A stock screener helps day traders look for stocks they want to trade. It takes the fire hose of information from thousands of tickers to a manageable handful of stocks you can analyze and trade.
Something I’ve learned in almost two decades of day trading: you can’t waste time. Taking too much time doing stock research might mean missing out on great potential trades. That’s why a stock screener is so important in day trading.
What are the best stock screeners for day trading, and why are they the best? Let’s find out!
What Is Day Trading?
Day trading is the art of entering and exiting positions within a single trading day — no overnight holds, no waiting on earnings seasons.
The game is speed. You’re looking for stocks that are moving right now — driven by news, momentum, or volume.
But here’s the kicker: a 2019 study showed that 97% of active traders in Brazil lost money over a two-year stretch. That’s not to scare you — it’s to remind you that having an edge matters.
Screeners are how you find that edge.
What Is a Stock Screener for Day Trading?
A stock screener for day trading helps you sift through thousands of tickers to find the handful that matter today.
Think of it like panning for gold. Screeners let you apply filters like:
- Price between $1–10
- Volume over 1 million shares
- Float under 10 million
- Up 10% premarket
Scanners throw stocks at you in real-time. Screeners let you be selective — and smarter.
Importance of Using a Stock Screener for Day Trading
There’s no way you can go through the 17,000 publicly traded stocks in the U.S. by yourself. A stock screener increases your response time, helping you spot opportunities and capitalize on them faster.
To day trade successfully, you’ll need access to the most current market data. The best way to track these moves in more than one or two stocks is through a stock screener.
Day trading stock screeners rely on versatile technical criteria. Meanwhile, swing traders and investors need screeners with strong fundamental analysis capabilities. Learn more about why you need a stock screener for fundamental analysis.
Why Do You Need a Day Trading Stock Screener?
Every serious day trader uses a screener — sometimes multiple times a day.
The market is fast. If you’re late spotting a mover, the trade’s already over. A good screener helps you:
- Find momentum early
- Spot news-driven plays
- Filter for your exact strategy (e.g., low float + catalyst + high volume)
Tools like StocksToTrade give you access to trader-built scans — the same scans pros use every morning to prep their list. It has trader-designed scans, so you can look for the biggest dollar gainers and biggest percent gainers. You can even drill down further and see which stocks are the biggest dollar or percent gainers over a certain period.
StocksToTrade offers beautiful charts and data visualizations, pre-made screens, and a great news scanner. Take it for a spin — sign up for a 14-day StocksToTrade trial for $7 today!
Advantages of Day Trading Stock Screeners
The main advantage of day trading stock screeners is increased response time. The best day trading stock screeners let you save multiple watchlists, so you can keep an eye on lots of tickers at once.
Another advantage of day trading stock scanning tools is that you can trade directly from the chart. This cuts down even more time between spotting a trading opportunity and making a trade.
How to Use a Stock Screener for Day Trading
Different screeners cater to different kinds of stock traders, so how I use it might differ from how you use it. You’ll find a screening method that works for you.
Here’s a no-fluff process you can run every trading day:
- Run a top gainer scan — filter for volume > 1M, price > $1, up > 10%.
- Confirm the catalyst — Is it real news or a chat room pump? What kind of news? How does the stock react to news?
- Check float + liquidity — Will this volume make a difference to the supply? Can you enter and exit at the prices you want?
- Build your plan — Entry point, exit, risk. No guesswork.
- Set alerts — Get pinged when a setup hits your entry.
Stock Screener Settings for Day Trading
Everyone’s got different trading plans and preferences, so that means everyone’s got different stock screener settings. For example, some people might set their stock screener to find top gainers. When you’ve traded stocks as long as I have, you’ll know what kinds of setup works and what doesn’t.
But if you’re just starting out, I’ll nudge you in the right direction. Here are two setups of screening criteria I’ve used for years. I’ve been running these two scans every day with some slight variations when looking for stocks to trade. You can replicate these filter criteria on any stock scanner!
Everyone screens a little differently — that’s the point. Your screener should fit your strategy.
That said, here are two battle-tested setups I run almost every day:
Top Percent Gainer Scan
- Price: $0.25–$20
- Volume: > 100K
- % Gain: > 5%
Low-Float News Scan
- Float: < 10M
- News in last 24 hrs
- % Gain: > 10%
Once you run these scans, you’ll end up with a handful of stocks. Do a bit of basic research, then put the survivors on your watchlist!
What Is the Best Stock Screener for Day Trading?
There’s really no one best stock screener for day trading. Every trader has different needs, so you’ll need to find one that fits your trading strategies and goals.
The hard work here is figuring out which scanner works the best for you from all the available choices.
How do you find the screener that works for you? We’ll cover that in the next section…
How We Evaluated These Best Stock Screeners for Day Trading
There are dozens of stock screeners for day trading out there — and not all of them are good. Here are the best stock screener criteria for day trading:
- Pricing: Most of the best day trading stock screeners are paid products. Find one that suits your budget but still gives you the features you need.
- Database timeliness: Some stock screeners update quotes on a delay — this makes them nearly unusable for day traders. Find a screener that gives you timely data updates, so you can stay on top of the market.
- Customizability: A stock screener is only as good as its indicators. Your stock screener should be customizable according to your needs.
The above three points aren’t the only criteria I use. Learn what other criteria I used in my article on the best stock screener criteria.
Be sure to include your own stock screener criteria for day trading if you’re making your own list of picks.
Best Day Trading Stock Screeners
Here are my picks for the best day trading stock screeners:
- StocksToTrade — Best Overall Day Trading Stock Screener
- StockFetcher — Best Customizable Day Trading Stock Screener
- Finviz — Best Free Day Trading Stock Screener
- ChartMill — Most Versatile Stock Screener for Day Trading
- StockRover — Most Flexible Day Trading Stock Screener
Understand — you’re not getting married here. Try them all!
1. StocksToTrade — Best Overall Day Trading Stock Screener
My first day trading stock screener pick is StocksToTrade.
I might be a bit biased here, but StocksToTrade tops my list for a reason. It’s a robust and powerful screener that lets you dive deep into the details. The desktop app is also insanely customizable, meaning you can scan with any parameters you want.
StocksToTrade is made by traders for traders. It has trader-made screeners built-in so you can trade like the pros.
Here’s another reason why I love StocksToTrade: it comes packaged with Oracle, a powerful algorithm-based chart analysis tool.
It’s a great piece of technology — Oracle spots the day’s most tradable stocks to give you actionable trade signals. Get a taste of Oracle right now by signing up for NO-COST Oracle trade alerts!
Grab your 14-day StocksToTrade trial here — only $7!
2. StockFetcher — Best Customizable Day Trading Stock Screener
My second day trading stock screener pick is StockFetcher.
StockFetcher is affordable — its Standard subscription is $8.95/month and an advanced subscription is $16.95/month. But that doesn’t mean it’s a subpar stock screener. It offers a vast array of technical and fundamental criteria.
Another unique thing about StockFetcher is its customizability. Instead of drop-down menus, StockFetcher uses a coding-like language to help you design custom filters. This means you can make complex filters that you might not be able to replicate on other screeners.
3. Finviz — Best Free Day Trading Stock Screener
My third day trading stock screener pick is Finviz.
Finviz is a no-frills web-based stock scanner. You don’t need to download anything — just go to its site and all the tools are right there for you. Its basic version is free, but still provides robust functionality with a simple user interface.
There’s also a paid option that stacks up more favorably with other paid day trading stock screeners.
Without a Finviz account, you can still screen thousands of stocks and check out its news stream. By registering an account, you can make watchlists and save screener configurations.
The catch here is that Finviz’s free screener is on a delay. You need to subscribe to get real-time market data, backtesting, customizable alerts, and other features.
Another knock against Finviz is that it doesn’t have pre-built stock screeners. You need to make your own screener setups before you start trading.
Check out our article on free stock screener picks if you need alternatives.
4. ChartMill — Most Versatile Stock Screener for Day Trading
My fourth day trading stock screener pick is ChartMill.
ChartMill’s stock screener strikes a good balance between fundamental and technical filters.
What makes ChartMill unique is that it has proprietary indicators, like the ChartMill Value Indicator and Dynamic RSI. These extra technical indicators might give you a trading edge other traders don’t have!
There’s one BIG catch with Chartmill’s stock screener: the data is on a 15-minute delay for both free users and subscribers. That’s a dealbreaker for most day traders.
5. StockRover — Most Flexible Day Trading Stock Screener
My fifth day trading stock screener pick is StockRover.
StockRover has over 140 pre-built stock screens queued up from the start. You can use them as they come, tweak them, or create your own.
StockRover has a bit of a learning curve, but its robust technical analysis features may help lots of intermediate to advanced day traders get the most out of their stock searches. It’s also one of the more flexible options, with a good balance between fundamental analysis and technical analysis.
Final Thoughts
The truth? If you’re day trading without a stock screener, you’re already behind.
Use a screener to speed up your analysis, focus on better setups, and trade with confidence.
Want a shortcut?
Try StocksToTrade’s 14-day trial — just $7. It’s got Oracle for real-time scanning, news filters, charting, and trader-built scans baked in.
Or jump into Matt Monaco’s Alpha Scanner — designed by a former engineer turned 7-figure trader. Live alerts, strategy insights, and scans built to catch real market moves.
Matt was a software engineer in his past life, and he’s packed Alpha Scanner full of trade alerts, live mentoring, and more. Can his trading style give you an edge? There’s one way to find out…
Sign up and join the next Alpha Scanner LIVE broadcast to learn more!
Day Trading Stock Screener FAQs
What makes a stock screener powerful for day trading?
A solid day trading screener gives you real-time or near-real-time data, customizable filters for criteria like price, volume, float, and percent change, and ideally, built-in alerts. The key is speed — you need to spot momentum before the crowd. Features like VWAP tracking and premarket scans are must-haves.
How do I use a stock screener to find actionable day trades?
Start with a scan for:
- Price between $1 and $10
- Volume over 500,000 shares
- Percent change above 5%
- Float under 10 million
- News catalyst in the last 24 hours
From there, look for VWAP holds, former runners, or gap-fill setups. Tools like Oracle on StocksToTrade handle most of this in one click.
Are there free day trading screeners worth using?
Free screeners like Finviz and StockFetcher can work — just know their data is delayed by at least 15 minutes. That’s a dealbreaker for many intraday setups. They’re better for prepping premarket or for swing-style strategies.
What’s the difference between a scanner and a screener?
A screener filters based on static criteria — it’s like a sorting machine. A scanner gives you real-time data flow as new setups emerge. Most traders use both. Think of a screener as how you build your list, and a scanner as how you monitor it in real time.
How often should I update my screening criteria?
Whenever the market shifts. If small caps are hot, you might lower your price range and focus on float. If it’s a large-cap breakout season, shift to high relative volume and large institutional interest. Keep your core scan tight, but adapt as needed.
How does float impact day trade setups?
Low float means fewer shares are available to trade — that’s where volatility lives. Stocks under 10 million float can spike hard when volume hits. Many of the biggest premarket gappers each year are low float with news.
What kind of news should I look for in a screener?
You want legit catalysts — earnings beats, product launches, FDA approvals, or major press releases. Avoid weak PR or chat-pumped noise. A good screener integrates news directly into your filters so you don’t have to chase headlines.
How do I know if a screener is good for intraday use?
Look for features like:
- Real-time price and volume
- Float and relative volume filters
- VWAP-based indicators
- Prebuilt scans like top gainers or gap-and-go setups
- Alert systems for crossing key levels
If it doesn’t help you react fast, it’s not made for day trading.
Should I use different screeners for premarket vs afternoon trading?
Yes. In the morning, focus on momentum, gap scans, and float runners. In the afternoon, you might use VWAP hold scans or breakout filters. StocksToTrade’s Oracle scan for mornings and VWAP scan for afternoons are a strong one-two punch.