{"id":948525,"date":"2021-10-25T10:51:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T14:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/ca\/?p=948525"},"modified":"2026-03-09T09:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:49:11","slug":"trading-platforms-ratings-methodology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/ca\/stock-trading\/trading-platforms-ratings-methodology","title":{"rendered":"Methodology for stock trading platforms and apps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Finder&#8217;s investment experts assess brokers across five key categories to help you objectively evaluate a stock trading platform&#8217;s overall performance and suitability for your unique needs.<\/p><p>The five categories we measure are:<\/p><ul><li>Investment options<\/li><li>Trading costs, rates and fees<\/li><li>Features and amenities<\/li><li>User experience and support<\/li><li>Regulatory compliance<\/li><\/ul><h3>Data collection<\/h3><p>We collect data manually through online research and from providers directly. For many of the brokers we review, our investment experts perform hands-on testing. Some platforms and apps also provide live demonstrations of their platforms and services.<\/p><h3>Category weightings<\/h3><p>We weigh each metric based on factors we believe are most important to traders and investors. Platforms earn a score in each category and then an overall score based on the weightings detailed on this page.<\/p><ul><li>Investment options: 25%<\/li><li>Trading costs, rates and fees: 35%<\/li><li>Features and amenities: 25%<\/li><li>User experience and support: 10%<\/li><li>Regulatory compliance: 5%<\/li><\/ul><h3>Scoring and rating<\/h3><p>Wondering how we work out Finder Score? We look at 13+ stock trading apps and platforms and we compare them against each other to get our simple score out of 10. Metrics like investment options and customer support, fees and features are weighted and scaled to come up with individual Finder Scores. <\/p><p>Trading platforms are evaluated on the five key categories outlined on this page. These categories are broken down into 30 different weighted criteria. Some of these data points are features that Finder&#8217;s experts consider perks to the main features.<\/p><ul><li><b>9+ Excellent<\/b> &#8211; The cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of stock trading apps and platforms. These products offer the best fees and features.<\/li><li><b>7+ Great<\/b> &#8211; Slightly higher fees and fewer features, but these platforms are still competitive.<\/li><li><b>5+ Satisfactory<\/b> &#8211; Typically offering average fees and possibly lacking in the features department.<\/li><li><b>Less than 5 \u2013 Basic<\/b> &#8211; The least competitive in terms of both fees and features.<\/li><\/ul><h3>Investment options<\/h3><p>This category evaluates the breadth and diversity of available assets. We consider access to stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds and GICs. We also consider whether the broker offers fractional shares. In addition, we also take into account how many stock exchanges a broker has access to.<\/p><h3>Trading costs, rates and fees<\/h3><p>This category evaluates the broker&#8217;s trading fee structure, including stock, ETF and options commissions, as well as margin rates, account fees, and deposit and withdrawal fees.<\/p><h3>Features and amenities<\/h3><p>This category considers extra features a broker may offer. This includes access to financial advisors, robo-advisors, and access to educational resources, demo accounts, analysis tools, day trading, extended hours trading and real time quotes.<\/p><h3>User experience and support<\/h3><p>This category rates the broker&#8217;s customer support responsiveness and accessibility and evaluates available support channels, such as live chat, phone, email and support request forms. This category also examines user ratings including App store and Google Play app ratings.<\/p><h3>Regulatory compliance<\/h3><p>This category examines the regulatory bodies that protect or ensure the broker is complying to the rules. This includes Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) and Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s our methodology for scoring the features that matter, and picking the top stock trading platforms in Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38411],"tags":[],"asset_tag":[],"class_list":["post-948525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stock-trading"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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