Top Online Stock Trading Platforms in 2025
They are impressed with Merrill Edge’s stock trading platform, the very low fee structure and transparent pricing, and the robust tools that can prevent you from ever having to make a phone call to customer service. That being said, many customers complain that having to get in contact with customer service can be an hours-long nightmare. It is a rare event that you need to talk to someone over the phone because their system is so intuitive and reliable that everything can be done and resolved online. The only other complaint comes from clients trying to close their accounts, where they feel the process is cumbersome at best. At worst, customers feel like Merrill Edge is not willing to close the account easily.
- Depending on the representative’s role, the firm says, some training programs last for two-plus years.
- The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice.
- You’ll also find a dedicated desktop trading platform, a high-yield cash sweep program and paper trading so you can practice and test your strategies before going live.
Best Brokerage Account for Beginners
In addition to our review of Interactive Brokers’ online brokerage platform, we’ve also reviewed the company’s robo-advisor service, Interactive Advisors. Interactive Brokers’ lineup of advanced analytical tools, trading technology, and breadth of assets is, quite frankly, awe-inspiring. This is the fourth straight year Interactive Brokers has earned this award. On Feb. 12, 2025, the company made overnight trading available to all clients via the thinkorswim platform. Prospective customers should note, however, that crypto spot trading still isn’t available, but spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are offered. If you’re not ready to pick individual stocks, automated investing (like SoFi’s robo-advisor or Acorns portfolios) is a smart way to start with minimal effort.
Best stock broker – Charles Schwab
Lastly, some brokerage platforms charge higher trading commissions and fees than others. Since many platforms offer zero commissions on stock, ETF and options trading, firms that charge for those services ranked lower. Robinhood joins the ranks of many top online brokers with no commissions on stock, ETF and options trades. best online investors But it takes zero commissions one step further with no commissions on crypto trades.
Active options investors should favor Firstrade, which doesn’t charge a contract fee like the others. Most of the other firms we surveyed charge a 0.65-cent fee per contract. Morgan Self-Directed, for instance, doesn’t have a robo, but it offers a hybrid service as well as full-service-type plans through J.P. We scrutinized the full gamut of offerings at each firm by dividing the overall advisory category into three parts – digital, hybrid and full service. The overall category accounts for 12.5% of the final score; digital service makes up just over half of the category score, and hybrid and full services account for the rest of the category score.
Benefits of Having Multiple Brokerage Accounts
Its CopyTrader feature creates a community-driven approach to investing by allowing you to automatically copy trades of successful investors with little to no effort. You can also interact with other investors, share learnings and discuss strategies. The platform excels at contextualizing market information for newer investors.
- With a vast network of in-person branches and decades of expertise in financial markets, J.P.
- Your online brokerage account will display your holdings (the assets you’ve purchased) as well as your cash balance (your buying power).
- Among others, this may include access to market data, analyst ratings, charting tools, and the latest financial reports.
- That was the key question we sought to answer as we rolled out our annual online broker survey.
- Using an online broker offers several advantages compared to traditional trading and investing methods.
Fidelity is popular because it offers a wide range of investment options and no commission fees on stocks and ETFs. The platform has tools for research, charts, and analysis, which help investors make decisions. Although most online brokers offer similar types of brokerage accounts, having an answer to these questions can ultimately help you choose the type of account and platform that better suits your financial goals. Our best overall online brokerage platform of 2024 is Charles Schwab. The company has among the most diverse offerings of any brokerage, with something for every type of investor. Access the broker through its website, mobile app or proprietary trading platform.
These scholarships also come with resources to ensure that kids have the tools they need to succeed in college. That leads us into our next topic, which is whether online brokers are safe to use. Luckily, the answer is yes, if the broker itself is legitimate and regulated. Online brokers are regulated by governing bodies like the SEC, CFTC, NFA, and FINRA.
They’re mostly interested in trading in the U.S. as well as their local markets, the firm says. Legacy brokerages, like Fidelity and Schwab, will have the most account types available. In addition to trading in U.S. markets, you can also invest in the Hong Kong and China-A-shares markets.
With Charles Schwab, investors can open a brokerage account without a required account minimum and enjoy zero-commission trades on online-listed stocks, ETFs, options and mutual funds. The company also offers broker-assisted trades, and traditional, Roth and Rollover IRAs. The online brokerage platforms that could have ranked higher need more services and offerings. For instance, some did not offer bonds, mutual funds, options, futures, forex, international stock, crypto or fractional shares trading. I also use my Schwab brokerage account to invest in specific stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with $0 commissions and access to more than 4,000 no-fee mutual funds.
Account fees
The star ratings below represent each online brokerage’s overall score. That way, we’re able to report on every aspect of the user experience, from how long it takes to fund a new brokerage account — and how easy the process is — to what it’s like to trade stocks and other investments. If you want to trade stocks, you’ll need a brokerage account to do it. In addition to those features, the stock brokers that made our list don’t charge any commissions to trade stocks. A brokerage account is an account provided by a brokerage firm that allows you to buy and sell stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds using an online trading platform. Think of it as your direct link to the markets, giving you access to a variety of investment products and the tools you need to build and manage your portfolio.
Best for customer support and financial planning – Fidelity
Blain Reinkensmeyer, co-founder of StockBrokers.com, has been investing and trading for over 25 years. After having placed over 2,000 trades in his late teens and early 20s, he became one of the first in digital media to review online brokerages. Today, Blain is widely respected as a leading expert on finance and investing, specifically the U.S. online brokerage industry. Blain has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fast Company, among others. Blain created the original scoring rubrics for StockBrokers.com and oversees all testing and rating methodologies.
The investments you use can also carry fees like expense ratios on ETFs. A paper trading virtual portfolio can help you practice investing before putting real money on the table. Once you’re ready to dive in, one-click trading makes investing almost too easy.
Compared to competitors in our list, SoFi selection of investment products is somewhat limited. For instance, its ETFs offering is mainly limited to SoFi’s own funds and Vanguard. However, it’s a good option for newer investors, especially if you’re already familiar with SoFi’s banking products. Betterment is another robo-advisor that makes it easy to set it and forget it with your investments. The company uses cutting-edge technology guided by the help of financial advisors in order to help secure the maximum return based on your risk tolerance, investment timeline, and other factors.
The laggards in the tools category were Ally Invest, Firstrade and WellsTrade. They trailed the pack in the overall number of tools offered – Ally with just 11; Firstrade with 16; and Wells with 17. Below, we walk you through the highlights and lowlights of how the brokers performed in each of our categories, listed in order of significance to the final score. First, you may prefer the look and feel of Schwab’s platforms over Fidelity’s (personally, I prefer Fidelity’s). Brokerage accounts are usually taxable at the federal or state level. Regardless of whether you withdraw assets from your account, you’ll likely have to pay income tax for that year.
If your broker offers paper trading, practice entries and exits there first. I always validate a new process in simulation before committing real capital. Fractional shares make it possible to buy blue chips and ETFs without spending hundreds of dollars for a single share, which is a great way to build consistency. I like starting with a broad market ETF to anchor a portfolio, then adding single stocks slowly.
