Best Broker for Beginning Investors
How we picked the companies to evaluate:
NerdWallet reviewed 17 online brokerages, a mix of established firms with the greatest market share and younger companies. Some of these are NerdWallet partners; some are not.
How we chose the winner:
NerdWallet evaluated each provider across the weighted criteria below to determine the winner for beginning investors:
- Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) (30%).
- Customer service options (30%).
- Account minimum (25%).
- Trading platform (7.5%).
- Stock trading commissions (2.5%).
- Research and data (2.5%).
- Mobile app (2.5%).
How we verified our data:
NerdWallet writers sent detailed questions to all reviewed companies. NerdWallet writers and editors also confirmed fees, rates, policies and other key features on each company's website.
