Commission Notes

With Schwab as your online broker, what you see is what you get. Charles Schwab applies a simplified flat-fee based commissions structure with few catches or fine print notes. There are no limits on total trade size or price, and the site simply let's investors know that if they are trading positions of over 10,000 shares or $500,000 that they may be eligible for a special handling and/or pricing.

Stock Trades - All online trades are a flat $4.95. Our research found no additional fees or charges for trading stocks under $1 or trading during pre and post market hours

If using the Schwab automated phone system to place a trade, a $5 fee will be added to the order. There is a $25 additional fee for broker assisted trades.

Options Trades - Options trades are $4.95 + $0.65 per contract.

Mutual Funds - All transaction fee mutual funds cost $49.95 per trade. Note, unlike most brokers, Charles Schwab alongside Fidelity only charge for the original purchase. There is no additional charge for selling.

For investors seeking No Transaction Fee (NTF) funds, Schwab offers clients access to its OneSource Funds. OneSource funds are NTF, No Load (NL) funds selected based on a variety of factors, the biggest being past performance.

Trade Commissions Breakdown

Feature	Value
Minimum Deposit	$0.00
Stock Trade Fee (per trade)	$4.95
Stock Trade Fee (per share)	N/A
Options Base Fee	$4.95
Options Per Contract Fee	$0.65
Options Exercise Fee	$4.95
Options Assignment Fee	$4.95
Mutual Fund Trade Fee	$49.95
Broker Assisted Trades Fee	$25.00

Margin Rates

Feature	Value
Margin Rate Under $24,999.99	9.58%
Margin Rate $25,000.00 to $49,999.99	9.08%
Margin Rate $50,000.00 to $99,999.99	8.13%
Margin Rate $100,000.00 to $249,999.99	8.08%
Margin Rate $250,000.00 to $499,999.99	7.83%
Margin Rate $500,000.00 to $999,999.99	6.58%
Margin Rate Above $1,000,000.00	6.25%

Miscellaneous Fees

Feature	Value
Bond Trade Fee	$1.00
Treasury Trade Fee	Varies
IRA Annual Fee	$0.00
IRA Closure Fee	$50.00
Returned ACH Fee	$25.00
Returned Wire Fee	$25.00
Stock Certificate Processing Fee	$100.00
Stock Certificate Delivery Fee	N/A
Paper Statement Fee	$0.00
Paper Confirmation Fee	$0.00
Domestic Wire Fee	$25.00
International Wire Fee	$25.00

Account Features

Offering of Investments

Feature	Value	Definition
Advisor Services	Yes	Offers formal investment advisory services.
Bonds (Corporate)	Yes	Offers corporate bonds.
Bonds (Municipal)	Yes	Offers municipal bonds.
Bonds (US Treasury)	Yes	Offers US treasury bonds.
CDs	Yes	Offers certificates of deposit (CDs).
Clearing Firm	Self-clearing	The broker's clearing firm.
Commission-Free ETFs	503	Total number of commission free ETFs offered.
Direct Market Routing - Stocks	Yes	Ability to route stock orders directly to a specific exchange designated by the client.
Direct Market Routing - Options	No	Ability to route option orders directly to a specific exchange designated by the client.
DRIPs	Yes	Offers dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs).
Forex Trading	No	Offers forex trading.
Futures Trading	Yes	Offers futures trading.
Member FINRA	Yes	Member of FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) - finra.org.
Member SIPC	Yes	Member of SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) - sipc.org.
Mutual Funds	Yes	Offers mutual funds trading.
Mutual Funds (No Load)	5846	Total number of No Load mutual funds offered.
Mutual Funds (NTF)	3422	Total number of No Transaction Fee (NTF) mutual funds offered.
Mutual Funds (Total)	5846	Total number of mutual funds offered.
Mutual Funds Phone Trades	Yes	Can place mutual fund trades via phone.
Mutual Funds Web Trades	Yes	Can place mutual fund trades via the website or platform.
No Fee IRAs	Yes	Offers no fee IRAs. Requirement: no annual maintenance fee.
No Inactivity Fees	Yes	Charges no yearly inactivity fee for not placing a trade or not actively engaging in the account.
Options Exercising (Web)	No	Exercise an option via the website or platform.
Options Exercising (Phone)	Yes	Exercise an option via phone.
Options Trading	Yes	Offers options trading.
Options Trading (Weekly)	Yes	Offers weekly options.
OTCBB / Pink Sheets	Yes	Offers OTCBB / Pink Sheet stocks trading.
Stock Trading	Yes	Offers stock trading.
International Trading	Yes	Provides customers the ability to purchase shares of stock that trade on exchanges located outside of the United States. If you live overseas, please use this tool - https://www.stockbrokers.com/guides/internationaltrading.

Customer Service

Feature	Value	Definition
Phone Support	Yes	Offers phone support.
Email Support	Yes	Email support for clients.
Live Chat (Current Clients)	Yes	Live chat support for current clients.
Live Chat (Prospect Clients)	No	Live chat support for prospective clients.
24/7 Support	Yes	Is customer service offered 24 hours, 7 days a week?

Platforms & Tools

Feature	Value	Definition
Desktop Platform (Windows)	Yes	A downloadable, windows based desktop trading platform.
Desktop Platform (Mac)	Yes	A downloadable, Mac based desktop trading platform.
Web Platform	Yes	Offers a web (browser) based trading platform. Broker website does NOT count.
Active Trading Platform	StreetSmart Edge	The flagship trading platform.
Two-Factor Authentication Login	Yes	Offers two-factor authentication (e.g. mobile code, security fob token generator, email code, or similar) Applies to WEBSITE client area login. Mobile apps (eg Touch ID) do NOT count.
Charting - Corporate Events	Yes	Can show or hide multiple corporate events on a stock chart. Examples: dividends, earnings, splits, news.
Charting - Historical Trades	No	The ability to see past buy and sells, typically marked with a buy or sell symbol, on the stock chart.
Charting - Indicators / Studies	41	The total number of indicators / studies available to be included on a stock chart. Examples: SMA, MACD, RSI.
Charting - Drawing Tools	15	The number of drawing tools available for analyzing a stock chart. Examples include: pointer, trendline, arrow, note.
Charting - Automated Analysis	Yes	Can show or hide automated technical analysis (patterns) on a chart. Service provider example: Recognia.
Charting - Trade Off Chart	Yes	The ability to pre-populate or execute a trade from the chart. Most commonly this is done by right clicking on the chart and selecting an order. Linking the user from the chart to an empty (non pre-populated) order form does NOT count.
Charting - Notes	Yes	Add notes to any stock chart.
Heat Mapping	Yes	Colored heat map view of a watch list, portfolio, or market index. Heat maps are a visual tool used to view gainers and losers.
Ladder Trading	No	A ladder tool provides active trading clients the ability to one click buy and sell equities off a real-time streaming window of fanned bids and asks.
Level 2 Quotes - Stocks	Yes	Level II stock quotes available.
Level 2 Quotes - Options	Yes	Level II options quotes available.
Option Chains - Streaming	Yes	Option chains with streaming real-time data.
Option Chains - Total Columns	41	Option chains total available columns for display. Duplicates do not count.
Option Chains - Greeks	5	When viewing an option chain, the total number of greeks that are available to be viewed as optional columns. Greeks = delta, gamma, theta, vega, rho.
Option Chains - Quick Analysis	Yes	The ability to jump straight from the option chain to a P&L chart or probability chart for deeper analysis. Viewing a summary P&L within the chain itself also qualifies.
Option Analysis - P&L Charts	Yes	When analyzing a theoretical option trade, a P&L chart is available.
Option Probability Analysis	Yes	A basic probability calculator.
Option Probability Analysis Adv	Yes	A tool to analyze a hypothetical option position. Displays a probability histogram / chart with optional customizations.
Option Positions - Greeks	Yes	View at least two different greeks for a currently open option position.
Option Positions - Greeks Streaming	Yes	View at least two different greeks for a currently open option position and have their values stream with real-time data.
Option Positions - Adv Analysis	Yes	Ability to analyze an active option position and change at least two of the three following conditions - date, stock price, volatility - and assess what happens to the value of the position.
Option Positions - Rolling	Yes	Ability to pre-populate a trade ticket and seamlessly roll an option position to the next relative expiration.
Option Positions - Grouping	Yes	Ability to group current option positions by the underlying strategy: covered call, vertical, etc. Can be done manually by user or automatically by the platform.
Short Locator	No	Tool that allows customers to view the current real-time availability of shares available to short by security.
Stock Alerts Delivery - Email	Yes	Stock alert optional delivery method: email.
Stock Alerts Delivery - Sound	Yes	Stock alert optional delivery method: sound.
Streaming Time & Sales	Yes	Streaming time & sales for any equity viewable.
Streaming TV	Yes	Offers live TV. Examples - CNBC, Bloomberg.
Trade Hot Keys	Yes	Ability to designate keyboard hotkeys for on the fly trading.
Trade Journal	Yes	Provides a trade journal for writing notes. All entries are dated, titled, and may be tagged with a specific stock ticker. Adding text notes to individual stock charts does NOT count.
Paper Trading	No	Offers the ability to use a paper (practice) portfolio to place trades.
Watch Lists - Streaming	Yes	Site or platform (only one needed) watch lists stream real-time quote data.
Watch Lists - Total Fields	108	Total available fields when viewing a watch list. Examples: price, symbol, bid, ask, volume.

Research

Feature	Value	Definition
Research - Stocks	Yes	Offers stock research. Full quote and research results must be available for 4 of the 5 following tickers: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google.
Research - ETFs	Yes	Offers ETFs research. Full quote and research results must be available for 4 of the 5 following tickers: SPY, GLD, OIH, QID, FAZ.
Research - Mutual Funds	Yes	Offers mutual funds research. Full quote and research results must be available for 2 of the 3 following tickers: VTSAX, FCNTX, CAIBX.
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB	Yes	Offers pink sheet / OTCBB research. Full quote and research results must be available for 2 of the 3 following tickers: FNMA, IMBBY, NENE.
Research - Fixed Income	Yes	Offers fixed income research. Full quote and research results must be available for fixed income securities such as individual US Treasuries.
Research - Futures	Yes	Offers futures research. Full quote details must be available for 2 of the 3 following contracts: S&P 500 E-Mini, 10-Year T-Note, Crude Oil WTI.
Research - Forex	No	Offers forex research. Full quote details must be available for 2 of the 3 following pairs: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD.
Misc - Global Markets Overview	Yes	A featured quote summary of worldwide indices. Interactive chart optional. Must be via website or platform, mobile excluded as separate category.
Misc - Portfolio Allocation	Yes	Displays a pie graph or bullet list breakdown of the client's current portfolio including % allocations. Examples: domestic equities, foreign equities, bonds, cash, fixed income.
Misc - Portfolio Builder	Yes	A tool that asks hypothetical risk tolerance questions then assists clients with building a diversified portfolio of ETFs based on their answers.
Stock Research - Earnings	Yes	View analysis of past earnings. At least one chart / graph required. Examples: Consensus vs actual data, EPS growth, sales growth.
Stock Research - Insiders	Yes	View a list of recent insider transactions.
Stock Research - Metric Comp	Yes	View a multi-column table comparing fundamental and/or technical data of at least two stocks side by side. Note - Stocks included must be customizable, ie AAPL, BABA, DIS.
Stock Research - SEC Filings	Yes	View a list of recent SEC filings.
Stock Research - Social	Yes	View social sentiment analysis, eg twitter analysis (NOT just a stream of recent tweets), for individual equities.
Stock Research - ESG	No	Provides Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) criteria scores.
Stock Research - Reports	8	Total number of downloadable PDF research report providers available for equities research (using symbol AAPL). Examples: S&P Capital IQ, Thomson Reuters, Ned Davis Research.
ETFs - Performance Analysis	Yes	The ability to view historical performance.
ETFs - Top 10 Holdings	Yes	A list of the ETF's top 10 holdings.
ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap	Yes	The infamous Morningstar Equity StyleMap which visually marks the ETF's investment strategy in one of nine boxes.
ETFs - Ratings	Yes	Are third party ratings available for the ETF SPY? Examples: Morningstar, Lippers.
ETFs - Reports	Yes	Are downloadable research reports available for the ETF SPY? Examples: Morningstar, S&P Capital IQ.
Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown	Yes	A clear breakdown of the fund's fees beyond just the expense ratio. 12b-1, minimum investment, total fees estimate, all examples of a detailed breakdown.
Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings	Yes	A list of the fund's top 10 holdings.
Mutual Funds - Performance Analysis	Yes	The ability to view multi-year historical performance.
Mutual Funds - Prospectus	Yes	Access to the fund's prospectus in PDF format.
Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings	Yes	Are 3rd party ratings available for the fund VTSMX? Examples: Morningstar, Lippers.
Mutual Funds - Reports	Yes	Are downloadable research reports available for the fund VTSMX? Examples: Morningstar, S&P Capital IQ.
Screener - Stocks	Yes	Offers a equities screener.
Screener - ETFs	Yes	Offers a ETF screener.
Screener - Mutual Funds	Yes	Offers a mutual fund screener.
Screener - Options	Yes	Offers a options screener. Commonly referred to as a spread creation tool or similar.
Screener - Bonds	Yes	Offers a bond screener. **Note - ETF bond screeners do NOT count.

Education

Feature	Value	Definition
Has Education - Stocks	Yes	Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being stocks. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Has Education - ETFs	Yes	Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being ETFs. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Has Education - Options	Yes	Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being options. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Has Education - Mutual Funds	Yes	Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being mutual funds. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Has Education - Fixed Income	Yes	Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being fixed income. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Has Education - Retirement	Yes	Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being retirement. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Investor Dictionary	Yes	An online dictionary of at least 50 investing terms.
Webinars (Monthly Avg)	50	Total educational client webinars hosted, on average, each month.
Webinars (Archived)	Yes	Provides an archived area to search and watch previously recorded client webinars.
Live Seminars	Yes	Provides at least 10 live, face-to-face educational seminars for clients each year. Must be delivered by a broker staff member.
Videos	Yes	Are educational videos available? At least 10. A video is a short clip, typically several minutes in duration, that explains a trading concept, term, or strategy. Archived webinars and platform demos do NOT count.
Retirement Calculator	Yes	Offers a retirement calculator.
Progress Tracking	No	Clients can track their progress and see which articles and/or videos they've completed to date.
Interactive Learning - Quizzes	No	Quizzes offered within the education center. Must include multiple questions and score results. Example service provider - Morningstar, InvestingTeacher.com

Mobile Trading

Feature	Value	Definition
iPhone App	Yes	Offers a downloadable iPhone app through the iOS app store.
Apple Watch App	Yes	Offers a downloadable Apple Watch app through the iOS app store.
Android App	Yes	An Android smartphone app available in the Google Play store.
Touch / Face ID	Yes	Offers optional Touch ID security (fingerprint verification) for iOS mobile app. Account login most common integration.
Account Transfers	Yes	Ability to perform ACH deposits and withdrawals from the mobile App.
Quotes (Real-time)	Yes	Mobile app offers real-time quote data.
Quotes (Streaming)	No	Mobile app offers streaming (or auto refreshing) real-time stock quote results. More specifically, the quote screen must auto-refresh at least once every three seconds.
Watch List (Real-time)	Yes	Watch list in mobile app uses real-time quotes.
Watch List (Streaming)	No	Watch list in mobile app uses streaming real-time quotes. More specifically, the watch-list must auto-refresh at least once every three seconds.
Watch List Syncing	Yes	Watch list in mobile app syncs with client's online account. Updates made in the mobile app migrate to the online account and vice versa.
Market Movers (Top Gainers)	Yes	Stocks top gainers list viewable in the mobile app.
Custom Screening / Scanning	No	Mobile app supports custom screening for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and/or options. Must be customizable filters, not just predefined searches.
Charting - Stock Comparisons	Yes	Display multiple stock charts at once for performance comparison in the mobile app.
Charting - Drawing	No	Can markup stock charts using the mobile app. Examples include: trendlines, arrows, notes.
Charting - Technical Studies	32	How many technical studies / indicators are available to add to a stock chart in the mobile app.
Charting - After Hours	No	Stock charts in mobile app display after hours trade activity.
Stock Alerts - Basic Fields	No	Set basic stocks alerts in the mobile app. Examples: price alerts, volume alerts.
Stock Alerts - Advanced Fields	No	Set advanced stocks alerts in the mobile app. All studies (SMA, MACD, RSI, etc) are considered advanced fields.
Stock Alerts Delivery - Push Notifications	No	Optional smartphone push notifications for stock alerts in the mobile app.
Customizable Homescreen	No	Client dashboard customizable in the mobile app. Examples: Portfolio, watch lists, quotes, quick links.
Stream Live TV	Yes	Stream live TV in the mobile app. Examples - CNBC, Bloomberg.
Trading - Stocks	Yes	Stocks trades supported in the mobile app.
Trading - After-Hours	Yes	After-hours trading supported in the mobile app.
Trading - Conditional Orders	No	Conditional orders (Contingent, OTO, OCO, OTOCO, etc) supported in the mobile app.
Trading - Mutual Funds	Yes	Mutual fund trades supported in the mobile app.
Trading - Simple Options	Yes	Single-leg option trades supported in the mobile app.
Trading - Complex Options	Yes	Multi-legged option trades supported in the mobile app.
Trading - Option Rolling	No	Ability to pre-populate a trade ticket and seamlessly roll an option position to the next relative expiration in the mobile app.

Banking

Feature	Value	Definition
Member FDIC	Yes	Member of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) - fdic.gov.
Checking Accounts	Yes	Offers formal checking accounts and checking services. To qualify, checking services must be marketed on the website as a client service. Basic checking through the clearing firm does not count.
Savings Accounts	Yes	Offers savings accounts.
Debit Cards	Yes	Offers debit cards as part of a formal banking service.
Credit Cards	Yes	Offers credit cards.
Mortgage Loans	Yes	Offers mortgage loans.
Mobile Check Deposit	Yes	Check deposits can be made through the mobile app.
Online Bill Pay	Yes	Ability for clients to add and pay bills using the website.
Mobile Bill Pay	Yes	Ability for clients to add and pay bills using the mobile app.
ATM Fee Reimbursement	Yes	Are debit card ATM fees reimbursed?
No Fee Banking	Yes	Offers no fee banking. Requirements: no minimum balance required, no monthly maintenance fees, no debit card fees, no annual fees.
Retail Locations	357	Total retail locations. Company HQ or similar corporate offices do not count. Must be a formally branded, publicly accessible branch office marketed on the public website.