A low float stock can run 40% in an afternoon, but only when something is actually pushing it, and most screening tools fail traders in one of two ways: they have no real float filter at all, or they have one but no live data to catch the move while it happens. The five tools below are ranked by how well they solve that exact problem for an active US trader. The list runs from a premium real-time scanner with a true float filter down to a free daily database worth keeping open as a reference.
Low Float Stock Screeners at a Glance
| Tool | Type | Native float filter | Short-interest data | Markets | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade Ideas | Real-time scanner | Yes (Float, Float Turnover, Short Float) | Yes | US equities | $89/mo (annual) |
| Scanz | Real-time scanner | Yes (Float under Fundamentals) | Yes (Days to Cover, Short % of Float) | Nasdaq, NYSE, AMEX, OTC | $89/mo |
| thinkorswim | Real-time scanner | No (shares-outstanding proxy) | Limited | US equities | Free |
| Finviz | Screener (Elite adds real-time) | Yes (granular float buckets) | Yes (Short Float bands) | NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX | Free; Elite $24.96/mo (annual) |
| LowFloat.com | Daily list | n/a (pre-filtered under 10M) | Yes (short interest %) | Nasdaq, NYSE, AMEX, OTCBB | Free |
Best Low Float Stock Screeners
Trade Ideas
Trade Ideas is the most complete low float scanner in this group, and the reason is specific: it carries a dedicated Float filter alongside Float Turnover and Short Float inside a set of more than 500 real-time data points, so a trader can isolate a sub-10-million-share name, confirm it is turning over its float fast, and check short pressure in a single live scan. That combination is what separates a tool built for momentum trading from a fundamental screener that happens to list a float column.
Float and short-interest scanning
The platform’s filter library covers the metrics that actually drive a low float trade. Float and Float Turnover sit next to Short Float, Days to Cover, and Short Growth, and each of those can be stacked with Relative Volume, Volume Today, one-minute through 30-minute volume, Gap, intraday Change, and distance from VWAP. A trader hunting a squeeze can require a tight float, a high short percentage, and rising relative volume at the same time, then watch matches update in real time rather than refreshing a static list.
Holly, the platform’s AI engine, scans the market and surfaces its own ranked trade ideas each session, and TI Wave prints buy and sell signals directly on the chart using EMA bands that adjust per stock. Orders route to brokers including TradeStation, Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, Cobra, and CenterPoint, so a setup found in the scanner can be traded without leaving the window.
Pricing
- TI Basic: $89/month billed annually ($1,068/year) or $127/month billed monthly. Includes real-time data, customizable scans and screeners, the full filter set, TI Wave, 10 charts, paper trading, and pre-market and after-hours data.
- TI Premium: $178/month billed annually ($2,136/year) or $254/month billed monthly. Adds Holly AI signals, backtesting and system design, automated trading, Smart Risk Levels, and 20 charts.
- A free account exists but is limited to a single chart with the scanning tools locked.
- Add-ons available separately: Anchored VWAP, GoNoGo, and Weekly Swing Picks.
Pros
- True real-time Float, Float Turnover, and Short Float filters inside a 500-plus filter set, all combinable in one scan.
- Holly AI and TI Wave give a trader a second read on which low float names are worth watching, not just a raw list.
- Direct broker integrations turn a scan result into a trade without switching platforms.
Cons
- The AI layer most traders associate with the brand, Holly, plus backtesting, sit only on the Premium tier, so the full experience starts at $178 per month on an annual plan and $254 month to month.
- The software is Windows-only. Mac users have to run it through Parallels or a cloud Windows service, which adds cost and friction.
- The marketing leans hard on outsized profit claims, so a new user has to look past the pitch to learn the platform, which has a real learning curve.
Scanz
Scanz is the closest direct competitor to Trade Ideas as a purpose-built real-time scanner, and it earns the runner-up spot on the strength of its float-plus-short-interest workflow. The Float filter lives under the Fundamentals menu and accepts a hard ceiling, so a scan can start with float less than or equal to 15 million and build from there.
From that base, the useful low float scans come from stacking filters. Adding Percent Change greater than 5 surfaces the low float names already moving on the day. Switching to the Short Interest set and requiring Days to Cover of 10 or more together with Short Percentage of Float above 50 isolates genuine squeeze candidates, and technical conditions such as moving-average and MACD crosses can layer on top. Every plan includes real-time data and news, and coverage spans Nasdaq, NYSE, AMEX, and OTC.
Pricing
- Starter: $89/month. Web browser and mobile, one scan running at a time, one saved scan of each type, and a single 20-symbol watchlist.
- Pro: $199/month. The desktop app, unlimited simultaneous scans, unlimited saved scans, alerts and watchlists, custom data columns, and multi-monitor support. Broker trading integrations are listed as coming soon.
- Ultra: $999/month. Concierge scan building, API access, and automated trading hooks.
- A 7-day free trial is offered on Starter and Pro.
Pros
- Float, Days to Cover, and Short Percentage of Float combine cleanly for squeeze hunting on fully real-time data.
- OTC coverage means the small, thin names that often produce the wildest low float moves are in the universe, which Finviz cannot match.
- The 7-day trial lets a trader test the squeeze scans against live conditions before committing.
Cons
- The Starter tier at $89 runs only one scan at a time and saves one scan of each type, so the multi-scan, multi-monitor experience that makes Scanz worth using is really the Pro tier at $199 per month.
- Broker integrations are still unreleased, so execution happens in a separate platform for now.
- The Ultra tier at $999 per month is priced for desks, not individual retail traders, and the concierge scan building it sells is something a committed trader can learn to do themselves.
thinkorswim
The case for thinkorswim is simple. It is a real-time scanner attached to a full brokerage platform, and it costs nothing beyond holding a Schwab account, which makes it the best free option for a trader who is willing to build the scan by hand.
The complication is that thinkorswim has no native float filter. The standard workaround is to proxy float with the Shares filter, which screens on shares outstanding, using an upper limit in the range of 50 million. From there a trader adds a daily Volume minimum to confirm demand, often near 10 million after the close, dialed down toward 500,000 at the open and raised as the session goes on. A short thinkScript study filter then captures daily breakouts by requiring the current day’s high to exceed the highest high of the prior 10 bars, and a custom 5-minute volume column, set to update live and include extended hours, surfaces which names are moving right now. The result is a watchlist that re-sorts itself as money rotates, which is unusual capability for free software.
Pros
- Free, real-time, and built into a platform where the trade can be placed in the same window.
- Custom columns update live, so the most active breakout candidate floats to the top on its own.
- Fully customizable through thinkScript, so the scan can be shaped to a specific strategy rather than a fixed template.
Cons
- There is no float field, so the scan keys on shares outstanding instead, which is not the same thing. A company with heavy insider ownership can show 50 million shares outstanding but a far smaller tradable float, so the proxy lets in names that are not truly low float and can miss ones that are.
- Building the breakout study and custom volume column requires writing thinkScript, which is a barrier for traders who expect a ready-made float screen.
- The float-related data a low float trader most wants, such as short percentage of float, is thinner here than on the dedicated scanners.
Finviz
Finviz is the cheapest way to get real-time low float screening, and its free tier is where most traders first learn that float filters exist. The screener carries genuine, granular float buckets: under 1 million, 5 million, 10 million, 20 million, 50 million, and 100 million, plus float-as-a-percentage filters and a Float-to-Outstanding ratio. Short Float sits right beside them with bands from under 5% up through over 30%, and Relative Volume, Current Volume options such as over 50% or 100% of shares float, and signal presets like Top Gainers and Unusual Volume round out a fast low float scan across roughly 11,000 US tickers.
The honest framing is free to screen, pay to scan live. The free account runs on delayed data, which is fine for end-of-day watchlist work but not for trading a move as it happens. Real-time quotes, intraday charts, custom filters, alerts, and the larger preset and row limits all sit behind Elite. Coverage spans NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX, with no OTC in the exchange filter.
Pricing
- Free account: delayed data, 50 presets, and the float and short filters, with custom filters and real-time data locked.
- Finviz Elite: $24.96/month billed annually or $39.50/month billed monthly, after a 7-day free trial. Adds real-time data, intraday and multi-layout charts, custom and ETF filters, email and push alerts, and 200 presets.
Pros
- The most granular dedicated float filters in the group, and they are available at no cost.
- Elite is the lowest-priced real-time option here at $24.96 per month on an annual plan, well under the dedicated scanners.
- The interface is fast and widely documented, so a low float screen takes seconds to set up.
Cons
- Free data is delayed, which rules the free tier out for live intraday scanning, the exact job a low float day trader needs done.
- Custom filters and real-time quotes require Elite, so the genuinely useful version is not actually free.
- No OTC coverage, so the thinnest microcap names never appear, unlike Scanz or LowFloat.com.
LowFloat.com
LowFloat.com does one thing, and it does it for free: it publishes a daily, sorted database of stocks with a float under 10 million shares. Each row shows the ticker, company, exchange, float, shares outstanding, short interest percentage, and industry, and the list spans Nasdaq, NYSE, AMEX, and the OTCBB, with tabs to view any one exchange or all of them together. The list is refreshed daily and typically holds a few hundred names.
What it is not is a scanner. There is no custom filtering beyond the exchange tabs, no volume or catalyst overlay, and no real-time update, so it cannot tell a trader which of those low float names is in play this minute. Its value is as a pre-built universe: a fast morning reference for which symbols are structurally low float, to be paired with a real scanner or a news feed for timing.
Pros
- A free, ready-made list of genuinely low float names, already filtered under 10 million shares, with short interest percentage attached.
- OTCBB coverage captures the very thinnest names that the major screeners leave out.
- Nothing to configure, which makes it a quick daily starting point for building a watchlist.
Cons
- It is a static daily list, not a real-time scanner, so it offers no intraday alerts and no sense of which names are moving now.
- Filtering is limited to exchange tabs, with no way to layer volume, price, or catalyst conditions.
- The data and interface are bare, so it works as a feeder into another tool rather than a standalone trading screen.
Bottom Line: Which Low Float Screener Wins
Trade Ideas is the winner for a trader who is serious about low float momentum and wants one platform to find, confirm, and trade the setup. No other tool here pairs a true Float filter with Float Turnover and Short Float inside a 500-plus filter set on live data, adds an AI layer that proposes its own ideas, and routes orders to a broker. The price is real, and the Windows requirement is a genuine drawback, but on capability it leads.
Scanz is the runner-up and the better fit for a trader who wants a dedicated real-time scanner without the AI overhead, especially one who trades OTC names. Just budget for the Pro tier at $199 per month, because the $89 Starter plan is too limited to lean on.
For everyone else, the choice tracks budget. thinkorswim is the best free real-time option for a trader willing to build the scan in thinkScript and live with a shares-outstanding proxy instead of a true float filter. Finviz Elite is the cheapest real-time screening at $24.96 per month and the best entry point for someone who wants granular float buckets without learning a platform. LowFloat.com belongs in the routine of almost any low float trader as a free daily reference list, regardless of which scanner does the live work.
What Counts as a Low Float
Float versus shares outstanding
Float is the number of shares a company has available for public trading, and it is not the same as shares outstanding. Shares outstanding counts every issued share, including stock locked up by insiders, restricted holders, or lock-up periods, while float strips those out to leave only what can actually change hands. A company can show a large share count yet have a small float if insiders hold a big block, which is exactly why a shares-outstanding proxy can mislabel a stock. Float changes only when the company issues or retires shares, so buybacks shrink it and secondary offerings expand it, and stock options do not count toward it.
How low is low
There is no single legal threshold. The common working cutoff is around 15 million shares, with some traders treating anything under 10 million as low and others stretching the line to 20 million. The dedicated tools reflect that spread: LowFloat.com draws its database at under 10 million, while the granular Finviz buckets start at under 1 million and step up through 10 and 20 million. The takeaway is to set the number to the strategy rather than chasing a textbook figure, because a 5-million-share name and a 20-million-share name behave very differently.
Why Low Float Matters to Traders
Price is set by supply and demand, and a low float chokes the supply side. When fewer shares are available, a small increase in demand has an outsized effect on price, which is why low float names can spike violently on a single piece of news. The same mechanic works in reverse: when buyers step away, the price can fall just as fast, so the volatility that creates the opportunity is also the risk.
Low float is also the core ingredient in a short squeeze. When a thin float carries heavy short interest, short sellers who need to cover cannot find enough stock to buy back without pushing the price up, which forces more covering and accelerates the move. That is why the dedicated scanners pair float with Days to Cover and Short Percentage of Float, and why a tight float plus a high short percentage is the classic squeeze screen.
How to Build a Low Float Screener That Finds Real Setups
The order of the filters matters more than the exact numbers. A reliable low float scan layers four conditions:
- Float or share count. Start with the structural filter, whether that is a true Float ceiling around 10 to 15 million on Trade Ideas, Scanz, or Finviz, or a shares-outstanding proxy near 50 million on thinkorswim.
- Volume confirmation. Add Relative Volume or a raw volume minimum so the scan only returns names trading well above their norm, which is how a trader knows the stock is in play rather than just structurally thin.
- A mover or breakout condition. Require a percentage gain on the day, or a break above the prior session’s high, to separate stocks that are actually going somewhere from those sitting still.
- Optional short and price filters. A high Short Percentage of Float flags squeeze potential, and a price floor keeps the lowest-quality names out.
One principle sits above the filter settings: a low float does not move on its own. Without a catalyst or confirmed momentum, a thin stock is just illiquid, not a setup, which is why a float filter alone produces a list of names that mostly do nothing. The screener earns its keep when float meets volume meets a reason to move.
This is also where the difference between a scanner and a screener becomes practical. A daily list such as LowFloat.com, or a delayed Finviz screen, is for building the morning watchlist of structurally low float names. A real-time scanner such as Trade Ideas, Scanz, or a custom thinkorswim scan is for catching which of those names is breaking out during the session. The two jobs are different, and the strongest workflow uses both.
Risks of Trading Low Float Stocks
The volatility that draws traders to low float names is the same thing that punishes them. Thin floats mean wide spreads and real slippage, so a market order can fill far from the last print, and a position that looked liquid on the way in can be hard to exit when the move reverses. Gaps are larger and more frequent, and a halt can freeze a position through a violent swing.
The discipline that separates a trade from a gamble is waiting for the catalyst rather than buying a quiet low float name in the hope that it runs. Position sizing has to account for the bigger swings, a stop has to be defined before the entry, and the trader has to accept that the same supply mechanics that produce a 40% spike can produce an equally fast collapse. A screener finds the candidates; risk management decides whether trading them is survivable.