Best Online Brokerage Accounts [2023]

An online brokerage account that fits your needs may improve your success chances when investing. But with so many options to invest your money, it's essential to take your time to decide on one that matches your investment style, provides the education you need, offers the asset classes you'd like to buy, and suits your experience.

Speaking of options, we’re here to help you narrow them down. So here are our picks for the best online brokerage accounts and who they’re right for.

Best online brokerage accounts

Whether you're learning how to invest money or you already have trading experience, using one of the best brokerage accounts may give you the tools you need to be successful and improve your personal finance. Here are our picks for the best online brokers that meet different needs:

• Best for small investments: Stash
• Best for low fees: Robinhood
• Best for hands-off investors: Betterment
• Best broker for fractional shares: SoFi Invest
• Best for options trading: TD Ameritrade
• Best for ETFs: Merrill Edge
• Best for learning about investing: Fidelity
• Best for experienced traders: TradeStation
• Best for long-term investing: Vanguard
• Best for mutual funds: Charles Schwab
• Best for international stocks: Interactive Brokers

Best for small investments: Stash ¹

Stash may be a good choice if you want to make small investments because you can start investing in stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for as little as $1. You may set up automatic recurring investments or even use the Stash roundup feature ⁵ that tacks on a small money amount to your purchases made using the Stock-Back® Card ² and invests it.

You may build a portfolio using suggestions from Stash's Smart Portfolios or create your own portfolio from a selection of individual stocks and ETFs. Stash also offers an online banking account and the Stock-Back® Card ² . This debit card rewards you with shares of stock when you use it for your purchases ⁶ . This may help you grow your portfolio in a way traditional cashback rewards can’t.

Visit Stash

… Or read our Stash review.

Best for low fees: Robinhood

Robinhood stands out for its fee-free online stock trading. You can trade as often as you want without paying transaction fees. This makes it one of the best online stock brokerage accounts for active traders looking to avoid account fees that eat into their profits. Robinhood offers access to commission-free trades for individual U.S. stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies through its user-friendly interface.

While Robinhood is free, advanced traders may enjoy the benefits of subscribing to Robinhood Gold for $5 a month. This premium subscription gives you access to advanced stock market data and larger instant deposits. You may also qualify for a margin account after you subscribe to Robinhood Gold, which enables you to borrow money to get more purchase power.

Visit Robinhood

… Or read our Robinhood review.

Best for hands-off investors: Betterment

Betterment tops our list of the best robo-advisors out there. It may be ideal for hands-off investors who don’t want the hassle of actively managing their portfolios.

Answer some questions about your risk tolerance and goals, and Betterment will construct a portfolio for you based on your investment needs. Once you have your portfolio, Betterment occasionally rebalances it to keep it in line with your goals. The platform also manages your portfolio’s tax efficiency using tax-loss harvesting.

One downside is that you have limited customization as far as asset classes go. Betterment builds your portfolio from a selection of index-based ETFs and bonds, but the platform plans to add crypto portfolios soon. You can choose your portfolio’s focus, such as innovative tech or social impact.

Additionally, Betterment offers several trading account types, including taxable brokerage accounts and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). You also have access to banking via high-yield savings accounts and checking bank accounts, Plus, if you want some guidance, you can use the add-on for access to financial advisors.

Visit Betterment

… Or read our Betterment review.

Best broker for fractional shares: SoFi Invest

SoFi Invest makes it easy to buy a small fraction of major stocks, like Amazon (AMZN) and Google’s parent company, Alphabet (GOOG), with its Stock Bits feature. This feature allows you to buy fractional shares of select stocks starting at $1. There are no trading fees with SoFi, so every dollar you invest into a fractional share goes toward buying stock.

SoFi Invest also offers the ability to choose between active investing or managed investing. Your SoFi membership provides access to other financial products, including bank accounts and loans. SoFi is known for student loans and student loan refinancing, and having a SoFi Invest account may get you a discount on your interest rate when you refinance your student loans.

Visit SoFi Invest

… Or read our SoFi Invest review.

Best for options trading: TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade offers stocks and bonds, but it stands out for offering options trading, a form of trading that uses contracts that give you the right to buy or sell an asset at a set price at a certain date. It also offers margin trading, which allows you to borrow money to expand your purchase power. The TD Ameritrade thinkorswim mobile trading app is advanced enough to allow you to utilize these options using your phone.

It’s also possible to use the platform to execute several types of orders in addition to traditional market orders. TD offers access to research and real-time market information.

Visit TD Ameritrade

… Or read our TD Ameritrade review.

Best for ETFs: Merrill Edge

Merrill Edge is a subsidiary of Bank of America that offers access to a wide selection of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and options. You may use a self-directed account to build your own portfolio or use the managed trading option to have one built for you. There are no trading fees when you use your Merrill Edge brokerage account for stocks, mutual funds, and ETF trades. The managed investing account charges a 0.45% annual management fee ⁴ .

Not only does Merrill Edge offer investment access to a variety of products, but you also get access to Bank of America banking products. You may also get help when you need it from financial advisors, as well as access to a wide library of investment research tools and insights.

Read our Merrill Edge review.

Best for learning about investing: Fidelity

Fidelity is a well-known full-service brokerage and retirement account management and remains one of the best brokers out there. You can access a variety of features with Fidelity, including its stock screener tool that makes it easier for new investors to research stocks. In addition to offering traditional brokerage services, Fidelity is also the provider of Fidelity Go, a robo-advisor that has a $0 account minimum and low fees — in fact, it’s free for accounts under $25,000.

Fidelity provides an extensive learning library with information about almost every investing topic imaginable. If you want to learn the investing basics before diving in, Fidelity may offer what you need, from beginning topics to advanced concepts.

Read our Fidelity review.

Best for experienced traders: TradeStation

TradeStation offers several asset classes, including stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, futures, and options. It has a lot to offer experienced investors, including advanced charting and trading tools, access to active trading data, and a high-end stock online trading platform. The platform allows you to place several order types, including market orders and stop-loss orders. It also offers simulated trading to help you practice your trading strategy without using real money.

TradeStation allows you to create your own trading system, which makes it attractive to active investors and day traders, though beginner investors may face a steep learning curve. The advanced investing platform could be difficult to get used to if you’re not accustomed to advanced charting and technical analysis.

Read our TradeStation review.

Best for long-term investing: Vanguard

Vanguard is an established name in the investment world for pioneering the movement of improving investing accessibility to more people. With Vanguard, you can put your money into one of its investment products, and you’re encouraged to leave it for a while. The goal isn’t necessarily to beat the market but to mirror its performance and potentially meet your wealth-building financial goals. This makes it a good fit for long-term investors who don't mind the wait.

Vanguard is famous for helping its users with saving for retirement. The broker gives you access to a wide variety of mutual funds and ETFs to build your portfolio and retirement plan. However, it can also manage your portfolio for you.

You usually need a $1,000 to $3,000 minimum deposit to invest in most mutual funds it offers. However, if you use some of its retirement products, you might be able to get in with a lower minimum, especially if you commit to a monthly contribution.

Best for mutual funds: Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab offers a wide variety of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, futures, and options for investors. It also offers fractional stocks and IPO stock access. One of the perks of this online stock broker is that it has a number of funds with no transaction fees and low expense ratios. It also gives you suggestions, divides funds by goal, provides lists of stocks that fit certain themes, and even offers broker-assisted trades to make managing your investment portfolio easier.

Schwab also offers its Intelligent Portfolios, a robo-advisor you may use with no minimums and low management fees. Schwab completes its financial product offering with its banking products that make it easy to use your liquid cash in conjunction with your investing account. You can also access research and insights from Schwab professionals and watch regular webinars on the state of the economy, which may help you make better investment decisions or plan out your next money moves.

Read our Charles Schwab review.

Best for international stocks: Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers has a clear edge over many other brokerages thanks to the access it offers to global markets. This brokerage provides you with access to international stocks, options, futures, forex, and funds that trade on 150 markets in 33 countries using 26 currencies. Keep in mind that investing in international assets can be risky so it may not be a good fit for new investors. 

To run a smooth show, Interactive Brokers uses a sophisticated platform that offers advanced trading tools, comprehensive portfolio reporting, and more. It also offers several calculators, such as a stock margin calculator and an options calculator. These calculators can speed up the process of getting essential asset-related information, which can be especially useful for day-trading investors.

Interactive Brokers was founded in 1978 by Thomas Peterffy and has since grown to provide 1.9 million average daily trades to more than 2 million clients. The brokerage is also publicly traded under the IBKR ticker.

Our methodology

In determining our list of the best online brokerage accounts, we evaluated companies according to a set of criteria we consider critical to the consumer. We did not evaluate all companies in the category. We used editorial judgment to determine what use or user each account would be best for.

FinanceBuzz assessment criteria include:

• Fees: We considered a variety of fees, including wealth management fees and trading commissions, in assessing our top picks for online brokerages.
• Features: We looked at platform features, such as real-time quotes, watchlist options, and accessible customer support, as we determined our ranking for the best online brokerages.
• Educational resources: Many online brokers offer educational resources for investors, though some offer more in-depth financial planning and research tools than others. We considered this factor in our rankings.
• Investment options: Different online brokers offer different investment options, including ETFs, mutual funds, and more. We considered these options in our assessment.
• Consumer protections: All the brokerages on our list are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. They also offer additional protections like Securities Investor Protection Corp. insurance up to a certain amount.

FAQs about online brokerages

Best online brokerage accounts: Bottom line

To decide the best brokerage account for you, you should consider the fees, investment options, trading tools, customer support, and user experience. Some platforms may offer simple investment options that don't require much attention, while others may need someone with a decent level of trading experience and willingness to be involved.

Make sure to research and compare multiple brokerage accounts before choosing where to put your money. Once you choose a platform, use strategies such as dollar-cost averaging to help manage risk and balance your returns over the longterm.

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