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
    Bonds
    0.1% of face value on the first $10,000; 0.025% aboveUS corporate bonds and CDs, $1.00 minimum, capped at the lesser of $250 or 1% of trade value. Municipals 0.05% then 0.0125%; Treasuries 0.002% with a $5.00 minimum
    Broker-assisted
    Not verified
    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
    Bonds
    $1.00 per bondSecondary market
    Broker-assisted
    Not verified
    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
    Bonds
    $0New issues, online
    Broker-assisted
    $0 + $25 service charge
    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
    Bonds
    $1.00 per bondOnline secondary; minimum $10, maximum $250
    Broker-assisted
    Not verified
    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
    Bonds
    $0.10–$0.25 per $100 par (Treasuries); $0.35–$0.50 per $100 par (corporates)By maturity band. A Bond Account carries a $3.99 monthly maintenance fee unless you hold Premium
    Broker-assisted
    Not verified
    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
    Bonds
    0.1% of principal valueUS Treasuries. Corporate bonds the same rate with a $10 per trade minimum. Charged as an execution markup rather than a commission
    Broker-assisted
    Not verified
    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.

Why each broker sits where it does

The figures that matter for bonds, and the arithmetic that produced each position under this page’s weights. The same brokers rank differently elsewhere on this site because a different question is being asked; the sub-scores do not change, the weights do.

1.Interactive Brokers

9.1/10

INTERACTIVE BROKERS LLC · CRD 36418 · SIPC member

Bonds
0.1% of face value on the first $10,000; 0.025% above
To open
$0

Leads this ranking on 9.1/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 30% here and worth 2.7 of the total. Its 8/10 on account types and features adds 1.3 at 16%.

On safety and regulation: 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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Interactive Brokers

2.Fidelity

8.9/10

FIDELITY BROKERAGE SERVICES LLC · CRD 7784 · SIPC member

Bonds
$1.00 per bond
To open
$0

Ranks 2nd on 8.9/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 30% here and worth 2.7 of the total. Its 10/10 on account types and features adds 1.6 at 16%.

On safety and regulation: 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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Fidelity

3.Charles Schwab

8.7/10

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

Bonds
$0
Broker-assisted
$0 + $25 service charge
To open
$0

Ranks 3rd on 8.7/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 30% here and worth 2.7 of the total. Its 9/10 on account types and features adds 1.4 at 16%.

On safety and regulation: 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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Charles Schwab

4.E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

8.2/10

MORGAN STANLEY · CRD 149777 · SIPC member

Bonds
$1.00 per bond

Ranks 4th on 8.2/10. The largest single contribution is 8/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 30% here and worth 2.4 of the total. Its 9/10 on account types and features adds 1.4 at 16%.

On safety and regulation: 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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

5.Public

7.0/10

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

Bonds
$0.10–$0.25 per $100 par (Treasuries); $0.35–$0.50 per $100 par (corporates)

Ranks 5th on 7.0/10. The largest single contribution is 8/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 30% here and worth 2.4 of the total. Its 5/10 on account types and features adds 0.8 at 16%, and is what holds it back here.

On safety and regulation: 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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Public

6.Webull

7.0/10

WEBULL FINANCIAL LLC · CRD 289063 · SIPC member

Bonds
0.1% of principal value
To open
$0

Ranks 6th on 7.0/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on fees and total cost, weighted 30% here and worth 2.7 of the total. Its 5/10 on account types and features adds 0.8 at 16%, and is what holds it back here.

On fees and total cost: $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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Webull

Every sub-score and why

The arithmetic behind every position on this page: each sub-score, the weight it carries here, and what it contributes to the total. If you disagree with a weight, these let you recompute the ranking yourself — that is the point of publishing them. The written reason behind each integer is on that broker’s review.

Interactive Brokers9 / 9 / 10 / 89.1/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Investment selection10/10 × 24% = 2.4
Account types and features8/10 × 16% = 1.3

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
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Investment selection8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Account types and features10/10 × 16% = 1.6

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
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Investment selection9/10 × 24% = 2.2
Account types and features9/10 × 16% = 1.4

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
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Investment selection8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Account types and features9/10 × 16% = 1.4

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
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Investment selection6/10 × 24% = 1.4
Account types and features5/10 × 16% = 0.8

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
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Investment selection6/10 × 24% = 1.4
Account types and features5/10 × 16% = 0.8

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.

Five further pillars — access and eligibility, platform and usability, research and education, customer service, execution quality — carry no weight in any ranking, because none of them can yet be settled from a document a reader can open. What each would require is set out in the methodology.

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

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Risk warning

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