11 Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading of May 2022
The best online day trading platforms offer advanced features, fast execution, a large selection of research, low costs and a robust mobile app for trading on the go.
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If you’re a day trader (or an aspiring day trader), you probably have a good idea of what you want in a brokerage and online trading platform: low costs, premium research, innovative strategy tools and a comprehensive trading platform. But how to the online brokers stack up when it comes to meeting those needs? Below, we’ve selected the best brokers for day trading and platforms in a variety of categories so you can choose one based on your personal priorities.
One note before you begin: Pattern day traders — as defined by the SEC — must have at least $25,000 in equity in their accounts and be approved for margin trading, regardless of whether their broker’s account minimum is lower.
» New to this world? Learn the basics with our guide to how day trading works.
If you’re a day trader (or an aspiring day trader), you probably have a good idea of what you want in a brokerage and online trading platform: low costs, premium research, innovative strategy tools and a comprehensive trading platform. But how to the online brokers stack up when it comes to meeting those needs? Below, we’ve selected the best brokers for day trading and platforms in a variety of categories so you can choose one based on your personal priorities.
One note before you begin: Pattern day traders — as defined by the SEC — must have at least $25,000 in equity in their accounts and be approved for margin trading, regardless of whether their broker’s account minimum is lower.
» New to this world? Learn the basics with our guide to how day trading works.
Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading
Broker | NerdWallet Rating | Fees | Account minimum | Promotion | Learn More |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Fidelity Learn more on Fidelity's website | $0 per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs | $0 | Get $100 when you open a new, eligible Fidelity account with $50 or more. Use code FIDELITY100. Limited time offer. Terms apply. | Learn more on Fidelity's website | |
![]() Merrill Edge Learn more on Merrill Edge's website | $0 per trade | $0 | Up to $600 when you invest in a new Merrill Edge® Self-Directed account. | Learn more on Merrill Edge's website | |
![]() Interactive Brokers IBKR Pro Learn more on Interactive Brokers's website | $0.005 per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts | $0 | Exclusive! US resident opens a new IBKR Pro individual or joint account receives 0.25% rate reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply. | Learn more on Interactive Brokers's website | |
![]() TD Ameritrade Learn more on TD Ameritrade's website | $0 per trade | $0 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn more on TD Ameritrade's website | |
![]() TradeStation Learn more on TradeStation's website | $0 per trade | $500 | $50- cash credit with a minimum deposit of $5,000. | Learn more on TradeStation's website |

on Fidelity's website
Fidelity

Fees
$0per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Get $100when you open a new, eligible Fidelity account with $50 or more. Use code FIDELITY100. Limited time offer. Terms apply.
on Fidelity's website

on Merrill Edge's website
Merrill Edge

Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Up to $600when you invest in a new Merrill Edge® Self-Directed account.
on Merrill Edge's website

on Interactive Brokers's website
Interactive Brokers IBKR Pro

Fees
$0.005per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Exclusive!US resident opens a new IBKR Pro individual or joint account receives 0.25% rate reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply.
on Interactive Brokers's website

on TD Ameritrade's website
TD Ameritrade

Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Noneno promotion available at this time
on TD Ameritrade's website

on TradeStation's website
TradeStation

Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$500Promotion
$50-cash credit with a minimum deposit of $5,000.
on TradeStation's website

on Ally Invest's website
Ally Invest

Fees
$0per trade (on eligible US securities)
Account minimum
$0Promotion
$100-in cash bonus with qualifying deposit.
on Ally Invest's website

on E*TRADE's website
E*TRADE

Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Get up to $600 or morewhen you open and fund an E*TRADE account
on E*TRADE's website

on Webull's website
Webull

Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Get 6 free stockswhen you open and fund an account with Webull. Promotion ends 6/9/2022.
on Webull's website

on Zacks Trade's website
Zacks Trade

Fees
$0.01per share
Account minimum
$2,500Promotion
Noneno promotion available at this time
on Zacks Trade's website
Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:
Last updated on May 13, 2022
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Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.For more details about the categories considered when rating providers and our processes, read our full broker ratings methodology and our full robo-advisor ratings methodology.
To recap our selections...
NerdWallet's Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading of May 2022
Frequently asked questions
We’d recommend starting with our guide for how to day trade — it covers a lot of the day trading basics you need to know. But then, practice makes perfect — or as close to it as you can get, as you’ll quickly learn there is no perfect in day trading, and even the pros lose money sometimes.
The best way to practice: With a stock market simulator or paper-trading account. Many brokers offer these virtual trading platforms, and they essentially allow you to play the stock market with Monopoly money. Not only do you get to familiarize yourself with trading platforms and how they work, but you also get to test various trading strategies without losing real money. The link above has a list of brokers that offer these play platforms.
In short: You could lose money, potentially lots of it. Day trading is exactly what it sounds like: Buying and selling — trading — a stock, or many stocks, inside of a day. It’s all about making predictions and timing the market, with the goal of making a small profit on each trade. In an ideal world, those small profits add up to a big return.
But research has shown that only 1% of day traders consistently earn money; many, many lose it. It’s essentially a full-time job, because you need to constantly be watching — and timing — the market, waiting for your next move. It isn’t for beginner, or casual, investors.
If you’re interested in day trading, our recommendation is to allocate a small portion of your overall portfolio to the strategy – no more than 5% or 10%, tops. That way, if you lose money — as you are likely to do, at least at first — those losses are at least capped. The rest of your portfolio should be invested in long-term, diversified investments like low-cost index funds.
Day trading is risky, but it isn’t illegal. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposes specific regulations on pattern day traders.
The SEC defines day trading as buying and selling or short-selling and buying the same security — often a stock — on the same day. A pattern day trader, according to the SEC, is a trader who day-trades four or more times within five business days and whose day trades represent more than 6% of their total trading activity during that five-day period.
If you fall into that category, you’re required to maintain at least $25,000 in equity in your account. That equity can be in cash or securities.
Note that once a broker has identified you as a pattern day trader due to the above activity, your account likely will be considered a pattern day trading account going forward, even if you don’t continue to meet the definition. If you decide to stop day trading, you’ll want to contact your brokerage and ask that they remove the minimum equity requirement from your account.
This is a loaded question. The SEC requires that you maintain a minimum of $25,000 in equity to engage in pattern day trading, but that equity can be in cash and eligible securities. That’s the minimum amount you need to maintain in your account; on top of that, you also need the money you’ll use to day trade.
But just as important is setting a limit for how much money you dedicate to day trading. Our recommendation is that those dipping into this kind of active trading should risk only a small portion of their account balance — 5% to 10% of your investable assets, at most.
Margin is essentially a loan from your broker. When you open a brokerage account, you’ll be asked if you want a cash account or a margin account.
A margin account allows you to place trades on borrowed money. Often called leverage, trading on margin can magnify your gains — and, in the worst-case scenario, your losses. To read more about margin, how to use it and the risks involved, read our guide to margin trading.
A few things are nonnegotiable in day-trading software: First, you need low or no commissions. You might’ve gathered by now that day traders place a lot of trades. Pay close attention to a broker or day-trading platform’s fees and commissions. Many brokers will offer no commissions or volume pricing.
Then research and strategy tools are key. Day traders use data to make decisions: You want not only the latest market data, but you also need a platform that lets you quickly create charts, identify price trends and analyze potential trade opportunities.
Finally, prioritize speed. Time is literally money with day trading, so you want a broker and online trading system that is reliable and offers the fastest order execution. Many platforms will publish information about their execution speeds and how they route orders.
Another feature we’d recommend is a broker or trading platform that offers paper, or virtual, trading, so you can practice with simulated trades before the real thing.
If we knew, we’d be very rich. This is the bit of information that every day trader is after.
That said, we can give you some general guidance. There are a few things that make a stock at least a good candidate for a day trader to consider. Generally, those are stocks that are highly liquid, with large trade volume; relatively volatile, so you can buy low and sell high; and known to you (an understanding of the stock’s price history, and how it reacts to various events — earnings reports, economic shifts — is key). Here’s some detailed guidance on how to research stocks.
You can use your online broker or trading software’s stock screener to look for stocks that seem ripe for day trading.