Stock Screeners Compared: Free and Paid Tools by Task

A stock screener turns thousands of stocks into a short list that matches your rules. You set filters such as earnings growth, valuation, distance to the 52-week high or volume, and the screener shows only the stocks that pass. The right screener depends less on the brand than on your task: a quick free scan of US stocks needs a different tool than a scheduled technical scan or a deep fundamental analysis.

This comparison sorts eight screeners by task, not by a single score. All prices are checked on the providers’ own pages or in our dated reviews, in US dollars, as of 31 October 2026 unless stated. Our checks on 31 October 2026 included a free Finviz screen, StockCharts’ public chart tools and ChartMill’s access requirements; no paid plan was tested.

Stock screeners in 30 seconds

• Free and fast for US stocks: Finviz. Free quotes are delayed by one minute; Elite costs $39.50 a month.
• Screens next to live charts in many markets: TradingView. The screener is part of the free plan; paid plans start at $14.95 a month.
• Scheduled technical scans and alerts: StockCharts, from $19.95 a month; Extra at $29.95 has 200 scans and 10 scheduled scans.
• Technical and fundamental ratings: ChartMill, $34.97 a month or $299.97 a year; results need at least a free account.
• Fundamental research: Koyfin and InvestingPro; for O’Neil’s growth method, IBD’s MarketSurge at $149.95 a month.

How to choose a stock screener

Start with four questions: market, data timing, filters and price. A screener that covers only US stocks is useless for a German or Canadian portfolio. A delayed screener is fine for end-of-day research and wrong for intraday breakouts. The filters must match your method, and the price must match how often you use it.

What do you want to do first?

• Quick free screen of US stocks→Finviz
• Screen and chart many markets in one place→TradingView
• Run technical scans every evening with alerts→StockCharts
• Filter by ready-made technical and fundamental ratings→ChartMill
• Research fundamentals in depth→Koyfin or InvestingPro
• Follow William O'Neil's growth method→MarketSurge
• Not sure yet→Start with Finviz or the free TradingView plan

Our own assessment from documentation and free versions, 31 October 2026. No paid plan was tested.

Stock screeners compared

The eight tools differ most in markets, data timing and the price of the first paid plan. The table shows the free access, the data delay where the provider states it, and the cheapest paid plan billed monthly. Several providers charge less per month when you pay a year in advance.

Screener	Free access	Markets	First paid plan, monthly
Finviz	screener, 1 minute delayed	US stocks	Elite $39.50
TradingView	screener in the free Basic plan	global	Essential $14.95
StockCharts	charts, no scans	US, Canada, UK, India	Basic $19.95
ChartMill	results with a free account	US, Canada, Europe	$34.97
Koyfin	2 screens	global	Plus $49 (see note)
Barchart	free tier with ads	US stocks, futures, options	Plus $9.99
InvestingPro	free Investing.com portal	global	Pro (euro prices in our review)
MarketSurge	trial only	US	$149.95

Prices in US dollars, billed monthly, checked on the providers’ pages on 31 October 2026, except Barchart (our review of 25 October 2026), Koyfin’s monthly price (our check of 20 October 2026; on 31 October its page listed Plus at $39 with up to 30 percent savings for annual billing) and TradingView (USD table of 24 September 2026; the same figures were shown in euros on 31 October).

• Barchart Plus$9.9925 Oct 2026
• TradingView Essential$14.95$12.95 billed yearly
• StockCharts Basic$19.95Extra $29.95
• ChartMill$34.97$299.97 a year
• Finviz Elite$39.50$299.50 a year
• Koyfin Plus$49monthly price of 20 Oct 2026
• MarketSurge$149.95$1,499 a year

Prices in US dollars as listed by the providers; dates as in the table above. InvestingPro is not shown because our review lists euro prices for Germany.

Finviz: the fast free US screener

Finviz is a quick free option for screening US stocks. The free screener has dozens of fundamental, technical and descriptive filters, and quotes are delayed by just one minute for Nasdaq, NYSE and Amex stocks. Elite costs $39.50 a month or $299.50 a year and adds real-time quotes, advanced filters, 100 rows per page and faster refresh.

Our free Finviz screen of 31 October 2026 used CAN SLIM-style filters. Five filters for quarterly earnings growth, five-year earnings growth, distance to the 52-week high, institutional ownership and volume reduced 5,612 stocks to 58. Our Finviz review covers the screener in detail, and our CAN SLIM guide shows the full funnel.

TradingView: screener next to the chart

TradingView’s screener sits inside the charting platform you may already use. It covers stocks, ETFs, crypto and more across many exchanges, and a click on a result opens the chart. The screener is part of the free Basic plan; paid plans start with Essential at $14.95 a month or $12.95 billed yearly. Real-time data depends on the exchange and can cost extra.

It is the better choice if your screen and your chart analysis belong together. For pure fundamental depth or scheduled scans it is not the strongest tool. Our TradingView screener guide explains the filters and limits, and our TradingView review the plans.

StockCharts: scheduled technical scans

StockCharts is built for technical scans that run every evening. The Extra plan at $29.95 a month allows 200 saved scans, 10 scheduled scans and 100 price alerts; scans run on daily, weekly or monthly bars. A no-code screener with technical and fundamental filters was added in July 2026.

The free version is for charts, not for scanning. Without an account, our check showed daily charts and Relative Rotation Graphs, but scans and alerts need a paid plan. Our StockCharts review lists the plans, the data costs and the SCTR ranking.

ChartMill: ratings and ready-made screens

ChartMill turns technical and fundamental data into 0-to-10 ratings you can filter on. Its Technical Rating and Setup Rating score the chart, and five fundamental ratings score growth, valuation, health, profitability and dividend. Ready-made screens inspired by O’Neil, Minervini and others list their filters openly.

Results need at least a free account, and all data is delayed. In our check on 31 October 2026, the screener loaded the CAN SLIM screen without an account but asked for a free account before showing results. US data is 15 minutes delayed, Euronext and Xetra are end of day. Paid plans cost $34.97 a month or $299.97 a year. Our ChartMill review explains the ratings.

Fundamental research: Koyfin and InvestingPro

Koyfin and InvestingPro are research platforms with a screener, not screeners first. Koyfin offers dashboards, financial statements and estimates; its free plan includes two screens, and the stock and ETF screener with more data comes with Plus. InvestingPro adds fair value models and AI stock lists to Investing.com; its screener has about 100 filters in Pro.

Choose them when you analyse a few companies deeply. For a broad daily scan they are more than you need. Our Bloomberg Terminal alternatives compares Koyfin with other research tools, and our InvestingPro review explains its plans and prices, which in our check were shown in euros for Germany.

Barchart: futures and options alongside stocks

Barchart is the screener for traders who also follow futures and options. Its free tier shows ads, and the site adds COT reports, futures curves and options tools. Plus costs $9.99 a month and Premier $29.95, according to our review of 25 October 2026. Website quotes are delayed. Our Barchart review shows what each plan adds.

MarketSurge for the CAN SLIM method

IBD’s MarketSurge, formerly MarketSmith, is the tool built around William O’Neil’s method. It shows IBD’s own ratings and lists for growth stocks. On 31 October 2026 it cost $149.95 a month or $1,499 a year in the US, with a paid trial. It is the most expensive tool here and only worth it if you follow O’Neil’s rules closely; the CAN SLIM guide linked above explains them.

Free vs paid: what you really need

Most private investors can start with a free screener. For end-of-day research on US stocks, the free versions of Finviz and TradingView cover the common filters. Pay when you need one of four things: real-time data, scheduled scans and alerts, deeper fundamentals or ready-made ratings. Then pick the tool that solves that one problem, and use its trial or cheap first month before you commit.

Watch the billing details before you subscribe. Annual billing often lowers the monthly equivalent. Refund rules vary: StockCharts and ChartMill do not refund unused subscription time, Koyfin offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, and Finviz’s trial renews into a paid plan unless you cancel. Real-time data can be an extra charge, for example $9.95 per market at StockCharts. Write down the renewal date when you start.

How I use a screener as a trader

I use the screener after the close to build a short watchlist, never to make the decision. My filters look for strength: stocks near their highs with rising earnings and enough volume. The decision comes from the chart, the level and the risk, as with every trade.

Keep the filter set small and stable. Five clear filters that you understand beat thirty that you keep changing. Save the screen, run it at the same time every day and compare the list with the day before; new names are often more interesting than old ones. For position size, I work from the stop, as our position sizing guide explains with examples.

Conclusion: pick the screener by task

There is no single best stock screener, only the right one for your task. Finviz is the fast free start for US stocks, TradingView joins screening and charting, StockCharts runs scheduled technical scans, ChartMill adds ratings, Koyfin and InvestingPro go deep on fundamentals, and MarketSurge serves O’Neil’s growth method.

Start free, then pay for the one feature you miss. Test your own screen in the free version, note what is missing, and only then compare the paid plans. Prices change often, so check the provider’s pricing page before you subscribe, and keep your filters simple.

Frequently asked questions about stock screeners

What is the best free stock screener?

For US stocks, Finviz and TradingView are useful free starting points. Finviz has dozens of filters with quotes delayed by one minute; TradingView combines its free screener with charts in many markets.

What is a stock screener?

A stock screener is a tool that filters stocks by criteria you set. You choose filters such as earnings growth, valuation or price trend, and the screener lists the stocks that pass. The result is a watchlist, not a buy signal.

Do I need real-time data for a stock screener?

For end-of-day research, delayed data is enough. Real-time data matters only if you screen during the session for intraday setups. Finviz Elite includes real-time US quotes, while ChartMill stays 15 minutes delayed even with a subscription.

How much does a stock screener cost?

Many screeners are free, and paid plans start at about $10 to $40 a month. Barchart Plus costs $9.99, TradingView Essential $14.95, StockCharts Basic $19.95 and Finviz Elite $39.50 a month. Specialised tools such as MarketSurge cost $149.95 a month.

Which stock screener is best for CAN SLIM?

MarketSurge is built for O’Neil’s method, but cheaper tools come close. ChartMill has a ready-made CAN SLIM screen, and in Finviz you can approximate five of the seven letters with free filters, as our CAN SLIM guide shows.

Sources

Prices and features come from the providers’ own pages, checked on 31 October 2026, or from our dated reviews. Our checks included a free Finviz screen, StockCharts’ public chart tools and ChartMill’s access requirements. No paid plan was tested. Check the pricing pages before you subscribe.

• Provider pages: Finviz Elite, TradingView pricing, StockCharts pricing, ChartMill subscription, Koyfin pricing, Barchart membership comparison, IBD MarketSurge.

This article is our own comparison and contains no affiliate links.