Best Discount Brokers for Low Costs for January 2025

The main complaints against best customer service brokerage firms SogoTrade have to do with its trading platforms, which some customers find cumbersome and lacking in advanced features. Some users also note a poor user experience when it comes to research. However, positives include an easy account-opening process and multilingual customer support. Fidelity is near the top of our list of the best online brokers because of its vast investment offerings, minimal fees, and breadth of expert insights and educational resources. Edward Jones is a full-service financial services company that offers commission-based brokerage accounts in addition to other types of accounts. Fidelity is a full-service broker that has a wide selection of mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs).

How quickly can I start trading?

Clients have the option of Merrill Edge for self-directed investing and Merrill Guided Investing for professional guidance. For clients with substantial funds ($10 million or more), Bank of America also offers Bank of America Private Bank. Nevertheless, it has an easy-to-use, though powerful, platform for planning and https://www.xcritical.com/ executing options trades.

best stock trading apps in 2025

Fidelity’s low costs, research and educational materials, as well as its strong customer service offering, makes it tough to beat for new investors. The Boston-based broker is great about getting rid of unnecessary account fees even as it provides a top-quality experience. Proof of stake Fidelity’s deep research and educational resources make it a great choice for beginner investors, and you’ll find every retirement account you could want, making it an ideal place to invest for your golden years. SogoTrade combines affordability with robust free trading tools and research resources, making it an attractive platform for investors.

What is the best online stock broker for beginners?

Webull announced in late 2024 that it would integrate Coinbase Derivatives into its platform. This allows users to trade crypto futures directly on the broker’s site. The Forbes Advisor Investing team is committed to providing unbiased rankings and information with complete editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies, and expert insights to inform our content and guide you in making the best decisions for you.

Some users appreciate the platform and app’s ease of use, while others are dissatisfied by the user interface and frequent app updates. Some users also expressed frustration with customer service hold times and a lack of transparency related to policy changes. Fidelity is one of the few brokers on our list with branches that offer in-person customer support.

For more details about the categories considered when rating brokers and our process, read our full methodology. Dozens of objective ratings rubrics and strict guidelines to maintain editorial integrity. Pamela is a firm believer in financial education and closing the generational wealth gap. She got into journalism to tell the kind of stories that change the world, in big and small ways. She is a thought leader in content diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and finds ways to make every piece of content conversational and accessible to all. Dozens of objective ratings rubrics, and strict guidelines to maintain editorial integrity.

That said, a long-term investment in a broadly diversified group of stocks can perform very well. After you’ve established your needs, you can begin to consider how each broker may meet those needs. Some brokers such as Interactive Brokers really cater to advanced traders, while others such as Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments make it easy for beginners and long-term investors to start.

That depends on the type of investor you are and the features you need the most. Beginning investors should focus on brokers that are investor-friendly, offer a lot of education and research and have strong customer service. These factors are key to new investors learning the basics of long-term investing and how to navigate the market and the brokerage. With its stripped-down trading interface, Interactive Brokers only looks like a no-frills broker. But this “broker to the pros” has put all its resources into creating a great experience for active traders. So it’s no surprise that it’s a top choice among advanced traders and those who value the finer points, such as swift trade execution.

The platform also provides access to a vast database for backtesting trading strategies before execution. You can create custom strategies, watchlists and charts, with desktop, web and mobile versions available. If you’re interested in futures trading, TradeStation offers a dedicated platform. But you won’t be able to trade or buy crypto, futures or fractional shares using Merrill Edge.

If you’re looking to buy stock funds, such as ETFs or mutual funds, it’s helpful to have a broker who can screen for the best picks. If you’re looking to buy individual stocks (which can be riskier for new investors), you’ll want to look for a broker that provides research on the company and its future prospects. But even with those resources, you’ll still want to come to your own decision on how and why to invest. In the 2025 Bankrate Awards, Fidelity came out on top as our best broker for beginners, with Schwab, Interactive Brokers, E-Trade and Merrill Edge also performing well.

• But to do so, you have to choose a broker with a high cash sweep rate, like those listed here.
• With a reputation for being investor-friendly, Fidelity is a great overall pick for your next broker.
• Ally Invest offers all of the core trading functionality, including options, at an attractive price.
• Plus, Robinhood now lets you open an IRA and provides you a match on your contributions.
• Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only.
• NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokerage firms by assets under management, along with emerging industry players.

Besides offering fractional shares to those opening new accounts and meeting minimum requirements, moomoo has other attractive offers. For example, until March 2025, it’s offering 8.1% APY on uninvested cash plus up to 15 free shares to those opening new accounts, enrolling in cash sweep features, and meeting other conditions. For instance, during its current promotion, it’s offering 40 fractional shares to those opening accounts and investing more than $2,000. Investopedia’s researchers spent hundreds of hours compiling and collating data from various brokerages and tested live broker platform demos.

One of SogoTrade’s unique features is its “Get Paid to Trade” campaign. This perk rewards users a dollar for every 1,000 shares traded via limit orders during regular market hours. Charles Schwab is the largest brokerage firm by AUM, managing $10.31 trillion in assets as of the end of November 2024.

Motley Fool Money is a Motley Fool service that rates and reviews essential products for your everyday money matters. Coinbase runs a cryptocurrency exchange that allows the trading of hundreds of types of cryptocurrencies. It offers unique perks, including crypto rewards for completing educational courses, interest on holding stable coins and rewards for staking certain currencies. Account owners can also sign up for a Coinbase prepaid Visa debit card which provides a way to spend cryptocurrency and is another avenue to earn rewards.

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 to the process is — to what it’s like to trade stocks and other investments. We also compare online broker fees, tools, research options, customer service, educational content and more.

Robinhood is very easy to use and its educational content is a joy to read. But, in today’s competitive market for your investing dollars, it’s finding it harder to stand out against other brokers. 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. As you might expect, a retirement account is designed to hold and invest the funds you plan to use after you retire. Nonretirement accounts are other investment accounts that let you invest and trade in the short and long term.