Best Online Brokerage Accounts in 2024

Founded in 2013 by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood is a perfect trading app for new and less experienced traders. The platform’s founders designed an app that allows ordinary people to trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptos with convenience. This way, Robinhood enabled access to the financial market to everyone, not only experienced traders.

Commission and Fees 

Robinhood was the first platform to offer commission-free trading. This means that you can trade stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies without paying any platform fees.

The zero-commission policy is one of the platform’s main selling points. Young investors can create an online trading account without depositing any money. 

Unlike many other platforms, Robinhood doesn’t require a minimum opening deposit or charge account maintenance fees. If you decide to stop investing, you don’t need to worry about any inactivity fees because Robinhood doesn’t charge those, either. 

There are no transfer costs except for a $75 account transfer fee. However, you don’t need to pay anything for debit balances, returned items, or wire transfers. Robinhood charges $20 for sending domestic checks overnight. 

Robinhood doesn’t allow you to trade on margin unless you open a Gold account. This account costs $5 with up to $1,000 of margin. After that, you’ll pay 2.5% interest. 

Trading Technology 

The trading platform is designed for regular people who want to trade, meaning that it’s really easy to use. In client reviews, Robinhood is praised for its easily navigable interface and simple design. 

The mobile app for iOS and Android phones was the first product that Robinhood launched. Thanks to the app, Robinhood appealed to many young people who discovered streamlined stock trading. A few years later, Robinhood launched its web-based app. 

To start trading with Robinhood, you have to open a free account. You can do that through the website or by downloading the mobile app. You’ll be asked to provide your name and other relevant information.

As mentioned, Robinhood’s app enables a streamlined stock trading experience, which makes it perfect for beginners. 

However, there are a few drawbacks when it comes to the trade experience. More experienced traders who are looking for advanced trading features won’t be satisfied with Robinhood as it doesn’t offer the same level of research and analysis tools as some other platforms. 

For example, you cannot trade directly from the chart, and there is no option to customize charts. The charts available at Robinhood are simple, with limited indicators and drawing tools. Nevertheless, they are useful for tracking stock price movements over time. 

Robinhood also offers a news feed from third-party sources like Reuters. This is a helpful way to stay up to date on market news and events. The platform allows traders to use market and limit orders, as well as stop orders and stop-limit orders. 

Customer Experience

Robinhood’s customer service is not among the highest-ranked ones, especially compared to other companies we listed. This online trading platform offers 24/7 service, but only through the phone support center, which means that you can leave your phone number and wait for an agent to call you.

You can also get in touch with agents through social media accounts. 

The good thing is that Robinhood’s FAQ section is rich and well-organized, so you can quickly find an answer to basic account-related questions.

Final Words 

Robinhood is a great choice for those looking to get started in the stock market. It’s simple to use and provides great resources for learning about investing. While there are some drawbacks, such as not being able to use advanced trading tools, Robinhood is still a great choice for fledgling investors.

Pros:

• Fee-free account 
• Various tradable assets 
• Mobile-friendly trading

Cons:

• No mutual funds

TradeStation was established in 1982 in Florida and is one of the few brokerages that serve institutional traders’ markets. Since 2011, the company has been owned by the Japanese Monex Group and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. 

Recently, the TradeStation platform has become much more accessible to the average trader. While it is still best suited for active professionals, the quality of the service makes it an appealing prospect for anyone. 

Commissions and Costs

The TS Select plan opens up this brokerage to casual investors with unlimited $0 stock and ETF trades, while option trades are at an industry-low of $0.60 per contract.

This plan does limit you, though, as you can’t use the TradeStation desktop trading platform, which is the best and most feature-heavy product.

The other, more widely used pricing plan is the base-pricing or flat-fee plan, which allows you to use the desktop platform and web and mobile versions of the software.

With this plan, equity trades are $5, and options trades are $5 + $0.50 per contract.

There are also different structures for equities and options that work on per-share, unbundled, or flat-fee payment plans, but none of these offer commission-free ETFs like TS Select does. 

The TradeStation Salutes program, on the other hand, is for active military, veterans, and first responders. This plan provides completely free ETFs, stocks, and options trades to eligible customers. If you belong to any of those groups, TradeStation is a particularly good choice for you. 

Trading Technology

TradeStation has two main trading platforms: the simple Web Trading platform and the flagship TradeStation desktop platform, which has long been known for its impressive features.

The Web Trading platform itself is quite capable and even surpasses some flagship platforms with its powerful tools, especially when it comes to chart trading. 

The TradeStation desktop platform, on the other hand, is a much more complete and powerful piece of software.

It was redesigned and is easier to use than ever, with more ways to customize it and a much better interface. The tools themselves are both numerous and professional, especially since there are more pieces of historical data and studies than what is found among the competitors. 

While charting tools on the platform are obviously its most impressive aspect, there are plenty of other powerful tools like OptionStation Pro, Radar Screen, Matrix, and Walk-Forward Optimizer. 

When it comes to ETF funds, there are over 2,000 options. But unlike its competitors, TradeStation does not offer in-depth research on ETFs.  

Customer Experience

While the TradeStation website is not that impressive from a design point of view, it is still pretty straightforward, with all the necessary information laid out in an accessible way.

There are a ton of webinars, video guides, and live-streaming education events featured on the platform. What’s more, there are plans for a TradeStation University, which is essentially an online campus offering a variety of courses. There are also community forums and an impressive wiki that serves as a great source of information.

Not only does this provider help you learn how to buy stocks, but also it makes sure to answer any specific questions that you may have. The TradeStation customer service can be reached via phone, live chat, or email, and the response times on each method are excellent.

You will most likely have to wait less than a minute before you get a response, and the support officers are both kind and knowledgeable. 

It must be noted that live chat support is only available during work hours, so we prefer the phone support option, as it is much more reliable. TradeStation also falls behind in that it doesn’t have branch offices across the US, so you can’t get any in-person guidance or assistance.  

Final Words

TradeStation remains one of the better available platforms, especially for active and experienced traders, as well as military personnel and first responders, who can take advantage of the Salutes program. While it can be pricey in comparison to some of the other brokers we’ve listed, it still deserves its spot on our list. 

The quality of the desktop trading platform and the wide variety of tools backed by decades of market data make it as alluring as ever for those seeking a truly professional platform. And with the recent addition of the TS GO trading plan, the brokerage is more open to casual investors than ever.

Pros:

• Top-quality desktop trading platform
• The best option for military personnel and first responders
• Plenty educational resources

Cons:

• Has an inactivity fee

Founded as First Securities Omaha way back in 1975, TD Ameritrade is one of the largest and most recognizable full-service brokerages in the US. The company offers a wide array of services for beginners and advanced investors.

Commissions and Fees

For years now, TD Ameritrade has been considered one of the priciest full-service brokers, with many singling out its trading fees as the one flaw in an otherwise amazing offer. But not anymore. 

In October 2019, TD Ameritrade made a drastic shift that once again proved this provider intends to stay at the top for a long time. The company reduced its commissions and trading fees for online stock, ETF, and options trades to $0 in one fell swoop while also cutting its per-contract fee for options down to $0.65.

Broker-assisted fees for trades on stocks and ETFs were reduced to $25, while the fee for options trades is now $25.00 + $0.65 per contract. 

This massive change was something TD Ameritrade considered necessary to keep up with the other brokers and has only strengthened its position as an industry leader in the new era.

Trading Technology

While TD Ameritrade was previously criticized for its costs, no one ever doubted the quality of the technology and research tools it offered. In fact, this brokerage has long been considered an industry leader, which it continues to be in the third decade of the 21st century.

There are two platform options on offer. The first is the on-ramp service called TDAmeritrade.com, intended for the average investor. This is probably the most suitable trading platform for beginners, providing access to research tools and advisors from third-party software like Morningstar, Market Edge, and CRFA. 

There is also a great in-house portfolio planner tool. With it, you can build a customized model or pick one of the free pre-built ones, then use it to either analyze an existing portfolio or create a new one. 

Thinkorswim is for more experienced traders who want a deeper and more technical experience. Up until 2017, this was a standalone platform, but TD Ameritrade acquired it in yet another smart business move.

This platform has almost every feature you could ever need and provides perhaps the most detailed charting tools on the market, with over 300 technical indicators for fine-tuning your trading strategies.

TD Ameritrade also offers two separate mobile apps, one for each platform. The entry-level mobile app provides pretty much the same experience you’d get on the company’s website, while Mobile Trader is the equivalent of the Thinkorswim platform.

It has a variety of features, like syncing watchlists and analyzing and placing complex options orders. 

Customer Experience

TD Ameritrade has one of the best-organized sites; it’s both easy to navigate and full to the brim with useful information. With videos, quizzes, articles, live seminars, and presentations, there’s plenty of quality content to go through. 

There’s also a chatbot named Ted that provides directions to all the tools and tutorials you may need. 

But that’s not all. The company is also among the rare few offering a virtual trading simulator. It’s called PaperMoney, and you can use it to test your strategies with $100,000 in practice money. 

Not only is this service free, but it allows non-customers to test it out with a 60-day trial before setting up an investment account. Groundbreaking software like this is as useful for beginners as it is for advanced investors. 

This brokerage provides a number of customer support options. It offers customer support on social media platforms like Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and WeChat, along with its virtual chatbot, Ted. When using the Mobile Trader app, customers can even chat live with support staff. 

If you need to see your broker in person, TD Ameritrade has 360 physical locations around the US. All in all, this is an impressive level of dedication that makes the firm stand out from other online brokerages.

Final Words 

Whether you’re a beginner looking to understand the industry or an experienced investor who wishes to test out advanced strategies before putting them to use, TD Ameritrade has something for everyone.

With a treasure trove of information, a $0 fee policy, and solid apps for both desktop and mobile devices, this is without a doubt, the most feature-filled and customer-oriented brokerage on the market.

Pros:

• Powerful mobile and desktop platforms
• Amazing customer service
• Virtual trading simulator

Cons:

• Limited to the US market

Fidelity Investments is not only among the oldest US brokerages but also one of the first to move online, way back in 1984. The company has over 40 million online brokerage accounts today, $9.9 trillion in assets under administration, and $3.7 trillion in total discretionary assets, making it a true industry leader.

Commissions and Fees

Even before the escalation in “price wars” among brokers, Fidelity was already proving itself to be a user-friendly platform for online stock trading. This was the first company to eliminate almost all of its account fees while also cutting account closure and transfer costs. In October 2019, along with other big brokers, it reduced all stock, ETF, and options fees to $0. 

This ensures that Fidelity has arguably the most affordable service overall, which makes creating a portfolio extremely simple and virtually free. You can even take advantage of the platform by paying bills from your account because the company will not charge you any ATM or stop-payment fees. 

Fidelity charges its customers a $0.65 fee per options contract. 

Trading Technology

With such a long history in business and superb financial strength, it’s not surprising that Fidelity offers the most comprehensive and advanced brokerage account options. The basic web-based service has real-time streaming quotes and incredible charting tools, but where the broker truly shines is in its selection of research tools.

There are 19 third-party stock research companies listed, such as Ned Davis, Recognia, and Thomson Reuters. You also get access to six ETF research providers along with options analysis software LiveVol. It’s the best-equipped service out there before we even get to the flagship Active Trader Pro platform.

This tool provides you with a highly customizable service with intuitive shortcuts, a pre-built market, advanced tools, and a multi-trade ticket. All investors can try out the Active Trader Pro platform for free for an entire year, and they also get the opportunity to test out the desktop version as well.

There is even a premium product called Wealth-Lab Pro, which is a desktop-based backtesting program for customizing strategies with access to 20 years of daily historical data. Wealth-Lab Pro has a great drag-and-drop strategy-builder tool, which is useful for anyone who is willing to code their own strategy, but there are also automatic presets for those who prefer more structure. 

It’s important to note that this product is available only to customers who place 120 commissionable stock, bond, or option trades in a rolling 12-month period and have a minimum of $25,000 in assets in Fidelity brokerage accounts.

Last but not least, you can access Fidelity’s services through the company’s mobile app, which is in itself a robust and customizable piece of software.

Customer Experience

Fidelity has a stellar reputation for its easy-to-use platforms and a dedication to first-class customer support, so the praise is nothing short of deserved. While the website design is not that flashy and feels a bit dated, it is still laid out in such a way that you can find everything you need with a click or two.

There is a massive amount of information you can find on the website, but for any additional questions or issues, the company offers 24/7 live support. Fidelity also stands out by helping customers on platforms such as Facebook Messenger. It is integrated with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa as it pushes toward robust voice-activated assistance.

The online chat services are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time, and the response times are stellar. For those who prefer meeting in person, Fidelity also has 200 branches around the US; you can visit them for some face-to-face guidance and free investor seminars. 

Final Words

Fidelity has long been the standard against which the industry has been measured, and it will continue to be for the foreseeable future. 

This company has changed and grown as much as any of its competitors. For example, it was one of the first to offer voice-activated support on a number of platforms, and it is one of the most feature-rich investing providers. 

Fidelity keeps showing that it is committed to being the most customer-friendly brokerage firm in the world. If you’d like to learn how to buy stocks online, opening an account with this provider is a smart choice.

Pros:

• Lowest prices on the market
• Extensive customer service
• Powerful trading and research tools

Cons:

• High margin rates

Merrill Edge has been operating since 2010, when its parent company, Bank of America, merged its online investing arm with Merrill Lynch’s research, investment tools, and call center operations.

The platform was created as a direct competitor to the Charles Schwab Corporation and Fidelity Investments, and at the time of its inception, it already had 500,000 Bank of America customers.

Commissions and Fees

Merrill Edge long held the reputation of a beginner-centered brokerage since it lacked some features experienced investors preferred, especially commission-free ETFs. 

The company now offers unlimited commission-free trades for equities and ETFs, penny stocks, and per-leg options to customers who qualify for the Preferred Rewards program. Merrill has also lowered its per-contract options commissions to $0.65, in line with other big names in the industry.

To be eligible for the Preferred Rewards program, you must have a Bank of America checking account and a three-month average combined balance of at least $20,000 in Bank of America deposit accounts and Merrill investment accounts. 

There are no fees to join or participate in the program, but you do have to sign in to your online banking site or mobile app to join. Clients who don't want to join the program or aren't eligible to do so are in a much better position now that the base commissions have been cut to $0 for online trades and $29.95 for trades with a broker.

Trading Technology

Merrill Edge provides a great variety of research tools. These include proprietary tools like Stock Story, Fund Story, and Portfolio Story, as well as third-party integrations with well-known research tools like Recognia, MSCI ESG, and Trefis. 

What sets Merrill apart, however, is the fact that the company also uses both Lipper and Morningstar research providers, which only strengthens its already powerful mutual fund research.

Like most brokerages, Merrill also features a premium active trading platform called MarketPro. To qualify for this, you have to maintain a balance of at least $50,000 on Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, or Merrill Edge accounts or trade at least 15 times a quarter. 

Merrill Edge is well-known for its investing apps. MerillEdge.com and Merrill Edge MarketPro are robust and full of interactive charts and visualizations. Both have a drag-and-drop dashboard that can be changed and gives you access to different technical analysis studies. 

You can also create watchlists and track your portfolio in real-time, stream news, and enjoy a more realistic stock trading experience than you’d get from using the basic web platform. This is a significant drawback for mobile users, as MarketPro does not integrate with Merrill’s mobile app.

Customer Experience

Whatever your platform of choice, you’ll have a stable and consistent experience when using Merrill Edge’s services. MarketPro is obviously the company’s most service, but even the basic web and mobile trading platforms are functional and easy to use.

Merrill also helps you learn about investing and retirement through its Guidance and Retirement Center, where you can find all sorts of planning tools and calculators. It also includes educational articles, investing classroom courses, quizzes, videos, and much more.

The only things lacking here are community forums and webinars, which many other stock broker companies offer. 

Moreover, the Merrill Lynch customer support service is a classic example of how to do things the right way. Customers can reach live support staff 24/7 via phone, live chat, or email, and response times are quick, especially when chatting. 

You will most likely wait less than a minute before the company’s professional and knowledgeable staff replies to help you get the answer you need. Because Merrill Edge is a part of such a huge company, you also have the option of getting in-person assistance at more than 4,000 Bank of America locations. 

Final Words

All in all, Merrill Edge remains a platform that definitely deserves your attention. This is an easy choice for both beginners and experienced investors, especially those who are already clients of Bank of America. 

With powerful research tools and a top-notch proprietary trading platform that is supported by an equally impressive live chat service, Merrill stands out from the competition.

Pros:

• Fantastic customer support
• Robust trading and research tools
• Advanced proprietary trading platform

Cons:

• No demo account

E*Trade is one of the most popular full-service brokers in the US. In fact, this company executed the first electronic trade by an individual investor all the way back in 1983. 

Ever since then, E*Trade has been a staple of the brokerage industry, remaining at the top of the game throughout decades of technological progress and disruption.

Commissions and Fees

E*Trade is doing something that other brokerages on our list are not by offering to trade on futures and by having 4,400 mutual funds without load or transaction fees.

It also rewards active customers who either trade more than 30 times per quarter or have more than $250,000 in their account by lowering the commissions for per-contract trades to $0.50, making it a great online brokerage for options. 

It must be noted, however, that trading during pre- and post-market hours will result in an ECN fee of $0.005 per share that is added to the commission rate. 

Trading Technology

The research tools on E*Trade are comprehensive and supported by eight third-party software providers, including TipRanks and Trefis. There is also Recognia, which is integrated into the charts and offers further education on technical analysis. 

The number of tools and their purpose vary because E*Trade stock brokerage is the only one on our list that has three trading platforms (even though one of them is slowly being phased out).

E*Trade Web is the free option this provider offers. But even as a basic choice, it offers plenty of features, including free streaming of market data, live market commentary, and the ability to construct watch lists, make trades, and create advanced options strategies.   

Power E*Trade, however, is the heart and soul of the company, and it is going to be in focus even more as we move forward. This platform is an amazing choice for active options traders. It was made possible with E*Trade’s acquisition of OptionsHouse a few years ago.

Like E*Trade Web, this platform is also web-based, but it offers a much greater selection of analysis tools: 118 technical studies, trading ladders, and 31 drawing tools.

The TradeLab analysis tool stands out to us because it gives investors impressively deep and complex analysis.

The last of the three online trading platforms, which won’t be available for much longer, is called E*Trade Pro.

This desktop-based active trader is now hidden from new customers. Those who still want to try it need to write to the customer support staff and meet requirements like having a minimum balance of $250,000 or making at least 30 stock or options trades in a three-month period.

Customer Experience

The only thing that negatively affects our impression of E*Trade is that its website is badly out of date. In terms of transparency and ease of navigation, it’s not great.

Important information about how to create an account and what it needs should be much easier for potential customers to find.

The E*Trade app, on the other hand, is perhaps the best of any brokerage, and we recommend it as the best way to use the company’s services. On both Android and iOS, E*Trade’s mobile service is well-designed. It’s even available for the Apple Watch.

The E*Trade platform also offers banking services. While it can’t really compete with other giants like Merrill Edge, it still has 30 branches across the US, making it one of the rare brokerages insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

When it comes to customer support, E*Trade can be reached via phone, email, or live chat. Responses usually take less than a minute when you use the live chat.

If you are a customer with a large account, you can qualify for priority service, additional management, and research help, making E*Trade a great choice for more affluent investors.

Final Words

E*Trade has managed to stay competitive by adapting and improving almost every aspect of its business. This is a great choice for active investors, who can enjoy the lowest commissions for per-contract trades and the broker’s app with advanced features and tools.

Pros:

• Low per-trade commissions for active traders
• Amazing analysis tools
• Powerful mobile brokerage apps

Cons:

• ​​No direct cryptocurrency investing

With over four decades of experience, Interactive Brokers is a well-known online brokerage firm in the US. The biggest regulatory bodies, like the SEC and the FCA, keep an eye on the company.

Commissions and Fees

The newly introduced IBRK Lite pricing plan aims to bring in beginners and casual traders, as it features none of the inactivity, maintenance, or data fees that are present in the company’s Pro pricing plans.

The fees on options trades are the same as those on the professional plans, but the one clear disadvantage to using IBKR Lite is that it doesn’t provide access to the Trader Workstation platform. 

This means online investment and trading on the IBKR Lite plan has to be done either via web or mobile platforms.

The IBKR Pro pricing plan, on the other hand, directly targets the company’s main clientele: active traders and professionals who are seeking the lowest fees possible.

Interactive Brokers more than delivers in this regard, even though this plan is not suitable for penny stock trading and other large-order trades where the fixed $0.005 per share fee can make it a pricey choice.

Still, the margin rates with IBKR Pro are the lowest in the industry, going all the way down to 3.58% for clients with a balance of more than $1 million in their online trading accounts. 

The fact that you have to keep a balance of at least $100,000 or spend at least $30 in Interactive Brokers commissions over a 30-day period to avoid paying an inactivity fee, which can be as much as $20 per month, shows that the company wants active and financially stable investors.

Trading Technology

IBKR Lite users are limited to using the Client Portal trading platform. However, there are still plenty of features that will make casual traders happy here, including portfolio analysis, high-quality analytical tools, and customizable watchlists.

This is why IBKR Pro is so well-liked, even though it can be pricey. The Workstation is full of high-quality tools like the Probability Lab, which, based on your current situation, can suggest trading strategies and tell you what the market is likely to do next. 

On top of all that, investing with Interactive Brokers allows you access to more than 18,000 mutual funds without incurring transaction fees and 150 commission-free ETFs. For more passive investors, there is even a recently introduced robo-advisor that requires a $100 minimum investment and has a fund expense ratio of 0.08%.

Customer Experience

The only area where this broker falls behind is its website. Compared to some of the other platforms, this one is not the easiest to use. It’s especially true in regard to commissions and fees, which are laid out in such a manner that makes it difficult to find the exact costs.

Things are much better when it comes to the mobile experience, as the IBKR app works exceptionally well for Lite and Pro users. The app seamlessly integrates all the features and tools of the Trader Workstation, as well as any presets that you might have on the desktop platform.

The same thing can be said of the company’s customer support service, which is available 24/7 via phone and during work hours via live chat. It’s also possible to contact the brokerage via email, but we do recommend going for the live chat as it’s the fastest way to get an answer and resolve your issue. 

Interactive Brokers is focused on its online business and does not have many branch offices, making it a less-than-ideal choice for users seeking more personal assistance and guidance. Still, the quality and consistency of the available options here are more than enough to be considered among the best the industry has to offer.

Final Words

With the addition of the IBKR Lite payment package, Interactive Brokers has become a place where both casual and professional traders can find something great, even though the main trading platform favors the latter.

Pros:

• Advanced trading platform
• Lowest commission rates
• 24/7 phone customer support

Cons:

• The platform might be difficult to navigate

Charles Schwab is not only one of the oldest but also one of the most respected investment companies in the world. Founded in 1971, Charles Schwab provides both banking and brokerage services for beginners and advanced investors. With more than $7.13 trillion in client assets and a great track record, it’s a force to be reckoned with.

Commissions and Fees

Charles Schwab was among the first brokerage firms to drop commission fees as the company strives to stay competitive with modern startups like Robinhood. Schwab dropped stock and ETF transaction fees, as well as per-leg and penny stock transaction fees. On par with other brokerages, it also cut its options trades to $0.65 per contract.  

What makes Schwab stand out from the competition, however, is the fact that the company has over 50 funds without load or transaction fees. This way, you can buy and sell without paying any initial sales charges.

Trading Technology

Charles Schwab provides its services on both desktop and mobile devices, either through its basic web trader or the flagship trading platform called StreetSmart Edge. 

No matter what device or platform you use, you’ll always have access to stock research done in-house. Schwab uses industry-leading third-party research provider Morningstar for ETFs and mutual funds. 

The standard entry-level web trading platform on Schwab is also among the most feature-heavy apps out there. It allows you to perform tasks like analyzing trends or pulling up trading data and financials from the companies you are interested in.

Still, it pales in comparison to StreetSmart Edge, which is Schwab’s flagship platform for a good reason. 

StreetSmart Edge’s interface is well-crafted and allows for a much more complete experience with live-streaming news from CNBC, the Associated Press, and other world-renowned publications, while advanced real-time charts let you make trades directly. 

Schwab is also available on mobile devices. Since all your customizations and watchlists are stored on the cloud, switching between mobile, web, and desktop platforms is seamless, and the set-up process is the same across all platforms. 

The company has also branched out into more modern trends; its platforms integrate with Amazon Alexa, so if you have a virtual assistant, you can request updates, quotes and even organize watchlists by voice command.

Customer Experience

Charles Schwab is a full-service broker with five decades of experience, and it shows in the overall quality of service on offer. Not only are the platforms modern and competitive, but Schwab provides some nifty features like being able to seamlessly move money between your investment company account and bank accounts.

You can also use thousands of ATMs worldwide without worrying about fees.

Another big plus with Schwab is that it provides real-time access to assistants, either AI or live people, and you can get professional investment management on accounts holding as little as $5,000. Consultants are always available to help out with issues, answer your questions, or even spot new opportunities in the stock market. 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for a way to buy stocks or ETFs or have stumbled upon a technical issue; Schwab’s customer support team will be there to help you 24/7 via phone, email, or live online chat. If you need personal assistance, you can pay a visit to one of Schwab’s brick-and-mortar offices. 

Note that there are more than 400 branch locations across the United States for you to choose from. 

Final Words

As a veteran of the brokerage industry, Charles Schwab is an example of how to build and maintain a successful investing platform. The company doesn’t simply follow the trends but seeks to be a trendsetter through its numerous advances in AI advisors and integration with modern virtual assistants like Alexa.

Most importantly, it offers a robust and feature-rich experience that has never been easier or more affordable to use.

Pros:

• Cutting-edge stock trading platforms
• First-grade customer support
• Thousands of no-fee mutual funds

Cons:

• No fractional share ETF trades