7 Best Brokerage Accounts For Stock Trading In 2024

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.

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.

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.

Types of Brokerage Accounts

For this reason, Robinhood is especially popular among younger (mobile-first) audiences. If you’re an advanced trader who needs enhanced research capabilities and access to international trading, you may prefer Interactive Brokers over TradeStation. All of these choices come with additional complexity in the web-based and mobile platforms, but both applications are easy to navigate. You can also invest in corporate bonds and Treasury Bills — a rare feature for brokerages that aren’t 20+ years old — and earn 4.6% interest with a high-yield cash account. Bankrate follows a stricteditorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate.

You cannot open any type of IRA on Public — you can only open regular brokerage accounts. These include Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Robinhood, Webull and Interactive Brokers. Brokers like Webull and eToro have social features that let you interact with and learn from other investors.

Compare the Best Online Brokers

Public most broadly appeals to those who appreciate well-designed and simple platforms and need access to all of the most common assets. Some brokers will fall straight out of contention, if you need a Roth IRA, for example, and the broker doesn’t offer it. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades.

Do brokerage accounts charge trading fees?

So the disadvantage is that you have to be aware of what you’re looking for. Lots of different brokerage accounts will provide you with different things, so it’s a matter of specifically what it is that’s important to you. Other account types may add more value and/or tax efficiency depending on a household’s financial situation. We consulted financial advisors, investing experts, and our own wealth-building reporter to inform our choices for the best online brokerages. After you decide which online brokerage platform you want to open an account with, you can begin the account setup process. Generally, brokerages require you to provide personal information like your name, age, address, Social Security number, and banking information.

Account Features and Services

The right brokerage for you will depend on several factors, including your investment best brokerage accounts 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.

Based on your combined investing and banking balance, you might also qualify for Preferred Rewards, which comes with extra perks. On the positive side, many users appreciate Robinhood’s user-friendly interface, which makes trading accessible to beginners. Conversely, many users have criticized Robinhood’s customer service, which can involve long hold times, delays in responses and multiple steps before an issue is resolved. Below, we’ve listed the top 5 brokerage account bonuses in 2025, complete with the steps you need to follow to claim each reward. Fidelity has been a household name for its line of mutual funds, but the firm is also one of the best overall online brokers around. Charles Schwab is a large online broker that has acquired TD Ameritrade and integrated its world-class trading platform, thinkorswim.

• Meanwhile, Schwab’s renowned thinkorswim platform empowers advanced traders with elite tools and resources for a sophisticated trading experience.
• And because trading fees are for the birds, every broker on our list offers commission-free trading on stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• How long you hold onto an investment may impact your tax obligations.
• Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don’t provide information on all available products, providers or services.
• IBKR’s founder, Thomas Peterffy, developed the first fully automated trading system on Wall Street.
• Additionally, Fidelity offers industry-leading financial planning and advice, including human and robo-advisor portfolio management, free financial plans and investing accounts for minors.

Options Trading Strategies for Beginners

Additionally, Webull’s learning center features over 500 courses, and its paper trading feature lets you practice with virtual money. IBKR has clients in over 200 countries and territories who can trade stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, funds, and more on 150 global markets. It also has hundreds of order types, advanced charting tools, real-time news, and more. It offers no-commission trades on stocks, ETFs, and options, no account minimum, and fractional investing. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site.

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.

• You might be charged a trade commission when you trade a stock, ETF or other security.
• Through Fidelity Investments, you can trade stocks, ETFs, options and fractional shares, as well as invest in mutual funds.
• Do a thorough review of both the costs of using a particular broker and the benefits before making your choice.
• Some selected brokerage accounts don’t offer either fractional shares or mutual funds.
• Public’s expanding list of tradable assets allows investors to build diversified portfolios from a single platform.

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.

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.

The first thing you need to know before choosing a brokerage account is what your needs will be as an investor or trader. Like Robinhood, Moomoo has well-designed mobile and web-based applications. But they’re also packed full of useful features for traders including charts, real-time news, and Level 2 data. Robinhood is the easiest place for new investors to open a brokerage account and start investing.

Rankings and roundups are completely objective, and no institution, client or otherwise, paid for inclusion or specific placement. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the companies included in the article. Some interest rates might be short-term or promotional offers only, and it is possible additional terms and conditions must be met to obtain the interest rates listed. A taxable brokerage account offers the flexibility to have funds available when needed and without a tax penalty.

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 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.