VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View Interactive Brokers View MarketWatch Back to Home

Head-to-head

Interactive Brokers vs MarketWatch comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

Interactive Brokers adds Brokerage, Advanced Order Types, Smart/Direct Routing, Order Book / Level II, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Portfolio, Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown), Scenario & Stress Tests, Performance Attribution, and Options & Derivatives coverage that MarketWatch skips.

MarketWatch includes News, Alerts, Calendar, Screeners, Data Visualizations, Financials, Options, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings, Analyst Price Targets, Insider Data, Short Interest, Interest Rates, Yield Curves, IPO, and Newsletters categories that Interactive Brokers omits.

Interactive Brokers highlights: Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies., More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing., and Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS)..

MarketWatch is known for: Market data hub with stock and market screeners, mutual fund research, fund comparison, and multi-quote lookup tools., Personal watchlists available free with an account; syncs across web and mobile apps with customizable price and news alerts., and Comprehensive event calendars, including U.S. economic releases, corporate earnings, IPO schedules, and options-expiration dates..

MarketWatch keeps a free entry point that Interactive Brokers lacks.

Interactive Brokers

interactivebrokers.co.uk

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

A global, multi-asset direct-access broker with coverage across 160 markets in 36 countries and 28 currencies. Crypto trading and some services vary by region (IBKR Crypto is powered by Paxos or Zero Hash where supported). Client APIs include the Client Portal Web API and TWS API; retail users authenticate via the local Client Portal Gateway, while OAuth2 applies to approved web integrations.

Platforms

Web

Mobile

Desktop

API

Pricing

Other

Quick highlights

Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.
Risk Navigator for real-time portfolio risk, Value-at-Risk, and what-if scenario analysis.

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MarketWatch

marketwatch.com

Hands-on review

A global financial-news portal from Dow Jones that combines market data, news, analysis, and investor tools. Real-time Nasdaq last-sale quotes are included, while most other intraday prices run on a standard 15-minute delay. Premium newsletters and in-depth articles are gated behind a subscription. Mobile apps extend the experience with push alerts and watchlist syncing.

Platforms

Web

Mobile

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Market data hub with stock and market screeners, mutual fund research, fund comparison, and multi-quote lookup tools.
Personal watchlists available free with an account; syncs across web and mobile apps with customizable price and news alerts.
Comprehensive event calendars, including U.S. economic releases, corporate earnings, IPO schedules, and options-expiration dates.
BigCharts advanced charting platform with multiple timeframes (intraday to monthly) and technical overlays; intraday data typically delayed 15 minutes.
Options coverage with full chains per symbol and an expiration calendar.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Paper Trading, and Watchlist.

Where they differ

Interactive Brokers

Distinct strengths include:

Brokerage

Advanced Order Types

Smart/Direct Routing

Order Book / Level II

APIs & SDKs

Data APIs

Portfolio

Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown)

Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.

MarketWatch

Distinct strengths include:

Market data hub with stock and market screeners, mutual fund research, fund comparison, and multi-quote lookup tools.
Personal watchlists available free with an account; syncs across web and mobile apps with customizable price and news alerts.
Comprehensive event calendars, including U.S. economic releases, corporate earnings, IPO schedules, and options-expiration dates.
BigCharts advanced charting platform with multiple timeframes (intraday to monthly) and technical overlays; intraday data typically delayed 15 minutes.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	Interactive Brokers	MarketWatch
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Paper Trading, Watchlist Unique: Brokerage, Advanced Order Types, Smart/Direct Routing, Order Book / Level II, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Portfolio, Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown), Scenario & Stress Tests, Performance Attribution, Options & Derivatives	Shared: Paper Trading, Watchlist Unique: News, Alerts, Calendar, Screeners, Data Visualizations, Financials, Options, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings, Analyst Price Targets, Insider Data, Short Interest, Interest Rates, Yield Curves, IPO, Newsletters
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Currencies, Commodities, Cryptos	Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Options, Futures, Commodities, Currencies, Cryptos, Bonds
Experience levels Who each product is built for	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Platforms Where you can access the product	Web, Mobile, Desktop, API	Web, Mobile
Pricing High-level pricing models	Other	Free, Subscription
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies. More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing. Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS). Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer. Risk Navigator for real-time portfolio risk, Value-at-Risk, and what-if scenario analysis. Portfolio Rebalancer tool to realign or target allocation weights across accounts.	Unique Market data hub with stock and market screeners, mutual fund research, fund comparison, and multi-quote lookup tools. Personal watchlists available free with an account; syncs across web and mobile apps with customizable price and news alerts. Comprehensive event calendars, including U.S. economic releases, corporate earnings, IPO schedules, and options-expiration dates. BigCharts advanced charting platform with multiple timeframes (intraday to monthly) and technical overlays; intraday data typically delayed 15 minutes. Options coverage with full chains per symbol and an expiration calendar. ETF and mutual fund research, including top holdings for flagship funds like SPY and a comparison tool for side-by-side analysis.
Tested Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat	Yes	Yes
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Highlighted	Standard listing

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Interactive Brokers and MarketWatch both support?

Both platforms cover Paper Trading, and Watchlist workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Which tool offers a free plan?

MarketWatch offers a free entry point, while Interactive Brokers requires a paid subscription. Review the pricing table to see how the paid tiers compare.

How can you access Interactive Brokers and MarketWatch?

Both Interactive Brokers and MarketWatch support web and mobile access, making it easy to keep tabs on research away from the desk.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Interactive Brokers differentiates itself with Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies., More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing., and Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS)., whereas MarketWatch stands out for Market data hub with stock and market screeners, mutual fund research, fund comparison, and multi-quote lookup tools., Personal watchlists available free with an account; syncs across web and mobile apps with customizable price and news alerts., and Comprehensive event calendars, including U.S. economic releases, corporate earnings, IPO schedules, and options-expiration dates..

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

Browse the categories and profiles that overlap most with this comparison to round out your shortlist.