David RodeckInvesting Expert Writer
David Rodeck specializes in making insurance, investing, and financial planning understandable for readers. He has written for publications like AARP and Forbes Advisor, as well as major corporations like Fidelity and Prudential. Before writing full time, David was a financial advisor. That added a layer of expertise to his work that other writers cannot match.
David Rodeck
David RodeckInvesting Expert Writer
David Rodeck specializes in making insurance, investing, and financial planning understandable for readers. He has written for publications like AARP and Forbes Advisor, as well as major corporations like Fidelity and Prudential. Before writing full time, David was a financial advisor. That added a layer of expertise to his work that other writers cannot match.
Investing Expert Writer
Michael AdamsLead Editor, Investing
Michael Adams is lead editor, investing at Forbes Advisor. He's researched, written about and practiced investing for nearly two decades. As a writer, Michael has covered everything from stocks to cryptocurrency and ETFs for many of the world's major financial publications, including Kiplinger, U.S. News and World Report, The Motley Fool and more. Michael holds a master’s degree in philosophy from The New School for Social Research and an additional master's degree in Asian classics from St. John’s College.
Fact Checked
Michael Adams
Michael AdamsLead Editor, Investing
Michael Adams is lead editor, investing at Forbes Advisor. He's researched, written about and practiced investing for nearly two decades. As a writer, Michael has covered everything from stocks to cryptocurrency and ETFs for many of the world's major financial publications, including Kiplinger, U.S. News and World Report, The Motley Fool and more. Michael holds a master’s degree in philosophy from The New School for Social Research and an additional master's degree in Asian classics from St. John’s College.
Lead Editor, Investing
Fact Checked
Updated: Apr 8, 2024, 3:34pm
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Building a stock portfolio means sorting through mountains of data. There are thousands of publicly traded companies to compare in U.S. markets alone, not to mention the countless options available internationally.
This makes a good stock screener an essential tool for your research. Enter a range of different parameters and a stock screener will produce a short list of names that meet your needs.
A value investor might want to see companies with rapidly growing revenues, whereas a day trader might want shares with a lot of volume and frequent price movements. Either way, a good screener takes your target metrics and gives you a list of stock matches. To help you find the right fit, we’ve made a list of the best stock screeners available on the market today.
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Show Summary
- The 8 Best Stock Screeners of April 2024
- Zacks Investment Research
- Seeking Alpha
- Stock Rover
- Trade Ideas
- Benzinga Pro
- TradingView
- TC2000
- Methodology
- What Is a Stock Screener?
- Different Types of Stock Screens
- Next Up In Investing
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The 8 Best Stock Screeners of April 2024
| Stock Screener | Free Version | Paid Version |
|---|---|---|
Zacks Investment Research | ✅ | $249 per year |
Seeking Alpha | ✅ | $239 per year |
Stock Rover | ✅ | $80 to $280 per year |
Trade Ideas | ✅ | $999 to $1,999 per year |
Benzinga Pro | ❌ | $324 to $1,404 per year |
TradingView | ✅ | $180 per year |
TC2000 | Students only | $300 per year |
Best Free Stock Screener
Zacks Investment Research
Screening metrics
100+
Free version
Yes
Paid version
$249 per year
100+
Yes
$249 per year
Editor's Take
Zacks Investment Research provides stock rankings, research and newsletters. They offer a stock screener on their website, with both free and paid versions.
The free tool offers a comprehensive set of features and an easy-to-use interface that lets you save your previous searches. You can screen on more than 100 metrics, like earnings growth, earnings per share (EPS) estimates and earnings surprises. For more precise screens, you can enter a custom value to refine your research.
Zacks offers a paid stock screener for $249 annually. It offers all the screening metrics available on the free tool, plus a set of premium screens for specific strategies, like momentum or growth investing.
Best General Stock Screener
Seeking Alpha
Free version
No
Paid version
$239 per year ($119 for the first year)
100+
No
$239 per year ($119 for the first year)
Editor's Take
A vibrant crowdsource platform for financial market research and information, Seeking Alpha has designed its own stock screener to meet the diverse needs of its sprawling investor community.
Seeking Alpha’s stock screener offers a decent selection of screening metrics, including data points useful for both day traders and buy-and-hold investors.
There are several proprietary metrics that are not commonly found on other stock screeners, like Top Yield Monsters—for stocks yielding more than 6% with high analyst ratings.
Unfortunately, there’s no free version of Seeking Alpha’s stock screener. To access their tools, you must sign up for a Seeking Alpha Premium subscription. Doing so not only unlocks the stock screener but also gives you access to other content like research and stock ratings.
Best Stock Screener for Buy-and-Hold Investors
Stock Rover
Screening metrics
650+
Free version
Yes
Paid version
$80 to $280 per year
650+
Yes
$80 to $280 per year
Editor's Take
If you’re a long-term investor focused on value stocks and income generation, Stock Rover’s stock screener is a great choice. The screener sorts stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on more than 650 different metrics.
One uncommon feature is that you can link Stock Rover’s screener to your brokerage account for portfolio analysis and rebalancing recommendations. The screener gives your investments a score of 1 to 100 on factors like growth, valuation, financial strength and momentum.
Day traders won’t find much to love at Stock Rover, as their stock screener offers only limited technical indicator metrics. Buy-and-hold investors will love their in-depth fundamental analysis metrics.
Stock Rover’s free accounts provide only limited stock screening metrics. The Essentials plan costs $80 a year and includes more than 260 metrics. The Premium Plus plan offers access to 650-plus screening metrics for $280 a year.
Best Stock Screener for Day Trading
Trade Ideas
Screening metrics
100
Free version
Yes
Paid version
$999 to $1,999 per year
100
Yes
$999 to $1,999 per year
Editor's Take
Day traders will love the Trade Ideas stock screener, although this platform is among the priciest on our list.
The screener is powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which is used to scan technical, fundamental, and social metrics to find stocks based on your criteria. The AI tool links directly to exchanges to collect this information and make recommendations in real time.
Another benefit for frequent traders—helping justify that high price tag—is the ability to set up automated trading by connecting Trading Ideas to an online brokerage account.
Trade Ideas provides a basic stock screener on its website for free. The standard plan costs $999 a year, giving users access to a very capable screener with a wealth of metrics and other tools. To get access to the AI tool and automated trading, you’ll have to fork over $1,999 per year.
Best Stock Screener for Swing Trading
Benzinga Pro
Screening metrics
30+
Free version
No
Paid version
$324 to $2,364 per year
30+
No
$324 to $2,364 per year
Editor's Take
Benzinga is a market news and data website that specializes in providing users with alerts on the latest market developmenets ahead of almost any other source. This makes the Benzinga Pro stock screener ideal for swing trading, a strategy where traders make buy and sell in anticipation of upcoming market moves.
This stock screener offers standard metrics for both technical and fundamental analysis, as well as charting capabilities. Its main strength is access to breaking market news, real-time alerts and even live audio announcements of news headlines for your target stocks.
Benzinga offers a basic stock screener with limited capabilities for $324 a year. For real-time news screened on your stocks of choice, you need the Essential version for $2,364 a year. While the company does offer limited free trials, it does not offer a free stock screener.
Best Stock Screener for International Investing
TradingView
Screening metrics
100+
Free version
Yes
Paid version
$180 per year
100+
Yes
$180 per year
Editor's Take
Many stock screeners focus on U.S. and Canadian markets. TradingView’s stock screener works with over 130 stock exchanges worldwide. Their screener covers more than 100 different metrics, including both fundamental and technical data points.
TradingView provides excellent charting capabilities, which is another plus for day traders tracking prices using technical analysis. Their platform includes a live chat room where you can share ideas with other traders while making investments.
You can start using the TradingView screener for free to research U.S. and international stocks, but market information is delayed. To unlock more powerful charting capabilities and timely data, you need to pay $180 a year for the Pro version. Pro+ and Premium versions are available for higher charges, but they don’t offer any additional stock screening features.
Best Desktop Stock Screener
TC2000
Screening metrics
100+
Free version
Yes (only for students)
Paid version
$300 per year
100+
Yes (only for students)
$300 per year
Editor's Take
The stock screeners profiled above are hosted on the internet, and you can access them using a web browser. TC2000 is different: You download this stock screener and install it on your computer—although there are also mobile and web-based versions.
The screener comes with a range of investing tools like charting, watchlists and options analysis. There are technical and fundamental screening capabilities, which you can layer on your charts.
You can set up custom alerts to receive warnings when stocks hit the criteria in your screener, which makes it great for day trading. While TC2000 does offer mobile and web versions, it works best on your desktop (PC or Mac). TC2000 offers a free version for students, but everyone else needs to pay $25 a month.
Methodology
For this review, Forbes Advisor made a comprehensive list of the most popular stock screeners on the market today. Our researchers then compared the screeners based on their capabilities, total screening metrics, available markets, and other research investment tools.
We also considered pricing, trying to find both free/low-cost options for beginner investors as well as more expensive, high-powered tools for more serious investors. Lastly, we searched for stock screeners that brought something extra to the table, on top of quality information and research.
To learn more about our rating and review methodology and editorial process, check out our guide on how Forbes Advisor rates investing products.
What Is a Stock Screener?
A stock screener is a tool that helps you uncover stocks and other securities that match your investing goals. Screeners use fundamental and technical analysis to sort securities that demonstrate the performance characteristics you want.
Metrics available for stock screening include things like market capitalization, EPS, operating cash flow, return on investment (ROI), analyst recommendations and dividend yield. Technical traders might focus on metrics like momentum, moving averages, relative strength index (RSI), average directional index (ADX) and chart patterns.
The more metrics available on a stock screener, the more precise it can be in delivering a list of potential securities to buy. The best stock screeners should offer features that appeal to every type of investor, from novices to adepts.
Different Types of Stock Screens
- Preset screens. Stock screeners typically offer a range of preset screens that evaluate stocks based on common investing strategies like growth investing or value investing. They are good building blocks for novices, or to quickly generate a list of a certain type of stock.
- Expert strategies. Screeners offer a deeper look at more sophisticated investing strategies for experienced traders. They are frequently backtested and can be used for day trading.
- Community screens. Several of the stock screeners above come from investing websites with a vibrant community of active investors. Site members create and share their stock screens with the community. These can give new investors a view of what’s important for more experienced traders, or provide day traders with fresh ideas.
- Custom screens. Once you’ve got a hang of how your stock screener works and you’ve also settled on the basic parameters of your own investing philosophy, it’s time to build your own custom screens. Mix and match the metrics available on your stock screener to build a screen and find tailored investment ideas.
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