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11 Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading of March 2024

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.

Alana Benson
By Alana Benson 
Edited by Pamela de la Fuente

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.


The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

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. (Not a day trader yet? Learn the basics with our guide to how day trading works.)

But how do the online brokers and their trading platforms stack up when it comes to meeting those needs? Below, we’ve selected the best brokers and platforms for day trading in a variety of categories so you can choose one based on your personal priorities.

Summary of the best trading platforms:

How we nerd out testing trading platforms

The star ratings below represent the broker's overall score. Our reviewers — who are writers and editors on NerdWallet’s content team — hands-on test every online broker platform in our analysis. That way, we’re able to report on every aspect of the user experience, from funding a new account to actually placing trades.

We score each broker against a set of criteria that factors in both the capabilities offered and the actual user experience of trading with those capabilities. This includes how easy it was to sign up for and fund a new account. Note that a broker may score very highly for the platforms it offers, but low for the experience of actually using that platform. These are scored separately in our analysis, and they are weighted evenly when factored into the broker’s overall score. This means a broker can offer an advanced trading platform, but if it is clunky to use or the process of opening an account is unnecessarily arduous, that will be reflected in their score.

🤓Nerdy Tip

The stock market continues to hit record highs in 2024. As of Feb. 29, 2024, the S&P 500's 1-year total return is over 30%.

Best Trading Platforms for Day Trading

Best App for Investing 2024

NerdWallet rating 

5.0

/5
Fidelity
Learn more

on Fidelity's website

Fees

$0

per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

None

no promotion available at this time

NerdWallet rating 

5.0

/5
Interactive Brokers IBKR Pro
Learn more

on Interactive Brokers' website

Fees

$0.005

per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Exclusive!

US resident opens a new IBKR Pro individual or joint account receives 0.25% rate reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply.

NerdWallet rating 

4.9

/5
Charles Schwab
Learn more

on Charles Schwab's website

Fees

$0

per online equity trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

None

no promotion available at this time

NerdWallet rating 

4.3

/5
SoFi Active Investing
Fees

$0

per trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Up to $1,000

in free stock for users who sign up via mobile app

NerdWallet rating 

5.0

/5
Webull
Learn more

on Webull's website

Fees

$0

per trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Get up to 75 free fractional shares (valued up to $3,000)

when you open and fund an account with Webull.

NerdWallet rating 

3.9

/5
TradeStation
Learn more

on TradeStation's website

Fees

$0

per trade

Account minimum

$500

Promotion

Qualify for up to $5,000

when you open and fund a new TradeStation account. Offer Code: NERDAFJO.

NerdWallet rating 

3.5

/5
Zacks Trade
Learn more

on Zacks Trade's website

Fees

$0.01

per share

Account minimum

$2,500

Promotion

None

no promotion available at this time

Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:

Note: 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.

Last updated on March 1, 2024

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). 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.

Frequently asked questions