Webull Review

Webull is an excellent choice for beginning and intermediate traders. The user experience is outstanding, and Webull has better charts than its natural competitor, Robinhood. Options contracts are commission-free, but crypto markups and markdowns are on the high side. Experienced investors may eventually miss the features, research, and investment choices available at leading brokers.

Pros & Cons

After spending three months testing 17 of the best online brokers for our 13th Annual Review, here are our top findings on Webull:

Overall summary

Investment options

Webull offers stocks, ETFs, and options. That’s it. Webull also gives access to IPOs without imposing minimum account requirements. Mutual funds, futures, forex, and bonds are not supported. Webull does not offer banking services, robo portfolios, or advisory services. It also restricts over-the-counter (OTC) stock trading to a list of about 100 stocks.

Cryptocurrency: Webull offers 44 cryptocurrencies for trading, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dogecoin.

Commissions and fees

Webull charges no commissions for trading stocks, ETFs, and options. The broker makes money from margin lending, interest on cash balances, and payment for order flow. Almost all brokers, except for Fidelity, accept payment for routing customer orders to market makers. Learn more about order execution quality here.

While most brokers covered in our 2023 Annual Stockbroker Review charged $0.65 - $0.75 for option contracts, Webull charges nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. Firstrade, SoFi, and Robinhood are other brokers with zero cost option trading.

Other fees: Webull does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees if you use ACH transfers. Wire transfers have an $8 deposit fee and $25 withdrawal fee for domestic clients, and a $14 deposit fee and $45 withdrawal fee for international clients.

Webull does not impose a minimum account balance; however, customers who want to short stocks will have to open a margin account, which requires a minimum deposit of $2,000.

Mobile trading apps

Webull's mobile app is sleek and user-friendly, presenting graphs and data in an easy-to-digest format. It also adds community features not found on the web and desktop platforms. Just like most social media today, Webull’s community feed is best read for entertainment rather than as a source of actionable investment ideas.

Ease of use: Other than a few counterintuitive icon choices, navigation is a breeze. We suggest the first step all new clients take is to adjust notification preferences. With notifications left at the default, Webull bombarded us with emails, texts, and banner notifications.

Watch lists: These are basic but very clean and functional. The ticker, name, a small daily chart, and current price with price change are listed. Clicking through takes you directly to the stock information and the charts.

Charting: Though the feature set is narrow compared to what’s available at the brokers we’ve rated as best for traders, Webull’s charting still felt top-notch. Scrolling, pinching, zooming, and drawing made many other apps seem positively clunky in comparison. The mobile app supports a horizontal view, and all platforms have a solid range of tools, customization, indicators, and timeframes that will satisfy beginners and intermediate-level traders.

A walkthrough of Webull's mobile app.

Other trading platforms and tools

While Webull's web and desktop platforms don’t have the extensive range of tools found on trading platforms from TD Ameritrade and TradeStation or the whiz-bang graphic design and analytics on tastytrade, Webull will satisfy most casual traders and delight many with a gratifyingly quick learning curve and attractive graphic design. The browser-based platform is very similar to the desktop version.

Charting: Webull offers a standard lineup of charting features, including several different chart types, adequate drawing tools, 52 technical indicators, the ability to add hotkeys, and grid layouts to compare multiple charts. Charting was a delight on both the web and desktop versions.

Trading tools: When thinking about how to describe the feel of the trading tools on Webull, the words that come to mind are “silky” and “buttery smooth.” The web and desktop versions had versatile layouts that could be customized quickly, thanks to drag-and-drop widget boxes.

Beginners will appreciate paper trading and fractional shares. Several unique features exist, such as the Net Order Imbalance Indicator (NOII). This indicator is integrated into the trade ticket as a research tool that breaks down institutional holdings for a given symbol. You can also code custom indicators. See best trading platforms for day traders.

Options trading: Webull is light on options trading tools. You can set up multi-leg trades, and you can see a nice Profit/Loss graph on the position. Beyond that, there isn’t much you can do. Advanced options traders should review our best brokers for options trading.

Quote data: As with Robinhood, traders must pay a monthly fee to view Level 2 quotes after their free data subscription expires. That said, it is worth noting that Webull Level 2 cost is only $1.99 per month and its basic data is free. If you trade at least one options contract monthly at Webull, you get free real-time options data (OPRA). Other brokers often provide this data for free.

Research

Webull's research tools fall far short when compared to industry leaders TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab, who also offer $0 stock and ETF trades. Webull is targeted more toward chart traders than long-term investors.

Stock research: For researching stocks, Webull offers a screener, analyst ratings, price targets, and company news. Many investors will miss the market commentary available at larger brokers. Headline company financial data is displayed graphically, making it easy to spot trends in profitability.

The broad stock market views on the web and desktop platforms are a bit quirky. For example, there are tabs for the U.S. and Hong Kong/China, but not the rest of Asia, Europe, South America, or Africa.

Webull community: The Webull community on the mobile app acts as a private Twitter-like feed, where users can comment with their thoughts on individual stocks and news or post reactions to a price movement. Its engagement efforts put Webull among our Best in Class for investor community for 2023.

Education

Webull’s learning center has improved since last year’s Annual Stockbroker Review. There’s enough information to start beginning traders off, but the articles are dry. Many of the articles come from third parties, such as Nasdaq, Direxion Funds, and the Cboe. Investors who want deep libraries of interactive courses, webinars, or highly detailed articles should check out top brokers such as TD Ameritrade and Fidelity.

Customer service

To score Customer Service, StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research firm Confero to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the United States. For our 2023 Broker Review, 168 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks, with wait times logged for each call.

Customer service representatives were asked for assistance or details in several areas of broker services, including account opening, trading tools, apps, rollovers, active trading, and more. Here are the results for Webull.

• Average Connection Time: 5-6 minutes
• Average Net Promoter Score: 6.7 / 10
• Average Professionalism Score: 5.6 / 10
• Overall Score: 5.8 / 10
• Ranking: 14th of 14 brokers

Final thoughts

Webull, like Robinhood, has attracted a loyal following of customers because it is a joy to use, has an active investor community, and was one of the first brokers to offer $0 trades. Comparing Webull vs Robinhood, Webull offers more features, hands down. That said, when comparing Webull to the best online brokers offering $0 stock and ETF trades, Webull left us wanting more.

Here are our top takeaways on Webull for 2023:

1. Webull is a crypto-leaning online broker that provides clean layouts, a friendly user interface, and an active trading community. The desktop application is super easy to customize, and graphic elements are crisp and modern. The mobile app carries over most of the desktop and browser experience.
2. Experienced traders and long-term investors will long for additional features routinely offered by the most established brokers. For example, Webull does not currently offer mutual funds, bonds, or futures, and its investor education, advanced tools, and fundamental research pale when compared to Fidelity, E*Trade, and TD Ameritrade.
3. At the time of this review, Webull offered compelling incentives for opening a new account or referring new clients. Like most online brokers, Webull offers $0 trades on stocks and ETFs, and offers $0 option trades as well, a less common perk.

Best Broker Guides

Explore our broker rankings:

• Best Trading Platforms 2023
• Best Online Brokers for Beginners
• Best Options Trading Platforms
• Best Futures Trading Platforms
• Best Day Trading Platforms
• Best Brokers for Penny Stocks

Is Webull good for beginners?

Beginning stock, ETF, and crypto traders will find Webull’s simplicity allows them to focus on their trades instead of operating the platform. Webull also has low costs (other than crypto) and offers both fractional shares and simulated trading. But if you’re looking for a huge library of educational articles or videos, you’ll have to find it elsewhere.

Is Webull good for options?

Webull is somewhat unusual among the brokers in our annual review for charging nothing on options contracts. Firstrade, SoFi and Robinhood also offer zero commission and fee options trading. If you trade one contract a month or more, OPRA real-time quotes are free. If you frequently roll positions or perform in-depth analysis, you’ll find it quicker to enter orders and analyze potential trades or scenarios at other brokers.

Can you make money with Webull?

You can make money with Webull as you can with other online brokers. Options traders will appreciate the $0 commissions. Rapid-fire crypto traders will find Webull expensive. Ultimately, your investing or trading results will depend more on your knowledge and ability than on the broker you use. Making money is never guaranteed.

Does Webull have hidden fees?

Webull’s fees are clearly listed on a “Pricing” page on their website, except for the one percent markups and markdowns Webull applies to cryptocurrency trades. That highly relevant piece of information was on a separate page from the pricing. We don’t think it should be.

Can Webull be trusted?

Webull is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects customers’ funds up to $500,000 in case a brokerage goes bankrupt. Its clearing firm, Apex Clearing, has additional insurance. However, it’s important to understand that SIPC does not protect against market losses.

About Webull

Webull is part of China-based Fumi Technology, a fintech company that provides real-time market data, analytical tools, and trading technologies. Webull’s technology team is based in Hunan, China, while customer-facing and brokerage operations are located in New York City.

2023 Review methodology

Our mission at StockBrokers.com is simple: provide thorough and unbiased reviews of online brokers, based on an extraordinary level of hands-on testing and data collection. Our ratings and awards are based on this data and our experts’ deep authority in the field; brokers cannot pay for preferential treatment. Here’s more about trustworthiness at StockBrokers.com.

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.

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.

Webull 2023 results

For the StockBrokers.com 2023 Review, all U.S. equity brokers we reviewed were assessed on 196 different variables across eight areas: Commissions & Fees, Investment Options, Platforms & Tools, Research, Mobile Trading, Education, Ease of Use, and Overall.

StockBrokers.com also presented “Best in Class” awards to brokers for additional categories Beginners, Options Trading, Futures Trading, Active Trading, IRA Accounts, Investor Community, Penny Stock Trading, Banking Services and Customer Service. A “Best in Class” designation means finishing in the top five brokers for that category.

For more information, see how we test.

Primary categories

Secondary categories

Webull fees and features data

The data collection efforts at StockBrokers.com are unmatched in the industry. The following tables show a deeper dive into the offerings available at this broker. You can also compare its offerings side-by-side with those of other brokers using our Comparison Tool.

In addition to meticulous annual data collection by our in-house analyst, every broker that participates in our review is afforded the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile. We then audit each data point to ensure its accuracy.

Trading fees

Account fees

Margin rates

Investment options

Order types

Beginners

Stock trading apps

Stock app features

Stock app charting

Trading platforms overview

Trading platform stock chart features

Day trading features

Investment research overview

Stock research features

ETF research features

Mutual fund research features

Options trading overview

Banking features

Customer service options

About the Editorial Team