Best crypto trading app. Trading Apps 2024

The trading app market is getting bigger and more sophisticated. Not so long ago the vast majority of trading took place on PC and laptop platforms but in a matter of a few years mobile/mobile apps have gained ground, and I believe that in the next few years they will be even more widely used.

Trading is an activity that creates an emotional need to be constantly looking at prices and that is where the advantage (or disadvantage) of mobile applications comes in.

With just one click from anywhere we can see the prices of our favorite assets: Apple, S&P500, DAX30, gold, oil, Bitcoin, and so on.

But first of all I am going to present to you the list of the best market apps for trading.

In reality there are many more, especially if we analyze niches such as courses and people who are dedicated to signals, but here I am going to focus more on what are the platforms or apps for brokers or graphics, which are the most necessary for us to be able to perform our trading operations.

Here we go.

Best general trading apps

Warning: Between 54% and 89% of clients lose money when trading with CFD and Forex providers. CFD trading involves a lot of risk due to the high leverage. You can lose all your capital. Before making an investment with CFDs you should seriously consider whether you have the necessary knowledge of the securities and whether you can afford to lose all your capital.

XTB trading app

XTB is one of the most comprehensive brokers on the international derivatives trading scene, and has also entered the trading application market, with XTB being one of the most widely used in the world.

This broker is well known in Latin America and Spain, where it has offices to serve clients in both regions.

Like the eToro app, XTB is an option that does not allow trading in different markets, and even more so in Spain, where it has a full range of derivatives markets as well as spot stocks and ETFs.

Advantages of the XTB app:

• Advanced charting: the xStation has a very accomplished charting functionality that has little to envy to the best features of a good PC software platform.
• Commission-free shares up to €100,000 in Spain: you can trade the main shares in the Spanish, European and US markets without the need to pay traditional commissions.
• There are also no maintenance fees for shares.
• Favourable conditions for intraday trading: its spreads and commissions make it an outstanding option for those who prefer to trade quite frequently. In this respect it is a better app than eToro.

Disadvantages:

• It does not offer spot stocks in Latin America, only stock CFDs, for the moment.

eToro

eToro is one of those applications that are more generalist and allow us to cover quite a wide range of markets.

eToro is a very powerful app that has a lot of features and products and in recent years has become one of, if not the most popular trading app on the market.

It is an app with a large number of products that allow you to invest in many markets such as stocks, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, forex or even social trading.

Advantages of eToro:

• No classic commissions on stocks. The cost of trading comes in the spread, and there is no separate trading commission to pay.
• No maintenance fees for stocks: Unlike other applications eToro does not charge monthly fees for having open stock positions with them. This is different for leveraged CFD trading.
• Regulated broker: with very strong regulation in Europe (CySEC), UK (FCA), Australia (CySEC) and with operations in the US.
• Social trading service: this is one of the features that differentiates this broker from many of its competitors. With this service we can participate in a trading community of millions of traders and learn by watching how the best traders trade, as well as participating in the copy tading programme, with possible remuneration for the most outstanding traders.

• It has a demo account with no time limit
• Outstanding broker for trading cryptocurrencies: it is the only CFD broker that does not charge maintenance or swap fees for investing in cryptos, which effectively puts it on the same level as the exchange houses but with the difference that it is a notably safer broker due to the regulations. There are no hacks here.
• Large number of assets and markets: it is a broker that has thousands of instruments and allows global trading, without having to go to other brokers. Here you can manage shares, cryptos and commodities.
• It is a very easy-to-use app that is focused on short and medium-term trading and investment. In contrast, there are more prominent brokers for frequent trading, because the trading spreads are not low.

Disadvantages:

• Lack of products such as futures.
• Spreads a bit high on some products

IC Markets

The Australian broker is another of the highlights in the market of international trading apps.

In this case its app is the account related to the cTrader platform, which is available on Google Play.

Like the aforementioned brokers IC Markets is heavily regulated both in Europe and in international jurisdictions.

It is a broker with a very strong profile in the algorithmic trading market for many years. Its spreads are among the most widely followed in the Forex market.

Advantages:

• Spreads and trading costs are among the lowest in the market for Forex and commodity CFDs.
• Good choice of platforms, although the main mobile app is from cTrader.
• Broker with a lot of experience in the algorithmic market, being widely used by the developers of the different platforms, especially metatrader.
• The cTrader is a platform with lower spreads than metatrader 4 and 5, so it could be interesting to test its application.

Disadvantages:

• It could add some of its own app

Oanda

Oanda is one of the most veteran and well-known brokers in the Forex market, which has recently joined CFD trading on indices, commodities or bonds.

This broker has always been a guarantee of price transparency and reliability. I remember it from many years ago, when they always spoke well of it in English forums. It was not the cheapest, but its reputation as a broker that did not do strange things was impeccable. The broker still has a great reputation in the market.

Their mobile app is widely used in all markets, whether in the English language, Asian or Spanish speaking world.

Advantages:

• It is one of the most and best regulated brokers in the world. It has many regulations in almost every continent: Canada, Australia, UK (FCA), USA. It covers all markets.
• It is a broker considered very safe, with a great reputation for reliability in the market over the years.
• Extremely flexible lot trading, much more so than most brokers. This helps traders to trade with maximum efficiency from a capital management point of view, as well as enabling very small accounts to be opened for practice with very little risk.
• It offers trading in the vast majority of global Forex, indices, commodities or bonds markets, but does not have cryptocurrencies at the moment.
• It has a currency exchange function that is widely used in the market. In fact we can also use that particular app.

Disadvantages:

• It does not offer cryptos or stocks

Skilling

This recently established European broker has also carved out a niche for itself in the tough and competitive global derivatives market, with quite an interesting offering of assets, including equity CFDs.

Its two main regulations are in the UK and Cyprus, which gives it enough to cover clients from all over the world. In addition, these are two very strict regulations and with many security audits.

Advantages:

• Wide platform offering in case we want to trade also on the computer.
• One of the most downloaded trading apps on the market.
• It offers the possibility of using its own app or the one it has together with cTrader (related: best cTrader brokers).
• Fractions can be traded on a fractional basis
• An interesting offer of assets, with more than 800, including the most powerful stocks in the global market.
• Has a deposit of $100, which is quite affordable.

Disadvantages:

• Relatively new broker and not as well known as its rivals.

Trading 212

This broker is one of the most prominent in recent years and that is seen in the popularity it has achieved on android or iOS app download sites.

Its success has been influenced by its shares section, one of the most successful in the international market, giving the possibility of trading these without commissions, joining a trend that has been followed by many brokers such as those named eToro or XTB.

But in addition to the shares is a broker that has a range of products of the most complete, and with it you can trade all major markets from the same platform.

Advantages:

• It is an app with very strong regulation in Europe.
• It has a customer service in English that responds very quickly.
• Advantageous conditions when it comes to withdrawing money.
• Very complete broker that allows you to invest in spot shares and at the same time trade leveraged CFDs.
• It is also one of the brokers that allows fractional investment in shares, which is a good idea for stocks with very high nominal prices such as Amazon or Alphabet (Google).

Disadvantages:

• Could offer more platforms

What is the best application for stocks?

Many investors and traders looking for apps to trade the markets are interested in the best stock trading apps.

There are quite a lot of them, but it is not easy to find them among the many names we see in a search.

Here it is important that we differentiate the country in which we trade, as there are brokers that do not offer trading in all countries. 

Now I am going to name some of the most powerful stock apps on the market, although some of them I have already included in the general trading apps section, such as eToro, XTB or Trading 212.

Let’s take a look at the others:

Naga. Broker review

This could be considered as the German broker, although in theory the regulation that protects our investments is from Cyprus (European Union too). The truth is that Naga’s parent company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is one of the most promising German fintech companies.

This app is one of the most innovative in the European market because it has brought several functions that few brokers have so far, such as social trading, or even the possibility of buying real cryptocurrencies, something that I think no other similar broker can boast of having.

It is a most interesting broker and its app also gives the stature to be able to perform all operations from the same, without having to download the PC software platforms.

Advantages:

• Broker in which you can trade shares in cash without commissions. Similar to Ninety Nine.
• From the app you can trade thousands of markets, including stocks, cryptocurrencies or a huge range of CFDs.
• You can buy real cryptocurrencies with its crypto exchange function.
• It is a very secure broker with a parent company regulated in Germany (BaFIN) and listed on the German stock exchange

Disadvantages:

• There are brokers with better spreads (it is difficult to find disadvantages with this broker).

Interactive Brokers

Probably the most popular broker in the world, at least it was until not so long ago (possibly there are more popular brokers nowadays).

At one time it was the broker of reference for buying shares and it still holds a prominent position in the global market.

I never particularly liked their platform, and that’s why I don’t like them much for trading, but only for long term investments without the need to fiddle around with their orders. Their app is a bit better, but it’s not the best on the market either. There are many clients with complaints about it.

However, the overall quality of the broker is very good and it has to be included in such a list.

Advantages:

• One of the apps with the largest number of markets available: +15,000 assets.
• You can trade many different markets, such as futures, stocks or Forex from the same app.
• Very attractive commissions for stocks, forex and futures.
• Advanced stock market charts with which to perform technical analysis, with the limitations of mobile, of course.

Disadvantages:

• The platform is not very user-friendly

TradeStation

This is a legendary rival of the previous broker, which has also been around for many years and is well known in the industry.

This American broker has a very interesting global trading offer and offers an advanced proprietary platform that they have also developed on mobiles as an app.

Advantages:

• Very powerful app in its category
• Ability to trade futures, stocks, options and even cryptocurrencies.
• Advanced algorithmic trading testing capabilities.
• Ability to trade advanced options strategy such as spreads from within the app.

Disadvantages:

• Fairly high minimum deposit: 5,000USD.

Renta 4

This Spanish broker is also one of the most prominent trading apps in Spain and in some of the Latin American markets where it is present.

It is not the cheapest broker but it is one of the safest, and it is also a company that has relied on its technology from the beginning, something that has been transferred to the mobile application so that its customers can buy and sell securities from it without having to go to the computer or call on the phone.

Advantages:

• Spanish broker with a very strong institutional profile. It is regulated as an investment bank with the Bank of Spain.
• It is an app with which you can trade a large number of markets and assets: from shares to options, including futures and currencies.
• It is a broker with favourable conditions for intraday trading in the Spanish market, as the commissions are lower than for long-term trading.

Disadvantage:

• Commissions are higher than the industry average.

Best applications for cryptocurrency trading

Pure cryptocurrency trading requires so-called exchanges.

It can also be done from CFD brokers, but in that case we are not trading the real assets, so the best option is the one I mentioned before.

However, there is one CFD broker that is just as good as the crypto houses. This broker is eToro and I named it at the beginning of the listing as a global/general broker.

Cryptocurrencies are an unregulated and highly volatile investment product. There is no protection for EU investors.

The most prominent apps for cryptocurrencies are:

Coinbase or Coinbase Pro

The US crypto house/broker is a very powerful entity in the cryptocurrency sector. In fact, it is the first major company to go public on the US stock exchange, and by a landslide, with a huge market capitalization, which indicates the enormous size of this company.

Its app is one of the most widely used in the world in the cryptocurrency industry, both for normal buying and selling and for advanced trading with CoinbasePro.

Whatever you do, Coinbase is one of the most reliable companies in the industry.

Advantages:

• One of the two most popular cryptocurrency companies in the world.
• Large number of cryptocurrencies to trade
• Easy to trade from the mobile app
• Many extra services such as:
• Custody
• Commmerce for e-commerce
• Ventures for startups
• Works well as a cryptocurrency wallet

Disadvantages:

• Could have a higher number of cryptocurrencies considering the size of this company

Binance

This is the other largest cryptocurrency broker in the world. The dominance of this exchange in the Asian market is remarkable.

If Coinbase stands out for its institutional nature and product offering, Binance is not far behind, and in fact surpasses it in even more exotic products.

There is little in the world of cryptocurrencies that we will not find in this Hong Kong giant.

Advantages:

• It is an Exchange that stands out for having some of the most competitive commissions in the market.
• Huge amount of cryptocurrencies and tokens to trade. Usually more than most of its rivals
• Option to trade futures professionally (although this is something I do not recommend to most).
• One of the safest and most reliable houses in the marketplace
• The app works very well and it is easy to trade on the app.

Disadvantages:

• Could offer other investment products such as stocks or Forex.

Cryptocurrency trading has a growing number of apps, and it looks like the market is going to continue to rise much higher with the new additions of Defi and NFTs, which tie in perfectly with the increasingly important crypto market.

Best trading apps for binary options

These assets continue to be sought after by many global traders.

But first of all I have to say that they are not legal in Europe and some other global jurisdictions.

These are very risky assets where you can make or lose a lot of money very quickly. 

The best apps we have for these binary options are:

Binary.com

This is a very well known broker in the international binary options market.

With it you can trade these products quite easily and without complications. It is also a regulated broker.

Advantages:

• Platform app quite easy to use, without complications to make operations.
• It is an app where you can trade binary options exclusively, which is a delight for lovers of these products, which there are.

Disadvantages:

• It would be nice if they could offer other products on the app, such as stock or index CFDs, giving traders more choice.

Binomo

This is another of the leading brokers in this market.

It offers an app where it is easy to trade the markets, although it should be noted that this is a feature of binary options. That is, they are easy to trade. What is not easy is winning in the long run.

This is one of the few apps in this sector where you can open a demo account, which is an advantage that I think traders should try before opening a real account.

Advantages:

• The Android and iOS apps are quite easy to use.
• It is a broker that offers tournaments, bonuses and prizes.
• The minimum deposit to trade is only $10.

Disadvantages:

• It is a broker that only has binary options, so its product offering is limited.

Other interesting trading applications

iOS Broker

Not all trading apps are from pure brokers.

If we do a search on the main app channels (Google Play and Apple Store), we will see a huge amount of apps of all kinds.

I have to say that there is a lot of junk out there, but there are some apps that are worthwhile and some of them are even free, such as charting apps.

I am going to introduce you to two of the most outstanding ones:

Metatrader 4

You can download the Metatrader 4 app and practice with its practice accounts on your mobile phone.

This is one of the highest rated and most downloaded apps in the world.

Metatrader 4 has been the market leader in Forex and algorithmic trading for many years. It still remains the leader in the same.

Advantages:

• It is one of the largest algorithmic trading communities on the internet.
• It is free and you do not need to deposit money to use it.
• Advanced trading possibilities with MT4 charting functionality.

TradingView

This is by far the most popular charting app in the world.

One of its advantages is that it is free, unlike many rivals that preferred to stick with the paid format.

It has some brutal trading features and also gives you the ability to do virtual paper trading.

Advantages:

• Today it is the most widely used platform, especially in the cryptocurrency markets.
• Many possibilities for algorithmic trading
• The charts are excellent for analysis or indicator studies.
• It is supported by many brokers that can be accessed with it.

Disadvantages:

• None, except to say that I like the web version better.

Metatrader 5

The “little” sister of Metatrader 4 is also an application available on all (or almost all) mobile phones worldwide.

Unlike the previous model, Metatrader 5 allows trading in markets such as spot stocks or futures, something that can already be seen in many brokers in the sector, where we can choose this platform for free. Remember that futures brokers usually charge for the use of most of their professional platforms.

Metatrader 5 has nothing to envy to the best platforms in the futures market.

How to register for a trading application?

Registering with the applications is quite simple. In fact, it is practically the same as opening an account with a broker through a website.

The difference between doing it with the computer at home and the mobile phone is that with the former we have to navigate to the website of the broker we have chosen, and with the app we have to search for it in the Google Play or Apple Store directory.

Let’s take a look at the steps in brief.

Step 1 Register

Once we find the desired application we click on download.

We wait a few seconds or minutes and we will have it on our mobile.

It opens and once inside we can see the option to “start” or “log in” if we already have an account open, which could be if we have already done it before on the web.

2 Fill in our data or knowledge

In this step what we do is verify our identity. The broker needs us to verify our details to make sure that we are not laundering money and that we are legal citizens in our country of residence. This has both a logical and legal motivation. On the one hand the broker needs to know that he is dealing with someone with a minimum of solvency, who can be traced, and on the other hand he has to comply with the legal requirements of the regulator.

3 Confirming the account and depositing the money

Once the broker has confirmed that we are who we say we are, they will approve the account, which they will also tell us by email.

Once this is done, we are ready to deposit the money to start trading. 

4 Start trading

The next logical step is to start trading.

Once we have the money in the account we are ready to search for the instruments we want to invest in the platform, choose our favourite and make the operation.

As a final note, many people open their account from home, with their computer, and trade mainly from their computer, especially for chart analysis. That’s what I do at least. Then, if we want to be able to trade while we are away, we can use the mobile application, for which we would not have to go through the whole procedure of verifying, depositing, etc., but would simply download the app and log in with our web data.

However, the truth is that more and more people are joining using only their mobile phones, an option that is undoubtedly on the rise.

Advantages and disadvantages of using trading apps

You can trade more quickly in the face of unexpected market changes. This is not only valid for when we are away from home but also if we are doing things like watching TV, but having the mobile at hand we can see any interesting movement and so we can trade at that time.

It allows us to receive signals more efficiently with the mobile phone alert. This is something that is increasingly in use, as the signals act as an instant message alerting us to a possibility in the market.

They are free, although this is not entirely true because you have to make a deposit with the broker. What is free in itself is the use of the app for which you do not have to pay.

They are quite easy to use, and are designed so that you can trade the markets in a straightforward and intuitive way.

❌ Contrary to the previous point, the extreme simplicity makes them not very suitable for more complex research and operational activities.

❌ Mobile phone signal can have problems in some places and can be detrimental to our investment.

❌ Our mobile phone can be overwhelmed in its capacity if we have a lot of applications. Normally trading apps are light and should not cause problems on their own.

We cannot do chart analysis in a very complex way for obvious reasons. You can’t compare a chart on a PC computer the size of a TV with a screen the size of the palm of your hand or smaller.

❌ If we want to do algorithmic development activities, the one with the mobile phone has a big disadvantage compared to the one with the computer.

❌ You have to be careful not to consume too much data if your consumption plan is not very generous. We can run out of mobile data in the middle of the month or an investment and have a small problem.

Commission-free trading applications

Spreads and broker charges

In the stock market, the apps that have free commissions for that market are:

• Ninety Nine; for the Spanish market
• Trade Republic
• eToro
• XTB
• Robin Hood; for the US market

More and more people are interested in commission free trading.

However, let me tell you something:

In the end you will end up paying a commission in a different way. In other words, they may not charge classic commissions, but you will have to pay the cost of the spread. Don’t think that a company is going to offer you something totally free.

Bear in mind that this company is providing you with a service: that is, connecting you to the stock or financial market. And like any company, the salaries of its employees have to be paid from somewhere.

It is also said that these brokers can use our data, which in itself is very valuable. For example, with agreements with other market makers (market makers) to see the positions of the masses, and thus be able to act in better conditions.

Automated trading applications

Automated trading is possibly the trading niche that has grown the most in recent years on the internet. 

Of the apps we have named, some of the most prominent to apply it are:

• IC Markets
• Oanda
• Skilling
• Naga
• Metatrader 4
• TradingView
• Coinbase
• Binance

All these applications allow you to perform and implement algorithmic trading strategies through their platforms, especially Metatrader 4, Metatrader 5, cTrader and TradingView.

There are many people who make their living from the development of this type of software. But of course, the best way to do this is to work from a computer.

The use of mobile/mobile trading robots is mainly to implement strategies that we think are good.

The problem with the latter is that there are many scams in the huge market of trading robots, both in forex and cryptocurrencies, so I advise you to be careful and study well what you are going to buy before doing so.

Demo trading apps

Many traders are looking for the best mobile/mobile apps to practice trading. Of the ones I have named the following are the best:

• eToro
• XTB
• IC Markets
• Skilling
• Oanda
• Trading 212
• Naga
• Binomo

Not all apps have a version to practice trading with virtual money. So if you want to do that I recommend that you look at one of the above or do more research on the wide market of Metatrader 4 or 5 brokers, which usually have these apps available directly or through the platform.

One of the best pieces of advice that can be given in the world of trading and investing is to use these apps as risk free as possible for as long as possible. It really is best not to be in a hurry and before depositing a lot of money to trade, get as much practice as possible with these types of accounts, especially if you are a novice or inexperienced trader.

This is especially important for trading, where the risk of losing everything is much higher.

In addition, if you are going to use an app a lot, it is also a good idea to familiarise yourself with the app before making any real money and making serious mistakes, some of which could be technical.

For all these reasons, using a demo account is always a good idea.

Using trading alerts in mobile applications

message alerts for signals

Trading alerts are becoming increasingly popular.

It’s normal, many people want to be told what to do and this concept of alerts is perfect for that: it supposedly saves you the work of researching on your own, and the time you have to be glued to the screen.

The phenomenon has been driven by the massive development of internet software, first on PCs and laptops, and then on mobiles and tablets.

In theory their advantages are:

• They save us from having to constantly monitor the markets.
• We can use algorithmic trading to use “successful” strategies.
• We can find good signal providers and connect them to our app feed.
• They are supposed to be very profitable

All these advantages sound good in theory.

However, the reality is much more complicated.

The truth is that the trading signals market has a lot of problems with scam providers.

On top of that we have to add inexperienced users who believe that they do not know how to analyse signal providers correctly either.

Not to mention that the same providers can falsify the data they give us and make us believe that they have earned much more than they have actually done.

In short, it’s a very complicated world, not just for signals apps, but for trading signals in general.

My advice is to approach this subject with caution and don’t believe everything at first.

Before buying signals, do your research, and if you do buy them, don’t put too much money into them, so that if they don’t work, you don’t lose too much. If after a year or two the signals give long-term returns, well, then it would make sense to increase your investment.

Are investment and trading apps safe?

Is the broker safe?

Yes, they are as safe as any other computer software application, especially if we are dealing with regulated brokers.

That said, we have to keep in mind that there is no application that is 100% safe.

What’s more, think that your mobile phone can break at any time, and doesn’t that make you wonder: are mobile phones totally unbreakable?

Everything can break, and everything can have some failure, but we are talking about applications developed by professional teams of developers and it is logical that they work well.

If there is a technical problem, they will solve it.

In the world of cryptocurrencies we may have some extra problems such as hacks and identity theft, which occasionally occur in exchanges and companies in the sector, although I have to say that they are becoming less numerous. Moreover, if we implement all the security measures required by the exchange, it is almost impossible for our account to be hacked.

In general, these Binance or Coinbase applications are very secure.

Are the trading applications free?

Yes, in general we are dealing with applications that are free of charge. By this I mean downloading and using them.

What is not free is opening an account with many of the brokers that have the apps.

For example, in order to use the XTB or eToro app, at least with real trading, we have to deposit a minimum amount of money to be able to buy or sell assets.

A different thing is if we use a demo app, as I mentioned in a previous section. There we can download it and not pay anything, not even for virtual trading. In this case I recommend eToro, which is a demo account with no expiry date.

Some applications for trading signals or courses and training, can be paid, but for that we would have to investigate what are the best apps in those niches, something that I will dedicate in another post perhaps.

The future of trading apps

The use of mobile phones is increasing, especially as the world’s digital penetration increases.

Many people in the Third World and developing countries cannot afford a PC or laptop, but they do have access to a mobile phone. This means that the biggest growth is in this sector.

In addition, mobile phones are becoming more and more efficient and many people are moving away from large computers because they simply do not need them.

Many still prefer to use PCs and laptops, but basically for activities such as gaming, working from home, design, and anything else that requires a large device.

The trend is therefore quite clear.

App trading is going to continue to rise – unless something big happens politically in the world.

What’s more, I think there will eventually be a total paradigm shift. It’s what they call the Internet of Things, and everything related to Virtual Reality.

This means that the idea is that at some point in time we humans will be able to be connected to the network without the need for computers, but this would make even mobile phones unnecessary.

In this virtual world everything could be done directly from the head. In that case the apps would already be embedded in our “brain” so to speak.

However, it will still be a few years before such a thing is implemented.

For the time being, good luck with your trading apps.

The tricky part is not using the app, but making money in the long run by trading and investing.