Best Online Stock Brokers

Fidelity is our top choice for online stock brokers. This brokerage combines just about everything the typical investor would want in a brokerage. That includes accounts with no fees for regular activity, a wide range of account types and available investments, and excellent research and education resources.

Fidelity offers no-fee stock and ETF trading, and four of its own mutual funds with no expense ratio. Self-directed accounts don’t have any recurring fees. Just make sure you can handle your own trades online, as there are significant fees for phone and broker-assisted trades.

Fidelity features extensive resources to research specific investments and learn about how to invest. A highlight is the selection of tools and calculators to help you plan out your financial future, most notably retirement.

• Account minimum: None
• Recurring fees: None
• Other accounts: Supports college and health savings accounts

Charles Schwab is our runner-up thanks to low fees, high-tech trading tools, extensive investment options, a wide range of investment options, and great customer service. Schwab is a good choice for beginner and veteran investors alike.

Beginners will appreciate Schwab’s easy-to-use online investing platform and mobile apps, which give you the ability to buy and sell securities, enter transfers, manage your accounts or access research, ratings, and reports on a wide range of investments. It’s also a favorite for its low-fee Schwab Bank accounts.

Schwab was a leader in dropping trade commissions to $0 for stocks and ETFs in late 2019 and maintains its no-fee/low-fee advantage today.

• Account minimum: None
• Recurring fees: None
• Robo advisor fees: No recurring fees

SoFi is our top online brokerage for new investors. SoFi features brokerage accounts with no recurring fees and no fees to trade stocks or ETFs. While it has a somewhat limited set of available investments (though it does offer crypto trading), it offers plenty to keep a beginner busy and covers the needs of most investors.

Beginners will enjoy commission-free trades and the ability to buy fractional shares, which SoFi calls “Stock Bits.” You can buy stocks and ETFs with as little as $1. When logged in, SoFi suggests groups of stock and ETFs that may be a good fit for your needs.

SoFi Invest is part of a suite of banking, lending, and investing products. Members have access to no-fee financial planning sessions and career coaching. Members also have access to SoFi Relay, a free tool to track your balances across all accounts, even outside of SoFi.

• Account minimum: $1
• Recurring fees: None
• Fractional share investing: Yes

Webull is a newer investment platform ideal for active stock, ETF, and options traders. Webull is comparable to Robinhood, but after reliability issues and several major public snafus with Robinhood, Webull makes our list as the best choice for free trades.

Webull charges almost no fees at all, including monthly recurring fees and commissions. This high-tech brokerage offers the best experience through its web trading platform, though the mobile app is fairly powerful as well.

The account types and investment options are somewhat limited, but new features are added regularly and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. It’s reasonable to expect more new products and accounts will be supported in the future.

• Account minimum: None
• Recurring fees: None
• Commissions: None on all trades

TD Ameritrade is a large brokerage that’s ideal for both beginner and expert traders. While beginners will find their needs met by the web and mobile trading platforms, advanced active traders will want to tap into the power of TD Ameritrade’s flagship platform thinkorswim.

thinkorswim comes in both desktop and mobile versions and gives you many of the tools used by professional Wall Street traders. It includes advanced charting, integrated news (including streaming CNBC TV), economic data, alerts, and more. This platform stands up to nearly any competing active trader platform, but you won’t pay any extra to use it.

Like others on this list, TD Ameritrade features no-fee stock, ETF, and options trades.

• Account minimum: None
• Recurring fees: None
• Trading apps: thinkorswim and TD Ameritrade

Ally offers simple, low-fee accounts that are easy to manage. That includes both its popular Ally Bank checking and savings accounts and Ally Invest brokerage accounts. Ally Invest offers both self-directed and managed investment accounts. Stock and ETF trades are commission-free, though the selection of ETFs is limited.

Ally is a popular online bank thanks to a combination of low-fees and competitive interest rates. When you have both bank and investment accounts from Ally, you manage them through the same login and mobile app.

The Ally Invest platform is best used on the web, though the mobile app works well when you’re on the go. Ally doesn’t offer any no-transaction-fee mutual funds, but the low $9.95 per trade is a bargain compared to the $40 to $50 you pay at other brokerage firms. It’s best for passive and active investors looking to primarily focus on the stock market.

• Account minimum: None
• Recurring fees: None
• Other fees: Low cost of .50 cents per contract for options trades (no base trade fee)
• Other accounts: Checking, savings, CDs, and more

Vanguard is one of the largest fund managers in the world and pioneered the low-cost index funds we know today. While Vanguard was initially known for mutual funds with low expense ratios, that quickly grew into ETFs as they gained popularity thanks to fast, easy, low-cost trades.

Vanguard has over 70 ETFs of its own, with expense ratios ranging from 0.035% to 0.07%. While some other ETF providers have been racing Vanguard to the bottom on fees, investors come out ahead with lower costs.

This very traditional company still has some fund minimums and account fees that are higher than others on this list, but it’s one of the biggest asset managers in the world for a reason. Low costs and reliable performance make it a winner.

• Account minimum: None
• Recurring fees: $20 per year for accounts with less than $10,000 in Vanguard funds
• Other accounts: IRAs, SEPs, college savings, annuities