Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service. For those interested in cutting-edge technologies and trends, Opto’s thematic investing approach offers a unique opportunity to tap into innovations driving future economic growth. With over 50 themes to choose from, including Robotics, AI, Blockchain, Pet Care and Clean Energy, investors can easily identify and capitalize on emerging trends. Additionally, Fidelity offers industry-leading financial planning and advice, including human and robo-advisor portfolio management, free financial plans and investing accounts for minors. SoFi Invest offers a user-friendly trading experience with low-cost, straightforward market access. It’s one of the few brokers in the industry that offers access to financial planners and matching IRA contributions.
These “honorable mentions” still provide strong platforms, competitive fees and unique offerings that may suit your specific investing needs. You can have multiple brokerage accounts to access different investment options, account options, and trading features. This can also be a great strategy for diversifying your portfolio’s investments. This combination of features makes SoFi an attractive option for those seeking simplicity and comprehensive financial management.
Public Investing uses a commission-free pricing model, so most users won’t pay any fees when they trade. Interactive Brokers is a top investment platform for active and passive investors seeking global diversification across a wide range of securities. Fidelity’s retirement services and features include several retirement calculators, tax strategies, and long-term growth opportunities catered to individuals’ preferences. If you want more help, you can sign up for managed Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, the brokerage’s robo-advisor. Since 2009, we’ve helped over 20 million visitors research, compare, and choose an online broker.
Morgan scored lower for ease-of-use due to offering customer support only by phone and not offering fractional shares to trade. Webull’s versatile yet user-friendly trading app offers an impressive array of powerful tools for on-the-go traders, without overcomplicating the experience. It includes customizable filters, over 10 order types and advanced charts with drawing tools, more than 50 indicators and 60+ on-chart technical signals. Traders can quickly assess stocks using analyst ratings, price targets, quant ratings and technical summary scores. GOBankingRates is a personal finance and consumer interest rate website and an online marketing company serving top-tier banks, credit unions and other financial services organizations. Some companies mentioned in this article might be clients of GOBankingRates, which serves more than 100 national, local and online financial institutions.
More Robinhood, ensure you’re aware of competing features and fees so you can trade as effectively as possible. Owned by Bank of America, Merrill Edge is notable for its extensive market research and analysis. Plus, if you’re a Bank of America customer, you can bank and invest on the same platform and easily transfer funds.
They offer transparency and freedom when considering costs and investment options. Fidelity can be a great choice for most investment needs, but it’s especially strong for investors with a long-term retirement focus. The combination of low fees and a focus on helping investors reach a successful retirement helped make it the top choice for retirement brokerage accounts. Fidelity offers multiple account types, a long list of available investments, and competitively priced securities. You can access zero-expense ratio Fidelity Flex mutual funds with the brokerage’s robo-advisor, Fidelity Go, and get unlimited one-on-one coaching calls with a balance of $25,000 or more.
- Today, Blain is widely respected as a leading expert on finance and investing, specifically the U.S. online brokerage industry.
- TradeStation started as a software development company in the 1980s, which explains its focus on offering innovative trading tools.
- If you want to get started as a long-term investor, you’ll want to choose a broker that caters to that audience.
- TradeStation was originally designed for professional traders, but its platform is now open for novice investors.
- Trade futures and commission-free stocks, options and ETFs, with no per-contract fees on options.
- Trade commission-free stocks, options, ETFs and Schwab mutual funds while accessing an extensive lineup of investment options and account types, global markets and top-tier research and analysis tools.
- You can open an active or automated SoFi traditional, Roth, SEP, or rollover IRA and earn a 1% catch on all your contributions.
Choose a broker or robo-advisor, and complete a brief application by providing personal information such as your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. Meanwhile, Opto’s Folios offer customizable portfolios with automatic rebalancing and an option to mirror the top-performing Folios managed by the OPTO community. It’s nice to have so many options to choose from, but it can be tough to sort through all the options, figure out what makes them different, and decide which one suits you best. Standard security protections include network security controls like firewalls and proxy servers, data encryption, multifactor authentication, and fraud monitoring. Our team verified the data by conducting thorough online research and directly contacting companies to confirm or fill in any missing details. IBKR’s founder, Thomas Peterffy, developed the first fully automated trading system on Wall Street.
Runner-up for long-term investing: Fidelity
I have found TradeStation to have the best combination of power and user-friendliness of all trading-centric brokerages. While we adhere to stricteditorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. TradeStation started as a software development company in the 1980s, which explains its focus on offering innovative trading tools. One of SogoTrade’s unique features is its “Get Paid to Trade” campaign. This perk rewards users a dollar for every 1,000 shares traded via limit orders during regular market hours. Please disable your adblocker to enjoy the optimal web experience and access the quality content you appreciate from GOBankingRates.
Firstrade isn’t as large as some other firms on the list, but its top-notch features and benefits make it a solid contender for being one of the best brokerage accounts. Interactive Brokers has always been known for its advanced trading platform for experienced traders, but you don’t have to be an expert to use it. Most of these firms have excellent trading capabilities, service and low costs. Many also run promotions offering free trades, cash bonuses or discounted products and services. GOBankingRates works with many financial advertisers to showcase their products and services to our audiences. These brands compensate us to advertise their products in ads across our site.
Do Brokerage Accounts Charge Trading Fees?
- Visit my full review of Interactive Brokers to learn more about its entire offering.
- You can also invest in real-estate-backed funds, no-fee options, and commodities.
- SoFi Invest offers a user-friendly trading experience with low-cost, straightforward market access.
- Owned by Bank of America, Merrill Edge is notable for its extensive market research and analysis.
- Certain brokerage accounts may be better suited for your needs depending on your preferred investment strategy and goals, especially if you’re seeking out specific account features and services.
- Fidelity is near the top of our list of the best online brokers because of its vast investment offerings, minimal fees, and breadth of expert insights and educational resources.
Consumers should consider various options appropriate for their circumstances. Education savings accounts have advantages like the kiddie tax rule, which taxes earnings at a lower rate (up to a certain amount). Parents and kids will enjoy the built-in education resources, such as the “mini-lessons,” which teach stock market basics that prepare anyone for a more successful future in the stock market. SoFi Plus members earn unlimited 1% rewards on all SoFi deposits to a SoFi Invest account. A Plus membership also includes unlimited one-on-one consultations from a certified financial planner (CFP).
Jessica focuses on investor education and brokerage industry research, appears regularly on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg, and hosts the Market MakeHer podcast. Jessica focuses on investor education and brokerage industry research, appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg, The Schwab Network, Fox Business, and Yahoo! Finance, and hosts the Market MakeHer podcast. Plus, its fractional share program allows you to start best brokerage accounts investing with as little as $1. Additionally, with its recent purchase of TD Ameritrade, Schwab added thinkorswim — a powerful trading platform that is especially useful for analyzing options trades — to its feature set. If you’re new to investing, Public likely has everything you need in an extremely clean and easy-to-use platform — both web and mobile app.
Trading platforms tested
The brain trust at Forbes has run the numbers, conducted the research, and done the analysis to come up with some of the best places for you to make money in 2024. We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you’re interested in before making a decision.
Summary of the best brokerage accounts
Visit my full review of Interactive Brokers to learn more about its entire offering. Visit my comprehensive Charles Schwab review to learn more about the thinkorswim platform and find out more about its offerings. While we cover a range of products, our comparison may not include every product or provider in the market. Always confirm important product information with the relevant provider and read the relevant disclosure documents and terms and conditions before making a decision.
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The right brokerage for you will depend on several factors, including your investment type and the important features. Merrill Edge is the online brokerage side of venerable Merrill Lynch, now a Bank of America company. Nothing will have everything you need, but go with the brokerage account with the best of what you need. Make it a point to contribute as frequently as you can, because that’s how wealth is built over time.
The basic Schwab self-directed brokerage account gives investors access to various investment choices and is best for hands-on investors. Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry.
This is where you can purchase stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, options, and almost the entire inventory of the open markets. Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers has multiple pricing options depending on your level of trading activity and personal trading needs. The basic account, IBKR Lite, offers commission-free stock and ETF trades and competitive fees for most other trades. You can trade at higher volumes and get access to tools optimized for your investing needs. Typical investors may not care about the difference of a few seconds when entering and executing a trade.
As one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, Charles Schwab is a popular option for many investors. Schwab offers a wide range of commission-free investment products and publishes its own research and market insights. We evaluate each firm based on its advisory services, educational resources, trading fees, customer support and other key factors. Moomoo delivers one of the most generous brokerage account bonuses in terms of quantity. Robinhood democratized trading in 2014 by providing the first commission-free mobile alternative to Wall Street brokerage accounts.
