Compare trading platforms provided by AvaTrade With the evolution of due to the magnitude of interest it arouses, it has gained popularity and transformed in to a massive trading format within a few short years. AvaTrade credits the increase in interest to the uniqueness of the forex/CFD market, as it allows a variety of traders to enter whether they are experienced or not. Forex (and CFD trading) offers traders benefits that are not often found in many other investment options, instant and maximum returns is what turns traders on with currency.

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To reap rewards and understand the markets, a good, market knowledge and a powerful trading platform are necessary. In today’s trading environment, the industry offers such a wide variety of trading platforms, some of which offer many benefits and additional functionalities to make trading for you as practical, user-friendly and purposeful as you need it to be. Platforms do differ from one another, each set of functions and interfaces appeal to various types of traders.

The individual choice of the trader lies within the platform that is most appealing to you and your trading needs. Having said that a platform should have basic elements that all traders need to reach their trading goals and implement their trading strategies:. Accuracy of data.

Competitive spread. Speed of execution. User-friendliness.

Customisability. Built-in or installable analysis tools AvaTrade knows it is not always an easy choice as to which platform will be your choice to take you into your trading career, and you could also start testing a platform and then decide another platform is better suited to your needs. It is always best to perform as much research as possible, while seeking out the best advice especially if you are new to trading. The general rule and most sensible direction to take would be to explore a platform which is simple to use, in order for you to master it as fast as possible. Never underestimate the importance of a trading platform as this is going to be the foundation of your trading.

The platform itself will not guarantee you monetary success, but will be well-matched to your trading style, level of expertise and to ensure your trading goals are reached without any drawbacks. About Trading Platforms In essence, a trading platform is developed software that links the trader to a broker and the relevant markets. Our platforms have authentic sources of information such as, price quotes, and order types that are executed by us, your broker. At AvaTrade you have two options: 1) Trading software that can be downloaded to the traders’ local computer and used directly by him. This software is compatible with Windows, and Linux operating systems. 2) The other type is the that is run on Java (a popular web language).

Highly favoured and it is accessible from any place that has an internet facility. AvaTrade provides you with the ideal platform that is best suited to your trading needs. Our platforms are offered for free and some have advanced features, with diverse functionality levels that offer more options to traders that have supplementary trade experience. As all our platforms are the bridge between us, the broker, and you, the trader, with real time data as well as all historical data that is easily accessible and essential to your trading efficiency. We also provide a third party software that allows a programme interface called API, these are offered to you:. No additional costs.

Additional trading features. Order interfaces. Historical data.

Convenient user interface Our Top Platforms AvaTrade offer you some of the for any type of trader, whether you are a novice or seasoned professional: Compare Avatrade Top trading Platforms Platform Details Max. Leverage Min.

There’s a lot of talk these days about and passive money management. Many investment firms are streamlining operations to and appeal to investors looking simply for low costs over the long term. But index funds are far from perfect — — and in this era of rock-bottom interest rates and disappointing global growth, there’s an undeniable appeal to tactical investing or day trading stocks. I’ve personally been trading stocks, options, and ETFs for a decade. Thanks to an explosion in high-tech tools, and competition for ever-lower costs, it’s never been easier to actively play the market. Provided you choose the right trading platform, of course.

The Simple Dollar’s Top Picks for the Best Day Trading Platform. Most Customizable Day Trading Platform: Lightspeed. Best Day Trading Tools: TradeStation. Best Low-Cost Day Trading Platform: Interactive Brokers Not all trading platforms are created equal. Buy-and-hold retirees and rookie investors have much different needs than seasoned day traders looking for agility and sophistication.

For many day traders, sitting in front of their trading platform is their full-time job. (Yes, it’s lots of fun for us traders who love the high stakes and adrenaline rush, but that doesn’t mean this is a hobby.) The best trading platform for day traders needs to be a useful tool, and not just a cheap or flashy connection to the markets. When looking for a good platform, I cut through the touchy-feely stuff like educational tools or asset allocation calculators. For day traders, it’s not about tax efficiency or diversification, it’s about making money right now. And while I think fees matter, cost isn’t the only factor. If you were a carpenter, for instance, you’d buy the best tool for the job, not simply the cheapest. Same goes for day traders.

My must-haves for the best day trading platform include:. Speed. This is a huge priority, both in research and order execution. Reasonable fees that last. There are a lot of promo offers out there that last just a month or two — Scottrade, E.Trade and TD Ameritrade all offer free trades for the first 60-days, and then push that up to a standard rate that’s as much as $10 per stock transaction. The initial savings of promos like these more than offset on the back end.

The tool should go beyond US stocks to include options and futures. Flexibility.

A good platform should work alongside the other tools and services you’re using. I found three excellent platforms that did all these things in spades.

And above those must-have factors, each has its own unique value for traders, depending on their tendencies. But, interestingly enough, I don’t currently use these platforms to manage my own money and don’t plan on switching.

I use Merrill Edge because — quite frankly — I have a large enough account and do enough other business with Merrill and its parent Bank of America that I get a sweetheart deal. I also really geek out on Merrill Lynch’s in-house research over its peers, so it’s in-line with my personal investing methodology. Keep this in mind, because nothing in investing is one size fits all and your specific situation may open other doors for you.

Most of the big-name brokers couldn’t cut it, honestly. That’s because there are a heck of a lot more 401(k) and IRA investors out there than day traders, and that’s who the big guys cater to.

Consider Fidelity, which offers a host of its own mutual funds as ETFs to investors with zero transactions costs — a great way to save if you’re just building a diversified buy-and-hold portfolio. Unfortunately, if you want to be active and have flexibility outside the Fidelity universe, it’ll cost you.

My testing process started with simply cutting out the most expensive platforms for day traders. I ran the numbers for a dozen brokerage platforms, from legacy names like Charles Schwab to low-cost upstarts like Robinhood to traditional discount online brokers like Scottrade. I ignored the super-premium VIP perks, but did presume a minimum account balance of at least $10,000. I also presumed activity of 100–200 trades a month — that’s five to ten each trading day.

I didn’t want to overestimate and presume you’d get volume discounts, but honestly if you’re not trading actively every single day then you shouldn’t be using the term “day trader” to describe yourself. Then I dug into the value each platform provided beyond the simple ability to trade. After cutting the most expensive half of the group based on the trading cost alone, I downloaded platform trials, read fine print about tools and data, and even trolled trading websites to find out what traders are saying about these platforms. For the record, I didn’t actually open an account and trade on any of these platforms.

But I think that the combination of quantitative measures like trading costs and qualitative measures like other reviews provide a pretty accurate picture of what’s what. And, of course, whenever there was a sticky point I would simply ask myself, “If I was trading on this platform, would I actually find this feature useful?

Or would it just confuse me, or add extra costs without adding any extra benefit?” Analysis of the Best Day Trading Platforms Best Customizable Day Trading Platform. Lightspeed offers one of the most sophisticated and personalized platforms out there. You can literally make precise and tactical trades with the push of a button. The Lightspeed Trader platform is all about speed and customization, displaying collapsible and movable windows instead of a fixed experience.

It’s not for rookies — and that’s the point. Want to put your charts on one screen and your orders and account info on another?

Or have some important research in another program you don’t want to cover up? Just drag the modules around until you’re happy.

Want to make a keyboard shortcut to execute a trade in the blink of an eye? That’s also possible. Heck, even the fees are personal at Lightspeed; the cost structure changes based on your activity level. Hot Keys I was honestly blown away by this feature.

On Lightspeed’s higher-end software (including Lightspeed Trader, which I experimented with in a trial and liked a lot) you can automate specific trading strategies that normally involve manual entry by mapping your keyboard. You can even map multiple orders for the same stock — so one key buys 1,000 new shares of Tesla while another sells 100 shares you already own.

This is a must-have for serious day traders. Volume Discounts Rates at Lightspeed are determined by trading volume and incurred monthly. If you’re very active with your account, the savings add up in a hurry. The base rate is $0.0045 per share; if you trade 10 times a day in lots of about 150 shares each transaction, that’s just $135 per month compared with the fees of about $1,400 you’d rack up at a typical broker that charges a flat rate of $7 per trade.

But, it gets better. Let’s say, instead, you trade 100 times a day. Based on that monthly volume, Lightspeed’s base rate falls to $0.0035 a share, meaning a total tab of $1,050 compared to $1,350 at the higher Lightspeed rate or a whopping $14,000 with a traditional per-trade model. Free Demos You can experience a trial version of Lightspeed’s various trading platforms simply by providing an email address and following the instructions you receive. Many premium tools don’t allow that kind of no-obligation access.

Scottrade only provides screenshots of how its tools work. Charles Schwab does a bit better with videos of the tools at work in its e-mail-required “,” but to actually get your hands dirty with Charles Schwab, they want a Social Security number and other personal finance info.

Not with Lightspeed. Platform Fees Lightspeed’s customization is awesome, but it comes at a price and with a structure you may not be used to. Most noteworthy is the maintenance fee for access to its higher-level trading platforms I recommend for the outstanding features like after-hours trading and order customization. If you’re an active trader then the software pays for itself, but it’s worth pointing out the platforms run $1,200–$3,300 annually.

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Because of this, you need to know your tendencies and try out a demo before committing. Cost Structure. Stocks and ETFs – $0.0045 per share, with a $4.50 minimum.

Options – $0.60 per contract (for fewer than 500/month). Futures – $0.60 per contract. $100 monthly maintenance fee for the Lightspeed Trader software (reviewed here; with hot-key order entries and features discussed).

– Fewer than 250,000 stock/ETF shares; higher volume results in cheaper rates. Best Platform for Day Trading Tools. On TradeStation's secure website Think four monitors is a minimum for any serious trader? Want to spend hours backtesting ideas? Need a dynamic mobile app to trade and get alerts on the go? Then TradeStation has the tools you want. If you like charts and screening stocks, you’ll love TradeStation — and not just because its platform comes out of the box with best-in-class charting and backtesting, but because it has its own app store full of tools and plugins made by third-party developers and investors.

The current offerings include everything from free to a premium tool for ($29/ month). The baseline tools and free plugins are impressive, but you’re sure to find an app for just about anything on TradeStation. Integrating that research directly into your portfolio and trading platform can save time and reduce complexity. Better Bulk Orders One particularly valuable feature comes standard in the latest TradeStation platform:. It allows for automatic execution of large orders via algorithm, to break them up into smaller and more efficient chunks.

No more moving the market inadvertently on low-volume stocks, and no need to parcel things out yourself. Multi-Screen Support TradeStation almost expects you to have multiple monitors with additional workstations open. With such great depth of tools and so many of them with visual elements like charts and stock screens, this feature is quite useful. Mobile Integration Most serious day traders have too much going on for a small screen, but TradeStation has created an agile app for both Apple and Android devices that integrates well with the desktop experience that can grant some peace of mind if you’re worried about monitoring your account on the go. Variable Fees As with Lightspeed, TradeStation has variable trading fees, but unlike Lightspeed’s monthly batching, TradeStation brackets fees per order. It’s confusing and overly complicated. Let’s say you buy 1,500 shares of a given stock.

The per-share rate on Tradestation is $0.01 for the first 500 shares then $0.006 for orders above that. Your transaction costs you $11 and the math looks like this: (500 shares x $0.01 = $5) + (1000 shares x $0.006 = $6) = $11 Even though $11 is a fine price, the pricing structure is still more complicated than Lightspeed’s trade-more-save-more monthly plan.

Cost Structure. Stocks and ETFs – $4.99 per trade or as low as $0.006 per share (200+ trades / month). Options – $4.99 per trade + $0.20 per contract, or a $1.00 flat rate (200+ trades / month). Futures – $1.20 per contract (300 or fewer futures contracts) Best Low Cost Day Trading Platform. Advertising Disclosure: TheSimpleDollar.com has an advertising relationship with some of the offers included on this page.

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