Best Stock Research Apps – Expert Insight to Investing
Joy Wallet is advertiser-supported: we may earn compensation from the products and offers mentioned in this article. However, any expressed opinions are our own and aren't influenced by compensation. To read our full disclosure, click here.
It can take years to become a stock market pro — but what if you’re just starting out? Using a brokerage or other stock trading platform that offers trading strategies, newsfeeds, and advanced charting and visualizations to help you choose the right stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and even cryptocurrency at the right time can help you push your portfolio to the next level.
Whether you’re new to the world of investing or simply looking to learn more about stocks and trading tools, finding a platform with smart stock research tools can be helpful. Many platforms offer basic stock analysis, but some go above and beyond with watchlists, market data, and other educational resources.
If you’re looking for the best investment app, I’ll run you through some of the top options on the market, explain their features, and address any pros and cons so you can find the right stock resource for your personal finances.
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
Summary of best stock research apps
App | Best For |
Motley Fool | Best stock picker research option |
Stock Rover | Best for boosting existing portfolios |
Robinhood | Best for beginners |
E*\Trade | Best basic brokerage stock research option |
Webull | Best free option |
Moomoo | Best for active traders |
Benzinga Pro | Best for early quotes |
Charles Schwab | Best for investors of all levels |
Seeking Alpha | Best crowdsourcing option |
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
The best stock research apps
The Motley Fool – Our top pick
If you’re interested in investing, chances are you’ve heard of the Motley Fool, which offers a stock advisor option for interested parties. The Motley Fool Stock Advisor claims to produce picks that outperform the S&P 500, though both stock analysis tools have different approaches.
Those looking to build more long-term wealth might be interested in Motley Fool Stock Advisor. This buy-and-hold stock picker provides detailed recommendations of more traditional stocks to increase your chances of gains and reduce your chances of loss. This stock picker is said to have outperformed the S&P 500 by nearly four times as much and can help you make investment decisions (although it’s not a financial advisor or a mobile trading app). It also comes with in-depth stock recommendations and reports to review your investment options using fundamental analysis.
The Motley Fool is offering its top stock-picking service at 50% off for new members.*
*$99 is an introductory price for new members only. 50% discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then-current list price.
Stock Advisor costs $199 annually and is better suited for investors looking to identify the next big companies without doing all the legwork themselves.
Cost: $199 annually
Read a full review on Motley Fool Stock Advisor.
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
Stock Rover
If you want help with your existing portfolio or just want to start investing, Stock Rover may be the right fit. This platform actually connects to your existing investing brokerage account and then analyzes your portfolio to identify areas where you may be lacking or missing out on potential growth. This nifty feature can come in handy if you need a little extra help identifying gaps in your portfolio and want some research and data to help you figure out where to invest next.
Stock Rover also offers pretty cutting-edge custom stock screeners, miles above many competitors, particularly compared to other free stock research apps. It houses over 140 prebuilt screeners, but you can also construct your own. If you go with the DIY strategy, there are hundreds of metrics you can add in, from financial standings to ratings. You can also browse screeners by investing strategy to offer more relevant research and data to fit your investing style.
The Motley Fool is offering its top stock-picking service at 50% off for new members.*
*$99 is an introductory price for new members only. 50% discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then-current list price.
Not all of these screeners and resources are free, though. It comes with a limited free plan, but each level you go up offers additional access to insights, years of financial history, more metrics for screeners, advanced alerts, prioritized phone calls, custom metrics, equation screening, ratio charts, investor warnings, and more robust educational and analytics features. Plans range from $0 to $279.99 per year, with a few tiers in between.
If you simply want access to more comprehensive stock research, you can also purchase Stock Rover’s research reports for North America, which offer detailed analyses of more than 7,000 companies across the continent. This costs $49.99.
Cost: Free to $279.99 annually
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
Robinhood
Even with the notoriety of 2021’s Gamestop fiasco, Robinhood is still a popular investing platform — particularly for beginner and passive investors looking for an easy way into the stock market. And while Robinhood may not be known for its stock research tools, this functionality has come a long way since the app was first launched.
This robo-advisor offers analyst ratings, earnings calendars, and links to earnings information. Robinhood also offers a list of top movers designed to showcase stocks that get the most action from other investors. You’ll get the best functionality on the apps, which gives you access to candlestick charts, which allow you to see the top 100 stocks other investors on the platform are buying and more. A user-friendly mobile app, its stock trading is one of the few offering fractional shares and crypto trading.
While Robinhood does offer some outside stock information from news sources like Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and Barron’s, its stock research tools don’t stretch quite as far as other apps. But, if you’re a new investor looking for basic information and you don’t want to dig too deep, Robinhood presents its stock analysis in a digestible way, which can make learning the ropes feel less overwhelming. Just keep in mind that much of the data is self-contained to the app users — just because Robinhood users are buying a particular stock doesn’t mean the rest of the market is.
Cost: Free
The Motley Fool is offering its top stock-picking service at 50% off for new members.*
*$99 is an introductory price for new members only. 50% discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then-current list price.
E*Trade
As one of the earliest trading platforms to hit the internet, E*Trade already has quite an impressive reputation. Not only does this service make trading on the stock market more accessible to everyday buyers — but it also provides an arsenal of trading research tools that you can use to make buying and selling decisions.
To start, E*Trade has a variety of well-built stock screeners that are easy to follow. Its main stock screener is customizable and scans the stock market in real time. It comes with 100 pre-defined screens and offers six customization categories (each with its additional customizations available). It also offers ETF, mutual stock screeners, and an options screener.
E*Trade’s platform also provides advanced charting with risk-reward analysis designed to match different investing styles. Additionally, you can access calculators for retirement planning, run different investing scenarios, and other risk/analysis tools. You’ll also receive daily reports with advice for new and more seasoned investors, market commentary, monthly portfolio selections, and real-time news streaming through Power E*Trade. Lastly, you can view third-party stock analysis reports from Reuters, Morningstar, Moody’s, MarketEdge, and others.
Cost: N/A
Read a full review on E*Trade.
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
The Motley Fool is offering its top stock-picking service at 50% off for new members.*
*$99 is an introductory price for new members only. 50% discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then-current list price.
Webull
Known by many investors as a low-fee online stock brokerage, Webull doesn’t hold back when it comes to its trading features and tools. While this platform may seem ideal for beginners, it actually boasts some pretty advanced stock trading tools, making it a great fit for more seasoned, active investors. It also comes along with some basic stock research tools — though these tools aren’t quite as impressive as its trading platform.
Webull users will have access to Level 2 data that pulls in from Nasdaq TotalView for free for three months, after which you’ll be required to pay for this service. But, you’ll also receive free market data from Reuters, Lipper, and Refinitiv. This includes news, insights, and breakdowns of specific stocks from trustworthy sources.
That said, Webull doesn’t really provide much else in terms of third-party research data. But you can access a fairly robust stock screener that can help you pick the right stocks at the right time. In addition, its advanced charts and graphs can help you better conceptualize the potential of certain picks by reviewing historical data and trends.
Ultimately, Webull’s data and research tools are best for DIY investors who don’t need their hands held through the process and know exactly what they’re looking for.
Cost: N/A
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
Moomoo
Moomoo is another advanced stock trading platform designed with active traders in mind. Like its competitors, it offers advanced trading tools and features, providing users with helpful stock research tools. Known for its no-commission trading options and low-fee structure, Moomoo is worth looking into if you like to dig deep into stocks before buying.
This platform provides real-time Level 2 Nasdaq quotes and takes this offering a step beyond competitors by including in-depth analysis and stock context for free. This service is also well known for its free but robust charting capabilities, with over 50 technical indicators that can measure time frames between one to five minutes up to one year.
In addition, Moomoo provides stock news feeds that you can customize to match your stock preferences, watchlist, positions, and other criteria. Feeds pull in from the top, trusted sites like CNBC and Dow Jones Newswire. Moomoo also provides access to market insights so you can dig deep when researching your next move.
Cost: N/A
The Motley Fool is offering its top stock-picking service at 50% off for new members.*
*$99 is an introductory price for new members only. 50% discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then-current list price.
Benzinga Pro
While Benzinga Pro is not an online brokerage like many of our picks, it is a real-time investment research platform developed specifically for traders and hands-on investors. It’s also a news service in its own right, providing stock data and insights to other brokerages and platforms.
Benzinga Pro provides quick and actionable insights for traders backed by trustworthy sources and editorial staff with experience in the financial space. This company also often publishes releases on stock announcements ahead of official PR announcements, giving investors precious time to act.
Members of Benzinga Pro can also take advantage of the platform’s customizable real-time reporting stock scanner. Robust charting is also available and is integrated on the Benzinga platform with TradingView.
Other stock research tools include real-time news shoutouts to keep you abreast of stock happenings throughout the day, insider company holding insights, and a robust calendar with important earnings reports, dividends, IPO and SEC filings, and much more.
Although there is a free tier, you’ll want to pay for at least the basic level to search the newsfeed, set watchlist alerts, and receive access to premium Benzinga articles. This will cost you $27 a month. For real-time quotes and scanner access, you’ll want to upgrade to the Essential tier ($197 a month). For more advanced trading mentorship and educational resources, you can enroll in the Options Mentorship tier for $457 monthly.
Cost: Free to $457 monthly
You can learn more about Benzinga Pro here.
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
Charles Schwab
With educational tools well-suited for investors of all levels, Charles Schwab’s brokerage platform is another great option for anyone seeking additional stock insights and research data. Schwab also offers commission-free stocks and low fees, appealing to a wider array of traders of all investing styles.
Like many top brokerages, Schwab offers stock ratings but also issues its own equity ratings while providing additional reporting from Morningstar, MarketEdge, Credit Suisse, Argus, S&P 500, and more. Members will also receive real-time news reports, earnings reports, and more robust market commentary written by Schwab’s own financial experts. You’ll also score a free issue of Charles Schwab's quarterly magazine.
The screeners available through Schwab are also cutting-edge, with views you can save, lists you can easily pick from, and easily sortable categories. Choose between predefined screeners or create your own custom views. Schwab also offers a compare stocks feature and access to the company’s top stock picks.
These tools are all free when you sign up for a brokerage account.
Cost: N/A
The Motley Fool is offering its top stock-picking service at 50% off for new members.*
*$99 is an introductory price for new members only. 50% discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then-current list price.
Seeking Alpha
Founded by David Jackson, a former Wall Street financial analyst in the early 2000s, Seeking Alpha is a professional stock analysis tool and investment research platform. Like many other stock research sites, Seeking Alpha offers a variety of information for free but places most of its valuable stock research tools behind paywalls.
Seeking Alpha is unique because it offers crowdsourced reviews, insights, and commentary, with thousands of opinions and articles published monthly. While it has a larger pool of writers, its investment publishers are vetted beforehand for financial experience and potential conflicts of interest.
Like the Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha is a stock database with a comprehensive library of educational resources. While Seeking Alpha doesn’t deliver a custom list of stock picks, it instead has an open database you can search to do your own research. Its stock research tools offer Quantitative Analysis Ratings, author review ratings, and Wall Street ratings. Free members can only access the Wall Street ratings — you’ll need a paid subscription to get the other two.
Seeking Alpha also offers stock screeners and financial interviews for paid members.
You can choose from three tiered plans from Seeking Alpha — a free plan, a premium plan, and a pro plan. The free plan offers the option to set stock alerts and notifications, but it limits the ratings and research you can view. The premium plan ($199 for the first year) lets you view additional ratings, author analyses, stock performance insights, and stock screeners. The pro plan ($199 per month) provides all of the features in the other plans, along with additional expert advice, interviews, and analyses, access to a top ideas report, and additional details about top stock performers.
Cost: $0 to $199
Read a full review on Seeking Alpha.
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
Summary of the best stock research apps
Research App | Subscription Cost | Stock Picker | Crypto Investing |
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor | $199 per year | Yes | Resources offered |
Stock Rover | $0 - $279 per year | Yes | No |
Robinhood | N/A | No | Yes |
E*\Trade | N/A | No | Not at this time |
Webull | N/A | No | Yes |
Moomoo | N/A | No | Resources offered |
Benzinga Pro | $0 - $457 per month | Yes | Resources offered |
Charles Schwab | N/A | No | Not directly; through ETFs |
Seeking Alpha | $0 - $199 per month | Yes | Resources offered |
FAQs
What are stock research apps?
Stock research apps help investors and traders gain valuable insights about stocks, including company standing, trading prices and history, projected earnings, ratings, expert analyses, and more. Some online brokerages offer stock research tools and educational resources, while other websites exist solely as databases for stock research data. These apps are designed to help investors make more educated moves when investing, trading, or selling stock. That said, investing is always risky, no matter how much research you do beforehand.
Are stock research apps free?
You can find many free stock research tools, whether through a brokerage or online database. However, many of the more advanced stock analysis tools require some form of payment.
How do price tracker apps make money?
Each price tracker app makes money through different ways. Some make money through partnerships with brands, which it may then offer to users. Others may make money through advertisements. Some even make money by selling your browsing data and other information. A few make money through paid accounts.
What is a stock screener?
A stock screener is a powerful investing research tool that lets you quickly filter through stocks and ETFs by different criteria. Some common criteria include small cap to large cap stocks, price-to-earnings ratios, stocks that have recently fallen in price, or specific industry stocks. Many paid stock research services offer more robust stock scanners to fit different investing styles or allow you to create your own stock scanners. Some brokerage platforms, like Charles Schwab, offer this service for free to members.
How do you research stocks?
The way you’ll approach researching a stock will vary based on your investment goals, experience, and style. For instance, if you’re a beginner investor, you might appreciate Robinhood’s approachable stock research tools, while more advanced investors might be more interested in Webull, Benzinga Pro, or Seeking Alpha. When researching stocks, you’ll often review expert predictions, stock price history, company backing, past earnings reports, and other criteria to better understand if you should invest or sell a particular stock.
Are stock pickers and stock research apps the same?
Not exactly. Stock pickers offer you a selection of stocks that the service believes will become popular or fit your investing profile — doing the heavy lifting for you, sometimes with additional research you can dig into. Stock research apps, on the other hand, provide all the tools you need to pick your own stocks. Sometimes these tools overlap, offering some of the same services.
Use Motley Fool's Stock Advisor To Invest
- Over 100 Stock Picks with 100%+ Returns
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 593% (vs. 165% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- Investment Community With 700,000+ Loyal Members
- 30-Day Membership-Fee-Back Guarantee
- Joy Wallet Reader Deal: The Motley Fool is offering 50% off its top stock-picking service for new members (Limited Time)
The bottom line
If you’re interested in active investing or a seasoned trader, understanding how to pick stocks that suit your investing style and goals is crucial to building out your portfolio. Stock research apps can provide the insights, data, and ratings you need to make smarter financial choices — but they’re not foolproof.
While I recommend a free app for beginners, more advanced investors may appreciate the more robust features paid memberships can unlock.
Joy Wallet is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor, financial advisor, loan broker, insurance producer, or insurance broker. Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only. They are not intended to provide investment advice. Joy Wallet does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information in regard to your individual circumstances. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific investment issues. Featured estimates are based on past market performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
Our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market. We are compensated by our partners, which may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on our site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice. Our editorials are grounded on independent research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.
We value your privacy. We work with trusted partners to provide relevant advertising based on information about your use of Joy Wallet’s and third-party websites and applications. This includes, but is not limited to, sharing information about your web browsing activities with Meta (Facebook) and Google. All of the web browsing information that is shared is anonymized. To learn more, click on our Privacy Policy link.
Images appearing across JoyWallet are courtesy of shutterstock.com.
Writer
Courtney Johnston is a freelance writer, specializing in finance, travel, and health. She has written for The Chicago Tribune, Benzinga, BestReviews, Mashvisor, Fundera, MoneyGeek, and The Culture Trip. She also teaches writing instruction at the University of Indianapolis. Courtney currently resides in Indianapolis.
Share this article
