While many investors enjoy picking individual stocks, it can be a huge help to have great tools at your disposal for making educated picks. The best stock screeners on the market can go a long way in helping traders improve their stock-picking game.
So, keep reading for an overview of the best free stock scanners as well as breakdowns of top free and paid stock screeners so you can boost your stock research game and elevate your gains.
Best Free Stock Screeners Overview
The best free stock screeners can vary a lot, but the best ones tend to deliver in the same key areas. Here’s a quick breakdown of some aspects to take into account when considering a stock screener, whether free or paid.
- Value delivered – Even if it’s a free service, you don’t want a stock screener that uses second-rate data or doesn’t give you real-time information. And since many stock screeners require a fee, what is the likelihood that the value it delivers helps you make money through smarter stock picking?
- Popularity and track record – Does this stock screener have a great reputation for reliability, or did it just pop up a month ago? Whether it’s brand-new or has been around for decades, it’s always a good idea to consider a given stock screener’s popularity and user base. It might not be the best idea to give up your hard-earned money for investment research from a source with no legitimate track record.
- Additional resources – Some of the platforms reviewed below offer much more than a stock screener, while others may only offer a screener. If you’re paying up for a subscription, it may be worth it to invest in a more comprehensive platform.
- Free or paid? – Some screeners provide a lot of great value, even at the free tier. There are other screeners that may cost hundreds of dollars a month but offer relatively low value. You should always assess your budget and find the best screener that fits with your budget and needs.
Best Free Stock Screeners
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is one of the most trusted names out there when it comes to investment brokers. They also offer many options for free research, including a top-tier tool via its thinkorswim platform.
Thinkorswim is a free technical analysis and research tool that many day traders appreciate using. For screening and scanning, traders can try out Stock Hacker, which has many filtering options and also provides real-time scanning. The Stock Hacker tool permits users to quickly identify technical patterns that they can analyze to improve their trading success.
Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance is a long-time player in the financial research site industry. They provide a lot of great info and tools at the free tier, including financials, historical returns, up-to-date news, and more. Some people aren’t aware that Yahoo Finance also offers a solid stock screener.
Although it might be best suited to newer traders and/or those with basic research needs, the Yahoo Finance free stock screener provides helpful information such as real-time quotes, ESG filters, and reams of fundamental data. Plus, you can generate helpful visualizations through their heatmap view.
Drawbacks include the inability to export data and the fact that some important parameters are only available to paying subscribers. That said, getting the most out of Yahoo Finance requires a paying membership.
Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is a service that provides investors with access to research and analysis from thousands of contributors. Among their top investment tools are stock and ETF screeners.
While the grades provided by Seeking Alpha’s proprietary Quant rating system are only available to paying subscribers, you can customize your own screens with the free tier. These screens offer a huge array of filters and time frames, and they’re among the more intuitive screens out there. You get pretty much everything as the paid version minus the grades and ratings, so Seeking Alpha is a good free screener to consider.
Which Are the Best Free or Paid Stock Screeners?
While it’s great when a stock screener is free, there are often limitations. Here is a look at some of the best stock screener platforms out there, some of which may have free, entry-level subscription tiers but are mainly known for their robust paid tiers.
Trade Ideas
It’s hard to beat Trade Ideas if you’re a day or swing trader and after top-tier stock screeners. One of the coolest features of Trade Ideas is its leverage of AI through its robo-advisor engine, Holly Grail. Holly provides users with the ability to quickly analyze countless potential trading scenarios.
The Trade Ideas’ stock screener uses the AI engine to also provide leading stock-scanning capabilities. It delivers real-time data from the markets and covers both stocks and ETFs. Plus, with pre-defined channels, it’s super easy to quickly find what you’re looking for.
Check out Trade Ideas for yourself by clicking here.
TradingView
TradingView is next on our list and it’s another great option for traders of all budgets. One really nice aspect of TradingView is that you can access their basic screeners without even signing up for an account. Plus, with its unique community-driven model, TradingView has grown a massive user base in no time.
Trading View’s screener provides important data while also offering many useful presets, including “Most capitalized,” Unusual volume,” “High-dividend,” and much more. These filters give users the tools they need to quickly access key data and trends, which is the backbone for making well-informed trades.
To try a free trial of TradingView, click here.
FinViz
FinViz has less of an obvious name compared to the preceding platforms, but it’s nonetheless a great stock research platform. Users with FinViz can expect robust scanning and screening because FinViz supports multiple filter and chart styles while also offering real-time data (to premium members).
In fact, FinViz’s stock screener may very well be its strongest asset, as it allows users to scan more than 8,500 stocks and ETFs through nearly 70 filters. The only real drawback is the lack of pre-built screeners compared to some competitors.
Click here to explore FinViz for yourself.
TC2000
TC2000 is one of the industry’s oldest and most reliable sources for stock screening. The software is so beloved that it has even won numerous industry awards. Users with TC2000 can expect powerful screeners and charts, with support for more than one-hundred indicator values, custom scans, and much more.
TC2000 uses real-time data, which is a must for active traders. It’s also relatively affordable compared to some of the other top-tier scanners out there. The only real downside is that it has an older interface that could use updating.
Click here to check out TC2000’s leading screener.
Stock Rover
Stock Rover is last up on our list. Like Trade Ideas and TradingView, Stock Rover is well known for its top-tier stock screener, but it also offers a lot more.
Despite offering a great screener and other useful tools, Stock Rover is one of the more affordable options reviewed here. It also has a solid free plan, and its most expensive plan only costs $28/month, which is far less than some competitors.
Check out Stock Rover by clicking here.
Wrapping Up
The best free stock screeners deliver good value, despite being free. Many of them may be the free tier of a platform that offers more robust, paid tiers. It can be nice to start with one of these sites, as you can easily upgrade down the road, should you feel the need.
In any case, be sure to assess what you need in a stock and ETF scanner before plunking down your hard-earned money for something that isn’t right for you.