We are proud to present our top five overall online brokers for 2019:
- Fidelity Investments
- Interactive Brokers
- Charles Schwab
- TradeStation
- TD Ameritrade
We have user-tested and reviewed more than 70 online brokers, examining every critical feature, considering their product offerings, fee structures, trading technology, research, education, and customer service. Today there are investing and trading platforms covering every type of asset class, appealing to every kind of investor. The choices are overwhelming and finding the right broker for you can be challenging. We’re here to help.
Fidelity Investments
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- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $4.95 per stock/ETF, $4.95 plus $0.65/contract per options trade
Fidelity takes the top spot on our 2019 broker roundup with a winning combination of services, tools, and value. Last year, Fidelity focused on improving its infrastructure and reliability so it could avoid the crashes that plagued online brokers in 2018. Another improvement was making their Active Trader Pro platform available to all customers rather than requiring a certain number of trades to use. Fidelity improved the order entry interface to avoid the most common errors made by customers.
Fidelity also received awards for Best for Beginners, Best Stock Trading Apps, Best for ETFs, Best for Penny Stocks, Best for Roth IRAs, Best for IRAs, Best for International Trading, and Best Web Trading Platforms.
Pros
Excellent trade executions, generating price improvement for stock and options trades
ETF research center includes tools to show you which stocks compose the fund
All customers have access to Active Trade Pro
Fees are on the low side and are easy to understand
Cons
Accessing all of Fidelity's tools may require you to use multiple platforms
Finding a particular tool can be difficult on Fidelity’s extensive menu system
If you are not a U.S. citizen or resident, you cannot open an account
Interactive Brokers
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Interactive Brokers ranks second overall in our 2019 review due to its wealth of tools for sophisticated investors. The firm makes a point of connecting to any electronic exchange globally, so you can trade equities, options and futures around the world and around the clock, on your desktop or mobile device. Though Interactive Brokers has been adding features to attract more assets and help newer investors, including its own robo-advisory, we recommend that newcomers to trading start somewhere else and grow into their extensive capabilities.
Interactive Brokers also received awards for Best for International Trading, Best for Low Costs, Best for Options Trading, Best for Penny Stocks, and Best for Day Trading.
Pros
Pricing is on the low end, especially margin rates
The platform and services are geared for extremely active traders
Clients can trade on 120 markets in 31 countries, using 23 currencies
Excellent portfolio analysis features
Cons
Mosaic, Interactive Brokers' downloadable platform, can be difficult to use for a new investor
Does not support education accounts (529s) or 401(k)s
Very small or inactive accounts may be subject to maintenance fees or data charges
Charles Schwab
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- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $4.95 per stock and ETF trade, $0 for Schwab ETFs and $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract for options
Charles Schwab, which ranks as the third-best broker overall this year, is a full-service investment firm that offers services and technology to everyone from self-directed active traders to people who want the guidance of a financial advisor. It has a wide variety of platforms as well as full banking capabilities. Over the last few years, its web-based platforms have been transformed to make them simpler to use while also providing low-cost advice.
Charles Schwab also received awards for Best Web Trading Platforms, Best for International Trading, Best for Options Trading, Best for Penny Stocks, Best for Beginners, Best for Roth IRAs, Best for IRAs, Best for ETFs, and Best Stock Trading Apps.
Pros
The Schwab Satisfaction Guarantee allows any client who is unhappy with any fee-based service to get a refund
Advanced options tools and trading ideas are built into the StreetSmart Edge platform
Mobile web platforms and native mobile apps offer the same functionality
Cons
It can take some effort to find the features you want the most
Schwab pushes clients towards using their financial advisors, which can make a self-directed investor or trader lose confidence in their own abilities
Margin rates are higher than average
TradeStation
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- Account Minimum: $500 ($5,000 for IRA)
- Fees: $5 stocks and ETFs, $0.50/contract and $5/trade options
TradeStation's focus on high-quality market data, trade executions and their commitment to superior customer service make them a great choice for the active trader. Their systems are stable and remain available during market surges. Technical analysis and statistical modeling of trading strategies is another strength of the TradeStation platform. You can develop your own automatic trading system using the analysis tools and strategy backtesting. You can also generate income through the fully-paid stock lending program and enhance your trading skills with extensive educational offerings.
TradeStation also received awards for Best for Penny Stocks and Best for Day Trading.
Pros
Stable platform that has very little downtime
Excellent charting and technical analysis tools
Portfolio Maestro helps you optimize your trading strategies
Education content is top notch
Cons
There is a steep learning curve to develop your own trading system
You have to be very sure of your trading style to choose the right commission schedule
All fixed income transactions must be made with a live broker
No forex trading and limited international trading
TD Ameritrade
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- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $6.95 for stock and ETF trades, $6.95 per leg plus $0.75 for options
TD Ameritrade, one of the largest online brokers, has several platforms to choose from, ranging from their basic website to thinkorswim, which is designed for very active traders. The firm spent the last year streamlining its website and transforming its education offering while bringing over the 3.5 million customers who joined following the acquisition of Scottrade. Given the number of platforms customers can use for research and trading, the sheer number of tools available can be overwhelming. There is an ongoing initiative to streamline the content and platforms, so going forward, it should be easier to find and use the features that you need.
TD Ameritrade also received awards for Best for Day Trading, Best for Options Trading, Best Web Trading Platforms, Best for Beginners, Best for ETFs, Best for Roth IRAs, Best for IRAs and Best Stock Trading Apps.
Pros
Extensive research capabilities and numerous news feeds
The education offerings are designed to make novice investors more comfortable
More support channels have been developed using Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Twitter and others
Cons
Commission structure makes them an expensive place to trade
Clients may have to use more than one trading system to find all the tools they want
Methodology
Investopedia’s mission is to provide investors with unbiased, comprehensive reviews and ratings of online brokers. Our reviews are the result of six months of evaluating all aspects of an online broker’s platform, including the user experience, the quality of trade executions, the products available on their platforms, costs and fees, security, the mobile experience and customer service. We established a rating scale based on our criteria, collecting over 3,000 data points that we weighed into our star scoring system.
In addition, every broker we surveyed was required to fill out a 320-point survey about all aspects of their platform that we used in our testing. Many of the online brokers we evaluated provided us with in-person demonstrations of their platforms at our offices.
Our team of industry experts, led by Theresa W. Carey, conducted our reviews and developed this best-in-industry methodology for ranking online investing platforms for users at all levels. Click here to read our full methodology.