The competition among online brokers has become a game of inches among top-tier players like Ally Invest, Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab.
But as always with investing, small moves can have a big impact on returns, as does finding the brokerage whose offers best mirror your investing habits. (Not sure how to start? Read our explainer on opening a brokerage account.)
At a glance
Broker | Highlights | Commissions | Account Minimum | Current Offers | Start Investing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ally Invest | Impressive platform and research depth; free commissions | Commissions $0 per trade | Account Minimum $0 | Current Offers $50 - $3,500 in cash bonus with qualifying deposit. | on Ally Invest's secure website |
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Fidelity | No commissions; free and robust research | Commissions $0 per trade | Account Minimum $0 | Current Offers None No promotion available at this time | on Fidelity's secure website |
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Charles Schwab | Large fund selection; premium research. | Commissions $0 per trade | Account Minimum $0 | Current Offers None No promotion at this time | on Charles Schwab's secure website |
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Ally Invest, Fidelity and Schwab are all 5-star category winners in our roundup for best online brokers for stock trading. But look more closely; there are some important pros and cons for each brokerage.
Ally Invest
Ally Invest offers a suite of investing tools that surpass what you might expect to find from a discount broker, including a browser-based platform that offers quick trading capabilities, real-time streaming quotes and data, and a customizable dashboard. And advanced traders, take note: While Fidelity offers foreign-exchange trading and Charles Schwab offers futures trading, Ally is the only provider among these three that offers both. Ally also charges the lowest options-contract fee among the three at just $0.50 per contract.
But none of the more than 12,000 mutual funds the broker offers are free of transaction fees (although the $9.95 cost per no-load mutual fund trade is far lower than other brokers). Ally’s online-only presence keeps costs down, but may be a turnoff to beginning investors who want to visit a branch office for help.
» Read NerdWallet’s full Ally Invest review
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity was rated one of our best overall brokers for its deep pool of research resources and easy-to-use platform that can be customized for advanced traders.
Fidelity also earns strong marks for customer service and education; the company offers in-person help and free investor seminars at branch locations throughout the country. Customers who qualify for the company’s Active Trader Services get 24/7 access to dedicated trading specialists.
Fidelity touts a $0 minimum to open an account, and like the others, charges $0 commission for stock, options and ETF trades.
» Read NerdWallet’s full Fidelity review
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab is another top overall broker, with options that will appeal to both beginning and experienced investors. Beginners will like Schwab’s customer service and educational support through its large network of branches, where you can attend complimentary workshops and meet with financial consultants by appointment.
Schwab offers a mix of sophisticated tools and a pair of trading platforms, which will appeal to active traders alongside its $0 commission for trades. It also has a great investment selection of more than 4,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds.
One downside to Schwab is the cost to buy transaction-fee funds — $49.95, one of the highest charges among brokers. Still, with Schwab’s long list of no-transaction-fee funds, it’s easy to sidestep these.
» Read NerdWallet’s full Charles Schwab review
Broker | Highlights | Commissions | Account Minimum | Current Offers | Start Investing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ally Invest | Impressive platform and research depth; free commissions | Commissions $0 per trade | Account Minimum $0 | Current Offers $50 - $3,500 in cash bonus with qualifying deposit. | on Ally Invest's secure website |
Show Details | |||||
Fidelity | No commissions; free and robust research | Commissions $0 per trade | Account Minimum $0 | Current Offers None No promotion available at this time | on Fidelity's secure website |
Show Details | |||||
Charles Schwab | Large fund selection; premium research. | Commissions $0 per trade | Account Minimum $0 | Current Offers None No promotion at this time | on Charles Schwab's secure website |
Show Details | |||||
