Updated January 11, 2025 – Written by Ross Cameron

Table of contents

Many new traders make the beginner mistake of using the wrong tools.  Using the right day trading software and day trading tools is critical.  While a skilled trader can make do with less than ideal tools, beginner traders need every advantage possible.

That means making sure you’re equipped with the best trading software, scanning software, and charting software.

I often talk about trying to ride a road bike in the sand. It doesn’t matter if you have a $2,000 road bike — you can’t ride a road bike in the sand.

If you ride a $200 used beach bike with fat tires you will have a great time! The guy on the road bike will wonder why you are having a smoother ride.

It’s because you are using the right equipment for the environment. It’s not about how much money you spend, it’s about using the right tools.  Make your life easier by using the best tools for you. The ones that I find are best for me are listed below.

The Best Tools and Software For Day Trading

There are a few different items you will need for day trading, including:

  • Online Broker
  • Scanning Software
  • Charting Software

Below we will dig into our favorite day trading software, why we use them and why we think they are crucial for traders to have!

Finding the Best Broker for Day Trading

There are hundreds of brokers you can choose from and they all provide traders with a different experience. The right broker for one trader may not be the right broker for another trader. I’ll assume that you’re reading this because you want to learn more about brokers for day trading, and perhaps particularly for trading the momentum strategy that I trade every day. I’ll describe what I think are the best brokers for my style of day trading.

Lightspeed Trading

For high-volume traders, we have chosen Lightspeed.

Lightspeed is known for its many trading platforms, day-trading services, and discounts for frequent traders. Although it doesn’t yet provide trading in cryptocurrencies, it does offer futures and options.

Lightspeed’s trading platforms are designed for different types of traders.

Here they are with their highlights:

  • Lightspeed Trader: Lightspeed Trader is the standard platform offered by Lightspeed. The platform is simple, reliable, and highly customizable. Lightspeed includes complex order routing technology including “Super Smart” orders that will send the same order to multiple ECN’s at the same time to see which will give the fastest execution.
  • Sterling Trader Pro: Sterling offers a simple but highly customizable trading platform that has become popular among active traders. Similar to DAS Trader, it is offered by dozens of brokers which means once you’ve become comfortable with the software, you can switch brokers at any time.
  • DAS Trader: DAS Trader is software, similar to Sterling Trader Pro, that is popular among active traders. The software is offered by dozens of brokers which means traders can easily switch brokers but continue using familiar software.
  • Livevol X: This platform offers market scanners and window linking, features that Eze EMS doesn’t offer. But it doesn’t come with extended-hours trading, which is available on Eze EMS.
  • Eze EMS (the former RealTick Pro): This one is designed for futures traders. And in fact, it’s the only platform at Lightspeed capable of trading the asset. It comes with streaming Level II data, watchlists, hot keys, direct-access routing, and basket order entry.

    Although Lightspeed does charge software fees for some of the above platforms, a few of them are eligible for rebates based on monthly volume.

    Speaking of monthly volume, Lightspeed’s commission schedule for stocks, ETFs, and options varies by volume. Accounts that trade more than 15 million equity shares in a month pay just 0.1¢ per share. Options are as low as 20¢ per contract, and futures contracts are a flat $1.29 each per side.

    Charles Schwab

    Charles Schwab is one of the most popular broker-dealers in the United States and the ThinkorSwim platform is one of the most powerful and intuitive platforms on the market. Combine that with commission-free trading, and you have a big win for retail traders with accounts above $25,000.

    I recently compared ThinkorSwim to several other free-commission platforms, including Robinhood. You can read the full Commission-Free Broker Comparison blog post, but long story short, I found that ThinkorSwim is the clear winner.

    International Broker Dealers that Accept US Residents

    Capital Markets Elites Group (CMEG) is an international broker-dealer and therefore does not enforce the FINRA $25,000 Pattern Day Trader Rule that all US Broker Dealers are required to enforce. CMEG is not allowed to advertise to US residents, although they do advertise internationally. Most US traders find them through word of month and they do accept US customers. CMEG does not particpate in Payment for Order Flow and thus charges commissions in order to generate a profit. They are certainly more expensive for a beginner trader than Charles Schwab, but since they don’t enforce the PDT rule, they can allow a trader to be much more active. For a trader with a track record of experience, an offshore broker can be a useful tool, albeit, and expensive one.

    International Broker Dealers for Non-US Residents

    In the video below I discuss four options for international traders. Currently, the best options are TradeZero and CMEG. The advantage to TradeZero is that they offer zero commissions as long as you send non-marketable limit orders through their platform. About 1/2 of my orders could be non-marketable, so I could get a discount trading with them, but it’s not enough for me to switch brokers.

    Stock Scanning Software: Warrior Trading Scanners

    Even with a funded brokerage account, traders still need a way to find stocks to trade.  Based on my Gap and Go and Momentum Day Trading Strategies, I have five criteria for stock selection. An “A-Quality” stock will meet all 5 criteria. However, I don’t restrict myself to only trading A-Quality setups on every trading day. When the market is hot, and we are seeing great momentum, I’ve noticed that even lower-quality setups can still produce nice winning trades. However, in a colder market, even A-Auality setups may not work as well. This means I have to be able to understand the quality of a particular stock based on my five criteria and the condition of the overall market.

    The Best Stocks to Day Trade for My Strategy Meet These Five Criteria
    • Price between $2-20
    • Up at least 10% Today (and ideally is within the top 5 leading % gainers in the entire market on the day)
    • Has 5x Relative Volume
    • Has Breaking News
    • Has a Float of less than 20 Million Shares

    In the past, it was very difficult to find stocks worthy of day trading. This resulted in many traders simply focusing on trying to trade the same stock every day. I learned that trying to trade a stock like Apple, Tesla, or the S&P500 each day is a very competitive market. Some of the best institutional traders in the world employ high-frequency algorithms to trade these stocks, making it nearly impossible for a retail trader to find an edge.

    In fact, I found the stocks I made the most money on tended to be obscure stocks that were having a once a year type of event. A small-cap pharmaceutical company with breaking news of good clinical trials could squeeze up 250% in a single trading session. The incredible thing is, since there are so many stocks listed on the exchange, it seems just about every day, there is a stock experiencing these types of once-a-year events. The trick was to find these stocks as early in the move as possible. This is where stock scanners come into play.

    In 2017, I hired a development team here at Warrior Trading to begin developing software specifically for the type of trading I do every day. Today, the platform has become known as Day Trade Dash. Inside the platform, we have a suite of stock scanners that consume real-time market data from the exchanges. We trained these scanners to produce audio alerts when a stock meets the five criteria for stock selection.

    Knowing how to identify those stocks before they make the big move is crucial.

    I use the Warrior Trading scanners for all my stock scanning.  The predefined searches locate High of Day (HOD) movers, top gainers, volume spikes, stock halts, and more.

    Charting Software: Warrior Charts

    Over the years I’ve used a number of different platforms for charting. I began by using the charts included with my brokers at Ameritrade and then Etrade. However, eventually, I was looking for higher-quality charts. That’s when I began using TC2000. Then, in 2014 or 2015, I switched to eSignal. eSignal is great, but it’s expensive.

    When we began developing our own trading software here at Warrior Trading, building in charts was an important consideration. This allowed me to stop using eSignal and instead use our own charts.

    Final Thoughts

    Having the right tools and day trading software for online trading will point you in the right direction to make better, more informed decisions.

    Trading is one of the most competitive careers you can choose, so don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by overlooking foundational skills.  Alongside using the best tools, day trading courses can help you build the knowledge needed to navigate this challenging field.