Best Brokers

asset ranking · Primary query: best brokers for bonds

Best Brokers for BondsUpdated August 2026 · 12 brokers, every figure sourced

Written by
Juan Manuel Gonzalez
Published
Data verified

Quick verdict

Six of the twelve brokers we score publish a bond schedule, and the first difficulty is that they do not price the same way. Fidelity charges $1.00 per bond on the secondary market. Public charges per $100 of par value — $0.10 to $0.25 on Treasuries, $0.35 to $0.50 on corporates. Interactive Brokers charges a percentage of face value, 0.1% on the first $10,000 of corporates and 0.002% on Treasuries. Webull charges a 0.1% execution markup. Charles Schwab publishes $0 on new issues. Comparing headline numbers across those three structures produces a wrong answer.

The ranking

Safety and regulation 30% · Fees and total cost 30% · Investment selection 24% · Account types and features 16% · Eligibility: Publishes a bond schedule

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 6 of 6 brokers, sorted by editorial rank.

  1. Rank 1 of 6

    Interactive Brokers

    CRD 36418 · SIPC member

    Cheapest on Treasuries

    9.1

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection10
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    $0No account minimums
    Stock / ETF
    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 / 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 6

    Fidelity

    CRD 7784 · SIPC member

    Simplest to compare

    8.9

    Strong

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

  3. Rank 3 of 6

    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
    Stock / ETF
    $0Online listed stocks and ETFs
    Options / contract
    $0.65
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit Charles SchwabFull review →

  4. Rank 4 of 6

    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
    Stock / ETF
    $0Stocks, options base, mutual funds and ETFs
    Options / 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 6

    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
    Stock / ETF
    $0US-listed stocks and ETFs in regular hours. Extended hours and OTC are $2.99 per trade unless you hold Premium
    Options / contract
    $0Stock and ETF options. Index options $0.50 per contract, or $0.35 with Premium
    Account types
    4/12
    Visit PublicFull review →

  6. Rank 6 of 6

    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
    Stock / ETF
    $0US-listed securities
    Options / contract
    $0Standard contracts. $0.50 on certain index options, $0.10 on oversized option orders
    Account types
    5/12
    Visit WebullFull review →

Positions are computed from published sub-scores at build time. Interactive Brokers, Fidelity, Charles Schwab lead; their unrounded totals are 9.08, 8.92, 8.70.

Why these weights

Selection rises to 24% because the bond universe a broker can reach matters more than a few basis points of commission, and safety stays at 30% because bonds are held for years and the custodian outlives most trading decisions.

Winners by category

  • Cheapest on Treasuries

    Interactive Brokers

    0.002% of face value with a $5.00 minimum, the lowest published Treasury rate in our set.

  • Simplest to compare

    Fidelity

    A flat $1.00 per bond on the secondary market, with $0 on new issues at several firms.

Three pricing structures that do not compare

A per-bond commission, a charge per $100 of par value and a percentage of face value produce very different totals depending on trade size, and none of them converts to the others in your head. On a $10,000 corporate purchase, $1.00 per bond at Fidelity is $10 across ten bonds; 0.1% of face value at Interactive Brokers is also about $10; $0.50 per $100 of par at Public is $50. The gap widens with size in some structures and narrows in others.

Ask for the all-in cost on the specific trade you intend to make. It is the only comparison that survives the difference in structures.

New issues are often free, and the markup is not always shown

Charles Schwab publishes $0 for new issues bought online, and new-issue pricing is commonly free at brokers that charge on the secondary market, because the issuer pays the selling concession rather than you. That is not a discount so much as a different party paying.

Some firms describe their charge as an execution markup rather than a commission — Webull's 0.1% of principal is stated that way. A markup is taken inside the price rather than shown as a line, which makes it harder to see and no less real.

Every broker in this ranking, in short

The case for and against each firm in a paragraph, with the figures that drove its score. Each links to the full review, where every number carries its source and the date it was read.

1.Interactive Brokers

9.1/10

INTERACTIVE BROKERS LLC · CRD 36418 · SIPC member

The widest published market access in our set, with a two-tier commission model and no account minimum.

Stocks and ETFs
IBKR Lite $0; IBKR Pro from $0.0035/share (tiered) or $0.005/share (fixed)
Options, per contract
$0.65 per contract
To transfer out
$0
Account types
8 published

Against it: IBKR Lite is restricted to US residents and to individual, joint, IRA and certain trust accounts

Read the full Interactive Brokers review

2.Fidelity

8.9/10

FIDELITY BROKERAGE SERVICES LLC · CRD 7784 · SIPC member

A full-service US brokerage with a zero-commission equity schedule and no account minimum.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0.65
To transfer out
$0
Account types
12 published

Against it: No futures trading

Read the full Fidelity review

3.Charles Schwab

8.7/10

CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC. · CRD 5393 · SIPC member

A long-established US brokerage with $0 listed equity commissions and no account or trade minimums.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0.65
To transfer out
$50 full, $0 partial
Account types
10 published

Against it: $50 to transfer a full account out, against $0 at Fidelity

Read the full Charles Schwab review

4.E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

8.2/10

MORGAN STANLEY · CRD 149777 · SIPC member

A zero-commission equity schedule inside Morgan Stanley, with futures, bonds and crypto on the same statement.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0.65
Account types
10 published

Against it: $1.50 per futures contract is the highest futures rate in our set

Read the full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley review

5.Public

7.0/10

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC INVESTING, INC. · CRD 127818 · SIPC member

The lowest published margin rates in our set, on the narrowest account lineup we publish.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0
To transfer out
$100
Account types
4 published

Against it: $2.99 per trade outside regular market hours, and on OTC stocks, unless you pay for Premium

Read the full Public review

6.Webull

7.0/10

WEBULL FINANCIAL LLC · CRD 289063 · SIPC member

Zero commissions on stocks, ETFs and standard options, with a $75 charge to leave.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0
To transfer out
$75
Account types
5 published

Against it: $75 per outgoing stock transfer — second only to Vanguard's $100 among the exit charges we recorded

Read the full Webull review

Every sub-score and why

Each integer below has a written reason. If you disagree with a weight, the sub-scores let you recompute the ranking yourself — that is the point of publishing them.

Interactive Brokers9 / 9 / 10 / 89.1/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-47257), FINRA member, SIPC member, and part of a US-listed group. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
IBKR Lite is $0 on US listed equities for US residents. IBKR Pro tiered starts at $0.0035 per share with a $0.35 order minimum and a 1% of trade value cap, which is the cheapest published schedule in our set for large orders. Small Pro orders hit the per-order minimum, so it is not universally cheapest.
Investment selection10/10 × 24% = 2.4
The only firm in our set with every asset class we track published on one schedule, including futures, spot currencies, bonds, mutual funds, crypto and non-US listings across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Account types and features8/10 × 16% = 1.3
Taxable, joint, IRA and trust accounts are all named in the published IBKR Lite eligibility terms. No HSA or solo 401(k) identified.

Total 9.1/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Interactive Brokers review, with every fee and source
Fidelity9 / 9 / 8 / 108.9/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-23292), FINRA member since 1979, SIPC member. Long operating history under a single entity, with no headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
$0 equity and ETF commissions, $0.65 per options contract, no account minimum, no published account service or inactivity fee, and $0 to transfer assets. Options pricing is mid-pack rather than lowest.
Investment selection8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds, international equities and fractional shares are all offered. No futures, which caps the score below the multi-asset firms.
Account types and features10/10 × 16% = 1.6
Widest published lineup in our set: taxable, joint, all IRA variants, custodial, trust, solo 401(k) and HSA.

Total 8.9/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Fidelity review, with every fee and source
Charles Schwab9 / 8 / 9 / 98.7/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-16514) with one of the lowest CRD numbers in our set, indicating long registration history. SIPC member. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
$0 listed equity and ETF commissions, $0.65 per options contract, $0 account minimum and $0 opening and maintenance fees. Marked down from 9 on 30 August 2026 after we read the April 2026 pricing guide, which adds three costs the headline schedule does not show: a $6.95 OTC equity commission, $50 to transfer a full account out, and a currency conversion markup of up to 3% of principal. Fidelity charges none of the three.
Investment selection9/10 × 24% = 2.2
Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds, fractional shares, a dedicated global account for international equities, and futures at $2.25 per contract confirmed from the April 2026 pricing guide. Below Interactive Brokers only on spot currencies and crypto.
Account types and features9/10 × 16% = 1.4
Published lineup covers taxable, joint, all IRA variants, custodial and trust accounts, plus managed portfolios from a $5,000 minimum. No HSA identified.

Total 8.7/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Charles Schwab review, with every fee and source
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley8 / 8 / 8 / 98.2/10Solid
Safety and regulation8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Accounts sit with an active SEC-registered Morgan Stanley broker-dealer (8-68191) that is a SIPC member. Marked one point below the long-single-entity firms because BrokerCheck lists the original E*TRADE Securities LLC registration as inactive, so clients have been through an entity migration.
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
$0 on stocks, ETFs and mutual funds with a $0.65 options contract fee that falls to $0.50 at 30 trades per quarter. Futures at $1.50 per contract are the most expensive futures rate we recorded, and crypto at 0.50% is mid-pack.
Investment selection8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, futures and crypto all appear on the published schedule. Fractional shares and direct international listings were not confirmed from the page we read.
Account types and features9/10 × 16% = 1.4
Full retail lineup including all IRA variants, custodial, trust and managed Core Portfolios, backed by integrated banking through Morgan Stanley Private Bank.

Total 8.2/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley review, with every fee and source
Public8 / 8 / 6 / 57.0/10Mixed
Safety and regulation8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-66049), FINRA member and SIPC member, with no enforcement matter identified in our sourced review. Its CRD number, 127818, is lower than those of Robinhood, Webull, tastytrade and eToro, which means the legal entity has been registered longer than the app’s launch date suggests. Still well short of the multi-decade registration records that earn a 9 here.
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
$0 on US-listed stocks and ETFs in regular hours, $0 per stock and ETF options contract, and margin from 4.90% falling to 3.95% — the cheapest margin schedule we recorded, undercutting the next firm by more than six percentage points at the entry tier. Held to an 8 by three charges the headline pricing does not show: $2.99 per extended-hours or OTC trade without Premium, $100 to transfer the account out, and a 0.30% fee on currency conversion.
Investment selection6/10 × 24% = 1.4
Stocks, ETFs, equity and index options, OTC stocks, Treasuries, corporate bonds and crypto are all priced on the published schedule, and the bond range is deeper than most of the set. No mutual funds and no futures, which is the same double gap that holds the other app-first brokers at this level. Fractional shares are advertised but were not confirmed from a fee schedule or pricing table.
Account types and features5/10 × 16% = 0.8
Taxable, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, a crypto IRA and margin. No joint, custodial, SEP, solo 401(k) or HSA accounts identified; trust accounts are listed as not yet available. That rules the firm out for a large share of household situations.

Total 7.0/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Public review, with every fee and source
Webull7 / 9 / 6 / 57.0/10Mixed
Safety and regulation7/10 × 30% = 2.1
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-69978) and SIPC member. Scored below the incumbents on operating history alone — its CRD number places its registration well after the established firms — not on any enforcement matter we identified.
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
$0 on US-listed stocks, ETFs and standard options contracts, with regulatory fees itemised transparently. Held off a 10 by the $75 outgoing transfer fee, which is a real switching cost.
Investment selection6/10 × 24% = 1.4
Stocks, ETFs, options and fractional shares confirmed. No mutual funds. Futures and crypto not confirmed from the fee schedule we read.
Account types and features5/10 × 16% = 0.8
Taxable, traditional, Roth and rollover IRAs plus margin. No joint, custodial or trust accounts identified.

Total 7.0/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Webull review, with every fee and source

How we evaluated

Safety and regulation30%
Evidence: FINRA BrokerCheck entity record — legal name, CRD number, SEC file number and registration status — SIPC membership, and public enforcement actions from the regulator or SRO that brought them.
Fees and total cost30%
Evidence: The firm's own published commission and fee schedule, read in full.
Investment selection24%
Evidence: The asset classes named on the firm's own published pricing or product pages.
Account types and features16%
Evidence: The account types named in the firm's own published account lineup.

Not scored, and why

  • Access and eligibility — Country-by-country onboarding terms confirmed against each firm's own account-opening documents.
  • Platform and usability — Hands-on use of a funded account on desktop, web and mobile.
  • Research and education — Logged-in access to each firm's research suite and education library.
  • Customer service — Timed contact tests across phone, chat and email, repeated over several weeks.
  • Execution quality — Analysis of SEC Rule 605 and Rule 606 order-execution and routing disclosures across a full quarter.

Researched but excluded

  • SoFi Invest (SOFI SECURITIES LLC, CRD 151717) — Legal entity confirmed via FINRA, but the fee page returned HTTP 403 when we attempted to read it. Re-attempted on 30 August 2026 against the published fee schedule PDF and the SoFi support articles: both returned 403 as well. Secondary summaries of SoFi’s pricing are available and we are not using them — we will not score a firm from anything but its own document.
Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

Which US brokers let you buy individual bonds?
Of the twelve brokers we score, six publish a bond schedule: Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, Webull and Public. Vanguard, Merrill Edge, tastytrade and TradeStation offer bonds but we could not read a schedule for them, and Robinhood and eToro publish none.
What is the cheapest way to buy Treasuries at a broker?
New issues bought at auction are often free, and Charles Schwab publishes $0 for new issues online. On the secondary market, Interactive Brokers publishes the lowest rate we recorded at 0.002% of face value with a $5.00 minimum per trade.

Sources

  1. [1]Interactive Brokers — Stocks, ETFs, warrants and structured products commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  2. [2]Interactive Brokers — Options commissionsRead August 30, 2026
  3. [3]FINRA BrokerCheck — Interactive Brokers LLCRead August 28, 2026
  4. [4]Interactive Brokers — Other feesRead August 30, 2026
  5. [5]Interactive Brokers — Mutual fund commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  6. [6]Interactive Brokers — Bond commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  7. [7]Interactive Brokers — Futures commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  8. [8]Interactive Brokers — Cryptocurrency commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  9. [9]Interactive Brokers — Margin ratesRead August 31, 2026
  10. [10]Interactive Brokers — Spot currency commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  11. [11]Fidelity — Commissions and margin ratesRead August 28, 2026
  12. [12]FINRA BrokerCheck — Fidelity Brokerage Services LLCRead August 28, 2026
  13. [13]Charles Schwab — Pricing and account feesRead August 28, 2026
  14. [14]FINRA BrokerCheck — Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  15. [15]Charles Schwab — Pricing Guide for Individual Investors (April 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  16. [16]Charles Schwab — Margin rates and requirementsRead August 31, 2026
  17. [17]E*TRADE — Pricing and ratesRead August 28, 2026
  18. [18]FINRA BrokerCheck — Morgan Stanley / E*TRADE Securities LLCRead August 28, 2026
  19. [19]FINRA BrokerCheck — Open to the Public Investing, Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  20. [20]Public — Fee schedule (last updated 14 August 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  21. [21]Public — Account types and asset lineupRead August 30, 2026
  22. [22]Webull — Pricing and feesRead August 28, 2026
  23. [23]FINRA BrokerCheck — Webull Financial LLCRead August 28, 2026

Affiliate disclosure

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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.