The most important part of building your investment portfolio is picking the right stocks. You shouldn’t purchase a stock simply because a friend has a tip or you read a good news piece on it. Instead, it’s important to consider your investment pattern and goals and pick one based on that. That’s where the best stock screeners come into play.
Rather than going through mountains of research to choose winning stocks, you can make your stock-picking process easier by identifying the companies based on your strategy and their performance. However, the only way you can take advantage of the best screeners is to know exactly what you’re looking for.
Let’s take a closer look at the top 10 free and paid stock screeners to get started with.
What is a Stock Screener?
A stock screener is a tool that helps investors and traders filter specific stocks out of hundreds based on a particular search criterion. The investor will select specific filters, and the screener will search for the stocks.
When using the best global stock screener, you can filter stocks based on their price, dividend ratio, debt-to-equity ratio, market capitalization, and P/E ratio. Some stock screeners are also designed to send alerts to users when a particular stock meets the user’s parameters, helping them find buying and selling opportunities.
Keep in mind that a stock screener and scanner are different, as the stock scanner is meant for constant monitoring of the stock market and using real-time data. Stock scanners give investors pricing information as it happens, while stock screeners help investors filter particular stocks based on their criteria.
After extensive research and testing of a wide range of stock screener software, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 stock screeners. Some stock screeners are provided on the free plan of stock research websites, but you will have to pay to access others. Let’s take a closer look.
Top 10 Stock Screeners (Free and Paid)
1. TrendSpider (Paid)
The best stock screener software on our list is the TrendSpider Market Scanner, a robust screening tool that helps investors search the market. The Market Scanner is able to search for technical conditions in real-time, including one-minute charts, and also scan for buying and selling opportunities across different time frames. It is easily accessible on the top-right corner of the TrendSpider interface and is easy to use.
After using the top stock screener to find stocks, you can create a watchlist, which is a list of securities that you will be monitoring for potential investing opportunities. That way, you will easily get alerts on stocks that you’re interested in. You can also save the screener to use later, delete it, share it, or clone it. The screener works with stocks, currencies, cryptos, ETFs, and futures.
Another highlight of using TrendSpider as your stock screening software is the pre-built scans and custom scans. With this platform, you can define specific conditions and build your screener so it only looks for stocks based on your particular requirements. But if you’re unsure of the criteria you want to add to your screener, you can select from over 70 pre-built scans. These will search the market based on your desired timeframe or combinations of timeframes.
Although the TrendSpider stock screener requires you to pay before you an use it, there’s only one pricing plan to consider. So, once you pay, you have access to unlimited screening results, unlimited scanning, and real-time scanning. It also provides intraday screening, making it one of the best stock screeners for day trading.
Legitimacy: 4.9/5
TrendSpider is a legitimate platform that uses proprietary software and cutting-edge technology to provide the average trader with opportunities. It is owned by Dan Ushman and was founded in 2016.
Performance: 4.7/5
TrendSpider stands out for its accurate and effective screening abilities. Aside from being the best-paid stock screener, it is also good for automation, technical analysis, and alerts, making it a valuable stock research tool.
Price: 4.8/5
It’s affordable to use TrendSpider, as it offers a single plan with all the features provided and a 7-day paid trial. You can choose to pay monthly at $126.63 or yearly at $892.80.
For more information on this service, make sure to read our full TrendSpider review.
2. TradingView (Free & Paid)
If you’re not limiting yourself to stocks in the United States but also want to invest in international stocks, TradingView is the best stock screener website on our list. The platform is known for covering a mind-blowing range of securities from around the world, making it easy for traders to expand their portfolios. These international stocks are available across over 130 global exchanges.
This rated best stock screener comes with over 100 technical and fundamental metrics and diverse fundamental, financial, and economic criteria that you can use to research stocks. You can customize the filters and views to meet your needs. The platform also allows you to compare the stocks based on their economic indicators, showing you their past performance in different economic conditions. It makes it easier to find a stock to invest in.
Another feature of the stock screener is the extensive charting features built on HTML5 technology and the interactive chat room, where you can ask more experienced traders about the filters they use in their trading screeners and share your own ideas. You can use the screener to filter stocks based on dividend yield, market cap, volume, and more. Plus, you can use it to find specific stocks like the most volatile stocks, top gainers, or stocks reaching their all-time highs.
If you want to customize the real-time stock screener, TradingView allows its users to create screeners with Python. This is suitable for investors who have coding experience. On the free plan, you can screen stocks and ETFs on TradingView, set list alerts, and customize your filters. If you want more TradingView features, consider the paid plans.
Legitimacy: 4.7/5
TradingView is a reliable and comprehensive technical analysis tool for a wide range of traders. It was founded in 2011 by Stan Bokov, Denis Globa, and Constantin Ivanov and is headquartered in New York.
Performance: 4.6/5
This is a high-performance trading platform with robust stock screening tools for beginner and experienced investors. It also features other technical analysis tools, advanced charting, and social networking for traders.
Price: 4.8/5
TradingView has a free forever plan where you can access different features, including the screener. The paid plans start at $12.95 per month, with a 30-day free trial.
3. Finviz (Free & Paid)
Another one of the best free stock screener tools on our list is Finviz, which is especially suitable for swing traders. It comes with a wide range of fundamental and technical criteria, charting, pre-market data, real-time quotes, email alerts, and backtesting. Although the stock screener is available on the free plan, it is not real-time.
The screener is a powerful research tool, as it provides pre-market data, real-time data, advanced charts, and customized filters, allowing investors to find the specific stock they are looking for. It also offers data export features, so you are not limited to the platform. The screener will display stocks and their symbols after searching. By hovering over the symbol, you can view the chart and previous performance.
With this screener you can access interactive charts to decide whether the stock is suitable for your portfolio. You can also compare the stock to the S&P 500 index. The screener is available on 100 portfolios with 200 filters. Investors can set specific criteria like ‘a return on equity over 20%,’ ‘an average volume of over 100k,’ ‘being in a strong uptrend,’ or ‘having a new high from the past 60 days.’
You can filter stocks based on data that you can’t find on other screeners. Also, you can save your preset screens, allowing investors to access a filtered search from before. When using Finviz for its stock screening app, the interface may overwhelm you, as it is crowded with different features. But, after using it a few times, it becomes easier to find the filters you need.
Legitimacy: 4.8/5
Finviz, short for Financial Visualization, is a leading stock screener and research website founded in 2007. Jujaj Duris heads the company from its headquarters in New York.
Performance: 4.6/5
Finviz is a top-performing stock screener app with a wide range of features for analytical research and visualizations. Its stock screener covers over 8500 stocks and ETFs, with 67 fundamental and technical criteria.
Price: 4.7/5
In terms of price, Finviz (read our full review here) is affordable with a single pricing plan: Elite at $24.96 per month. If you use the screener for free or with a free and registered account, the screener is delayed.
4. Schwab (Free Only)
When looking for a completely free stock screener for US stocks, Schwab is your go to tool! The platform offers a reliable stock screener with predetermined screeners based on particular filters like the lifecycle, lowest expense ratio, strong buys, and highest alpha. The screener is suitable for active investors and day traders, and users can create a custom stock screener.
What sets Schwab apart from the other tools on our list is that it’s an online brokerage that comes with a quality online stock screener. This allows you to find stocks with the screener and trade them all on the same platform. It features 70+ metrics and allows you to screen stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds with different technical and fundamental metrics.
But, to access some of the best stock screener parameters, you will have to create a brokerage account on Schwab. Fortunately, that’s free, too. You can automate the brokerage account so that the screener searches for patterns in stocks, and when it happens, it automatically executes a trade. This makes it a suitable screener for beginners and busy investors.
You can consider using the stock screener on Schwab if you already use or plan to use the platform for your brokerage needs. This stock market screener is easy to use once you create an account on the brokerage website.
Legitimacy: 4.9/5
Schwab is one of the leading brokerages online, offering outstanding tools like its stock screener. It is owned by Charles Schwab Corporation and was originally founded in 1971.
Performance: 4.8/5
The stock screener offered by Schwab is a comprehensive, high-quality tool that shortens the time between finding stocks and trading them. It features various criteria and is easy to use.
Price: 4.8/5
The Schwab stock screener is completely free to use as long as you create an account for free. The brokerage also offers no trading minimums and $0 commissions.
5. Seeking Alpha (Paid Only)
Whether you’re building your own screener or using the preset screeners, Seeking Alpha offers one of the best stock screening tools. The stock rating screener allows investors to easily find stocks by using factor grades and ratings. You can also use it to find real estate investment trusts. The stock screener is unique because it is based on a proprietary rating system called Quant Rating.
Seeking Alpha can screen thousands of stocks using the Quant Rating. It also grades each stock using a scale of A+ to F based on factors like valuation, profitability, earnings revisions, growth, and momentum. Another feature is that the screener app has other filters like Buy/Hold/Sell Quant Ratings, sell-side ratings, and author recommendations.
Seeking Alpha is well-known as a crowdsourcing platform suitable for financial market research and information, and made its own stock screening tools to meet the needs of investors. There is a good selection of screening metrics, including data points that day traders and value investors can benefit from. Some of their stock screening metrics are not found on other platforms, like Top Yield Monsters, which lists out stocks yielding over 6%.
There is also an ETF screener on the platform, allowing users to find ETFs based on their investing strategy. Although there is a free plan on Seeking Alpha, you need the paid plan to access the stock screener tool. It is a general screener with over 100 metrics and offers other research tools.
Legitimacy: 4.6/5
Seeking Alpha is a legit and trusted crowdsourced service based on the financial market. It was founded by David Jackson in 2004, with 170 employees at its headquarters in New York.
Performance: 4.5/5
A highly-rated stock screener, Seeking Alpha is known for its exclusive tools, accurate data, and robust community of investors. Its stock screener features thousands of securities and filters.
Price: 4.2/5
Seeking Alpha has a free plan that only offers stock price alerts, a premium article per week, and a watchlist. The Premium plan costs $239 per year and offers access to the screener, while the Pro plan is $2400 per year.
6. Benzinga PRO (Paid Only)
Benzinga PRO is the best-paid stock screener for swing trading, as it easily accommodates the strategy of buying and selling based on upcoming market moves. The stock screener tool allows users to filter stocks in real time. Investors can use filters to search for market cap, float, short interest, stocks by price, volume, relative volume, and shares outstanding.
This screener also comes with real-time charting, a wide range of indicators, and alert options that you can connect to the screening results. It provides standard metrics for technical and fundamental analysis. You can also access breaking market news, live audio announcements, and real-time alerts for your preferred stocks.
One of the features that makes this one of the best screeners for stocks is that you can customize the different settings. If you don’t want real-time scans, you can select a refresh rate of 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute. You can also select no refresh rate and make a static list. Some of the preset filters on the Benzinga Pro Scanner include overall gainers, real-time after-hours gainers, 5-minute movers, large-cap gainers, and mid-cap movers from the open.
You can also create a custom stock screener and select from different price and volume filters based on your strategy. These include the sectors, volume, percent changes, market cap, and close. Although Benzinga Pro has a free trial, it does not have a free stock screener.
Legitimacy: 4.6/5
Benzinga Pro is a trustworthy and dependable platform that provides real-time screening, alerts, news, and other tools for US stock traders. Beringer Capital, founded in 2010 is the owner of Benzinga.
Performance: 4.5/5
Benzinga Pro is a reliable stock screener and trading research platform suitable for active investors. It offers real-time news and actionable trading ideas that you can benefit from.
Price: 4.7/5
Benzinga Pro is an affordable stock screening tool starting at $30.58 per month, paid annually. The more advanced plan is available at $166.42 per month with annual billing.
7. TC 2000 (Free for Students & Paid)
TC 2000 is a reliable charting software and stock screener that provides a wide range of technical analysis tools. This screener is top-notch, as it allows users to screen stocks and options at the same time. It also provides real-time screening of the whole stock market and ETFs, making it an all-rounded solution to your investment needs.
This stock screening software is different because you have to download it on your computer rather than accessing it on your web browser. There are also mobile and web-based versions. The screener is fitted with different investing tools like charting, options analysis, and watchlists. They also come with technical and fundamental screening capabilities, allowing you to layer on your charts after screening stocks.
When using the stock screen tools on TC 2000, you can set up custom alerts for the stocks in your watchlist. It allows you to receive warnings when the screened stocks meet a particular metric. This makes it suitable for day trading.
Another highlight is that the TC2000 screener can be integrated with a brokerage account, which allows users to transition between screening stocks and executing trades. The TC 2000 screener has different kinds of filters, including description, fundamental, and technical. You can input the data and apply the filter to get the screened results.
Legitimacy: 4.6/5
TC 2000 is a trustworthy stock screener that is owned by Worden Brothers. It was founded in 1988 and also comes with a brokerage firm.
Performance: 4.5/5
TC 2000 is a high-end stock screener and trading platform that comes with a comprehensive suite of technical analysis tools. It’s available in desktop, mobile, and web versions.
Price: 4.7/5
TC 2000 is only free for students. To access the stock screener, you need to pay for either of the paid plans, Silver, Gold, or Platinum, at $8.32, $24.99, and $49.99 per month.
8. Stock Rover (Free & Paid)
Stock Rover offers the best free and paid stock screening tool for buy-and-hold investors. The stock screener can sort out stocks and ETFs based on over 650 metrics, which is way more than most options on our list. You can filter stocks in the NASDAQ, NYSE, and Toronto exchanges and find those that meet your specific investment criteria.
You can use this stock screener website based on criteria like technical, earnings, operational, and dividend metrics. Furthermore, you can connect the Stock Rover screener to your brokerage account, making it easy to analyze and rebalance your portfolio.
When you use the screener to search for stocks, the platform will give them a score of 1 to 100 based on factors like growth, financial strength, valuation, and momentum. Stock Rover is not suitable for day traders as it offers limited technical metrics but in-depth fundamental analysis metrics and a NASDAQ & NYSE stock screener that will benefit value investors.
After you’re done using the screener, you will find that the results are listed on a chart or table, depending on your preferences. You can add weight to the criteria to create a ranking of the stocks, add more columns and companies, and use watchlists to save the screened stocks.
Legitimacy: 4.7/5
Stock Rover is a legit and trustworthy stock screener that can be connected to your brokerage account. It was founded in 2008 by Howard Reisman and Andrew Martin.
Performance: 4.5/5
Stock Rover is an advanced stock screener and portfolio analysis tool that offers in-depth research on a wide range of stocks. It’s suitable for long-term investors who need free or paid screening.
Price: 4.7/5
Stock Rover is an affordable option, providing stock screening from the entry-level plan at $7.99 per month. Then, the higher plans are Premium and Premium Plus at $17.99 and $27.99 per month.
9. MorningStar (Free & Paid)
Next on our list of top stock screeners is MorningStar, a robust research tool that allows investors to find stocks to buy easily. The screener stands out because it features a database of 7,000+ stocks, and the basic stock screener has a clean interface and multiple filter options. It is easily accessible with the Research tab.
This online stock screener allows users to filter stocks based on factors like their performance, financials, and ratings. You can also create a custom screen based on particular search criteria for an investment type like stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. The stocks are presented based on the rating system, a quantitative measure that focuses on the past performance of the security.
The basic filter of the stock screener includes MorningStar Stock Grades. This provides investors with access to analysis aside from simply the stocks that meet the filters. There are also screeners for ETFs and mutual funds. The free tool has limited features, but you can always opt for the paid option for deeper searches.
Aside from having a simple stock screener, MorningStar comes with a portfolio-building tool and investment resources for research and analysis. It’s an extensive investment research service with an accurate rating on the results from the stock screener.
Want a more in depth review of Morningstar? Read our dedicated review to help you decide if this is the right service for you.
Legitimacy: 4.7/5
MorningStar is a well-regarded rating platform for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. It was founded by Joe Mansueto in 1984, with over 9000 employees.
Performance: 4.6/5
The MorningStar stock screener is highly accurate and allows you to find the stocks for you among over 7000 options. It also covers bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, and more.
Price: 4.6/5
The stock screener is available on the free plan but has limited features. The paid plan is more in-depth, starting at $34.95 per month with a 7-day free trial.
10. Zacks (Free & Paid)
Rounding up our list of the best stock screeners is Zacks, with a robust free plan and a paid plan. Zacks Investment Research features stock rankings, newsletters, and research tools aside from the stock screener on the website. This screener accepts over 100 metrics to utilize when searching for stocks. After using the screener, you can save the search results and access them later.
The free plan on Zacks comes with a wide range of screening features that are easy to use for beginners. You can use this stock screener software based on 100+ metrics like earnings surprises, earnings growth, and earnings per share estimates. It’s also possible to use a custom value for your research to make an accurate screening result.
This real-time stock screener also features a paid plan. The paid plan adds a set of premium filters like growth investing and momentum. You can choose between the Zacks Premium and Zacks Pro, but the latter features 8,000 securities with institutional-grade screening. Plus, you can add the screening results to your screener library.
A good day trading screener, Zacks offers the option to create a custom stock screener and ETF screener based on different search criteria. One of the most popular ways to screen stocks is with the Zacks Rank metric, which allows you to find some of the best stocks without any research.
Legitimacy: 4.7/5
Zacks is a trustworthy platform known for its quantitative system that is backed by data. It was founded in 1978 by Len Zacks.
Performance: 4.5/5
Zacks Investment Research is known for its independent research resources and profitable tools for investors. The screener features a comprehensive set of features like premium screens and a screen library.
Price: 4.6/5
Zacks is an affordable platform, as you can access the screening tool from the Zacks Premium plan at $249 per year. The screener is also available for free.
How Do Stock Screeners Work?
The central purpose of a stock screener is to filter and analyze stocks based on a particular criterion, allowing investors to find opportunities. To use a stock screener, you should first enter the filter and criteria that you want, like the market cap, P/E ratio, dividend yield, and more.
Then, the top stock screener will list out all the stocks from different exchanges that meet the criteria you have inputted. The screener might ask questions about whether you want large-cap or small-cap stocks, the industries you prefer, all-time highs of fallen prices, and more.
A stock screening software is usually based on a database provided by stock exchanges, and it is continuously updated. The data points of the stocks can be provided in real-time or with delay. Even after getting the screener results from the tool, it’s important to do your own research before investing.
Types of Stock Screens
There are different types of stock screens that you can get from the best stock screener websites.
Preset Screens
The most popular option available on stock screeners is the preset screen. Stock screeners offer different preset filters that will evaluate stocks based on different investing strategies. It’s suitable for novices and beginners who benefit from the best stock screener settings. You simply select the strategy or screen you want to find stocks.
Custom Screens
If you’re an experienced investor, it becomes easier to make custom screens. This is also suitable for those who understand how the stock screener works and have chosen their investing strategies. You can mix different metrics on the stock screener to build custom filters.
Expert Screeners
When you’re using a stock screener, you will most likely get expert screeners. These usually use sophisticated investing strategies that are backtested.
Community Screens
Some stock screeners are also provided by community-powered investing websites. So, different users will share their stock screens in the community and explain how it works for them. This allows investors to get different ideas and beginners to learn from more experienced traders.
How to Choose the Best Stock Screener
There are different factors to consider when choosing the best stock screeners for your investment strategy. It’s important to consider factors like the available filters, data accuracy, ease of use, and other analytical tools that can assist with your research. You can also consider the price of the stock screener and consider whether a free or paid plan is suitable.
When looking at the available filters of the stock screener, ensure that they offer preset and custom screeners. This should be including popular options like market cap, volatility, revenue, P/E ratio, profit margins, and debt-to-equity ratio. It’s a good idea to test the stock trading screeners with a free trial or free plan before signing up.
Final Verdict
Whether you’re a day trader or a value investor, everyone needs the best stock screener for their specific needs to make better decisions when investing. Rather than sifting through tens of thousands of stocks in the American and global markets, you can use a high-quality stock screener to find one that fits your specific portfolio needs.
The best stock screeners offer diverse features like flexibility, data accuracy, and robust database of stocks. These screeners are intuitive for beginners, too, so they can be easily filtered accurately with preset and custom criteria.
When you find new stocks with your stock screener, it’s important to research that stock first before you start trading. Most of these screeners come with other research tools that can help you find out more about the stocks you want to invest in.