Best Stock Trading Apps for 2026

A strong on-ramp for new investors: For beginner traders, Schwab’s mobile app makes learning feel natural. Contextual education is built directly into trade tickets, quotes, and portfolio views, with clear explanations available exactly when you need them. Fractional share investing through Stock Slices lowers the barrier to entry, while tools like dividend reinvestment, goal planning, and Schwab’s Starter Kit help new investors build confidence over time. Importantly, Schwab is a platform you won’t outgrow as your needs evolve.

Jessica's take:

"Schwab does a great job meeting investors where they are. The mobile app gives you enough context to make informed decisions without overwhelming you, and when you’re ready for more depth, thinkorswim is there. It’s one of the few brokers where you can grow into the platform instead of growing out of it."

Jessica Inskip

Serious tools for active traders: Active traders will appreciate Schwab’s separate thinkorswim mobile app, which brings institutional-grade tools to your phone. Advanced charting, backtesting, customizable indicators, and powerful options trading capabilities make it one of the strongest mobile platforms for technical and options-focused traders. The learning curve can be steep, but the depth is worth it if you want more control and flexibility.

Schwab’s options trade ticket on mobile features a trade calculator view with both a P/L diagram and detailed table analysis. In this example, a 30-day-to-expiration at-the-money (ATM) cash-secured put on AAPL is displayed, clearly showing limited profit potential capped at the premium received—regardless of how high the stock rises. The payoff diagram also illustrates the increasing downside risk, mirroring the risk profile of stock ownership and highlighting the neutral to bullish bias of this strategy.

The trade-offs to know: Schwab doesn’t offer direct crypto trading, and fractional shares are limited to stocks (not ETFs). Still, with its range of investments, account types, research, and education, Schwab remains one of the most well-rounded stock trading apps for investors at any stage.

Mobile tools, fees, and features: The app is highly customizable right from the home screen (you can toggle on/off modules like watchlists, indices, events, and learning). Quotes go way beyond the basics, with optional fields like forward P/E, options volume metrics, volatility percentile, dividend info, and more. One standout is “Connections,” which links you to related products (ETFs, options ideas, competitors, themes) plus an AI-driven news summary that quickly explains what’s moving a stock.

Interactive Brokers’ flagship mobile app puts professional-grade tools at your fingertips with its fully-loaded Toolbox feature. Investors can access AI-powered trade ideas, options strategies, tax optimization tools, auto-investing, crypto trading, and market scanners, all in one place. This mobile experience makes it easy to manage sophisticated strategies on the go, rivaling many desktop platforms.

Advanced trading edge: The mobile options chain includes options statistics right at the top, supports 20+ columns (including Greeks and IV), and makes single-leg execution easy, though you may need to hop back to the chain to change selections. On desktop (TWS), IBKR has a strategy builder for multi-leg trades, advanced order types (including algos and conditional logic), and portfolio tools like Risk Navigator and scenario analysis. ORATS backtesting is also available, but it’s mainly for options strategy backtests.

What’s missing and who it’s best for: This is not the most guided, beginner-first experience, and some mobile workflows (like multi-leg options) lack net Greeks in the ticket. But if your goal is to grow into advanced tools, trade globally, and have institutional-style analytics available when you want them, IBKR is one of the strongest platforms you can choose.

Mobile experience: Fidelity keeps everything in one primary app, with an optional Trader+ mode you can turn on for a more active trading layout. The app feels sleek and modern, and navigation is intuitive across Home, Investing, Transact, Planning, and Discover. It’s easy to get a quick read on the markets, including major indices, futures like oil and gold, and Treasury yields, with helpful context layered in along the way.

Education and usability: Fidelity does a great job blending education into the experience instead of isolating it. The Discover tab mixes short-form educational content, market insights, and investment ideas in a way that’s easy to digest on mobile. You can learn, research, and check your portfolio without jumping between sections or feeling overwhelmed.

Fidelity’s mobile app makes learning on the go super easy with its “On Our Radar” videos which are quick social media style clips that cover everything from market trends to investing basics. They're short, smart, and actually fun to watch, making it simple to stay informed without feeling overwhelmed. It’s a great way to pick up insights in just a few minutes.

Advanced trading and what’s missing: On desktop, Fidelity’s Active Trader Pro beta shows progress, especially for options traders. The options chain has full Greeks, customizable columns, and strong multi-leg support, including net Greeks and probability of profit. On mobile, however, multi-leg options trading feels more limited, and I didn’t find a true backtesting tool. It’s a strong platform overall, but advanced traders will still spend more time on desktop than in the app.

Mobile tools that stand out: Charting is a real highlight, especially on mobile because it’s easy to add indicators, draw levels, and even replay price action. You also get paper trading for practice, a solid options chain for single-leg trades, and trade tickets that make order entry quick (with helpful explainers).

What to know before choosing it: Webull has strong technicals, order flow, and community chatter, but is lighter on deep research and long-term planning. Options spreads can feel restrictive, education is broad but not very polished, and account types are basic.

Beginner-friendly investing habits: I love how easy it is to set up recurring investing in ETFs and mutual funds (even small amounts like $25/week). That’s the kind of “set it and stick with it” feature that actually builds wealth over time.

Where it shines for traders: Power E*TRADE Pro has a deep options chain (tons of Greeks/IV columns), easy multi-leg building from the chain, and helpful risk/reward snapshots. The economic + earnings calendar is also genuinely useful, with filters and trade-linked workflows.

What’s missing: No true backtesting (paper trading helps), and chart drawing can feel limited.