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Investopedia: Best Short Term Stock Screener, 2024
Real Trade Ideas alerts, recorded.
How the three compare on gap ups
Tool
Gap features
Good fit for
Trade Ideas
Gap (%), Gap ($) and Gap (Bars) filters; gap reversal and false gap retracement alerts; Top Lists (Screeners) every 15 seconds.
Streaming alerts on gap behavior after the open.
TradingView
Stock screener with gap and premarket columns; paid plans from $12.95/mo billed yearly (checked October 12, 2026).
Traders who live in TradingView charts.
thinkorswim
Stock Hacker scans with your own criteria and alerts when results change; no software fee with a Schwab account (checked October 12, 2026).
Schwab clients who want scans inside their broker.
What we weighed: how fast the list updates, whether it alerts on what the gap does next, and cost. Prices checked October 12, 2026; check each site before you buy.
Example numbers, not a real trade
One gap, three questions to ask a scanner. Example numbers, not a real trade.
We make one of these tools, so take our view with that in mind. Here is how we would choose if we were in your chair.
Key point
Start with where you chart and trade. If your whole day lives in TradingView charts, its screener is right there, and that convenience counts for a lot. If you have a Schwab account, thinkorswim comes along with it and Stock Hacker can scan for gaps. Neither costs you a new login.
Then ask how often the list updates. Premarket, a gap list that refreshes every few minutes is a different tool than one that refreshes every 15 seconds. When an 8:30 report drops, a few minutes is a long time.
Settings
Then ask what happens after the list. Finding the gap is half the work. The other half is knowing when a gap holds, fills or turns. Trade Ideas fires alerts on those events across every stock that matches, without you setting a price alert on each symbol. That is the main thing we built it for.
Last, cost. TradingView has a free plan with limits and paid plans priced on its site. thinkorswim has no software fee with a Schwab account. Trade Ideas has a free account with just an email and paid plans on our pricing page. Prices change, so check each site the day you buy.
Trader tip
An example of how traders mix them: scan gaps in Trade Ideas, get the false gap up retracement alert at 9:41, and open the chart in TradingView because the drawings are already there. Place the order at Schwab. Nobody says you have to pick just one.
If you are brand new, start free wherever you already are, learn what a good gap looks like, and only pay for more speed and alerts when you know you need them.
Key point
A quick checklist to bring when you test any of the three: does it rank gaps before the open, does it refresh fast enough for your style, does it tell you when a gap holds or fills, and does the price fit your account. Try each one on the same morning with the same rules and you’ll know pretty quick which one feels right for how you trade.
