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QTrade Review

Q: How does Qtrade compare to Questrade?

Qtrade shares similarities with Questrade , Canada’s largest independent online brokerage. For starters, both platforms removed trading fees on stocks and ETFs in 2025, joining a small but growing group of commission-free Canadian brokerages. Both brokers offer a wide range of account types, intuitive mobile apps, and responsive customer support, including AI-powered and live chat features. In my opinion, Qtrade’s trading platform is more robust than Questrade’s primary platform, which has limited charting capability, doesn’t offer custom alerts, and only supports two order types (market and limit). Qtrade supports six order types, custom alerts (on its web platform), and offers impressive charting on both web and mobile apps. That said, Questrade has more to offer active traders than Qtrade, including a dedicated advanced trading platform (Questrade Edge), a forex and CFD platform (Questrade Global), and support for fractional shares , though only on U.S. stocks and ETFs. As of this writing, you cannot trade fractional shares with Qtrade.

Written by Colin Graves
Edited by Hannah Smith
Fact-checked by Joey Shadeck

November 06, 2025

Colin Graves

Colin Graves is a Winnipeg-based financial writer and former banker with more than seven years of experience covering investments, brokerages, and personal finance.

See full bio

Vancouver-based Qtrade is an online brokerage that also operates a robo-advisor platform, called Qtrade Guided Portfolios. Its roots date back to 2000, when it began as a brokerage platform for credit unions. Since then, it’s grown into a popular Canadian investing platform and is known for continually improving its product and service offerings. Most recently, it removed commission fees on all stocks, ETFs, and mutual fund trades.

I was pleasantly surprised by my experience with Qtrade. Having gone through similar platforms like Wealthsimple and Questrade, I think I was expecting more of the same from a commission-free brokerage: a decent trading experience, but lacking features found in more premium platforms. But what I saw was a feature-rich desktop trading platform packed with free research and portfolio analytics tools. Other brokers may be better suited to brand new investors, and unlike Questrade, Qtrade cannot accommodate forex traders, but it might be the sweet spot for the average investor.

Minimum Deposit: $0
Stock/ETF Trade Fee: $0
Mutual Fund Trade Fee: $0

Ratings

4.5

OVERALL SCORE

Fees
Range of Investments
Mobile App
Web Platform
Education
Ease of Use

Why you can trust us

Led by Jessica Inskip, Director of Investor Research, the StockBrokers.com research team collects thousands of data points across hundreds of variables. We evaluate features important to every kind of investor, including beginners, casual investors, passive investors, and active traders. We carefully track data on margin rates, trading costs, and fees to rate stock brokers across our proprietary testing categories.

Our researchers open personal brokerage accounts and test all available platforms on desktop, web, and mobile for each broker reviewed on StockBrokers.com. Learn more about how we test.

Pros & Cons QTrade Fees Range Of Investments Mobile Trading Apps Trading Platforms Education Final Thoughts QTrade Star Ratings FAQs

Pros & cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

Commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds.
Quick and easy account opening.
Visually appealing mobile trading app with advanced charting capability.
Helpful portfolio analytics tools, like Portfolio Score, Portfolio Simulator, Portfolio Creator, and Goal Planning.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

Doesn’t support forex, CFD, crypto, or futures trading.
Doesn’t offer a dedicated platform for advanced traders.
No support for fractional share trading.
The stock alerts feature is only available on the web-based platform, not the mobile app.

My top takeaways for QTrade in 2025:

Qtrade is Canada’s newest zero-commission brokerage, removing trading fees on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds in October 2025.
Qtrade only offers one trading platform, but it's robust, offering up to six order types, custom alerts (web-only), and impressive charting features.
Investment options are more limited than some top platforms, with no support for forex, CFDs, crypto, futures, or precious metals.
Qtrade is a self-directed investing platform and doesn’t offer any banking services at this time.

QTrade fees

In October 2025, Qtrade announced it would introduce zero-commission trading on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. Options are also commission-free, although the per-contract fee remains. This move was likely necessary, given that Questrade, a key competitor, made the same move earlier in the year. And Wealthsimple, another popular trading platform, has operated under a no-fee model for several years. Here’s a closer look at how Qtrade’s fees break down:

Stocks, ETFs, and options: As mentioned, Qtrade no longer charges trading fees (a $0.75 per contract fee still applies to options). This move levels the playing field between Qtrade and competitors like Questrade and Wealthsimple. It gives the broker a leg up over higher-priced big bank rivals, such as TD Direct Investing, BMO Investorline, and Scotia iTrade, which charge as much as $9.99 per trade.

Account and inactivity fees: Qtrade doesn’t charge account administration fees for cash trading or Canadian-dollar registered accounts. It does, however, charge an annoying $15 quarterly fee for U.S. dollar-registered accounts, specifically RRSP, RRIF, and TFSA. The fee does not apply to FHSA accounts. While most bank brokerages charge account fees of up to $100 on registered accounts, this puts Qtrade behind Questrade, which doesn’t charge any account fees.

Account closure and transfer-out fees: I think it’s important to note that Qtrade handles account closures a bit differently from most brokers. If you transfer funds from Qtrade to another institution, you’ll have to pay the standard $150 transfer-out charge, which is pretty standard. However, if you close your account within the first year, you’ll be charged an additional $100. It’s something to be mindful of when opening an account.

Feature	Qtrade Direct Investing
Minimum Deposit info	$0
Inactivity fees info	$0
Stock/ETF Trade Fee info	$0
Mutual Fund Trade Fee info	$0
Bond Trade Fee info	$1
FX Currency Conversion Fee info	N/A
Penny Stock Fee (OTC) info	N/A
Account closure fee info	$150

Range of investments

Qtrade’s investment choices will appeal to most investors. You can trade stocks listed on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. This includes over-the-counter (OTC) stocks. It offers thousands of commission-free mutual funds and ETFs, including crypto ETFs, options, bonds, new issues (IPO), and GICs. However, you can’t trade forex, CFDs, cryptocurrencies, precious metals, or futures, so it’s not suitable for dedicated forex, global, or crypto traders.

You can open just about any type of account, including Cash and Margin, and most registered accounts are available, such as RRSPs, Spousal RRSPs, RESPs, TFSAs, FHSAs, RRIFs, LIRAs, and LIFs. RDSPs are not available.

Feature	Qtrade Direct Investing
Bond trading info	Yes
CFD trading info	No
Crypto trading info	No
ETF trading info	Yes
Forex trading info	No
Fractional Shares (Stocks) info	No
Recurring investments info	No
Futures trading info	No
Options trading info	Yes
Margin trading info	Yes
Mutual Funds info	Yes
Penny (OTC) stocks info	Yes
Stock trading (CA) info	Yes
Stock trading (U.S.) info	Yes
Stock trading (Global) info	No

Mobile trading apps

Qtrade offers a single mobile trading platform available on both iOS and Android devices. I found it to be very impressive. In fact, I think it’s better than Questmobile, Questrade’s standard mobile trading platform. It’s more visually appealing and offers more order types (six vs. two). The security details screen provides a wealth of market data, including analyst insights, and offers more advanced charting than Questmobile, with seven chart types and over 20 indicators.

This screenshot displays an advanced chart view for Royal Bank (RY: TO) in a Candlestick+ format, with numerous indicators added, including Weighted Moving Average and Bollinger Bands. Qtrade offers more advanced charting capability in its mobile app than many competitors.

One notable drawback is that you can’t set stock alerts in the mobile app; you can only do so on the web-based platform. That said, Questmobile doesn’t offer that option, either. Additionally, it should be noted that Questrade offers a separate mobile app for advanced traders, Questrade Edge Mobile, which provides more functionality.

Feature	Qtrade Direct Investing
iPhone App info	Yes
Android App info	Yes

Trading platforms

Qtrade lags some competitors by only offering a single web-based platform. There is no downloadable desktop version, no advanced trading platform for active traders, and no forex trading platform. But it makes up for it by offering far more features in the platform it does have than you’ll find in competing platforms from Wealthsimple and Questrade’s standard platform.

Questrade’s desktop securities view is not as modern-looking as some other platforms. It reminds me a bit of RBC Direct Investing’s user interface, which isn’t my favourite. That said, it’s very robust and gets the job done. You can quickly select various screens using the horizontal tabs above the chart.

Trading Features: Aside from the lack of fractional shares, Qtrade’s platform is well-equipped. Investors can choose from six order types, obtain real-time and Level II quotes, set basic and advanced watchlists, and set custom stock alerts (web platform only). Furthermore, Qtrade offers excellent advanced charting, with seven chart types and over 20 indicators. Its user interface is not quite as clean and modern-looking as some competitors, but I’ve seen worse.

Research: Qtrade offers a range of research tools for investors. In addition to standard information, such as market data and analyst recommendations, you can access dedicated technical, mutual fund, and ETF research tools, a stock screener, a calendar that displays earnings and split dates for companies, and a Morningstar library.

It also offers an Options Lab, which guides investors through various options strategies in a simple, step-by-step manner. The Options Lab is available to all investors, whether or not you trade options. Finally, Qtrade offers several portfolio analytics tools that let you evaluate your portfolio's health, including performance, risk exposure, fees, income level, and even your ESG score.

Qtrade Options Lab is an options research tool that’s available to all users, free of charge, whether or not you trade options in your account. While you can’t see all the functionality in this one screenshot, it asks you a few questions and then guides you through various option strategies, highlighting the potential risks and implications of each.

Feature	Qtrade Direct Investing
Desktop Trading Platform info	No
Web Trading Platform info	Yes
Stock Alerts info	Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies info	20
Research - Stocks info	Yes
Research - CFDs info	No
Research - Mutual Funds info	Yes
Research - ETFs info	Yes
Research - Bonds info	Yes
Trade Journal info	No
Paper Trading info	No
Screener info	Yes

Education

Qtrade’s Education Centre offers articles on a wide range of investment-related topics. I found plenty of articles on stocks and retirement planning, but fewer on ETFs and mutual funds. I like that they split the content for new and experienced investors, making it easier to find relevant articles.

They don’t offer regular webinars or courses. Still, they do have several free downloadable guides that take a deeper dive into topics like stock trading and TFSA investing than a standalone article would. If you’re new to investing, there’s enough there to get a good handle on the basics, but it would be nice if they offered more video content.

Feature	Qtrade Direct Investing
Education (Stocks) info	Yes
Education (ETFs) info	No
Education (Mutual Funds) info	No
Education (Retirement) info	Yes
Webinars info	No
Videos info	No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes info	No
Courses info	Yes

Final thoughts

With the move to zero-commission trading, Qtrade has, in many respects, put itself on equal footing with Questrade, depending on the type of investor you are. However, Qtrade isn’t suitable for forex traders, and isn’t the best option if you’re looking for a dedicated advanced trading platform. If that’s what you need, you’ll be better off with Questrade, TD Direct Investing, or Interactive Brokers (IBKR).

But what I love about Qtrade is that its only trading platform is superior to many competitor offerings, including Wealthsimple and Questrade’s standard platform. Its mobile app may not be as intuitive as Wealthsimple’s, but that’s because it has far more features. And its advanced charts and research tools put Questrade to shame. Sure, you can get those features with Questrade’s active trader platform (Edge), but that’s overkill for the average investor.

If you’re an average investor who wants free stock and ETF trading without feeling like you’re giving up features, including robust research, then Qtrade might be the brokerage for you. If they could only add fractional shares, drop the annoying $15 quarterly fee on U.S. registered accounts, and add stock alerts to mobile, it might be close to perfect.

QTrade Star Ratings

Feature	Qtrade Direct Investing
Overall info
Fees info
Range of Investments info
Mobile App info
Web Platform info
Education info
Ease of Use info

FAQs

How many commission-free ETFs does Qtrade have?

Effective October 28, 2025, Qtrade removed trading fees on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, allowing investors to buy and sell thousands of Canadian and U.S. ETFs, commission-free.

How does Qtrade compare to Questrade?

Qtrade shares similarities with Questrade, Canada’s largest independent online brokerage. For starters, both platforms removed trading fees on stocks and ETFs in 2025, joining a small but growing group of commission-free Canadian brokerages. Both brokers offer a wide range of account types, intuitive mobile apps, and responsive customer support, including AI-powered and live chat features.

In my opinion, Qtrade’s trading platform is more robust than Questrade’s primary platform, which has limited charting capability, doesn’t offer custom alerts, and only supports two order types (market and limit). Qtrade supports six order types, custom alerts (on its web platform), and offers impressive charting on both web and mobile apps.

That said, Questrade has more to offer active traders than Qtrade, including a dedicated advanced trading platform (Questrade Edge), a forex and CFD platform (Questrade Global), and support for fractional shares, though only on U.S. stocks and ETFs. As of this writing, you cannot trade fractional shares with Qtrade.

Can you buy crypto on Qtrade?

No, you cannot trade crypto through Qtrade. This is not surprising, as most Canadian brokerages don’t offer crypto trading, including Questrade and the big bank brokerage platforms. If you are looking for a brokerage that includes crypto trading, give Wealthsimple a look. It offers a dedicated crypto trading platform with over 140 coins and crypto staking. Just keep in mind that you need to open a separate crypto account, as you can’t trade them alongside your stocks and ETFs.

What kind of customer support does Qtrade offer?

Qtrade offers several customer support options, including telephone, email, and AI-powered live chat. If you want to speak with a human representative, you can call 1(877) 787-2330, toll-free, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 8 pm ET. (Live chat support is available Monday to Friday, 10 am to 5 pm ET). If your request is less urgent, you can email the customer support team at DirectInvesting@qtrade.ca.

How does the Qtrade cash back promotion work?

If you’re looking for a Qtrade promotion as an incentive to open an account, you’re in luck. New customers can currently earn up to $2,000 cash back when they open a new account before January 5, 2026, using the Qtrade Promo Code QTRADE2025. To qualify for the cash bonus, new funds must be deposited by January 31, 2026.

You can deposit up to $15,000 and get 5% cash back on every dollar deposited. Deposit $15,001 or more and get $750 plus 1% cash back on every dollar deposited up to a total cash back amount of $2,000. Note that qualifying deposits must remain in your account for an entire year (January 31, 2027). Any cash back earned will be deposited into your account on February 28, 2027.

StockBrokers.com Review Methodology

Why you should trust us

Colin Graves, a contributing writer for StockBrokers.com, has over seven years of experience covering investments and Canadian brokerage platforms. Before becoming a full-time writer, Colin spent over two decades in the banking industry, including 15 years as a people manager with a Top 10 North American financial institution. He has completed both the Canadian Securities (CSC) and the Professional Financial Planning (PFPC) courses and has appeared in leading Canadian personal finance publications such as MoneySense, Money.ca, MapleMoney, and The College Investor.

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.

How we tested

We used our own brokerage accounts for testing.
We collected hundreds of data points across the brokers we review.
We tested each online broker's website, desktop platforms, and mobile app, where applicable.
We maintained strict editorial independence; brokers cannot pay for inclusion or a higher rating.

Our research team meticulously collected data on every feature of importance to a wide range of customer profiles, including beginners, casual investors, passive investors, and active traders. We carefully track variables like margin rates, trading costs, fees, and platform features and use them to help rate brokers across a range of categories measuring ease of use, range of investments, education, and more.

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About QTrade Direct Investing

Founded in 2000, Qtrade is based in Vancouver and serves investors across Canada. The platform is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). Qtrade offers commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, and also operates a robo-advisor service, Qtrade Guided Portfolios.

Compare Qtrade Direct Investing

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About the Editorial Team

Colin Graves is a Winnipeg-based financial writer with more than seven years of experience covering investments and brokerages. A former banking exec who managed over $1B in assets, he holds CSC and PFPC credentials. His work appears in MoneySense, Money.ca, MapleMoney, and more.

Hannah Smith is a Staff Editor at StockBrokers.com. With a background in SEO and years of experience in digital media, Hannah is focused on creating high-quality, data-driven content that helps investors make informed decisions. With a master's degree in English from North Carolina State University, she brings a strong foundation in writing, research, and editorial strategy to her work.

Joey Shadeck is the Content Strategist and Research Analyst for StockBrokers.com. He holds dual degrees in Finance and Marketing from Oakland University, and has been an active trader and investor for close to 10 years. An industry veteran, Joey obtains and verifies data, conducts research, and analyzes and validates our content.