Best Investment Apps

Benzinga readers often choose Robinhood or eToro as the best investment apps.

Anyone from online brokers to robo advisors offers free stock trading for new account holders. And now, with Robinhood finding wild success, you’ll find another new class of online brokerages looking to compete in the free stock trading world. With new brokerages and free stock trading promotions popping up, they can be hard to keep track of. That's why investors need to stay on top of the best brokerage and investment apps.

Every month, Benzinga hunts down where you can trade for free and puts the brokers in the list below. You can check back on the 1st of each month for more exclusive deals, promotions, and other opportunities for free trades.

Quick Look at the Best Investment Apps:

• Best for Stock Market News: Benzinga Pro
• Best for New Investors: Robinhood
• Best for International Investors: Interactive Brokers
• Best for Copy Trading: eToro
• Best for Intermediate Investors: Webull
• Best for Active Traders: moomoo
• Best for Investors Who Maintain Significant Margin Balances: TradeUP
• Best for Retirement Savers: E*TRADE
• Best for Long-Term Investors: Magnifi
• Best for Alt Investing: Public.com

Best Investment Apps

Check out the best investment apps that made it into Benzinga’s top list. Use a combination of these apps to diversify your portfolio, increase your net worth and simplify your investments. Remember, apps are especially helpful if you travel frequently, cannot manage your investments on a work computer, or work primarily on a mobile device.

1. Best for Stock Market News: Benzinga Pro

Benzinga has some of the best stock analysis software you’ll find anywhere as it offers reliable information that is both timely and actionable—all part of its ideal to help you build your portfolio better. News reports alert you to everything from price movement to changes amongst the businesses listed on the markets or those that are of consequence to your portfolio.

Benzinga Pro provides audio squawk and other valuable tools, along with stock screeners, stock research and an integrated stock chart room where you can see all the information you need on each new asset in your portfolio. User-friendly and easy to manage, you can get all your news in one place or even tune into the Audio Squawk broadcast each day.

2. Best for New Investors: Robinhood

Robinhood is the broker for traders who want a simple, easy-to-understand layout without all the bells and whistles other brokers offer. It's a great brokerage and investment app for beginner traders. Though its trading options and account types are limited, even an absolute beginner can quickly master Robinhood’s intuitive and streamlined platform. On the other hand, more advanced traders might be frustrated by Robinhood’s lack of technical analysis tools, a feature that’s now nearly universal across other platforms.

Robinhood only offers basic research tools. Though the brokerage has been making an effort to improve its options in recent months, the level of fundamental and technical analysis tools still pale in comparison to almost every other competing broker.

3. Best for International Investors: Interactive Brokers

IBKR is geared primarily toward experienced investors. IBKR has always been a top choice for professional brokers, but its new IBKR Lite accounts can appeal to new investors looking to test the waters of trading. However, IBKR still maintains its host of professional tools and charting software. Outside of its trading platform, Interactive Brokers offers a wide range of educational tools and resources you can use to learn more about trading.

Interactive Brokers offers trades full access to the U.S. stock market on both its Pro and Lite platforms. You can even access stocks listed on European and Asian stock exchanges to buy and sell foreign securities. Most traders will pay $0 on all of their commissions, but high-value Pro account holders may pay a fraction of 1 cent per share.

4. Best for Copy Trading: eToro

With eToro, you gain access to crypto and stocks, allowing you to build a diverse portfolio in your own time. While eToro is known for helping investors buy into the crypto market, stocks are also available.

With the eToro app, you can purchase U.S. stocks and ETFs and add them to your existing crypto portfolio. As part of the new stock offering, you can:

• Invest in full stocks or fractions for as little as $10
• Engage with real, experienced investors about strategies
• Combine your crypto and stocks investments
• View detailed price charts
• Pay zero commissions

As always, you may also invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and many more. You may also upgrade your portfolio with CFD trading when you’re ready.

5. Best for Intermediate Investors: Webull

Webull is a mobile app-based brokerage that features commission-free stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading. It’s regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Webull offers economic calendars, ratings from research agencies, margin trading and short-selling. Its intuitive trading platform is complete with technical and fundamental analysis tools. It's a solid option for active intermediate and advanced traders.

You'll enjoy commission-free trading for more than 5,000 different stocks and ETFs. There are no maintenance or software platform fees and no charge to open or maintain an account.

6. Best for Active Traders: moomoo

Moomoo is an intuitive investment and trading platform with a professional set of tools, data and insights. When you sign up with Moomoo and open a brokerage account with Moomoo Financial Inc., features include:

• Real-time Level 2 stock and options market data for funded accounts
• Advanced technical indicators and charting tools
• Advanced order types for all investors
• Full extended trading hours from 4 AM to 8 PM EST
• Multi-market quoting
• Low fees, including $0 commission on U.S. Stocks or ETFS and $0 equity options contract fees
• 5.1% APY in the Cash sweep program and a 3.0% APY boost for qualified customers

You can review the FAQs in the Help Center if you need more information, or you can reach out to the customer support team via email or phone during the trading day.

There are educational tools and professional-grade research tools that complement a community that has 20M+ users worldwide.

7. Best for Investors Who Maintain Significant Margin Balances: TradeUP

TradeUP App, provided by TradeUP Securities, Inc., is a cutting-edge mobile trading platform that empowers investors to trade U.S. stocks, ETFs, and options without incurring any commission or contract fees. Additionally, the platform boasts an incredibly competitive flat margin interest rate of 1.99%, which remains advantageous, especially in the current high borrowing cost environment that has seen many competitors charge around 10%.

As a part of TradeUP’s dedication to building a vibrant investor community, the firm extends attractive incentives to new investors, friend referrals and account transfers.

TradeUP boasts a user-friendly, multi-platform application that supports not only mobile apps, but also desktop versions (compatible with Windows and Mac download) and a web version. As a result, investors get:

• The lowest margin rate on the street
• Zero commissions for stocks and options
• Zero contract fees for options
• A full suite of analytical tools

TradeUP Securities, Inc. is a proud member of organizations like OCC (Option Clearing Corporation), CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange) and DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), reflecting the platform’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards and adherence to industry regulations. 

8. Best for Retirement Savers: E*TRADE

E*TRADE leverages multiple platforms, 2 different mobile apps and a variety of account types and financial services to provide an inclusive brokerage experience. Most brokers aim their platform toward a specific type of investor, but ETRADE offers a little something for everyone. Does this overburden the trading system? Not at all.

E*TRADE offers 3 main avenues for providing clients with research and education to improve not only their trading acumen but to better understand investing and markets. E*TRADE will walk you through the process of trading on their platform in a way no other broker does.

9. Best for Long-Term Investors: Magnifi

Magnifi is a marketplace that allows you to use common brokerage tools and AI to make the best decisions for your portfolio. Because you can pull up all the information you need on a given asset, you can easily invest in the assets that will give you the results you deserve and better match your strategy.

Search for the investment options that meet your needs, invest in specific categories or scan for assets in a price range that’s affordable for you.

Best for long-term investors and those who require a bit of client support, you can also learn more about investing from this platform, utilize the AI-powered investing assistant, enjoy commission-free investing, try the mobile app and take advantage of over 15,000 possible investment options. This makes Magnifi a good place to trade for both seasoned and novice traders.

10. Best for Alt Investing: Public.com

Public.com is the only investing platform that lets you buy, sell, and hold stocks and ETFs alongside crypto and alternative assets—like art and collectibles. There are no account minimums, and all accounts are cash accounts—no IRA or 401(k)s at this time—which makes for simpler investing and easier decision-making. 

For every stock or ETF you want to buy, you can see all the information for that asset, a chart that tracks its trajectory, and historical data that allows you to learn and understand trends. This can also include access to advanced data, custom company metrics, and expert analyst insights through their Public Premium membership. It’s all about helping you be a better investor. Public.com even has a social feed to help you exchange ideas and opportunities with its active community of over 1 million investors.

How to Choose

When choosing brokerage and investment apps, you should be aware of the following:

• Price – Many investment apps are free to use. Fees and commissions can impact how you trade, so if you are just starting as an investor, you may want to try free options. You can save money while you learn how to invest, only paying commissions when you are comfortable making larger or more complex investments.
• Platform – iOS and Android dominate the market. But don’t forget about desktop apps as they might be more helpful if you use a desktop or laptop computer every day.
• Reviews – We have reviewed several top online brokers ourselves, but we also look for what users are saying.

Using Investment Apps to Reach Your Trading Goals

Investment and brokerage apps have become increasingly popular in recent years as they offer convenient ways to manage finances. These apps provide users with the ability to buy, sell, and trade stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and other financial instruments while on the go.

Many of these apps also offer advanced features such as research tools, robo-advisors or automated portfolio management services, budgeting tools, and much more. Use this list to choose the brokerage app that meets your investing goals, and start trading today!

Frequently Asked Questions