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E*TRADE vs Ally Invest 2019

StockBrokers.com | December 9th, 2019

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  3. E*TRADE vs Ally Invest Review

Is Ally Invest better than E*TRADE? After scoring brokers on over 4,000 data points for our 2019 review, E*TRADE (83.68%) is better than Ally Invest (62.44%).

E*TRADE

Best Web Platform - Open Account
Promo Offer: Get $100 when you deposit just $5,000 into a new E*TRADE account!

E*TRADE, with its $0 stock trades, finished fourth overall in 2019. E*TRADE was awarded 5 stars and #1 for Options Trading, thanks to its Power E*TRADE trading platform. The broker also won first place for Mobile Trading, and offers well-rounded access to quality research, trading tools, education, and more. Read full review.

Ally Invest

Best for IRA Accounts Overall
Among the bank and brokerage combinations, Ally shines and competes with the best in the industry. Ally’s high-yield savings account is easy to use and offers competitive annual yields above 2%. Also, Ally does not nickel and dime its customers; it embraces no-fee banking. Read full review.

Overall Rating

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Overall 4 3
E*TRADE Review Ally Invest Review

Trading Fees

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Minimum Deposit $0.00 $0.00
Stock Trade Fee (per trade) $0.00 $0.00
ETF Trade Fee $0.00 $0.00
Options Base Fee $0.00 $0.00
Options Per Contract Fee $0.65 $0.50
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $19.99 $9.95
Broker Assisted Trades Fee $25.00 $20.00
Commissions & Fees 4.5 3.5
Winner check_circle

Margin Rates

Feature E*TRADE
Open Account 		Ally Invest
Under $24,999.99 10.00% 9.50%
$25,000.00 to $49,999.99 9.75% 9.25%
$50,000.00 to $99,999.99 9.25% 8.50%
$100,000.00 to $249,999.99 8.75% 7.25%
$250,000.00 to $499,999.99 8.25% 6.25%
$500,000.00 to $999,999.99 7.75% 5.75%
Above $1,000,000.00 6.75% 5.00%
Commissions & Fees 4.5 3.5
Winner check_circle

Account Fees

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
IRA Annual Fee $0.00 $0.00
IRA Closure Fee $60.00 $50.00
Returned ACH Fee $0.00 $30.00
Returned Wire Fee $0.00 $30.00
Stock Certificate Processing Fee $0.00 $300.00
Stock Certificate Delivery Fee $75.00 $300.00
Paper Statement Fee $2.00 $2.00
Paper Confirmation Fee $0.00 $1.00
Domestic Wire Fee $25.00 $30.00
International Wire Fee $25.00 N/A
Commissions & Fees 4.5 3.5

Investment Options

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Stock Trading
 Yes Yes
OTCBB / Pink Sheets
 Yes Yes
Options Trading
 Yes Yes
Complex Options Max Legs
 4 4
Futures Trading
 Yes No
Forex Trading
 No Yes
Commission-Free ETFs all all
Mutual Funds (No Load)
 6663 11234
Mutual Funds (Total)
 9291 18728
Bonds (US Treasury)
 Yes Yes
Bonds (Corporate)
 Yes Yes
Bonds (Municipal)
 Yes Yes
Advisor Services
 Yes Yes
International Trading
 No No
Offering of Investments 4.5 4
Winner check_circle

Order Types

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Order Type - Market
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Limit
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Stop
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Trailing Stop
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Contingent
 Yes Yes
Order Type - MultiContingent
 No No
Order Type - OCO
 Yes Yes
Order Type - OTO
 Yes Yes
Order Type - OTOCO
 Yes No
Offering of Investments 4.5 4
Winner check_circle

Trading Platforms

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Desktop Platform (Windows)
 No No
Desktop Platform (Mac)
 No No
Web Platform
 Yes Yes
Paper Trading
 Yes No
Trade Journal
 No No
Watch Lists - Total Fields
 125 21
Heat Mapping
 No No
Platforms & Tools 4.5 2.5
Winner check_circle

Charting Features

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Charting - Trade Off Chart
 Yes No
Charting - Indicators / Studies
 119 117
Charting - Drawing Tools
 32 36
Charting - Historical Trades
 Yes No
Charting - Corporate Events
 Yes Yes
Charting - Automated Analysis
 Yes Yes
Charting - Save Profiles
 Yes Yes
Charting - Study Customizations
 6 5
Charting - Custom Studies
 No No
Platforms & Tools 4.5 2.5
Winner check_circle

Day Trading

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Stock Alerts - Basic Fields
 Yes Yes
Stock Alerts - Advanced Fields
 No No
Streaming Time & Sales
 Yes No
Streaming TV
 Yes No
Direct Market Routing - Stocks
 Yes No
Direct Market Routing - Options
 Yes No
Ladder Trading
 No No
Trade Hot Keys
 Yes No
Level 2 Quotes - Stocks
 Yes No
Level 2 Quotes - Options
 Yes No
Trade Ideas - Backtesting
 No Yes
Short Locator
 No No
Order Liquidity Rebates
 No No
Winner check_circle

Mobile Trading Apps

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
iPhone App
 Yes Yes
Android App
 Yes Yes
Apple Watch App
 Yes No
Trading - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Trading - After-Hours
 Yes No
Trading - Conditional Orders
 Yes No
Trading - Mutual Funds
 Yes No
Trading - Simple Options
 Yes Yes
Trading - Complex Options
 Yes Yes
Trading - Option Rolling
 No No
Touch / Face ID
 Yes Yes
Winner check_circle

Mobile App Features

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Watch List Syncing
Yes Yes
Stock Alerts
 Yes No
Charting - After Hours
 Yes No
Charting - Drawing
 No No
Charting - Study Customizations
Yes No
Heatmapping
 No No
Stream Live TV
 Yes No
Barcode Lookup
 Yes No
Mobile Trading 5 3
Winner check_circle

Research Overview

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Research - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Research - ETFs
 Yes Yes
Research - Mutual Funds
 Yes Yes
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB
 Yes Yes
Research - Fixed Income
 Yes No
Screener - Stocks
 Yes No
Screener - ETFs
 Yes No
Screener - Mutual Funds
 Yes No
Screener - Options
 Yes No
Screener - Bonds
 Yes Yes
Misc - Portfolio Builder
 Yes Yes
Misc - Portfolio Allocation
 Yes No
Research 4.5 2
Winner check_circle

Stock Research

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Stock Research - Reports
 5 2
Stock Research - Earnings
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Insiders
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Metric Comp
 No No
Stock Research - SEC Filings
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Social
 Yes No
Stock Research - Balance Sheet
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Cash Flows
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - News
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - ESG
 No No
Research 4.5 2
Winner check_circle

ETF Research

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
ETFs - Strategy Overview
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Top 10 Holdings
 Yes No
ETFs - Sector Exposure
 Yes No
ETFs - Risk Analysis
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Performance Analysis
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Ratings
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap
 Yes No
ETFs - Reports
 Yes Yes
Research 4.5 2
Winner check_circle

Mutual Fund Research

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Mutual Funds - Strategy Overview
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Prospectus
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Reports
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Asset Allocation
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Sector Allocation
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Country Allocation
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - StyleMap
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings
 Yes Yes
Research 4.5 2
Winner check_circle

Options Trading

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Option Chains - Streaming
 Yes Yes
Option Chains - Total Columns
 30 8
Option Chains - Greeks
5 1
Option Chains - Quick Analysis
 Yes Yes
Option Analysis - P&L Charts
 Yes Yes
Option Probability Analysis
 Yes Yes
Option Probability Analysis Adv
 Yes No
Option Positions - Greeks
Yes Yes
Option Positions - Adv Analysis
 Yes Yes
Option Positions - Rolling
 Yes No
Option Positions - Grouping
 Yes Yes
Platforms & Tools 4.5 2.5
Winner check_circle

Beginners

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Has Education - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Has Education - ETFs
 Yes No
Has Education - Options
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Mutual Funds
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Fixed Income
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Retirement
 Yes Yes
Paper Trading
 Yes No
Videos
 Yes No
Webinars (Monthly Avg)
 12 15
Webinars (Archived)
 Yes No
Live Seminars
 Yes No
Progress Tracking
 No No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes
 Yes No
Investor Magazine
 No No
Education 4.5 3.5
Winner check_circle

Banking

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
Retail Locations
 30 0
Member FDIC
 Yes Yes
Checking Accounts
 Yes Yes
Savings Accounts
 Yes Yes
Credit Cards
 No Yes
Debit Cards
 Yes Yes
Mortgage Loans
 No Yes
No Fee Banking
 No Yes
Banking 4 4
Winner check_circle

Overall

Feature E*TRADE Ally Invest
E*TRADE Review Ally Invest Review
Overall 4 3
Winner check_circle

Comparing brokers side by side is no easy task. For our annual broker review, we assess over a dozen brokers on hundreds of different variables to find the best online broker. Yielding a database of over 4,000 data points, let's compare Ally Invest vs E*TRADE.

To start this comparison, first, we will take a look at the online broker commission rates for placing regular stock and options trades. Ally Invest and E*TRADE charge the same amount for regular stock trades, $0. With options, the base fee is $0 for both Ally Invest and E*TRADE. Each option contract then costs $0.65 at E*TRADE and $0.50 at Ally Invest. It's important to note that not all brokers charge a flat fee per trade. Thus, it is important to read the full commission notes for each broker, which we include with each online broker review.

Next to commission rates, being able to trade what you want is important. E*TRADE offers clients Stock Trading, Options Trading, Mutual Funds and Futures Trading while Ally Invest offers Stock Trading, Options Trading, Mutual Funds and Forex Trading. Looking at mutual funds, Ally Invest offers its clients access to 14000 different mutual funds while E*TRADE has 9062 available funds, a difference of 4,938.

Trading access aside, by comparing popular features and functionality, we can break down relevant differences between both brokers. E*TRADE offers virtual trading while Ally Invest does not. Taking a look at mobile trading, Ally Invest along with E*TRADE both support the iPhone App, iPad App and Android App. Not to be left out, online banking is also a nice benefit for many investors, and some brokerages provide these services to clients. Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts and Debit Cards are offered by E*TRADE while Ally Invest offers Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Debit Cards, Credit Cards and Mortgage Loans.

Overall, between Ally Invest and E*TRADE, E*TRADE is the winner.

Ally Invest Review
E*TRADE Review

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All pricing data was obtained from a published web site as of 02/18/2019 and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. For stock trade rates, advertised pricing is for a standard order size of 500 shares of stock priced at $30 per share. For options orders, an options regulatory fee per contract may apply.

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