recommend the free Webull trading app.