11 Best Discount Brokers of May 2022
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A discount broker is an online stock broker with rock-bottom pricing — generally, discount brokers charge no commission to buy or sell stocks.
Here, we’ve sorted through our top online brokers to surface the ones with the best no-fee discount brokerage accounts. They will help you keep transaction costs down without hindering your ability to trade stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other securities.
A discount broker is an online stock broker with rock-bottom pricing — generally, discount brokers charge no commission to buy or sell stocks.
Here, we’ve sorted through our top online brokers to surface the ones with the best no-fee discount brokerage accounts. They will help you keep transaction costs down without hindering your ability to trade stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other securities.
on Merrill Edge's website
Merrill Edge
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Up to $600when you invest in a new Merrill Edge® Self-Directed account.
on Merrill Edge's website
on Fidelity's website
Fidelity
Fees
$0per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Get $100when you open a new, eligible Fidelity account with $50 or more. Use code FIDELITY100. Limited time offer. Terms apply.
on Fidelity's website
on TD Ameritrade's website
TD Ameritrade
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Noneno promotion available at this time
on TD Ameritrade's website
on E*TRADE's website
E*TRADE
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Get up to $600 or morewhen you open and fund an E*TRADE account
on E*TRADE's website
on Interactive Brokers's website
Interactive Brokers IBKR Lite
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Noneno promotion available at this time
on Interactive Brokers's website
on Webull's website
Webull
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
Get 6 free stockswhen you open and fund an account with Webull. Promotion ends 6/9/2022.
on Webull's website
on Ally Invest's website
Ally Invest
Fees
$0per trade (on eligible US securities)
Account minimum
$0Promotion
$100-in cash bonus with qualifying deposit.
on Ally Invest's website
on Robinhood's website
Robinhood
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$0Promotion
1 Free Stockafter linking your bank account (stock value range $2.50-$225)
on Robinhood's website
on TradeStation's website
TradeStation
Fees
$0per trade
Account minimum
$500Promotion
$50-cash credit with a minimum deposit of $5,000.
on TradeStation's website
Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:
Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.
Last updated on April 6, 2022
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Marcus by Goldman Sachs Online Savings Account
APY
With $0 min. balance for APY
at Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Member FDIC
Discover Bank Online Savings
APY
With $0 min. balance for APY
Bonus
Requirements to qualify
at Discover Bank, Member FDIC
American Express® High Yield Savings Account
APY
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Methodology
How do we review brokers?
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers by assets under management, along with emerging industry players. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.
For more details about the categories considered when rating brokers and our process, read our full methodology.
To recap our selections...
NerdWallet's Best Discount Brokers of May 2022
Frequently asked questions
There’s good news for investors — the primary fees charged by brokers, known as trading fees or commissions, have gotten much lower in recent years. As you can see in our table above, all of the brokers we've included here charge no trading commissions.
In addition to the trading fee or trading commission — if charged — there are a slew of other fees and charges to watch for, including ones for broker-assisted trades, as well as annual, transfer, closing and inactivity fees. (Lost? Here's our explainer on investment fees.)
In the table above, click on the review for each of our top-rated brokers to find out about any fees they may charge.
With a full-service broker, you pay higher fees in exchange for investment guidance and management, among other perks.
With a discount broker, you pay far less to trade investments, but generally, you’re in charge of managing your trades, and you’re likely to pay an extra fee if you want help from a person.
One brokerage that offers both low-cost trades and free access to broker-assisted trades is Zacks Trade.
If you’re looking to sidestep a broker entirely, you can try investing directly through a company’s direct investment plan (aka DRIPs). Keep in mind, though, that generally it’s not as easy as trading with a broker — and only some publicly traded companies offer such plans.
It’s easier than ever to invest in stocks with very little money, in large part because a growing number of brokerages and robo-advisors offer fractional shares. These allow you to buy a small piece of a stock share, instead of the entire share. That means rather than needing hundreds of dollars to buy a pricey stock, you can invest in many companies at amounts as low as, say, $5.
Some brokerages that allow for fractional purchases of stocks include Interactive Brokers, Sofi Active Investing and Stash. Meanwhile, Acorns lets you buy fractional shares of ETFs. A number of robo-advisors also offer fractional-share purchases.
Easy, now that many brokers have eliminated commissions: All the options above provide free stock trades.
If you have long-term goals you’re saving for, such as your own retirement or your kids’ college tuition, it makes sense to invest in the stock market because stocks offer the investment earnings that can power your savings.
Investing in the stock market usually means investing with a broker, because most banks don’t offer access to stock-market investments; or, if they do, those investments tend to be offered through an investment advisory that likely charges higher fees than a discount broker.
