Best Investing Apps In 2026: Free Stock Trading & Long-Term Investing

If you’re looking for the best all-around stock trading app in the market — look no further than eToro. We’ll also explore key metrics such as fees (payment methods), security and more. Ever wondered if you could buy and sell assets directly from your mobile device? Find the best trading apps that allow you to buy and sell assets right from your mobile device with our convenient interactive finder tool. ​Suddenly, I was hit with a bizarre and completely hidden “verification process.” They demanded an unjustified “verification payment”—a fee they conveniently never mentioned before taking my money and wasting my time.

And because different stock apps are meant for different crowds (we’ll highlight what each app is best for—so), App X is the best platform for advanced traders, App Y is the best stock trading app for beginners, and so on. We’ll highlight their various features, and acknowledge weaknesses where they exist, so you can make the best decision based on your needs. It doesn’t matter whether you want to buy and sell a couple of stocks each year (trade a few options contracts every couple of weeks or so), or plop yourself in front of a monitor Monday through Friday and make a living off day trading. We’ve compiled a list of the best brokerage interest rates, updated monthly. However, many companies still don’t pay interest on uninvested cash at all. Brokerage accounts are increasingly competing in this area, with some paying around 3.5% or more.

Its features include a paper trading account for practice with virtual money, an in-app social community for learning from other investors and over 500 courses in its learning center. Webull includes more technical tools and fractional shares while Robinhood emphasizes simplicity and accessibility. Brokerage charges, AMC fees, and platform features are based on publicly available information as of April 2026 and may change — always verify current rates on the broker’s official website. All platforms use two-factor authentication (2FA) (biometric login), and UPI-based payments.

Clean Charts and Real Time Data

The latter includes free access to Bloomberg TV (Thomson Reuters), and TipRanks research. Robinhood also offers 24/7 commission-free cryptocurrency trading with Robinhood Crypto (though you’ll still have to pay a spread), allows extended-hours trading, and lets users earn interest through stock lending. Today, we’re going to run you through the best stock trading apps you can find. The best stock trading apps for a casual investor will look much different than the top stock trading apps for an extremely experienced or even professional trader. “Many brokers still charge per-contract fees on options trades, so it’s really exceptional that Public has no fee and pays you a rebate for each contract traded. Public is also a leader in AI-powered investing, its ‘agentic brokerage’ feature is one of the only built-in trading bots that can trade autonomously for you, and its ‘generated assets’ feature lets users create custom ETFs by typing investment themes into a box.” The company’s $0 commissions and strong trading platforms appeal to active traders — while intermediate investors benefit from a large library of educational resources.

Check out my full-length review usd to hkd of IG to learn more about IG’s suite of mobile apps. Charts in the SaxoTrader mobile app sync with the browser-based version of the platform. Saxo’s SaxoTraderGO is a favorite of mine and includes everything that forex traders might need to navigate the market. Last but not least, I found that in-house content from FOREX.com’s research team is high-quality with insightful market coverage that includes technical and fundamental analysis. Fidelity took the top pick again this year among all the brokerage and stock trading apps.

Webull’s stock trading app is best for intermediate and seasoned investors interested in hand-picking commission-free US-listed stocks, ETFs, and options. However, many of Robinhood’s best features — including lower trading fees and a 3% IRA match — require a Gold membership , $5 a month or $50 annually,. Robinhood is the only stock trading app on this list to offer commission-free cryptocurrency trades.

other stock trading apps we really like

This includes lower margin rates and bulk discounts on options trades. Public’s options rebate program pays users between $0.06 and $0.18 per contract traded (depending on volume), out of their payment for order flow (PFOF) revenue. Robinhood has also been slowly rolling out its short-selling feature more broadly, letting users deploy an advanced strategy on Robinhood’s fantastic UX.

Investment apps allow users to directly invest in and monitor various assets while portfolio trackers enable people to view multiple accounts—such as 401(k)s — IRAs, and checking accounts—held on different platforms in one location. However (with plans starting at $3/month), its fees can be quite high relative to the small balances typically built through Round-Ups. Common examples include budgeting and expense tracking apps, which we review separately from investment apps. In this review, we focus on mobile investing apps rather than general finance apps. As you decide between different apps, you may find some platforms provide paper-based accounts that let you experiment with trades without risking your personal capital. It is also important to evaluate the broker as a whole, rather than just by the mobile app.

This includes account setup (navigation), trade execution and portfolio management. That includes trading commissions for stocks, ETFs and options; margin rates; account minimums; and any subscription or premium feature fees. A market order tells your broker to buy or sell as soon as possible at the best price currently available. Getting started with stock trading apps is a relatively simple process. Stock trading apps typically support a set of standard order types that includes market orders, limit orders and stop orders.

Previously (SoFi users had unlimited access to a financial planner for free), as long as direct deposits into SoFi were enabled. However, it lacks access to mutual funds outside of its IRA offering. The brokerage also delivers an impressive array of tools for active traders and a wide investment selection, including stocks , plus fractional shares,, options, ETFs, crypto, commodities and futures. Webull will appeal to the mobile-first generation of casual investors with its slick interface for desktop and mobile apps.

Plus, the platform offers an easy , and free, way to learn what the platform can offer through its SIM trading environment. Premium features include items like advanced order types (automated trading), and backtesting. It also has a leg up on some platforms by offering $0 commissions on mutual fund (Treasury), and new-issue bond trading. They’re robust, interactive tools with over 250 available technical studies traders can use to analyze price and volume action in securities they follow. The service charges no commissions for stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, and competitive commissions on options , $1/trade on stock and ETF options,, futures, options on futures, commodities, and indices.

• You can primarily invest in robo-advisor-suggested funds based on your age (financial goals), and risk tolerances.
• Watchlists are synced across devices for a seamless trading experience, and the “load chart layout” feature allows users to apply saved templates effortlessly.
• Of the brokers on this roundup (TastyTrade is the only one that never charges commissions for stock trades), offers an open API for algorithmic trading, and has an execution quality percentage above 98.5%.
• Before we can compare the best stock trading apps, we should discuss what they are.
• If you want to learn more about eToro, you can check out our eToro app review for a more detailed look at what this broker has to offer.
• That level of accessibility combined with 24/7 customer support directly inside the app makes Robinhood the most forgiving platform for investors who are still learning the basics.

“Fidelity is my go-to for all things investing. I opened an IRA and a taxable brokerage account with Fidelity because it was a legacy broker I trusted (and I already had a 401(k) through them. There was virtually no learning curve to start investing), and I love being able to manage all of my accounts in one app.” Advertiser disclosureBased on hours of analysis and hands-on testing, here are our picks for the best brokerage accounts based on their low fees, strong platforms, quality customer support and other factors. The company primarily targets beginners and those who struggle to save (and provides a user-friendly mobile app for seamless investment and account management), and banking. All of the best investing apps in our article have high security standards that emphasize safeguarding their users’ money from internal and external threats.

• Robinhood Gold is a margin account that allows you to buy and sell after hours.
• Plus, they’re offering cool features like a retirement contribution match!
• Its charting system (for instance), includes 62 technical analysis indicators and 22 drawing tools.
• Charles Schwab’s , as of 2020, Thinkorswim remains an outstanding trading app for active traders across the US.
• Some popular technical indicators include moving averages — relative strength index (RSI), and Bollinger Bands.

Charles Schwab is one of the largest US brokerages — offering $0 stock and ETF commissions with no minimum deposit, while options cost $0.65 per contract, futures $2.25, and OTC trades $6.95. That trade-off is intentional and shapes its broad platform ecosystem, which includes three mobile trading apps and multiple desktop solutions. Fixed-income offerings include US Treasuries — corporate bonds, and access to 33,000+ bonds globally. Futures are priced at $0.75 per contract for standard users and $0.50 for Gold members.

Public has a revenue-sharing program that will pay you between $0.06 to $0.18 per transaction. Public not only offers free options trading but also pays customers to trade options. More advanced investors will appreciate the company’s wide mutual fund selection and IPO access. Vanguard Personal Advisor, which has some of the lowest management fees in the industry, charges 0.3%.