BEST OF
11 Best Online Trading Platforms for Day Trading of March 2021
If you’re an active trader looking to try your hand at beating the market, you probably have a good idea of what you want in a brokerage: low costs, premium research, innovative strategy tools and a comprehensive trading platform. Below, we’ve selected the best online brokers 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 an active trader looking to try your hand at beating the market, you probably have a good idea of what you want in a brokerage: low costs, premium research, innovative strategy tools and a comprehensive trading platform. Below, we’ve selected the best online brokers 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.
Summary of Best Online Trading Platforms for Day Trading of March 2021
| Broker | NerdWallet Rating | Commissions | Promotion | Account Minimum | Learn More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$0 per trade | None no promotion available at this time | $0 | on E*TRADE's website | ||
$0 per trade | Up to $5,000 cash credit with a qualifying deposit | $0 | on TradeStation's website | ||
$0 per trade | One free stock for new account owners | $0 | on Robinhood's website | ||
$0.005 per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts | Exclusive! 0.25% reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply | $0 | on Interactive Brokers's website | ||
$0.01 per share | None no promotion available at this time | $2,500 | on Zacks Trade's website |
on E*TRADE's website
E*TRADE
Fees
per trade
Account Minimum
Promotion
no promotion available at this time
on E*TRADE's website
on TradeStation's website
TradeStation
Fees
per trade
Account Minimum
Promotion
cash credit with a qualifying deposit
on TradeStation's website
on Robinhood's website
Robinhood
Fees
per trade
Account Minimum
Promotion
for new account owners
on Robinhood's website
on Interactive Brokers's website
Interactive Brokers IBKR Pro
Fees
per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts
Account Minimum
Promotion
0.25% reduction on margin loans. Tiers apply
on Interactive Brokers's website
on Zacks Trade's website
Zacks Trade
Fees
per share
Account Minimum
Promotion
no promotion available at this time
on Zacks Trade's website
Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:
Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.
Last updated on March 5, 2021
Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors by assets under management, along with emerging industry players, using a multifaceted and iterative approach. 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.
DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW PROCESS
We collect data directly from providers, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. Our process starts by sending detailed questionnaires to providers to complete. The questionnaires are structured to equally elicit both favorable and unfavorable responses from providers. They are not designed or prepared to produce any predetermined results. The questionnaire answers, combined with product 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.
RATING FACTORS
Evaluations vary by provider type, but in each case are based upon the weighted averages of factors that include but are not limited to: advisory and account fees, account minimums and types, investment selection, investment expense ratios, trading costs, access to human financial advisors, educational resources and tools, rebalancing and tax minimization options, and customer support including branch access, user-facing technology and mobile platforms.
Each factor can involve evaluating various sub-factors. For instance, when gauging the investment selections offered by robo-advisors, 80% of the score is based on the potential for diversification (how well-diversified a resulting portfolio of investments could be) combined with the availability of specialty portfolios and level of customization for investors. Expense ratios form an additional 10% of the score, and low or no management fee the remaining 10%.
FACTOR WEIGHTINGS
The weighting of each factor is based on our team’s assessment of which features are the most important to consumers and which ones impact the consumer experience in the most meaningful way. The factors considered, and how those factors are weighted, change depending upon the category of providers reviewed.
Provider categories include: Best Brokers for Stock Trading, Best Brokers for Beginners, Best Brokers for Day Trading, Best Brokers for Options Trading, Best Discount Brokers, Best Brokers for Free Trading, Best Investment Apps, Best Brokers for Penny Stocks, Best IRA Brokers, Best Robo-Advisors, Best Financial Advisors, Best Real Estate Platforms, Best Brokers for ETFs and Best Brokers for Mutual Funds.
INFORMATION UPDATES
Writers and editors conduct our broker and robo-advisor reviews on an annual basis but continually make updates throughout the year. We maintain frequent contact with providers and highlight any changes in offerings.
THE REVIEW TEAM
The review team comprises seasoned writers, researchers and editors who cover stocks, bonds, mutual funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds, alternative investments, socially responsible investing, financial advisors, retirement and investment strategy on a daily basis. In addition to NerdWallet, the work of our team members has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, Bloomberg News, Nasdaq, MSN, MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance and other national and regional media outlets.
The combined expertise of our Investing team is infused into our review process to ensure thoughtful evaluations of provider products and services from the customer perspective. Our writers and editors combine to have more than 70 years of deep experience in finance, ranging from a former Wall Street Journal reporter to a former senior financial advisor at Merrill Lynch.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
While NerdWallet does have partnerships with many of the reviewed providers, we manage potential conflicts of interest by maintaining a wall between our content and business operations. This wall is designed to prevent our writers and the review process from being influenced or impacted by our business partnerships. This way, all reviews can provide an unbiased review that serves the interests of our users. For more information, see NerdWallet’s editorial guidelines.
To recap our selections...
NerdWallet's Best Online Trading Platforms for Day Trading of March 2021
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.
