The Best Stock Screeners to Use in 2022

Stock screeners have been an invaluable tool in my trading career. I can’t imagine myself trading effectively without using one. Every investor or professional trader needs a screener to scan through thousands of trades and quickly find the ones that match their criteria and strategy. Nowadays, you can find a large number of stock screeners online. Having a vast array of options is great, but finding the right one for you can be a bit of a challenge. So in this article, I’m going to show you my recommendations for the best stock screeners to use in 2022. I’ll explain why I recommend each of them and what you should keep in mind. This will help you choose the best stock screener for your trading needs. Let’s dive in!

What Professional Traders Should Look for in a Stock Screener

I have tried most stock screeners over the years, both old and new, free and paid. There are so many stock screeners that you can get stuck comparing options and trying each one, so I’m going to help you choose efficiently by explaining what you should look for in a stock screener.

There are five things you should keep in mind as you look for the best stock screener for you.

1. Must-have features 

A reliable stock screener must have the following features:

• A large database of stocks

• Timely data: either real-time or with a short delay

• A powerful screening engine

• An extensive set of criteria to filter stocks (technical, fundamental, etc.)

• Saving screens as presets

• Educational resources to help you use the stock screener’s capabilities to the fullest

Nice-to-have features include the ability to save your screen as a hypothetical portfolio, export the screening results to a trading spreadsheet, and customize your screen’s layout. I also find alerts to be very useful for drawing my attention to buying and selling opportunities I might have missed otherwise. I recommend you set up either push notifications, email alerts, or voice alerts throughout your trading day.

2. Features that match your trading style and setups

Not every stock screener will be a good fit for every trader. You need to identify the features that will best serve your personal trading style and strategies. For example:

• Day traders need real-time data

• Swing traders need to look at historical data and indicators like RSI, P/E, moving averages, volume, and more to avoid entering shortly before earnings release dates

• Traders looking to find short squeezes will need to look at the short float

So take the time to determine beforehand the indicators you need for your trading strategy, and then look for stock screeners that allow you to filter stocks according to these indicators.

3. The user experience

Like any trading software tool, a stock screener’s user experience can be as important as the effectiveness of its features. A user interface with cluttered data or unintuitive navigation will waste your time instead of saving it.

When I use a screener, I want to be able to generate a list of stocks in just a few clicks so that I can immediately compare them and then dedicate my time to researching the companies. I also like using a screener with a clear presentation and being able to sort columns in any way I want.

So be sure to choose a user-friendly stock screener with a clear UI, quality-of-life features, and customization options that let you keep only the data you want.

4. Other tools available

Stock screeners are not always focused on the screening feature only. In fact, many screeners  include other complementary features or are part of a platform with several tools such as:

• Charts

• Trading simulator

• Chat room

You can even find trading platforms where you can consult a built-in stock screener then seamlessly transition to making trades, as I am going to show you in one of my recommendations.

5. Pricing

Most stock screeners have a free trial that lets you try them for a number of days. Some have a money-back guarantee for the first 30 days of paid usage. So you can try several screeners risk-free.

That said, you don’t want to pay for a screener and then only scratch the surface of its capabilities – especially considering that there are free alternatives. You need to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth out of your stock screener.

So if you’re interested in a stock screener, I recommend you look at its functionalities, decide how many of them you will actually use, and if they are exclusive to the paid plans, look at the pricing. This relation between features and pricing will make it much easier for you to decide which screeners to drop and which one yields an ROI that is worth the investment.

Keep in mind the limitations of stock screeners

No matter which stock screener you use, at the end of the day, it operates only on the quantitative side of information. You always need to do your own research to find qualitative information such as legal and economical news.

Now that you know what you should look for in a stock screener, it’s time I show you the best stock screeners you can use in 2022 and beyond. I have used all of the screeners in this list and will explain why I recommend each of them.

1. Finviz

Best for: swing traders

Finviz is a very popular stock screener. Having used it extensively, I can attest to its simplicity and reliability. Basically, you select the filters you want and Finviz pulls up a narrowed-down list of stocks; it doesn’t get much more simple than that.

You can filter stocks by exchange, index, sector, industry, country, market cap, P/E, dividend yield, earnings date, price, change, average volume, and a lot more.

Additionally, you can sort stocks by various criteria (ticker, gaps, etc.) and signals (top gainers, top losers, most volatile, TL support, overbought, etc.).

Why I recommend Finviz

Finviz is very easy to use – I can set up new screens in moments only, customize layouts, and save screens as portfolios.

I was also surprised by the number of tools and features that are included in the Elite Screener. For starters, I can consult real-time data as well as premarket and aftermarket data. I can also consult advanced charts, including fundamental charts, and find correlated stocks. Finviz Elite also lets me create alerts and export data.

But here is why I recommend Finviz for swing traders. You have access to an extensive array of features, including:

• Interactive charts

• Pre-market data

• Historical data

• Fundamental data

• Recent news headlines

• Heat maps

What you need to know about Finviz

The free version shows you data with a delay of 3-5 minutes. You can use it to quickly find interesting stocks and then turn to your preferred trading platform for real-time data.

That said, while the free version lets you perform stock screening, it’s limited in its features and displays video ads which you might find bothersome.

In fact, to make the most out of Finviz, you’ll have to subscribe to the Elite Screener, which costs $39.5 per month or $299 per year, meaning you save $174.5 if you go with the yearly subscription plan. There is also a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you have plenty of time to try it out risk-free.

Negatives to keep in mind

There are no glaring flaws to point at; after all, Finviz is one of the best stock screeners around. That said, Finviz doesn’t have as many search functions as other paid screeners, and the video ads in the freemium version can be an irritating distraction.

2. Trade Ideas

Best for: day traders and traders interested in trading automation

Chances are you already know about Trade Ideas. Maybe you have even tried it before. Personally, I have used it for a long time and can say it’s one of the best stock screeners you can find. Here is why.

Trade Ideas has all the must-have features of a stock screener. You can filter stocks by exchange, price, volume, change, gap, volatility revenue, short growth, and many more indicators.

Trade Ideas stands out from other stock screeners with its AI, called Holly, which provides recommendations without the emotional factor. Holly, which is made of 3 AI systems to be more precise, can run a million trading scenarios overnight and show you data-based trading opportunities.

Why I recommend Trade Ideas

I have used Trade Ideas for day trading and let me tell you that it’s a great tool for pulling real-time data. It also has a point-and-click backtesting system that’s simple and powerful. You can use it to find which strategies have worked in the past without having to program anything.

Trade Ideas has many other advantages:

• Extremely customizable

• Has a number of advanced built-in screeners

• You can join the live trading room to chat with other traders

• You can set up alerts

• The Gap Scanner is great for gap-trading strategies

• No coding is needed

With so much to offer, it’s clear that Trade Ideas is one of the best stock screeners currently available.

What you need to know about Trade Ideas

You can use Trade Ideas on your browser or as a desktop application. Note that there is no mobile app currently.

It might take you some time to learn how to use Trade Ideas to the fullest, but if you want to leverage the capabilities of the AI recommendation engine, it’s well worth the effort. But keep in mind that you can only find stocks in the US and Canadian stock exchanges

As for the pricing, the Standard and Premium plans cost $118/month and $228/month. You can save up to $468 with annual billing.

Negatives to keep in mind

For all its useful and extensive features, Trade Ideas comes at a rather steep price. If you can afford it and are interested in the AI functionalities, then it’s well worth the investment.

Keep in mind that you might find it difficult to learn how to use all the features. That said, Trade Ideas provides a free education program, video tutorials, and plenty of resources to assist you as you learn how to use it.

3. TradingView

Best for: traders looking for an affordable but reliable stock screener and traders who are interested in non-US exchanges

TradingView is a popular stock screener that is also a fantastic platform for charting and in-depth technical analysis.

On top of the essential screening features, TradingView provides plenty of fundamental data including performance, valuation, income statement, and balance sheet. It also gives you access to 70+ exchanges from 50+ countries, whereas most screeners focus on the US and Canadian exchanges only.

Why I recommend TradingView

Here is why I think TradingView is one of the best stock screeners out there.

Simply by clicking on the Filters buttons on the top right, I can set up filters for the sector, industry, index, market cap, volume, change, number of employees, and so much more. For example, I can quickly pull up a list of US stocks in the telecommunications industry with a TTM EBITDA of $1M or above in just a few clicks. The stock list is instantly updated as I add more filters. And naturally, I can save my screen to consult it anytime.

Another thing I love about TradingView is that it’s highly customizable. I can remove any column that I’m not interested in to leave only the information that I consider to be important.

So let’s recap the biggest advantages of using TradingView:

• Powerful screening

• Access to fundamental data

• Free to use, with a very affordable subscription plan

• Very user-friendly and straightforward

• Highly customizable

• There is a mobile app

• The charting tool is excellent as well

As you can see, TradingView has a lot going for it. According to PatternsWizard, over 30 million traders and investors are using it.

“More than thirty million traders and investors are currently using this platform “

– PatternsWizard

If you’re looking for a free or affordable stock screener, I definitely recommend TradingView.

What you need to know about TradingView

Aside from stock screening, TradingView is also a powerful tool for technical analysis. You can also use paper trading and trade through many brokers – even on the free version.

Also, I should mention that TradingView offers something that is currently unique to it: crypto screening.

If you’re wondering about what the pricing looks like, the free version allows you to perform stock screening but comes with ads. The good news though is that the paid plans are rather affordable. The Pro, Pro+, and Premium plans are priced respectively at $14.95/month, $24.95/month, and $59.95/month.

Negatives to keep in mind

Some TradingView users may not find the broker they want to trade through, but personally, this has never been an issue for me. Also, and this isn’t much of a negative either, but you won’t find level 2 data on TradingView, so you’ll have to look for another tool that shows you buying and selling activity for the stocks you’re interested in.

4. Your Trading Platform’s Built-In Stock Screener

Best for: traders who use a trading platform with a built-in screener and don’t need unique screening capabilities

You may have noticed a stock screener feature in the trading platform you’re using. This could be TradeZero or TD Ameritrade, or another platform. So is it worth it to use a built-in stock screener? Well, the answer depends on what you want out of a stock screener and whether the screener on your preferred platform provides it.

In my experience, there are built-in stock screeners that can perform as well as dedicated stock screeners. In fact, TradingView, which I have just covered, is primarily a stock charting platform, but as you have read, it’s also an excellent stock screener.

Why I recommend built-in stock screeners

In-built stock screeners are included in the cost of the trading platform you are already using, meaning you won’t have to pay an additional subscription to use a stock screener.

There is also the convenience of directly adding stocks from your screener to your watchlist. The transition from searching for stocks to making trades is smooth and lets you save extra time.

So if your trading platform includes a screener, you lose nothing by trying it out and seeing if it offers everything you want in a stock screener. If it does, then using it will prove to be cost-effective and convenient.

What you need to know about built-in stock screeners

While it’s convenient to be able to screen stocks from your trading platform, the capabilities of built-in screeners may not be the best fit for your trading needs. Most of the time, they work well for finding the biggest Gappers and most active stocks, but if you are looking for something else, the screening results may not be so great.

Negatives to keep in mind

As I mentioned, in-built screeners can be limited in what they do. If you are already using a trading platform and it either has a lacking screener or doesn’t have one, you’ll need to look for a separate stock screener.

5. TC2000

Best for: traders looking for a stock screener with powerful fundamental screening

TC2000 is one of the most widely used trading platforms and happens to have its own built-in stock screener. But this is not simply an extra feature. In fact, the EasyScan stock screener has been an award-winning stock screener since 1995 and is still considered to be a leading-edge stock screener to this day.

Why I recommend TC2000

EasyScan is both a stock screener and stock scanner. When I set up my screening criteria, it instantly provides a list of stocks that match it. The screening engine is powerful on both the technical and fundamental levels. The fundamental scanning in particular lets you surface multiple indicators like Sales, EPS, P/E, latest float, Earnings Growth Rate, and a lot more.

Aside from the stock screener, TC2000 has a wide range of tools:

• Dynamic charting

• Customizable layouts

• Trading simulator

• Alerts and reminders

On top of that, if you sign up for a TC2000 brokerage account, you’ll find the integration with EasyScan to be seamless. It’s very quick and easy to add stocks found on your screen to your watchlist and start placing orders.

For these reasons, I find TC2000 to be a very reliable stock screener that’s very much worth trying out.

What you need to know about TC2000

The EasyScan stock screener is absent from the Silver plan. To use it, you’ll have to subscribe to either the Gold plan ($29.99/month) or Platinum plan ($89.98/mo). Note that you can save money by choosing either the annual or the bi-annual billing. Plus, all plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Negatives to keep in mind

So as I pointed out, EasyScan is a top-notch stock screener, but it’s exclusive to the Gold and Platinum plans. Also, its database includes only the US and Canadian exchanges, so if you want to search for stocks on exchanges in other countries, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

Lastly, TC2000 doesn’t have backtesting, so if this is an important feature for you, then you might want to turn to another platform instead.

Choosing the Best Stock Screener: Final Thoughts

Using a stock screener is necessary to filter through the staggering amount of stocks and come up with a narrowed-down list of stocks that are worth looking into.

Choosing the right stock screener will help you find the stocks that best match your trading style and strategy. Just remember to perform qualitative research, check online reviews, and compare the pricing plans.

The stock screeners I recommended in this article are among the best out there. You can’t really go wrong with any of them; just be sure to pick the one that best matches your specific trading needs and budget.

Using a stock screener is only one part of trading efficiently and making steady profits. Another part of it has to do with keeping a trading journal. You need a trading journal to record your trades, analyze your performance, and find ways to improve it.