Best Brokers

12 brokers · 4 scored criteria · Methodology v1.1

Broker research you can check.

Every fee on this site was read from the broker’s own published schedule. Every legal entity, CRD number and SEC file number was read from FINRA’s records. Every score shows its working, and anything we could not source is marked not verified rather than filled in with an estimate.

See the rankingHow we score
Brokers ranked
12
Fee fields tracked
168
Criteria scored
4/9
Firms withheld
1

Where we stand

What this site will and will not claim

  • No commercial relationships. We are not paid by any broker listed. Scoring code has no access to commercial data, so a future deal cannot reach a score.
  • Every figure carries its source. Fees from the provider’s own published schedule, entities from the regulator’s register, each with the date it was read.
  • Four criteria scored, five unweighted. Platform, research, support, execution and country eligibility rest on hands-on assessment rather than a document, and we do not infer them from marketing pages.
  • 1 researched firm withheld. SoFi Invest is confirmed as registered broker-dealer, but we could not read its fee schedule, so it is excluded from every ranking.

Start here

Five questions, then a reading list

This points you at the research that fits your situation and names the constraints your answers imply. It does not recommend a broker, and it is not personalized financial advice — no comparison site is in a position to give you that.

Where do you live?

All markets

Our broker ranking covers US-resident accounts. For ten other markets we publish the regulator and what protects your assets if a broker fails — which is genuinely different in each, and is not SIPC anywhere else.

Question 1 of 5

Where do you live?

The ranking

Best brokers for investing

Scored on safety 30%, cost 30%, selection 22% and account types 18%. See why those weights.

Dataset verified August 28, 2026

Sub-scores are integers, so the bars carry more information than the order does.

  • Safety and regulation
  • Fees and total cost
  • Investment selection
  • Account types and features

Showing 12 of 12 brokers, sorted by editorial rank.

  1. Rank 1 of 12

    Interactive Brokers

    CRD 36418 · SIPC member

    Widest product range

    9.0

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection10
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    $0No account minimums
    Stocks and ETFs
    IBKR Lite $0; IBKR Pro from $0.0035/share (tiered) or $0.005/share (fixed)Pro minimum $0.35 (tiered) or $1.00 (fixed) per order, capped at 1% of trade value
    Options, per contract
    $0.65 per contractIBKR Lite, first 1,000 US contracts a month. IBKR Pro tiered: $0.25 under $0.05 premium, $0.50 under $0.10, $0.65 above. Minimum $1.00 per order either way
    Account types
    8/12
    Visit Interactive BrokersFull review →

  2. Rank 2 of 12

    Fidelity

    CRD 7784 · SIPC member

    Most account types

    9.0

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection8
    • Account types and features10
    Account minimum
    $0No minimums to open an account
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Online US stocks and ETFs
    Options, per contract
    $0.65
    Account types
    12/12
    Visit FidelityFull review →

  3. Rank 3 of 12

    Charles Schwab

    CRD 5393 · SIPC member

    8.7

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection9
    • Account types and features9
    Account minimum
    $0$0 account minimum, $0 opening and maintenance
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Online listed stocks and ETFs
    Options, per contract
    $0.65
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit Charles SchwabFull review →

  4. Rank 4 of 12

    E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

    CRD 149777 · SIPC member

    8.2

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection8
    • Account types and features9
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Stocks, options base, mutual funds and ETFs
    Options, per contract
    $0.65$0.50 with 30+ trades per quarter
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit E*TRADE from Morgan StanleyFull review →

  5. Rank 5 of 12

    Merrill Edge Self-Directed

    CRD 7691 · SIPC member

    7.6

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost7
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    $0No minimum for general investing accounts
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Online, no trade or balance minimums
    Options, per contract
    $0.65
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit Merrill Edge Self-DirectedFull review →

  6. Rank 6 of 12

    tastytrade

    CRD 277027 · SIPC member

    Cheapest large multi-leg options orders

    7.4

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection7
    • Account types and features6
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Opening and closing
    Options, per contract
    $1.00 to open, $0 to closeEquity options capped at $10 per leg. Index options $1 to open, $0 to close
    Account types
    7/12
    Visit tastytradeFull review →

  7. Rank 7 of 12

    Vanguard

    CRD 7452 · SIPC member

    7.3

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost6
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Online
    Options, per contract
    $1.00Under $1m qualifying assets. $0 for the first 25 trades at $1m–$5m; first 100 at $5m+
    Account types
    11/12
    Visit VanguardFull review →

  8. Rank 8 of 12

    Public

    CRD 127818 · SIPC member

    7.0

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0US-listed stocks and ETFs in regular hours. Extended hours and OTC are $2.99 per trade unless you hold Premium
    Options, per contract
    $0Stock and ETF options. Index options $0.50 per contract, or $0.35 with Premium
    Account types
    4/12
    Visit PublicFull review →

  9. Rank 9 of 12

    Webull

    CRD 289063 · SIPC member

    7.0

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation7
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    $0No deposit minimum stated in the fee schedule
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0US-listed securities
    Options, per contract
    $0Standard contracts. $0.50 on certain index options, $0.10 on oversized option orders
    Account types
    5/12
    Visit WebullFull review →

  10. Rank 10 of 12

    TradeStation

    CRD 39473 · SIPC member

    6.8

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost6
    • Investment selection7
    • Account types and features6
    Account minimum
    $2,000Stated as the minimum to open and maintain a margin position; no cash-account opening minimum published
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0 per shareDirect routing adds $0.0032–$0.0048 per share by volume tier
    Options, per contract
    $0.50–$0.80 per contract per sideSingle-leg, by volume tier. Multi-leg $0.25–$0.40 per contract per side
    Account types
    6/12
    Visit TradeStationFull review →

  11. Rank 11 of 12

    Robinhood

    CRD 165998 · SIPC member

    Lowest options contract fee

    6.4

    Limited

    • Safety and regulation6
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    $0No fees to open or maintain an account
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Commission-free stocks, ETFs and their options
    Options, per contract
    $0.04Equity options. Index options $0.35 for Robinhood Gold, $0.50 otherwise
    Account types
    4/12
    Visit RobinhoodFull review →

  12. Rank 12 of 12

    eToro (US)

    CRD 298361 · SIPC member

    6.1

    Limited

    • Safety and regulation7
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection5
    • Account types and features3
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stocks and ETFs
    $0Zero commission to buy or sell a stock
    Options, per contract
    $0US users. Non-US users are charged $0.50 per contract
    Account types
    1/12
    Visit eToro (US)Full review →

Positions are computed from published sub-scores at build time. Interactive Brokers, Fidelity, Charles Schwab lead; their unrounded totals are 9.04, 8.96, 8.70.

Positions are computed from the published sub-scores at build time. Ties break on safety, then on cost — never on anything commercial. Read the full ranking with every sub-score and rationale.

Rankings by need

Different questions, different weights

The same evidence, re-weighted. A ranking that weights cost at 55% produces a different order from one that weights account types at 38% — and it should.

3 rankings we are not publishing

International investors, day trading and mobile apps all depend on evidence we do not yet have. The pages exist and explain what is missing, but they carry no ranking and are excluded from search. Best Brokers for International Investors · Best Brokers for Day Trading · Best Mobile Trading Apps

Methodology

What we score, and what we refuse to

Most broker rankings score nine or ten categories. Ours scores four. The difference is not rigour — it is that we will not put a number on something we have not measured.

Distribution of scoring weightSafety and regulation 30 per cent, Fees and total cost 30 per cent, Investment selection 22 per cent, Account types and features 18 per cent. The remaining five criteria — Access and eligibility, Platform and usability, Research and education, Customer service, Execution quality — carry zero weight because we have not gathered evidence for them.
  • Safety and regulation30%
  • Fees and total cost30%
  • Investment selection22%
  • Account types and features18%
Four criteria carry all the weight · five carry none
Read the full methodology

Unscored in v1.1

  • Access and eligibility

    Requires: Country-by-country onboarding terms confirmed against each firm's own account-opening documents.

  • Platform and usability

    Requires: Hands-on use of a funded account on desktop, web and mobile.

  • Research and education

    Requires: Logged-in access to each firm's research suite and education library.

  • Customer service

    Requires: Timed contact tests across phone, chat and email, repeated over several weeks.

  • Execution quality

    Requires: Analysis of SEC Rule 605 and Rule 606 order-execution and routing disclosures across a full quarter.

Head to head

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Broker reviews

Every fee, entity and source in one place

Guides

The mechanics, without the marketing

All 17 guides

About this site

How do you rank brokers?
Four sub-scores, each an integer from 0 to 10: safety and regulation, fees and total cost, investment selection, and account types. The total is a weighted mean expressed out of 10. Weights are published on every ranking page and differ by ranking, because a low-cost ranking and a retirement ranking are answering different questions.
Are you paid by brokers?
Not at present. We have no affiliate or commercial relationship with any broker on this site, and every outbound link is a plain link. If that changes, the link will carry rel="sponsored", the relationship will be disclosed on the broker's own row, and the score will not move — the scoring code has no access to commercial data.
Why do you score fewer categories than other sites?
Because a score is only worth what stands behind it. Fees, legal entities, product range and account types can be read from published schedules and regulatory registers, so those four are scored and every figure carries its source. Platform usability, research, education, customer service and execution quality rest on hands-on assessment, and we do not infer them from marketing pages. Each unscored category states exactly what evidence would let us score it.
How current is this data?
Every fee and entity record on this site was read from a primary source on August 28, 2026. That date appears on every table row. We re-read the full dataset at least quarterly and any individual firm within five business days of a credible report that its terms have changed.

Affiliate disclosure

We currently have no affiliate or commercial relationship with any broker on this site, and every outbound link is a plain link. If that changes, it will be disclosed here and on the broker's row. Read the full disclosure.

Risk warning

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Nothing on this site is personalized investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell any security, or a solicitation. Figures are read from public sources on the dates shown and can change without notice — verify anything you intend to act on with the provider directly. Read the full risk disclosure.

Best Brokers for Investing is an independent publication. It is not a broker, an investment adviser, or affiliated with any firm listed.