Interactive Brokers – Best for free stock trading
Interactive Brokers is aggressively courting novice and everyday investors. The firm has long been known for its attractive pricing, international reach, and pro-quality tools — specifically, its Trader Workstation desktop application. Now it’s rolling out features and apps intended for the rest of us. There are two novice-friendly mobile apps, an easily navigated web portal, paper trading, and fractional shares. My big gripe is restrictive trading permissions for leveraged ETFs, but if you don’t trade them, don’t worry about it. Read our full review of Interactive Brokers.
TD Ameritrade - A trader paradise
Now in the midst of being taken over by its corporate parent Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade’s crown jewel is its trader-focused thinkorswim platforms, available on mobile, browser, and desktop app. Quite a few brokers do beginning investor education well, but TDA has content that goes into the sort of nitty-gritty detail that advanced traders crave. The desktop application has a learning curve, but less so than Interactive Brokers’ Trader Workstation. Good news for current thinkorswim users and Schwab customers: the thinkorswim platform will be available at Schwab. Read our full review of TD Ameritrade.
Fidelity – Doesn’t accept payment for order flow
Fidelity took top honors overall in the 2023 Annual Stockbroker Review because it does almost everything and does it well. That includes free stock trading. Few companies offer the bucketloads of free research clients get from the Big Green Machine. Fido is also the only broker we reviewed that refuses payment for order flow (PFOF), which should provide better executions for clients. Though PFOF accounts for only a few pennies per trade, we think the principle of putting clients first matters. One potential downside for active traders on the go is the lack of a dedicated trading app. Read our full review of Fidelity.
Merrill Edge - Best user experience
If you’re less interested in shaving nanoseconds off your trading workflow and much more interested in getting to know the companies you’re considering investing in and how they fit in your portfolio, Merrill Edge is our top recommendation. They present risks and upside in the exact thoughtful way I, as a former wealth manager, would present them to my clients. The rich, colorful client experience sometimes comes at the cost of slow page load times, but we think the occasional wait is worth it. The proprietary Bank of America Securities research is often deeper than the generic third-party research licensed by other brokers. Read our full review of Merrill Edge.
E*TRADE - Proprietary research, dedicated trading app
E*TRADE offers both a standard investing experience and one geared to casual traders. Its Power E*TRADE-branded app and web-based trading platform cater to casual traders and maintain a balance between offering valuable features without being bombarded by too much information. Though many clients might not bother to read the proprietary Morgan Stanley research (Morgan Stanley owns E*TRADE), it might be one of E*TRADE’s best features. Bonus: E*TRADE has no fee mutual fund trading. Read our full review of E*TRADE.
Other brokers tested
In addition to our top five trading platforms for free stock trading in 2023, we reviewed 12 others: Ally Invest, Charles Schwab, eToro, Firstrade, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, Robinhood, SoFi Invest, tastytrade, TradeStation, Tradier, Vanguard and Webull. To dive deeper, read our reviews.
Trading fees comparison
Using our online brokerage comparison tool, here's a comparison of the trading and account fees for the best free trading platforms.
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Feature |
 Fidelity
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 TD Ameritrade
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 E*TRADE
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 Merrill Edge
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 Interactive Brokers
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Minimum Deposit
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
|
|
Stock Trades
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
|
|
ETF Trade Fee
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
|
|
Mutual Fund Trade Fee
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$49.95
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Varies
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$0.00
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$19.95
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$14.95
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Options (Base Fee)
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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$0.00
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Options (Per Contract)
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$0.65
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$0.65
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$0.65
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$0.65
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$0.65
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Futures (Per Contract)
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(Not offered)
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$2.25
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$1.50
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(Not offered)
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$0.85
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Broker Assisted Trade Fee
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$32.95
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$25
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$25
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$29.95
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$30
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Visit Site
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What is commission-free trading?
Commission-free trading means the broker does not charge a fee for buying or selling a stock or exchange-traded fund (ETF). Brokers have other ways of making money, though. Most free stockbrokers make money via a practice called payment for order flow, or PFOF, a hidden fee that generates over $1 billion each year in revenue for the industry.
Can you trade stocks for free?
Yes, you can now trade stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for free with most online brokers. Brokers are competing hard for your investing dollars. A pricing war in 2019 led to full-service brokerages cutting their commissions to $0 to compete with free trading platforms such as Robinhood. Don’t worry about them making money, though: Instead of charging commissions, almost all accept payment for order flow (PFOF), loan money and securities, earn interest on idle cash balances, and charge incidental fees.
How can I trade without fees?
It’s not difficult to trade fee-free. In our analysis, we conducted comprehensive tests on 17 online brokers, all of whom offer “free” stock and ETF trades. By free, they mean that they don’t charge any cost per share to trade. Brokers do pass along some trade fees charged by regulatory bodies and exchanges, but they are almost always miniscule and measured by fractions of a cent per share. Brokers may charge fees for other products and services, such as trading options, mutual funds, robo-advising, or transferring your money in or out. Some brokers also charge for penny stocks. Confused? We assess those costs in our reviews, guides, and comparisons.
Are trading platforms free?
Yes, trading platforms with features once only available to investing professionals are now offered to investors for free. Most of the online brokers that cater to individual investors make their trading platforms available for free simply by opening an account. There’s rarely a minimum investment required, which means you can have a zero balance and still use many of the broker’s tools. You may even be able to test-drive the trading platform with paper trading, which allows you to practice trading with pretend money.
What is the best free trading platform?
What are the best free stock trading apps?
Most online brokers now offer commission-free stock trading. In our 2023 Annual Review, the brokers with the best trading apps are:
- TD Ameritrade - 5 stars - Best overall
- Interactive Brokers - 5 stars - Best specialty apps
- E*TRADE - 5 stars - Best stock app for traders
- Fidelity - 5 stars - Best novice app
- Merrill Edge - 5 stars - Best banking and research
How do brokers make money on commission-free trades?
For startup brokers such as Robinhood and Webull, payment for order flow (PFOF) is the primary way of making money. With larger full-service brokers such as Fidelity and Schwab, the largest revenue source comes from sweeping the idle cash sitting in customer accounts into subsidiary banks each night. They also loan money to margin investors and charge incidental fees. Brokers also hope to upsell their commission-free stock investors into advisory services or other managed products.
StockBrokers.com 2023 Overall Ranking
Here are the Overall rankings for the 17 online brokers whose offerings we analyze and test, sorted by Overall ranking.
Read Next
Explore our other online trading guides:
Methodology
For the StockBrokers.com 13th Annual Review published in January 2023, a total of 3,332 data points were collected over three months and used to score 17 top brokers. This makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry.
In order to assess the overall trading experience, we test across a wide range of devices and operating systems.
Mobile testing was done on devices for both Apple and Android operating systems. For Apple: iPhone 12 Pro with the most current iOS. For Android: Samsung Galaxy S9+, 6.2" 4K Super AMOLED (2960x1440) 64-bit Octa-Core Snapdragon 835 Processor 2.7GHz, 6GB RAM 6.2" with the most current operating system.
For this guide to the best brokers for free stock trading, our research team looked closely at all costs incurred by investors, including payment for order flow and miscellaneous account fees; and rigorously tested key features such as platform usability, app ease of use, educational resources and market research. In all, we tested more than 100 features. All research, writing and data collection at StockBrokers.com is done by humans, for humans. Read our generative AI policy here.
As part of our annual review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy. Brokers also were offered the opportunity to provide executive time for an annual update meeting.
Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.
About the Editorial Team
Sam Levine, CFA, CMT
Sam Levine has over 30 years of experience in the investing field as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and writer. He also taught investing as an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University. Sam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Market Technician designations and is pursuing a master's in personal financial planning at the College for Financial Planning. Previously, he was a contributing editor at BetterInvesting Magazine and a contributor to The Penny Hoarder and other media outlets.
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.
Carolyn Kimball
Carolyn Kimball is managing editor for Reink Media and the lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.
Steven Hatzakis
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
1 Fidelity Sell orders are subject to an activity assessment fee from $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal. Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk. Before trading options, please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. Supporting documentation for any claims, if applicable, will be furnished upon request.
E*TRADE: *Other fees apply.
*Webull Disclaimer View Disclaimer.
tastytrade, Inc. (“tastytrade”) has entered into a Marketing Agreement with Marketing Agent (“Marketing Agent”) whereby tastytrade pays compensation to Marketing Agent to recommend tastytrade’s brokerage services. The existence of this Marketing Agreement should not be deemed as an endorsement or recommendation of Marketing Agent by tastytrade and/or any of its affiliated companies. Neither tastytrade nor any of its affiliated companies is responsible for the privacy practices of Marketing Agent or this website. tastytrade does not warrant the accuracy or content of the products or services offered by Marketing Agent or this website. Marketing Agent is independent and is not an affiliate of tastytrade.
tastytrade was previously known as tastyworks, Inc.
Reink Media Group is compensated if you access certain of the products or services offered by eToro USA LLC and/or eToro USA Securities Inc. Any testimonials contained in this communication may not be representative of the experience of other eToro customers and such testimonials are not guarantees of future performance or success.
TD Ameritrade
Fidelity
Merrill Edge
E*TRADE
TradeStation
Interactive Brokers
Charles Schwab
eToro
Charles Schwab
https://count.schwab.com/1/d/c.gif?aqet=imp&img=true&adv=CharlesSchwab&ag=UM&ch=Native&pl=354808537
Firstrade
Webull
Ally Invest
Robinhood
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing
tastytrade
TradeStation
Tradier
eToro
Vanguard
SoFi Invest
