Fidelity vs Charles Schwab 2023

Comparing brokers side by side is no easy task. We spend hundreds of hours each year testing the platforms, mobile apps, trading tools and general ease of use among online brokerages, as well as comparing commissions and fees, to find the best online broker.

Though many U.S. brokers offer basic trading features, such as an app, charting tools, stock research and educational content, the depth of those features can vary widely. Let's compare Fidelity vs Charles Schwab.

In stock trading, the more you know, the better you’ll do. Taking advantage of resources like articles, webinars, videos and interactive elements is a great way to shorten the learning curve. In our analysis, we examine the availability of several different types of educational materials.

For 2023, our review finds that Fidelity offers more comprehensive new investor education for beginning investors than Charles Schwab. Fidelity offers investors access to Videos, Education (Stocks), Education (ETFs), Education (Options), Education (Mutual Funds), Education (Bonds) and Education (Retirement), while Charles Schwab offers investors access to Videos, Education (Stocks), Education (ETFs), Education (Options), Education (Bonds) and Education (Retirement). Neither have Paper Trading.

Fidelity and Charles Schwab charge the same amount for regular stock trades, $0.00. Fidelity and Charles Schwab both charge $0.65 per option contract. For futures, Charles Schwab charges $2.25 per contract and Fidelity charges (Not offered) per contract. For a deeper dive, see our best brokers for free stock trading guide.

Looking at a full range of investment options, including order types and international trading, our research has found that Charles Schwab offers a more comprehensive offering than Fidelity. Fidelity ranks #6 out of 17 brokers for our Investment Options category, while Charles Schwab ranks #2.

Fidelity offers investors access to Stock Trading, Fractional Shares, Options Trading, OTC Stocks, Mutual Funds and Advisor Services, while Charles Schwab offers investors access to Stock Trading, Fractional Shares, Options Trading, OTC Stocks, Mutual Funds, Futures Trading and Advisor Services. Neither have Forex Trading Looking at Mutual Funds, Fidelity trails Charles Schwab in its offering of no transaction fee (NTF) mutual funds, with Charles Schwab offering 7168 and Fidelity offering 3401.

In our analysis of top U.S. brokerages, we research whether each broker offers the ability to trade cash cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum. Though crypto has risen steadily in popularity, availability still varies from broker to broker. Our review finds that neither Fidelity and Charles Schwab offer crypto trading.

To compare the day trading platforms of Fidelity and Charles Schwab, we focused on trading tools and functionality across both web and desktop-based platforms. Popular day trading platform tools include streaming real-time quotes, stock alerts, trading hotkeys, direct market routing, streaming time and sales, customizable watch lists, backtesting, and fully functional charting packages, among many others. For day trading, Fidelity offers a better experience.

After testing 25 features across the stock trading apps of Fidelity and Charles Schwab, we found Fidelity to be better overall. The best stock market apps are easy to use, have excellent design, and deliver a fully featured online trading experience. Fidelity ranks #4 out of 17 brokers, while Charles Schwab ranks #8.

Fidelity Trading App Gallery

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Charles Schwab Trading App Gallery

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For research, Charles Schwab offers superior market research than Fidelity. Fidelity ranks #6 and Charles Schwab ranks #1.

Over the years, we've found that the best brokers provide rich market commentary, a variety of third-party research reports, and thorough quote screens that are not just easy to navigate, but that also include a comprehensive selection of fundamental data. Robust stock, ETFs, and mutual fund screeners are also must-haves for trade idea generation.

Fidelity requires a minimum deposit of $0.00, while Charles Schwab requires a minimum deposit of $0.00. From our testing, we found that SoFi is the only broker that requires a minimum deposit.

Fidelity charges 13.58% for accounts under $25,000 while Charles Schwab charges a margin rate of 13.58%. The industry average of the 17 brokers we track is 11%.

Fidelity and Charles Schwab allow traders to trade fractional shares. Our research has found that 41% of brokers offer fractional shares investing. Fractional shares allow traders to buy a part of a whole share of stock. For example, if Amazon is trading at $1,000, you could buy half a share for $500.

Both Fidelity and Charles Schwab allow you to trade penny stocks. Fidelity charges $0.00 per trade while Charles Schwab charges $6.95. Penny stocks are companies whose shares trade for under $5 and are listed over the counter (OTC). For brokers that do offer penny stock trades, the average commission is $3.

Online banking can be a benefit for investors, and some brokerages do provide banking services to customers. Debit Cards and Credit Cards are offered by Fidelity while Charles Schwab offers Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Debit Cards, Credit Cards and Mortgage Loans.

StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research group Confero to conduct phone tests from locations across the United States to thoroughly evaluate the quality and speed of brokerage customer service. (Read more about How We Test.) Here are the results of our current testing.

Fidelity was rated 3rd out of 14 brokers, with an overall score of 8.6 out of 10.

Charles Schwab was rated 2nd out of 14 brokers, with an overall score of 8.9 out of 10.

Our top pick overall for 2023, Fidelity is a value-driven online broker offering $0 trades, industry-leading research, excellent trading tools and an easy-to-use mobile app.

In the 2023 StockBrokers.com Annual Review, Fidelity was rated No. 1 Overall Broker and No. 1 for Commissions & Fees, Education, IRA Accounts and Penny Stocks. It also ranked among Best in Class for Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading Apps, Ease of Use, Active Trading, Beginners, Customers Service, and Penny Stocks. Fidelity also won four StockBrokers.com Industry Awards: No. 1 for Fractional Shares, Innovation, New Tool and Order Execution.

As the granddaddy of discount brokers, Charles Schwab understands how to deliver value to its customers, providing a comprehensive roster of tools, advice and actionable ideas at reasonable cost.

In the 2023 StockBrokers.com Annual Review, Charles Schwab was ranked No. 1 for Research and was among Best in Class for Commissions & Fees, Platforms & Tools, Investment Options, Ease of Use, Beginners, Customer Service, IRA Accounts, and Overall.