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Merrill Edge vs Robinhood 2019

StockBrokers.com | November 15th, 2019

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  3. Merrill Edge vs Robinhood Review

Is Merrill Edge better than Robinhood? Based on over 4,000 data points from our 2019 annual broker review, Merrill Edge (77.93%) is better than Robinhood (46.99%).

Merrill Edge

Best Rewards Program - Open Account
Special Offer: Invest in a new account and get up to $600.

Merrill Edge ($2.95 per trade) was awarded #1 for Banking Services and #1 Overall Client Experience, thanks to its parent company, Bank of America (BofA). Not limited to just BofA customers, Merrill Edge's Preferred Rewards program is excellent, offering unlimited $0 stock trades among other perks such as bonus rewards on credit cards and discounted mortgage rates.Read full review.

Robinhood

Great Mobile App
Robinhood makes trading simple for beginners by offering an easy-to-use mobile app and $0 stock, options, ETF, and cryptocurrency trades. However, Robinhood makes money by accepting payment for order flow. Furthermore, few trading tools are offered, and there is no phone support. Read full review.

Overall Rating

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Overall 4 2.5
Merrill Edge Review Robinhood Review

Trading Fees

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
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 $0.00
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $19.95 N/A
Broker Assisted Trades Fee $29.95 $0.00
Commissions & Fees 4 4.5
Winner check_circle

Margin Rates

Feature Merrill Edge
Open Account 		Robinhood
Under $24,999.99 10.63% 5.00%
$25,000.00 to $49,999.99 9.50% 5.00%
$50,000.00 to $99,999.99 9.50% 5.00%
$100,000.00 to $249,999.99 8.13% 5.00%
$250,000.00 to $499,999.99 8.13% 5.00%
$500,000.00 to $999,999.99 7.88% 5.00%
Above $1,000,000.00 7.25% 5.00%
Commissions & Fees 4 4.5
Winner check_circle

Account Fees

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
IRA Annual Fee $0.00 $0.00
IRA Closure Fee $49.95 $0.00
Returned ACH Fee $30.00 $9.00
Returned Wire Fee N/A $9.00
Stock Certificate Processing Fee $500.00 N/A
Stock Certificate Delivery Fee N/A N/A
Paper Statement Fee $5.00 $5.00
Paper Confirmation Fee $3.00 $2.00
Domestic Wire Fee $24.95 $25.00
International Wire Fee $24.95 $50.00
Commissions & Fees 4 4.5

Investment Options

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Stock Trading
 Yes Yes
OTCBB / Pink Sheets
 Yes No
Options Trading
 Yes Yes
Complex Options Max Legs
 2 4
Futures Trading
 No No
Forex Trading
 No No
Commission-Free ETFs 0 all
Mutual Funds (No Load)
 2471 0
Mutual Funds (Total)
 3709 0
Bonds (US Treasury)
 Yes No
Bonds (Corporate)
 Yes No
Bonds (Municipal)
 Yes No
Advisor Services
 Yes No
International Trading
 No No
Offering of Investments 3 2
Winner check_circle

Order Types

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Order Type - Market
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Limit
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Stop
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Trailing Stop
 Yes Yes
Order Type - Contingent
 No No
Order Type - MultiContingent
 No No
Order Type - OCO
 No No
Order Type - OTO
 No No
Order Type - OTOCO
 No No
Offering of Investments 3 2
Winner check_circle

Trading Platforms

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Desktop Platform (Windows)
 Yes No
Desktop Platform (Mac)
 Yes No
Web Platform
 Yes Yes
Paper Trading
 No No
Trade Journal
 No No
Watch Lists - Total Fields
 285 7
Heat Mapping
 Yes No
Platforms & Tools 4 1
Winner check_circle

Charting Features

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Charting - Trade Off Chart
 Yes No
Charting - Indicators / Studies
 100 5
Charting - Drawing Tools
 22 0
Charting - Historical Trades
 Yes No
Charting - Corporate Events
 Yes No
Charting - Automated Analysis
 Yes No
Charting - Save Profiles
 Yes No
Charting - Study Customizations
 8 2
Charting - Custom Studies
 No No
Platforms & Tools 4 1
Winner check_circle

Day Trading

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Stock Alerts - Basic Fields
 Yes No
Stock Alerts - Advanced Fields
 Yes No
Streaming Time & Sales
 Yes No
Streaming TV
 No No
Direct Market Routing - Stocks
 No No
Direct Market Routing - Options
 No 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
 Yes No
Short Locator
 No No
Order Liquidity Rebates
 No No
Winner check_circle

Mobile Trading Apps

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
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 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 Merrill Edge Robinhood
Watch List Syncing
Yes Yes
Stock Alerts
 Yes Yes
Charting - After Hours
 Yes Yes
Charting - Drawing
 Yes No
Charting - Study Customizations
Yes No
Heatmapping
 Yes No
Stream Live TV
 No No
Barcode Lookup
 No No
Mobile Trading 4.5 3.5
Winner check_circle

Research Overview

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Research - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Research - ETFs
 Yes Yes
Research - Mutual Funds
 Yes No
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB
 Yes No
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 No
Misc - Portfolio Builder
 Yes No
Misc - Portfolio Allocation
 Yes Yes
Research 4.5 1
Winner check_circle

Stock Research

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Stock Research - Reports
 3 0
Stock Research - Earnings
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - Insiders
 Yes No
Stock Research - Metric Comp
 Yes No
Stock Research - SEC Filings
 Yes No
Stock Research - Social
 No No
Stock Research - Balance Sheet
 Yes No
Stock Research - Cash Flows
 Yes No
Stock Research - News
 Yes Yes
Stock Research - ESG
 Yes No
Research 4.5 1
Winner check_circle

ETF Research

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
ETFs - Strategy Overview
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Top 10 Holdings
 Yes No
ETFs - Sector Exposure
 Yes No
ETFs - Risk Analysis
 Yes No
ETFs - Performance Analysis
 Yes Yes
ETFs - Ratings
 Yes No
ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap
 Yes No
ETFs - Reports
 Yes No
Research 4.5 1
Winner check_circle

Mutual Fund Research

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Mutual Funds - Strategy Overview
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Prospectus
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Reports
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Asset Allocation
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Sector Allocation
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - Country Allocation
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - StyleMap
 Yes No
Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings
 Yes No
Research 4.5 1
Winner check_circle

Options Trading

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Option Chains - Streaming
 Yes No
Option Chains - Total Columns
 69 5
Option Chains - Greeks
5 0
Option Chains - Quick Analysis
 Yes No
Option Analysis - P&L Charts
 Yes No
Option Probability Analysis
 Yes No
Option Probability Analysis Adv
 No No
Option Positions - Greeks
Yes No
Option Positions - Adv Analysis
 Yes No
Option Positions - Rolling
 No No
Option Positions - Grouping
 Yes No
Platforms & Tools 4 1
Winner check_circle

Beginners

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Has Education - Stocks
 Yes Yes
Has Education - ETFs
 Yes No
Has Education - Options
 Yes Yes
Has Education - Mutual Funds
 Yes No
Has Education - Fixed Income
 Yes No
Has Education - Retirement
 Yes No
Paper Trading
 No No
Videos
 Yes No
Webinars (Monthly Avg)
 0 0
Webinars (Archived)
 No No
Live Seminars
 Yes No
Progress Tracking
 No No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes
 Yes No
Investor Magazine
 Yes No
Education 4.5 2
Winner check_circle

Banking

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Retail Locations
 4400 0
Member FDIC
 Yes No
Checking Accounts
 Yes No
Savings Accounts
 Yes No
Credit Cards
 Yes No
Debit Cards
 Yes No
Mortgage Loans
 Yes No
No Fee Banking
 No No
Banking 5 0.5
Winner check_circle

Overall

Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Merrill Edge Review Robinhood Review
Overall 4 2.5
Winner check_circle

The StockBrokers.com annual broker review assesses more than a dozen different brokers over six months, surfacing the best online stock brokers. This review compares Merrill Edge vs Robinhood. Is Merrill Edge or Robinhood a better online broker?

First, we will make a comparison of the stock and option trading fees for trading with both brokers. Merrill Edge charges more than Robinhood for placing regular stock trades ($2.95 and $0, respectively). For options trading, Merrill Edge has a base fee of $2.95, and Robinhood a base fee of $0. Robinhood's per contract rate of $0 is less than Merrill Edge which charges $0.65. Note that some brokers charge a per-share fee instead of a flat-fee commission. For a full breakdown of commissions, read our online broker reviews.

For our next comparison of these two brokers, being able to trade the way you want is a must. Robinhood offers clients Stock Trading and Options Trading while Merrill Edge offers Stock Trading, Options Trading and Mutual Funds. When it comes to mutual funds, Merrill Edge offers its clients access to 3709 different mutual funds while Robinhood has 0 available funds, a difference of 3,709.

Last but not least, by breaking down important features, tools, etc that each broker offers, we can really help to separate the two. Neither broker offers virtual trading. For mobile trading, Merrill Edge and Robinhood both have a iPhone App, iPad App and Android App. Furthermore, some investors like to bank online, and multiple brokerages provide these services to clients. Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Debit Cards, Credit Cards and Mortgage Loans are offered by Merrill Edge while Robinhood offers none of these.

Overall, between Merrill Edge and Robinhood, Merrill Edge is the winner.

Merrill Edge Review
Robinhood 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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