SwingTrader by IBD vs StockCharts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SwingTrader by IBD
Discover swing trading opportunities with precise entry and exit points. This app applies proven investing system rules to identify stocks for short-term moves, offering detailed charts and real-time alerts.
- Access to long and short trades
- Trade setup with buy zone, profit goal, stop loss
- Detailed charts with buy/sell points
- Push notifications and email alerts
- Live quotes
- IBD's market analysis for swing trading
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SwingTrader subscription required. Find swing trading ideas and get exact entry and exit points with the SwingTrader APP from Investor's Business Daily. SwingTrader applies the rules of IBD's CAN SLIM Investing System in a swing-trading environment to help you take advantage of short-term trends. IBD experts use fundamental and technical analysis to identify stocks ready to make short-term moves. The SwingTrader app is simple to use so you can take advantage of the swing trade ideas at any time. Key Features: - Access to long and short trades - Trade setup for every trade, including: buy zone, profit goal and stop loss - Detailed charts with buy and sell points clearly marked on each chart - Push notifications and email alerts that link directly to trading ideas - Live quotes - Easy swipe functionality helping you go through stock ideas quickly - Access to past trades, including trade details and chart notes - IBD's market analysis customized for swing trading environment - Quick access to IBD's support and training team SwingTrader is free to download. Subscribers get full access to this app as part of their existing subscription.
StockCharts
Access market data and your saved charts on the go. View real-time stock, bond, and commodity information with customizable indicators and styles. Designed for existing members of StockCharts.com.
- Market summaries
- Access ChartLists
- Real-time advanced charts
- Customizable indicators
- Saved ChartStyles
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The official companion app for StockCharts.com equips existing StockCharts members with easy access to the markets and their charts - anywhere, anytime. See a detailed summary of the current markets, including stocks, bonds, commodities, major indexes, sectors, and much more. Access all of your ChartLists and quickly swipe through your saved charts within the app. Plus, view advanced real-time charts for any symbol with any of your saved ChartStyles to easily apply different indicators and settings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: StockCharts at free against SwingTrader by IBD's subscription. StockCharts also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and device support (3 vs 1). SwingTrader by IBD's advantage is review sentiment (19% vs 10%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SwingTrader by IBD holds the better App Store score, 2.9 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 101 and 49 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of SwingTrader by IBD's written reviews are positive against 10% of StockCharts's.
SwingTrader by IBD ships an update every 4 months, StockCharts every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SwingTrader by IBD | StockCharts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.9 (101 ratings) — better | 2.8 (49 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 18.8% of reviews — better | 10.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 101 — better | 49 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.5 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Investor’s Business Daily, Inc. | StockCharts.com, Inc. |
Customer experience
SwingTrader by IBD
StockCharts
Bugs and requests
SwingTrader by IBD
Reported bugs
95 issues- Constantly logs you out
- Email button not doing anything
- App crashes out of account
- App shows empty screen
- Can't handle load when new alert comes in
Show 90 moreShow fewer
- App shows no data when clicking alert
- Display of information is very buggy
- Current trades list is blank
- App kicks you out and logs you off
- Have to hold thumb on screen to prove human
- Fiddling on the app to see alert symbol
- Alerts are not timely
- Push notifications missing stock symbol
- App loads to a purple screen
- Current trades page will not load
- Charts work half the time
- Cannot zoom out on charts
- Informative bumbles on charts not always viewable
- Latest release keeps signing off
- Notifications no longer include stock symbol and entry price
- App is phone size, not slick
- App doesn't launch
- Utterly non-functional, just loading
- App doesn't look like screenshots
- Does not support iPads
- Trades on app 20 minutes late
- Push notifications missing stock symbol
- App is slow to update trades
- Trades are late
- Not honoring stops
- Customer service doesn't care
- Great app for losing money
- Buy alerts too late
- Feel conned, sold junk
- Lost more in one week than 6 months aggressive trading
- By the time app loads, ship has sailed
- Trades posted after closed out
- Delay in receiving alerts
- Cost is 30-50% higher
- Outdated tech, glitchy maps
- App is poorly done, needs help
- Buy point already out of range
- Many will reverse, few wins
- Too much work and stress
- Made more money just buying and holding
- Buy point is already out of range
- Stocks pick end up reversing
- Buy alerts are delayed
- Lose money on inevitable dip
- Issue has been going on for years
- Don't waste your money
- Current trades page will not load
- Don't waste your money, it's a scam
- Stocks are already high and crash
- Absolutely not worth it, poor performance
- Negative percentage performance
- Terrible, just loading
- Horrible, useless
- Doesn't look like screenshots
- Does not support iPads
- Trades on app 20 minutes late
- Push notifications missing stock symbol
- App is slow to update trades
- Trades are late
- Not honoring stops
- Customer service doesn't care
- Great app for losing money
- Buy alerts too late
- Feel conned, sold junk
- Lost more in one week than 6 months aggressive trading
- By the time app loads, ship has sailed
- Trades posted after closed out
- Delay in receiving alerts
- Cost is 30-50% higher
- Outdated tech, glitchy maps
- App is poorly done, needs help
- Buy point already out of range
- Many will reverse, few wins
- Too much work and stress
- Made more money just buying and holding
- Buy point is already out of range
- Stocks pick end up reversing
- Buy alerts are delayed
- Lose money on inevitable dip
- Issue has been going on for years
- Don't waste your money
- Current trades page will not load
- Don't waste your money, it's a scam
- Stocks are already high and crash
- Absolutely not worth it, poor performance
- Negative percentage performance
- Terrible, just loading
- Horrible, useless
- Doesn't look like screenshots
- Does not support iPads
Requested features
16 requests- List stock symbol in all alerts
- Add stock symbol and entry price point back to notifications
- Full screen iPad app
- Link to IBD for fundamentals and technicals
- Native iPad support
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Face ID login
- Allow users to add own setups and track batting average
- Bundle deals for multiple services
- Monthly or yearly purchase options for bundles
- Improve iPad app functionality
- Add trade calculator function back
- Zoom out feature on charts
- Fix charts to display informative bumbles
- Build something for tracking our trades
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
StockCharts
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SwingTrader by IBD
No in-app purchases
StockCharts
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SwingTrader by IBD free?
Is StockCharts free?
Which has better reviews, SwingTrader by IBD or StockCharts?
Do SwingTrader by IBD or StockCharts have ads?
Which is updated more often, SwingTrader by IBD or StockCharts?
Other comparisons
