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Fidelity vs Charles Schwab 2019

StockBrokers.com | December 4th, 2019

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  3. Fidelity vs Charles Schwab Review

Is Charles Schwab better than Fidelity? After scoring brokers on over 4,000 data points for our 2019 review, Fidelity (86.62%) is better than Charles Schwab (84.06%).

fideltiy

Best for Investors
Fidelity Investments charges $0 per trade and received 4.5 stars in our 2019 Review, including being awarded Best in Class for 12 different categories. It is our top recommendation for discount trading. The broker also took home the #1 awards for Research and Order Execution. Finally, Fidelity's mobile app was rated Best Mobile App for Investors. Read full review.

Charles Schwab

Best for IRA accounts - Open Account
Special Offer: $0 online stock, ETF, and options commissions at Schwab.

For investors seeking access to $0 stock and ETF trades alongside excellent research tools for performing market analysis, Charles Schwab will not disappoint. Charles Schwab is also our number one pick for IRA accounts and broader retirement investing. Read full review

Overall Rating

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Overall 4.5 4
Fidelity Review Charles Schwab Review

Trading Fees

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
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 $0.65
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $49.95 $49.95
Broker Assisted Trades Fee $32.95 $25.00
Commissions & Fees 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Margin Rates

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Open Account
Under $24,999.99 9.33% 9.33%
$25,000.00 to $49,999.99 8.83% 8.83%
$50,000.00 to $99,999.99 7.88% 7.88%
$100,000.00 to $249,999.99 7.83% 7.83%
$250,000.00 to $499,999.99 7.58% 7.58%
$500,000.00 to $999,999.99 5.25% 6.08%
Above $1,000,000.00 5.00% 5.75%
Commissions & Fees 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Account Fees

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
IRA Annual Fee $0.00 $0.00
IRA Closure Fee $0.00 $50.00
Returned ACH Fee $0.00 $25.00
Returned Wire Fee $0.00 $25.00
Stock Certificate Processing Fee $0.00 $100.00
Stock Certificate Delivery Fee $100.00 N/A
Paper Statement Fee $0.00 $0.00
Paper Confirmation Fee $0.00 $0.00
Domestic Wire Fee $0.00 $25.00
International Wire Fee $0.00 $25.00
Commissions & Fees 4.5 4.5

Investment Options

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Stock Trading
 Yes Yes
OTCBB / Pink Sheets
 Yes Yes
Options Trading
 Yes Yes
Complex Options Max Legs
 4 4
Futures Trading
 No Yes
Forex Trading
 No No
Commission-Free ETFs all all
Mutual Funds (No Load)
 3957 7291
Mutual Funds (Total)
 11246 9978
Bonds (US Treasury)
 Yes Yes
Bonds (Corporate)
 Yes Yes
Bonds (Municipal)
 Yes Yes
Advisor Services
 Yes Yes
International Trading
 Yes Yes
Offering of Investments 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Order Types

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
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
 Yes Yes
Order Type - OCO
 Yes Yes
Order Type - OTO
 Yes Yes
Order Type - OTOCO
 Yes Yes
Offering of Investments 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Trading Platforms

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Desktop Platform (Windows)
 Yes Yes
Desktop Platform (Mac)
 Yes Yes
Web Platform
 Yes Yes
Paper Trading
 No No
Trade Journal
 Yes Yes
Watch Lists - Total Fields
 91 125
Heat Mapping
 Yes Yes
Platforms & Tools 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Charting Features

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Charting - Trade Off Chart
 Yes Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies
 166 41
Charting - Drawing Tools
 22 15
Charting - Historical Trades
 Yes No
Charting - Corporate Events
 Yes Yes
Charting - Automated Analysis
 Yes Yes
Charting - Save Profiles
 Yes Yes
Charting - Study Customizations
 5 7
Charting - Custom Studies
 No No
Platforms & Tools 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Day Trading

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

Mobile Trading Apps

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
iPhone App
 Yes Yes
Android App
 Yes Yes
Apple Watch App
 Yes Yes
Trading - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Trading - After-Hours
 Yes Yes
Trading - Conditional Orders
 No No
Trading - Mutual Funds
 Yes Yes
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 Fidelity Charles Schwab
Watch List Syncing
Yes Yes
Stock Alerts
 Yes No
Charting - After Hours
 Yes No
Charting - Drawing
 No No
Charting - Study Customizations
Yes Yes
Heatmapping
 Yes Yes
Stream Live TV
 Yes Yes
Barcode Lookup
 No No
Mobile Trading 4.5 4
Winner check_circle

Research Overview

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Research - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Research - ETFs
 Yes Yes
Research - Mutual Funds
 Yes Yes
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB
 Yes Yes
Research - Fixed Income
 Yes Yes
Screener - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Screener - ETFs
 Yes Yes
Screener - Mutual Funds
 Yes Yes
Screener - Options
 Yes Yes
Screener - Bonds
 Yes Yes
Misc - Portfolio Builder
 Yes Yes
Misc - Portfolio Allocation
 Yes Yes
Research 5 5
Winner check_circle

Stock Research

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Stock Research - Reports
 14 8
Stock Research - Earnings
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Insiders
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Metric Comp
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - SEC Filings
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Social
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Balance Sheet
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Cash Flows
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - News
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - ESG
 Yes No
Research 5 5
Winner check_circle

ETF Research

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
ETFs - Strategy Overview
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Top 10 Holdings
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Sector Exposure
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Risk Analysis
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Performance Analysis
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Ratings
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Reports
 Yes Yes
Research 5 5
Winner check_circle

Mutual Fund Research

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Mutual Funds - Strategy Overview
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Prospectus
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Reports
 No Yes
Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Asset Allocation
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Sector Allocation
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - Country Allocation
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - StyleMap
 Yes Yes
Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings
 Yes Yes
Research 5 5
Winner check_circle

Options Trading

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Option Chains - Streaming
 Yes Yes
Option Chains - Total Columns
 26 44
Option Chains - Greeks
5 5
Option Chains - Quick Analysis
 Yes Yes
Option Analysis - P&L Charts
 Yes Yes
Option Probability Analysis
 Yes Yes
Option Probability Analysis Adv
 Yes Yes
Option Positions - Greeks
Yes Yes
Option Positions - Adv Analysis
 Yes Yes
Option Positions - Rolling
 Yes Yes
Option Positions - Grouping
 Yes Yes
Platforms & Tools 4.5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Beginners

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Has Education - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Has Education - ETFs
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Options
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Mutual Funds
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Fixed Income
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Retirement
 Yes Yes
Paper Trading
 No No
Videos
 Yes Yes
Webinars (Monthly Avg)
 8 50
Webinars (Archived)
 Yes Yes
Live Seminars
 Yes Yes
Progress Tracking
 Yes No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes
 Yes No
Investor Magazine
 Yes Yes
Education 5 4.5
Winner check_circle

Banking

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Retail Locations
 197 357
Member FDIC
 No Yes
Checking Accounts
 Yes Yes
Savings Accounts
 Yes Yes
Credit Cards
 Yes Yes
Debit Cards
 Yes Yes
Mortgage Loans
 No Yes
No Fee Banking
 Yes Yes
Banking 4 4.5
Winner check_circle

Overall

Feature Fidelity Charles Schwab
Fidelity Review Charles Schwab Review
Overall 4.5 4
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 Charles Schwab vs Fidelity.

To start this comparison, first, we will take a look at the online broker commission rates for placing regular stock and options trades. Charles Schwab and Fidelity charge the same amount for regular stock trades, $0. Looking at options, the base fees charged are the same for both brokers, $0. Option contracts at both of the brokerages are the same at $0.65 each. 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. Fidelity supports Stock Trading, Options Trading and Mutual Funds while Charles Schwab supports Stock Trading, Options Trading, Mutual Funds and Futures Trading. Looking at mutual funds, Fidelity offers its clients access to 11782 different mutual funds while Charles Schwab has 5846 available funds, a difference of 5,936.

Trading access aside, by comparing popular features and functionality, we can break down relevant differences between both brokers. Neither Charles Schwab and Fidelity offer virtual trading. Taking a look at mobile trading, Both Charles Schwab and Fidelity offer clients access to an 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, Debit Cards and Credit Cards are offered by Fidelity while Charles Schwab offers Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Debit Cards, Credit Cards and Mortgage Loans.

Overall, between Charles Schwab and Fidelity, Fidelity is the winner.

Charles Schwab Review
Fidelity 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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