Though the best online brokers charge low fees, you’ll likely be responsible for covering certain costs as you invest. Conversely, you won’t be able to invest in mutual funds, futures, or international stocks. With IBKR’s Interactive Traders platform, you can best brokerage accounts trade on 150 markets in over 200 countries and territories. The broker has a comprehensive selection of investment products; you can expect to pay low or no commissions. IBKR also has some of the lowest margin rates you’ll find on the market. Schwab provides multiple trading experiences, giving you the option to choose between its flagship “thinkorswim” and Schwab platforms.
Its extensive educational library is helpful for newer investors, and there are also podcasts, videos and in-person informational events from which to learn. Charles Schwab offers one of the best brokerage account bonuses for those starting small, while also rewarding big deposits with tiered bonuses. Ally Invest offers a self-directed trading platform with an intuitive design and access to a wide range of trading tools. To open an online brokerage account, you must include your personal information to comply with current laws and regulations.
- We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services – our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers.
- Fidelity can be a great choice for most investment needs, but it’s especially strong for investors with a long-term retirement focus.
- Morgan scored lower for ease-of-use due to offering customer support only by phone and not offering fractional shares to trade.
- Nowadays, most online brokers have very similar fee structures, so that’s less of a consideration than it used to be.
- You cannot open any type of IRA on Public — you can only open regular brokerage accounts.
Interactive Brokers
As a bonus, its in-app community lets you interact with other investors, participate in paper trading competitions and keep up with market trends. Whether that’s cutting-edge active trading tools or a long list of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, there’s a good online brokerage for everyone. There are different flavors of brokerage accounts tailored to your investing style. On the other hand, a margin account lets you borrow funds to potentially boost your buying power, which can amplify gains but also comes with its own drawbacks. J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is a top choice for this list due to its low-fee investment choices and its news, analysis and webinar offerings for stock research.
What type of brokerages offer community interactions?
You’ll also find a dedicated desktop trading platform, a high-yield cash sweep program and paper trading so you can practice and test your strategies before going live. Yes, you can open multiple brokerage accounts with the same broker or different brokers. Investors may choose to open multiple brokerage accounts to access different tools or manage different trading strategies. SogoTrade combines affordability with robust free trading tools and research resources, making it an attractive platform for investors.
Services
And because trading fees are for the birds, every broker on our list offers commission-free trading on stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Selecting the right brokerage account is an important first step in your stock trading journey. With seemingly endless brokerage options available, it’s important to choose an account which is right for your unique needs, experience level, and other factors you may not yet be aware of.
Methodology: How We Reviewed The Best Online Brokerages
This tool allowed users to see what they might look like as they age. The reasoning was that younger people might be more compelled to invest if they could visualize themselves retiring. The Forbes Advisor Investing team is committed to providing unbiased rankings and information with complete editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies, and expert insights to inform our content and guide you in making the best decisions for you.
You can even join a group chat for live interaction with other investors. Here are the best online brokerages as picked by Business Insider’s editors in 2025. 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.
Why Fidelity Is A Top Choice
We’ve evaluated each broker on their pros and cons, and here’s how they stack up on the most important aspects. From free stocks and cash rewards to high APY incentives and IRA matches, each of these brokerage account bonuses offers a unique way to grow your wealth—starting day one. You can get both a free stock and a long-term retirement benefit with their IRA match program. Never assume that any broker — even one on the top 11 list — has all the features you’ll need. For example, some firms might allow cryptocurrency trades, whereas many do not. A firm might offer free IRAs, charge for those accounts or not even offer them.
You need information such as your name, address, telephone number, and Social Security number. Public Investingis an investment app that uses a mobile-first experience. The result is a mobile investment experience that’s somewhat unique but still easy to navigate for both beginner and experienced investors. Pro accounts have additional access to market data, the IBKR Web Trader platform, and IBKR APIs for automated trading.
Depending on what kind of investor you are, you’ll need to find a broker that has the features you require. Here are the features you should look for depending on your investment style. Since its founding over a decade ago, Robinhood has been on a mission to “empower a new generation of investors” through user-friendly educational resources and investing tools. The Robinhood Legend platform lets you select from preset layouts or customize them to fit your needs, and its suite of learning content is easy to digest.
Top 5 Brokerage Account Bonuses ( : Earn Up to $2,000 as a Sign-Up Reward
Some users appreciate the platform and app’s ease of use, while others are dissatisfied by the user interface and frequent app updates. Some users also expressed frustration with customer service hold times and a lack of transparency related to policy changes. If you’re new to investing or need a refresher, Fidelity’s Learning Center offers an array of educational materials. Plus, you can access expert-backed investment research and insights and work with an advisor through Fidelity Wealth Management.
- Bankrate follows a stricteditorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate.
- Schwab provides multiple trading experiences, giving you the option to choose between its flagship “thinkorswim” and Schwab platforms.
- EToro and TradeStation are the only brokerages on our list that charge an inactivity fee.
- Some of the best brokers on our list—Charles Schwab, Fidelity and IBKR—don’t charge for withdrawals.
- Interactive Brokers also provides a robo-advisor with professionally managed portfolios, ensuring a comprehensive investing experience.
Information on this page is for educational purposes only and not a recommendation to invest with any one company, trade specific stocks or fund specific investments. Selecting a broker requires you to think about your needs, because the deciding factor is not always about price. If you’re a buy-and-hold ETF investor, you’ll probably need something different than if you’re an active trader. While new investors might find choosing a broker to be daunting, you aren’t likely to go wrong with any of the names mentioned above. Once you’ve found a broker, you can begin plotting your way to a more secure financial future.
The platform provides advanced trading tools like TipRanks-powered analyst ratings, price targets, hedge fund activity, insider transactions and comprehensive charts, all within an intuitive interface. With so many options available, finding the best brokerage for your needs best can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’ve put together a carefully curated list of the top brokerage accounts for 2025.
Algorithmic trading, also known as algorithms, is included with Pro accounts. 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. Even as little as $5 is enough to start investing with at a broker like Charles Schwab, which offers Stock Slices — fractional shares of S&P 500 companies.
But you won’t be able to trade or buy crypto, futures or fractional shares using Merrill Edge. That said, you’ll be able to access best-in-class advisory services and in-person assistance. Brokers usually report these bonuses to the IRS, and you’ll need to include them when filing your taxes. 💡 This brokerage account bonus is a straightforward cash offer perfect for serious investors. Merrill Edge provides another solid option for brokerage account bonuses, especially if you’re already banking with Bank of America.
SoFi Plus members can also earn an unlimited 1% match on all recurring SoFi Invest deposits. Plus, while it may seem overwhelming at first, TradeStation is pretty easy to learn, unlike many of the other advanced trading platforms. Fidelity was launched in 1946 and has long been one of the largest and most-trusted brokerages in the world. There are over 50 million investors with accounts at Fidelity and over $14 trillion invested on the platform. The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us.