# Free stock scanners for day trading, and what they miss > Free stock scanners for day trading compared: Finviz, TradingView and the IBKR scanner, with their data delays, refresh rates and pre-market coverage. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/free-stock-scanners By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-10-09, last changed 2026-10-22. 7 min read. **In short:** The free stock scanners for day trading that most traders start with are Finviz's free screener, TradingView's free Basic screener and the scanner inside their broker's platform. For momentum trading, the free web screeners miss what matters most: Finviz's free version is delayed by 1 minute, refreshes every 3 minutes and keeps pre-market data for paid Elite users, and TradingView's Basic plan has no screener auto-refresh. If you have an Interactive Brokers account, TWS's own market scanner is the free option that runs in real time and covers the pre-market, provided you have real-time data. A scanner is the first tool a momentum trader opens and the one most people try to get for free. That is reasonable: a free stock scanner for day trading can teach you what moves and why. But momentum is measured in seconds and minutes, and the gap between a free screener and a real-time scanner is exactly the part of the move you are trying to catch. We checked each scanner below on its own website on October 22, 2026. Prices and plan limits change, so check them again before you decide. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Finviz, TradingView, Interactive Brokers or any other company named here. For the trading style these scanners feed, see our pillar on [momentum day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/momentum-day-trading). ## What a day trading scanner has to do A screener and a scanner are not the same thing. A screener filters a list of stocks by fundamentals or end-of-day numbers, and it is fine for swing trading and research. A day trading scanner has to tell you, within seconds, which stocks are moving right now. For small-cap momentum, that means: | Requirement | Why it matters | |---|---| | Real-time data | A momentum stock can move 10% in the minute a delayed feed hides | | Fast refresh | A list that updates every few minutes shows you the move after it happened | | Pre-market coverage | Much small-cap news comes out before 09:30 ET, and so do many of the biggest moves | | Percent change, price and volume filters | The core of any gapper scan | | [Relative volume](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/relative-volume) | Separates real interest from a big percent move on a few hundred shares | | Float or shares outstanding | Small supply is part of why runners run | | News | A move without a [catalyst](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#catalyst) is a warning, not a setup | No free tool does all of these. The question is which gaps you can live with. ## Free stock scanners for day trading compared | Scanner | Data on the free tier | Refresh | Pre-market | Cost to upgrade | |---|---|---|---|---| | Finviz (free) | Stock quotes delayed 1 minute | Auto-refresh every 3 minutes | Pre-market data is for Elite users | Elite: $39.50 a month or $299.50 a year | | TradingView (Basic) | Real time from Cboe by default; primary exchanges cost extra | No screener auto-refresh on Basic | Depends on the data you have | Paid plans add 10 second or 1 minute auto-refresh | | IBKR TWS market scanner | Your IBKR market data | Data updates every 60 seconds | Yes, for scans measured against yesterday's close | Included in TWS; you pay for market data | ### Finviz Finviz is the best-known free screener, and its free filters are broad. On the free version we found Float, Relative Volume and Gap filters with preset ranges; custom ranges, the after-hours filters and the trade count filter are marked Elite only. Finviz's [Elite page](https://finviz.com/elite) states that in the regular version, stock quotes are delayed 1 minute for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX, that the free screener auto-refreshes every 3 minutes against 10 seconds for Elite, and that Elite subscribers get pre-market data from 4 AM to 9:30 AM. It also says fundamentals are recalculated every hour. The free screener shows 20 rows per page. Our view: Finviz free is excellent for building a watchlist the night before, for checking a stock's float and sector, and for learning which filters matter. It is not a real-time momentum scanner, and it does not claim to be. ### TradingView TradingView's free Basic plan includes its stock screener. TradingView's support article on [whether US stock data is free by default](https://www.tradingview.com/support/solutions/43000473924-is-us-stock-market-data-free-by-default/) explains that its charts show real-time US stock data from Cboe by default, which carries no per-user exchange fee, and that prices can differ slightly from the primary exchanges, most noticeably on 1-minute charts, on less active tickers and in pre-market and post-market sessions. Real-time data from NASDAQ, NYSE or NYSE Arca is a paid add-on. TradingView's [plan comparison](https://www.tradingview.com/pricing/) lists screeners with auto-refresh every 10 seconds or 1 minute on the paid plans and not on Basic, and limits the Basic screener's timeframes to daily, weekly and monthly. The Basic plan also has one watchlist of up to 30 symbols. Our view: TradingView is a strong charting tool, and its free real-time Cboe data is better than a delayed feed. For small caps in the pre-market, a single venue's prints can miss a lot of the action, and a screener you have to refresh by hand is not a scanner. ### Your broker's scanner Most active-trader platforms include a scanner or screener for account holders, among them IBKR's TWS, Schwab's thinkorswim, Webull and moomoo. We did not test the data terms of each one for this post, so check what real-time data your account gets before you rely on a broker's scanner in the pre-market. The one we know well is IBKR's. ## The free real-time option on Interactive Brokers If you already have an IBKR account, the **Advanced Market Scanner** in TWS costs nothing extra. IBKR's guide to [creating a market scanner](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/create-a-market-scanner.htm) says the data is updated every 60 seconds and most scans return the top 50 contracts by default. Scans such as Top % Gainers measure the change from the previous close, so they fill before the open. Our post on the [IBKR momentum scanner](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-momentum-scanner) has the exact settings for gappers. The catch is data. IBKR's [market data pricing page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/market-data-pricing.php) says clients get free real-time streaming data on all US-listed stocks and ETFs from Cboe One and IEX, but that it is non-consolidated: it shows only some exchanges and not the national best bid and offer. Consolidated real-time US quotes need a subscription; the US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle, for example, is USD 10.00 a month, waived in any month you pay USD 30.00 in commissions. The same page says delayed data usually runs 10 to 20 minutes behind. Checked on October 22, 2026; see our guide to [IBKR market data for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading) for what to subscribe to. This Interactive Brokers lesson walks through creating market scanners in TWS Mosaic, from choosing the instrument and location to the filters and the scan parameter. *Video: [Getting Started with Mosaic Market Scanners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4f-hWzjO5I) (Interactive Brokers, 8:08)* ## What free scanners miss ### Time: delay plus refresh The two numbers add up. With quotes delayed 1 minute and a list that refreshes every 3 minutes, a move can take up to 4 minutes to reach your screen: up to 3 minutes waiting for the next refresh, plus the 1 minute the data is behind. A worked example with a fictional stock: - At 07:40:00 ET, ABCD starts a push from 4.10. - By 07:41:30 it trades at 4.62, up about 12.7% in 90 seconds. - The screener last refreshed at 07:39:55, so the next refresh comes at 07:42:55. With quotes delayed 1 minute, that refresh shows ABCD as it was at 07:41:55. - ABCD first appears on your list at 07:42:55, almost 3 minutes after the move began. In the worst case, when a refresh lands just before the delayed feed catches the move, the wait is close to 4 minutes. By the time the row appears, the first leg is over. You can still trade what comes next, such as a [first pullback](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/first-pullback-strategy), but you will not see the start of the move. ![A timeline from 07:39:30 to 07:43:30 ET: ABCD rises from 4.10 to 4.62 between 07:40:00 and 07:41:30, while a screener with 1-minute delayed quotes and a 3-minute refresh first lists it at 07:42:55](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/free-stock-scanners/delay-timeline.webp) *With quotes delayed 1 minute and a 3-minute refresh, ABCD reaches the list almost 3 minutes after its move began, when the first leg is already over. In the worst case the wait is close to 4 minutes.* ### Coverage before the open Finviz keeps its pre-market data for Elite users, and a free single-venue feed sees only part of the thin trading before the open. For small caps that is where many of the day's biggest percent moves start, and our guide to [finding pre-market gappers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-gappers) covers why the early list matters. ### Float that is out of date Float comes from fundamentals data, and fundamentals update slowly. A company that sold shares in an offering last week can still show its old float. Check shares outstanding and recent filings on SEC EDGAR before you trust a low-float label ([how to check dilution](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/check-dilution-sec-edgar)). ### Halts, news and context A scanner row says a stock is up 40%. It does not say it is halted, that the news is an offering, or that the spread is 15 cents wide. Read the news and the book before you treat a row as a trade. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is not free: it is a $299 one-time license, and it needs real-time IBKR market data. If you want a free scanner, the IBKR scanner in TWS is the honest answer. What Scalpel adds on top of that same IBKR scanner is speed and context in one panel ([set up the IBKR scanner](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)): - **Five IBKR scans merged into one list**, pre-market included: top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halted, hot by volume and gappers. - **Live rows between refreshes.** IBKR reruns its scans about every 30 seconds and sends symbols only; the price, change and relative volume on each row come from your own IBKR quotes, tick by tick. - **Three scans on top.** High of day momentum lists a stock the moment it breaks its high, Running up shows a burst of 2% in about a minute on heavy volume, and Setups marks patterns with a letter chip ([scan types](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). - **Supply and news on the row.** Shares outstanding from SEC filings, plus dilution, catalyst and borrow chips from free public sources ([pre-market scanning](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)). *Screenshot: A scan desk: the Scalpel scanner live on top, then High of day momentum and Running up in their log view. Demo data.* Our scanner video shows the scan desk, the merged list and the scan panels working together. *Video: [Scanner | Scalpel guide 8 of 15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EFWeGhzpFE) (Scalpel Trade, 1:50)* Where the others are the better choice: Finviz for fundamental screens and research, TradingView for charting and screens across many markets, and TWS's own scanner for anything beyond long US stocks. Scalpel scans US stocks for long momentum only, and a faster scanner does not make momentum trading any less risky: most people who try it lose money. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **What is the best free stock scanner for day trading?** It depends on your broker. Finviz and TradingView have strong free screeners for research, but Finviz free is delayed and TradingView Basic has no screener auto-refresh. If you have an IBKR account, the TWS market scanner is free and real time with real-time data. **Is there a free real-time pre-market scanner?** Broker scanners are the closest. IBKR's TWS scanner runs Top % Gainers before the open with no extra fee, using your IBKR data. Finviz keeps pre-market data for its paid Elite plan. **Is Finviz real time?** Not on the free version. Finviz says free stock quotes are delayed 1 minute and the free screener auto-refreshes every 3 minutes. Finviz Elite has real-time quotes and a 10 second refresh. Checked October 22, 2026. **Is the TradingView screener free?** Yes, the screener is on the free Basic plan, with real-time US stock data from Cboe by default. Auto-refresh and intraday screener timeframes are on paid plans. Checked October 22, 2026. **Do I need to pay for market data to use the IBKR scanner?** The scanner is part of TWS. IBKR gives free real-time data from Cboe One and IEX, which is non-consolidated. Consolidated real-time quotes need a subscription, such as a USD 10 bundle that is waived after USD 30 of monthly commissions.