Updated on: August 25th, 2024
Best Brokers for Day Trading Online
Are you a forex trader who prefers day trading? Do you like to close all your trades before the forex market closes? If you are, then you need to use the platform of the best brokers for day trading. While most brokers will argue that their platforms are good for day trading, the fact is that this is not true. Some platforms are much better for day trading than others; then, there are some brokers who are not just good enough for day trading.
Having enough knowledge about brokers that allow day trading and the best platforms for day trading will help you make the best trading decisions. To help you out, we have reviewed the best brokers for day trading below. Please read our review and make up your mind about the broker to go for. At ForexOnlineBrokers, we leverage our experience to simplify your decision-making. Our choices are based on the quality of their platform and their ability to help you execute fast trades without stress.
Updated on: August 25th, 2024
In This Guide
Best Offshore Brokers For Day Trading
VFSC, CySEC
100% bonus
$100
500:1
ASIC, VFSC
N/A
$100
500:1
ASIC, CBI, BVI, FSCA, IIROC, FFAJ, JFSA, ADGM FRSA
up to 40% bonus
$100
400:1
CySec, ASIC, BVI
up to 50% bonus
$100
400:1
ASIC, VFSC
$10 000 demo
$50
500:1
What is Day Trading?
Day Trading is simply a strategy that dwells in the buying and selling stocks and forex during the trading day. The goal of anyone who is a day trader is to end their trading session with a net profit after paying the brokerage commission. Day traders normally trade during the first hour of a new trading day session and the final 30 minutes of the session. This period is often when the market is highly volatile, as traders make final moves before the market closes. If you trade in this manner, then you can best be considered as a day trader.
Day traders who execute more than four trades like this every given day need approval by a broker. The Pattern Day Trader can only be gotten with a trading balance of at least $25,000. With that out of the way, here is our review of some of the best brokers for day trading. Please do have a look.
Best Day Trading Platforms Reviewed
The best brokers for day trading offer traders special features to help them make winning trades before the close of a daily trading session. We have reviewed some of the top forex brokers that allow day trading below.
Fidelity
One of the best brokers for day trading is the world-renowned Fidelity Investments Brokers. This company offers brokerage services to traders, and they also have a day trading feature as well. Their flagship platform is called Active Trader Pro which is basically a Customized platform. They also have a tool called Wealth-Lab Pro. This backsetting tool can be used to test your trading strategy going back 20 years which offers great insight into stock patterns.
This tool alone makes it one of the best day trading tools for traders. Besides that, you don’t have to pay commission on ETFs and stock trades. In addition, you don’t have to pay too many account maintenance fees, which is also great. For Options, you only pay a meager $0.65 per contract. Fidelity is indeed one of the best brokers for day trading around.
Interactive Brokers
Second, on our list is Interactive Brokers. This industry leader is a trusted platform for many day brokers. It is highly secure and rated by traders because it allows them to enjoy great trading discounts if they use the Pro service. Interactive Brokers is the best platform for high-volume traders, which is an attractive proposition for those who don’t want to pay too much commission for their large trades.
Interactive even discounts the commission you pay by up to 90%. In terms of historical research resources, it does not come close to Fidelity’s deep roots, but their Workstation platform is highly advanced with technical tools to help traders do their research independently. For their Lite Service tier, traders enjoy zero free commission on ETF and Stock trades alongside other top features.
Min $200 Deposit
Regulated By: SEC, FINRA, FCA, NYSE
Foundation Year: 1978
Headquarters: Connecticut, United States
TradeStation
TradeStation is not very popular in certain quarters, but day traders value this broker for its top-of-the-mill features. The platform is the best because it is flexible, and their competitive pricing policy is attractive. Their base commission on Option trades is near $0, which only other brokers can boast of. Even if you get to pay for your Options trades, you only pay $0.50 per contract, which is quite low. They also don’t charge commission for ETF and stock trades for the first 10,000 shares for each trade.
As for their trading platform, it is one of the best we’ve seen for day trading. Their TradeStation is customized and loaded with tons of indicators and tools. You also won’t believe that you can customize your own tools to suit your trading style, but it is true. This feature alone makes it a user-friendly platform.
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is one of the best brokers for day trading and one of the world-renowned trading platforms in general. This platform is great for trading stocks and options as well as forex, indices, and futures. What’s amazing about TD Ameritrade is that you can have access to more than 400 studies conducted by market experts to help you improve your trading success.
The platform also has other helpful tools like a trading simulator and chart tools many professional traders will find helpful. They also have a tranche of fundamental research materials. Options trades attract only $0.65 per contract, and there are no base commission fees. TD Ameritrade has been acquired by another renowned brokerage called Charles Schwaab, so both will be integrated into one company with time.
E-Trade
E-Trade is an all-around performer as far as online trading is concerned. Their discounted commission policy on options trades is quite novel and highly commendable. This broker shines bright when you review their long list of fundamental research tools. They also offer news reports and commentary on trending market reports. There are more than 100 technical studies and price action analyses on E-Trade. Just like the others on this list, this broker will not charge a commission for Stocks and ETFs. As for Options, you only pay between $0.50 – $0.65 per quarter for 30 trades.
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab took over TD Ameritrade, but before it did, it was already an accomplished broker in its own right. In terms of research tools and data, this is one of the best brokers for day trading. It has a special platform called StreetSmart Edge, which is in Desktop and Mobile versions. This platform is highly flexible and allows you to customize the layout to suit your style.
You can also integrate news feed and live CNBC coverage into it. You can also set complex options orders using a single trade ticket. Moreover, there is a ton of third-party research inculcated into the Schwab database with a host of screening tools. Stocks and ETFs are free, while Options attract only $0.65 per contract.
Lightspeed
Lightspeed is another emerging broker gradually making in-roads into the online trading space. As the name implies, this platform is highly secure and allows you to execute your trades with lightning speed. You will not be bogged down by so many commission fees and payments. They have a fast order route and data feeds that refresh per minute. This feature is great for making automated trades. We also like their excellent customer support, which serves the needs of traders at short notice.
As for their trading platform, their customized Livevol X is exceptional and one of the best for Options trading. The only downside we see with Lightspeed is that you can’t trade forex and futures on the platform. However, you can trade low-cost Stocks and ETFs as well as options. We rate them highly for their speedy trade executions. When trading in a highly volatile market and you need to make snap moves as the market unfolds, the go-to tools on this platform will help you make those fast moves. More importantly, you can customize the platform to suit you.
Lightspeed is one of the best brokers for day trading because its tools are efficient, the platform is advanced and user-friendly, and you pay only a meager sum as commission.
TastyWorks
TastyWorks is another lesser-known platform ideal for day trading. Where does this platform shine? That will have to be its excellent research tools and educational materials. With TastyWorks, you can learn and trade at the same time. The fast and stable technology of TastyWorks was improved in 2017 to make it faster and more efficient. We also like the scanners that help you find securities with high volatility, so placing winning trades should not be more difficult than it has to be.
Stocks and ETFs are free, with open Options trades attracting a commission fee of $1 and no commission for closed trades. The dashboard can be customized to taste so you can follow the charts in real-time. We also like their mobile forex trading app, which has all the tools in the desktop version but is more Mobile friendly.
How to choose the best brokers for day trading
With so many brokers online offering their platforms as the best for you, it can be quite tricky to identify the one to go for. To help you out, here are some key features to look out for when choosing brokers.
Account features
You want to be sure the features on the platform are right for you. Review their tools and charts as well as their live feeds, if any. For your comfort, we recommend you only use platforms that with customizable features
Regulation
Regulation is another thing never to overlook when searching for brokers. Only recognized and regulated brokers can give you the security and safety that you desire. Regulatory licenses to keep your eye open for include
- FINRA (US)
- NFA (US)
- FCA (UK)
- CySEC (Cyprus)
- ASIC (Australia)
- MAS (Singapore)
Regulatory bodies are classed into categories like Tier 1 and Tier 2. The more regulatory licenses the broker holds, the more they can be trusted.
Commission
If you don’t want a broker to take a significant portion of your money, you need to do your due diligence. The best brokers for day trading reviewed in this list offer competitive pricing that you should take advantage of. Only use brokerage services that charge no commission for stock and ETF trades. For Options, any charge above $0.65 per contract should be rejected.
Funding Method
You want to ensure that the platform you are using has multiple funding channels like debit and credit cards, bank wire services, e-Wallet, and the likes. If the broker only allows one or two funding methods, you may encounter problems in the long run when you need to fund your account or make withdrawals.
Conclusion
The Best brokers for day trading reviewed in this article are some of the best in the online trading industry. Their platforms are easy to use, their tools are great for analyzing the market, and you can also use them for making snap trading decisions. In closing, we recommend that you do your own research before committing your funds to any broker for your investment safety.
Day Trading FAQ
Day Trading FAQ
According to NYSE and FINRA, a day trader is someone who executes at least four-day trades or more on a trading week. Day traders do not keep any open trades by the end of a trading day. Day traders are also called Pattern Day Traders (PDT).
What does PDT mean?
PDT (Pattern Day Trader) refers to the error message a trader receives if he attempts to trade more than 4 times in a week despite having less than $25,000 in their trading account. The System installed by the SEC places restrictions on such trades. So over time, people with such trading practices were now referred to as PDT.
Do all forex brokers offer day trading features?
No. Not all forex brokers offer this feature.
What will happen if I execute a day trade more than four times within the five days window?
Your account will be flagged, and the broker will restrict your moves.
Must I have at least $25,000 in my trading account to become a day trader?
Yes, based on NYSE and FINRA regulations, you do.
Is Interactive Brokers good for day trading?
Yes. Our experiences with Interactive Brokers day trading are consistently very good. IB is regarded as the best broker for day trading.
