menuclose
StockBrokers.com is committed to the highest ethical standards and reviews services independently. Learn how we make money.

E*TRADE vs Robinhood 2026

Jessica Inskip

Written by Jessica Inskip
Director of Investor Research

Jeff Anberg

Edited by Jeff Anberg
Senior Editor

Blain Reinkensmeyer

Reviewed by Blain Reinkensmeyer
Managing Partner

June 17, 2026
  Fact Checked
close
Jessica Inskip Jessica Inskip
Director of Investor Research

Jessica Inskip is Director of Investor Research at StockBrokers.com, bringing 15 years of experience in brokerage and trading strategy. Jessica focuses on investor education and brokerage industry research.

stockbrokers-com-favicon.ico 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.

E*TRADE vs Robinhood pits a full-service veteran against the app that made commission-free trading the norm. For most investors, E*TRADE is the stronger all-around pick. It brings Morgan Stanley research, mutual funds and bonds, in-depth options tools, and a bank attached to the brokerage. Robinhood is the better deal for cost-focused traders. Options contracts are $0 there against $0.65 at E*TRADE, margin runs far cheaper, and it's the only one of the two with crypto and prediction markets.

E*TRADE vs Robinhood

Broker
Rating
"Best for"
Bullet Points
Overall Score
4.5/5
Best for most investors overall
  • Minimum Deposit: $0.00
  • Stock Trades: $0.00
  • Options (Per Contract): $0.65
Why we like it
Review

With two distinct platforms (E*TRADE Web and Power E*TRADE) the broker effectively serves both the "set-it-and-forget-it" investor and the high-volume derivatives trader. Whether you aim to construct a long-term retirement portfolio or deploy complex options strategies, E*TRADE provides a sophisticated, dependable environment that grows with your ambition. Read full review

Pros
  • High-quality experience for both passive investors and active traders.
  • Access to Morgan Stanley’s deep market analysis and interactive reports.
  • Excellent bond resource center and a user-friendly ladder tool.
Cons
  • Base margin rates, starting at over 12%, are significantly higher than top competitors.
  • You can’t buy Bitcoin or Ethereum directly; crypto exposure is limited to ETFs and futures.
  • You can’t buy fractional shares of individual stocks.
Overall Score
3.5/5
Best for low-cost trading, crypto, and simplicity
  • Minimum Deposit: $0.00
  • Stock Trades: $0.00
  • Options (Per Contract): $0.00 info
Why we like it
Review

Robinhood is best known for its commission-free trading, modern mobile and desktop platforms, and low-cost access to options, margin, and futures trading. Read full review

Pros
  • Robinhood Legend offers 90+ technical indicators.
  • 3% IRA match on contributions.
  • The Investor's Guild explains complex topics.
  • Futures trading and 24-hour trading.
Cons
  • No economic calendars, sector heat maps, or Treasury yield curves.
  • No deep fundamental research.
  • Legend lacks critical tools.
  • No mutual funds, individual bonds, custodial or trust accounts.

Robinhood vs E*TRADE at a glance

Our testing found a clear shape to this matchup. E*TRADE wins most of the categories we grade, from research to platforms to range of investments. Robinhood answers on price, on simplicity, and on a few modern products E*TRADE doesn't carry. The table below breaks it down.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Overall 4.5/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars
Mobile Trading Apps 4.5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Advanced Trading 4/5 Stars 3/5 Stars
Minimum Deposit $0.00 $0.00
Stock Trades $0.00 $0.00
Options (Per Contract) $0.65 $0.00
Futures Trading Yes Yes
Crypto Trading No Yes

Top takeaways for E*TRADE in 2026

  • The research is Morgan Stanley-backed with scannable analyst reports and a standout sector valuation tool.
  • Power E*TRADE won our #1 Active Trading Web Platform award, and building a multi-leg options trade on it is refreshingly easy.
  • The product range runs from mutual funds to bonds to futures, with FDIC banking attached to the brokerage.
  • The account lineup is deep, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, custodial, trust, and business accounts.
  • Costs run higher for active traders. Options are $0.65 per contract and margin starts near 13%.

Top takeaways for Robinhood in 2026

  • It's the cheaper broker for active trading, with $0 options contracts and margin starting at 5.75%.
  • Robinhood is the only one of the two with crypto, listing 22 coins, plus prediction markets E*TRADE doesn't offer.
  • Its education is the most readable I test, ordered so a beginner never gets lost.
  • It automates the small things, with recurring buys and fractional shares in both stocks and ETFs.
  • The gaps are real: no mutual funds, no bonds, no paper trading, and thinner research.

Robinhood vs E*TRADE: fees and commissions

Stocks trade free at both, and E*TRADE clears mutual funds and online Treasuries at $0 too. The gaps show up in options, margin, and what each broker lets you trade. We verified the pricing below.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Stock Trades $0.00 $0.00
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $0.00 N/A
Options (Per Contract) $0.65 $0.00
Options Exercise Fee $0.00 $0.00
Options Assignment Fee $0.00 $0.00
Futures (Per Contract) $1.50 $0.75
Broker Assisted Trade Fee $25 N/A
Margin Rate Under $25,000 12.95% 5.75%
Bond Trade Fee Varies N/A
IRA Annual Fee $0.00 $0.00
Account Transfer Out (Full) $75.00 $100.00

Where Robinhood wins on cost

Robinhood is the cheaper home for anyone who trades actively. Options contracts are $0 with no exercise or assignment fees, where E*TRADE charges $0.65 per contract. The margin gap is wider still. Robinhood lends from 5.75% while E*TRADE starts near 13% on smaller balances. Robinhood is cheaper on futures too, at $0.75 a contract to E*TRADE's $1.50.

Where E*TRADE wins on cost

E*TRADE charges nothing to trade mutual funds or buy Treasuries online, two things Robinhood doesn't offer at all. Moving an account out is also less expensive, with free partial transfers and a $75 full transfer against Robinhood's flat $100. For the buy-and-hold investor who lives in funds, E*TRADE is the cheaper place to actually own what you want.

Verdict

Best for active options and margin traders: Robinhood.

Best for fund and bond investors: E*TRADE.

The split is clean. Robinhood is cheaper if your costs come from trading, and E*TRADE is cheaper if they come from owning funds and bonds Robinhood can't offer.

E*TRADE vs Robinhood: range of investments

E*TRADE is built to be a complete brokerage. Robinhood is built to trade a focused, modern slice of the market. That difference decides who each one suits.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Options Trading Yes Yes
Fractional Shares (Stocks) No Yes
Fractional Shares (ETFs) Yes Yes
Mutual Funds Yes No
Fixed Income (Treasurys) Yes No
Fixed Income (Corporate Bonds) Yes No
Fixed Income (Municipal Bonds) Yes No
Crypto Trading No Yes
Crypto Trading - Total Coins 0 22
Futures Trading Yes Yes
Futures Options Yes No
Forex Trading No No
Prediction markets No Yes
IPO Access Yes Yes
Order Type - After Hours Yes Yes
Order Type - 24 hr Extended No Yes
Order Type - Broker Assisted Yes No

Where E*TRADE wins

E*TRADE simply covers more of the market. It trades mutual funds, a deep bond and CD lineup, futures, and futures options, none of which Robinhood offers. The account side runs deeper too, with SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, custodial accounts, trusts, and business accounts that Robinhood doesn't open.

Where Robinhood wins

Robinhood owns the modern lineup. It lists 22 cryptocurrencies to E*TRADE's none, runs prediction markets, and lets you buy fractional shares of individual stocks, not just ETFs. It also runs recurring buys in both stocks and ETFs, where E*TRADE automates ETFs only. For dollar-based investing in the names you choose, Robinhood is the more flexible app.

Verdict

Best for a complete, traditional lineup: E*TRADE.

Best for crypto, prediction markets, and fractional investing: Robinhood.

If you want mutual funds, bonds, or a trust account, only E*TRADE delivers. If you want crypto or to put $20 into a single share, Robinhood is the easier fit.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Range of Investments 4.5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars

Featured Offers


Robinhood vs E*TRADE: mobile apps

Both score well on mobile, but they reward different users. Robinhood ships one clean app for everyone. E*TRADE ships two, a flagship app plus a separate Power E*TRADE app for active traders. Our testing compared research, charting, and order entry on each.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
iPhone App Yes Yes
Android App Yes Yes
Apple Watch App Yes Yes
Stock Alerts Yes Yes
Mobile Watchlists - Column Customization Yes Yes
Mobile Watchlists - Create & Manage Yes Yes
Mobile Watchlists - Column Filtering Yes Yes

Where Robinhood's app wins

Robinhood is the easier app to live in day to day. The layout is sleek, placing a trade takes seconds, and the AI digests give a quick read on why a stock moved. Recurring buys run quietly in the background. For someone who checks in a few times a week rather than all day, nothing here gets in the way.

Single-legged options chain

Robinhood’s mobile options chain features a clean, simplified layout, with percent breakeven shown by default for each contract. While this may appeal to short-term traders, it lacks key metrics, like the Greeks or probability of profit, that serious options traders often rely on. It’s a sleek experience, but one that leans more toward speculation than in-depth strategy analysis.

Where E*TRADE's app wins

E*TRADE puts real stock research in your hand. Pull up a company and you get Morgan Stanley reports built for a phone screen, scannable rather than buried in a PDF, plus analyst targets and earnings analysis. Serious traders also get the dedicated Power E*TRADE app, where the charts they built on desktop carry over. The flagship app's own options chain is basic, so options traders will want that second app.

Power ETRADE mobile app QQQ stock chart candlesticks

Power E*TRADE’s mobile app delivers advanced charting tools designed for active traders on the go. This customized view shows a candlestick chart with 13, 26, and 40-week moving averages applied. The platform makes it easy to personalize technical charts and monitor market momentum from your phone.

Verdict

Best for simple, everyday investing: Robinhood.

Best for research and active trading on the go: E*TRADE.

Robinhood is the smoother daily driver. E*TRADE gives you more to dig into, especially if you research stocks or want a true active-trader app.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Mobile Trading Apps 4.5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars

E*TRADE vs Robinhood: trading platforms and tools

E*TRADE gives you Power E*TRADE on the web plus a Power E*TRADE Pro desktop platform. Robinhood gives you its website and Robinhood Legend, a browser-based active trader platform. Neither offers backtesting, but the rest of the toolset splits sharply.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Active Trading Platform Power E*TRADE Robinhood Legend
Desktop Trading Platform Yes No
Web Trading Platform Yes Yes
Desktop Platform (Mac) Yes No
Paper Trading Yes No
Watchlists - Total Fields 43 34
Charting - Indicators / Studies 121 90
Charting - Drawing Tools 37 26
Charting - Adjust Trades on Chart Yes Yes
Charting - Custom Studies No No
Ladder Trading No Yes
Level 2 Quotes - Stocks Yes Yes
Trade Hot Keys Yes Yes
Trade Ticket - Margin Impact Yes Yes
Trade Ticket - Tax Lot Selection Yes Yes

Where E*TRADE wins

E*TRADE is the better options platform, and it isn't close. On Power E*TRADE I built a bull call spread straight off the chain by clicking an ask and a bid, with the bid and ask shown for each leg and a snapshot analysis laying out max profit, loss, and breakeven. The tool suite goes further with an income backtester and a strategy optimizer that suggests trades to match your outlook. E*TRADE also brings paper trading, Level 2 quotes, conditional orders, and short selling, none of which Robinhood offers.

Power etrade options order ticket

Power E*TRADE’s snapshot analysis makes options trading more approachable by visually mapping out key outcomes like max gain, max loss, and breakeven. In this example of purchasing a long call, the platform uses intuitive smiley face icons to highlight these critical points, adding a touch of fun to a typically complex strategy. It’s a great way to help traders quickly grasp potential risk and reward.

Where Robinhood wins

Robinhood Legend is the cleaner, more approachable canvas. Its drawings snap to exact prices, while E*TRADE's drawing tools fought me and wouldn't lock to a level. Legend is lighter to set up and quicker to move around, so if your day is mostly reading charts rather than building spreads, it's the nicer place to work.

Robinhood Legend active trading platform

Robinhood Legend is arguably one of the best-looking active trading platforms on the market, with a sleek, modern interface that’s a pleasure to use. However, that clean design comes with trade-offs: some advanced tools and features are missing compared to more robust platforms. It’s a great experience for visual clarity and ease of use, but power traders may find themselves wanting more.

Verdict

Best for options and active traders: E*TRADE.

Best for clean, chart-first simplicity: Robinhood.

If you trade options or want paper trading and conditional orders, E*TRADE is the real toolkit. If you mostly chart and want it smooth, Legend wins on feel.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Advanced Trading 4/5 Stars 3/5 Stars

Robinhood vs E*TRADE: research

This is the widest gap between them. E*TRADE carries institutional-grade research from Morgan Stanley, while Robinhood keeps things light and readable. We checked both feature by feature below.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Research - Stocks Yes Yes
Screener - Stocks Yes Yes
Research - ETFs Yes Yes
Screener - ETFs Yes No
Research - Mutual Funds Yes No
Screener - Mutual Funds Yes No
Research - Fixed Income Yes No
Screener - Fixed Income Yes No
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB Yes Yes
Options Chains - IV Yes Yes
Option Chains - Total Greeks 5 5
Strategy Net Greeks Yes No
Options - Strategy Builder Yes Yes

Where E*TRADE wins

E*TRADE gives you depth almost everywhere. Pull up a stock and you get six analyst reports, including Morgan Stanley research designed to be scanned rather than downloaded. Its sector tool plots valuation and growth metrics across all 12 sectors against the S&P 500, and the mutual fund and fixed income research are among the best I test. There's also a full options tool suite with a probability calculator and income finder.

E*TRADE website US market statistics page

E*TRADE’s market breadth tool offers a clear snapshot of advancers and decliners across the Nasdaq and NYSE, helping traders gauge overall market strength. With visual breakdowns of new highs and lows, plus exchange volume metrics, it’s a powerful data visualization tool for understanding market momentum at a glance.

Where Robinhood wins

Robinhood is the better quick read. Its in-house Investor's Guild and AI digests explain why something moved in plain language, where E*TRADE shows you more data than a casual investor needs. If you want a fast, human take rather than a research terminal, Robinhood gets you there with less effort.

Analyst ratings of AAPL

Robinhood’s research tools present analyst ratings in a clean, visually appealing format, shown here with the buy, hold, and sell breakdown for Apple. The platform also includes concise “bulls vs. bears” commentary, giving investors a quick snapshot of both sides of the debate. While this type of data is common across brokerages, Robinhood’s design makes it especially easy to digest at a glance.

Verdict

Best for deep research and screening: E*TRADE.

Best for a readable market take: Robinhood.

The contrast is stark on data. E*TRADE has mutual fund and bond research, sector analysis, and full screeners. Robinhood still can't show you an economic calendar.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Research 4.5/5 Stars 2.5/5 Stars

E*TRADE vs Robinhood: education

These two stumble in opposite ways. E*TRADE has more material, with strong webinars, excellent fixed income content, a top-notch tax center, and detailed retirement tools. The problem is finding any of it. Its library is sprawling and poorly ordered, and I had to search for almost everything, which would overwhelm a true beginner. Robinhood is the reverse. It offers no courses, webinars, or calculators, but what it writes is the clearest in the business, sequenced so a new investor moves from one idea to the next without getting lost.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Education (Stocks) Yes Yes
Education (ETFs) Yes Yes
Education (Options) Yes Yes
Education (Mutual Funds) Yes No
Education (Fixed Income) Yes Yes
Videos Yes Yes
Webinars Yes No

Verdict

Best for clear beginner reading: Robinhood.

Best for webinars and retirement and tax planning: E*TRADE.

If you're starting from zero and want to read your way up, Robinhood's writing is easier to follow. If you want live webinars and serious planning tools, E*TRADE has the deeper shelf, as long as you're willing to hunt for it.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Education 4/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars

E*TRADE and Robinhood: accounts and banking

E*TRADE is a bank as well as a broker, with FDIC-insured checking and savings, CDs, mortgages, and a debit and credit card sitting alongside the brokerage. Robinhood has no FDIC banking, no checking or savings, and no CDs. It offers a debit card and a cash-back credit card, plus an IRA match that vests like an employer 401(k) match. E*TRADE also opens the account types Robinhood skips, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, custodial accounts, trusts, and business accounts, which matters once your financial life grows past a single brokerage account.

Verdict

Best for banking and a full account lineup: E*TRADE.

Best for the IRA match and a simple card: Robinhood.

Final thoughts: Robinhood vs E*TRADE

For most investors, E*TRADE is the one I'd recommend. Its Power E*TRADE platform earned our #1 Active Trading Web Platform award this year, which tracks with how easily I built and analyzed an options spread on it. Add in Morgan Stanley research, mutual funds and bonds, a full account lineup, and a bank under the same roof, E*TRADE can handle a diverse portfolio of assets. If you trade options, research seriously, or want one place for your whole financial life, that's where I'd send you.

Robinhood still earns its place. It's cheaper for active trading, it's the only one of the two with crypto, and it took our #1 Prediction Markets award this year. Its app is simpler and its writing is clearer than anything in E*TRADE's library. If you trade with one eye on cost, want crypto in the mix, or just want an app you can understand in a minute, Robinhood is the better alternative.

Jessica's take

"E*TRADE has incredibly useful research, and it scores really high on the usefulness scale, which is hard to do in my world. Robinhood is the opposite. Outside of major news and the indices, I couldn't get much information on the markets. One is a research engine, the other isn't."

Jessica Inskip
Director of Investor Research

jessica_inskip_170.png

Overall verdict

Best for most investors: E*TRADE.

Best for low-cost trading, crypto, and simplicity: Robinhood.

Feature E*TRADE logoE*TRADE
Robinhood logoRobinhood
Overall 4.5/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars
Range of Investments 4.5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Mobile Trading Apps 4.5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Advanced Trading 4/5 Stars 3/5 Stars
Research 4.5/5 Stars 2.5/5 Stars
Education 4/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars
Ease of Use 4/5 Stars 4/5 Stars

Frequently asked questions

Is E*TRADE or Robinhood better for beginners?

It depends on the kind of beginner. Robinhood's app and writing are simpler, so the first weeks feel friendlier. E*TRADE gives a beginner more room to grow, with banking, mutual funds, and every account type, though its education takes more digging. I'd start a hands-off beginner at Robinhood and a build-everything beginner at E*TRADE.

Does Robinhood or E*TRADE have lower fees?

Robinhood, for active traders. Options are $0 versus $0.65 at E*TRADE, and margin starts at 5.75% against roughly 13%. E*TRADE counters for fund investors, with $0 mutual fund and Treasury trades and cheaper account transfers.

Is E*TRADE or Robinhood better for options trading?

E*TRADE, on tools. Power E*TRADE makes multi-leg trades easy and adds an income backtester and strategy optimizer. Robinhood wins purely on price with $0 contracts, but its chain hides per-leg detail, so spread traders will prefer E*TRADE.

Does Robinhood or E*TRADE offer crypto?

Only Robinhood offers direct crypto trading, with 22 coins. E*TRADE doesn't sell cryptocurrency directly, though it offers crypto-themed ETFs and far more traditional assets, including futures.

Can I buy mutual funds or bonds at Robinhood?

No. Robinhood doesn't offer mutual funds or direct bond trading, so fixed income there only comes through ETFs. E*TRADE trades both, with $0 mutual fund trades and a deep bond and CD resource center.

Which has the better app, Robinhood or E*TRADE?

It depends on what you want from it. Robinhood's single app is simpler and smoother for everyday investing. E*TRADE offers deeper stock research on its flagship app plus a dedicated Power E*TRADE app for active traders. Pick Robinhood for ease, E*TRADE for depth.

Our testing

Why you should trust us

Jessica Inskip is Director of Investor Research at StockBrokers.com, bringing 15 years of experience in brokerage and trading strategy. A former FINRA-licensed rep, she held Series 7, 63, 66, and 4 licenses. Jessica focuses on investor education and brokerage industry research, appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg, The Schwab Network, Fox Business, and Yahoo! Finance, and hosts the Market MakeHer podcast.

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 thousands 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, research, education, and more.

At StockBrokers.com, our reviewers use a variety of computing devices to evaluate platforms and tools. Our reviews and data collection were conducted using the following devices chosen to reflect the everyday hardware our readers are likely to be using rather than top-tier configurations: iPhone SE running the latest iOS version, MacBook Pro M1 with 8 GB RAM running the current MacOS, and a Dell Vostro 5402 laptop i5 with 8 GB RAM running Windows 11 Pro.

Each broker was evaluated and scored on over 200 different variables across seven key categories: Range of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Research, Mobile Trading, Education, Ease of Use, and Overall. Learn more about how we test.

Trading platforms tested

We tested 14 online trading platforms for this guide:

Read next

Popular trading guides

More trading guides

Popular broker reviews

About the Editorial Team

Jessica Inskip

Jessica Inskip is Director of Investor Research at StockBrokers.com, bringing 15 years of experience in brokerage and trading strategy. A former FINRA-licensed rep, she held Series 7, 63, 66, and 4 licenses. Jessica focuses on investor education and brokerage industry research, appears regularly on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg, and hosts the Market MakeHer podcast.

Jeff Anberg

Jeff Anberg is a Senior Editor at StockBrokers.com. Along with years of experience in media distribution at a global newsroom, Jeff has a versatile knowledge base encompassing the technology and financial markets. He is a long-time active investor and engages in research on emerging markets like cryptocurrency. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature with a minor in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.

Blain Reinkensmeyer

Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.

close