profile ranking · Primary query: best brokers for custodial accounts
Quick verdict
This is the shortest ranking on the site, because the answer is short. Five of the twelve brokers we score publish a custodial account: Fidelity, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Vanguard and Merrill Edge. The other seven — including Interactive Brokers and every app-first platform — do not, so no fee comparison involving them is relevant to a parent. Among the five, Fidelity publishes the widest wrapper lineup in our set and charges nothing to open, hold or leave.
Safety and regulation 32% · Fees and total cost 26% · Investment selection 12% · Account types and features 30% · Eligibility: Publishes a custodial account
Sub-scores are integers, so the bars carry more information than the order does.
Showing 5 of 5 brokers, sorted by editorial rank.
9.2
Strong
8.7
Strong
8.3
Solid
7.8
Solid
7.6
Solid
Positions are computed from published sub-scores at build time. Fidelity, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley lead; their unrounded totals are 9.18, 8.74, 8.30.
Why these weights
Account types rises to 30% because the wrapper is the entire question, and cost stays meaningful because a custodial account is typically funded slowly over many years, where a holding fee compounds against a small balance.
Widest wrapper lineup
FidelityThe only firm in our set publishing every account type we track, including an HSA and a solo 401(k).
Longest registration record
Charles SchwabOne of the lowest CRD numbers in our set, indicating a registration history measured in decades.
Interactive Brokers, tastytrade, TradeStation, Robinhood, Webull, Public and eToro publish no custodial account among the firms we score. Several of them are excellent on cost, and none of that is relevant if the account you need does not exist there.
This is the clearest example on the site of why account types carry 18% of our default score. A broker that cannot open the account you need is not cheap; it is unusable, and no commission schedule changes that.
A custodial account is usually funded in small amounts over a long horizon, which inverts the usual cost analysis. A per-trade commission barely registers; an annual account service fee compounds against a balance that starts small. Vanguard publishes a $25 annual fee unless waived — most easily by choosing electronic statements — and Fidelity, Schwab, E*TRADE and Merrill Edge publish none.
The second thing worth checking before you open one is what happens at the age of majority, when the assets become the child's outright. That is a legal feature of the account type rather than a broker policy, and it is the same wherever you hold it.
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.
FIDELITY BROKERAGE SERVICES LLC · CRD 7784 · SIPC member
A full-service US brokerage with a zero-commission equity schedule and no account minimum.
Against it: No futures trading
Read the full Fidelity reviewCHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC. · CRD 5393 · SIPC member
A long-established US brokerage with $0 listed equity commissions and no account or trade minimums.
Against it: $50 to transfer a full account out, against $0 at Fidelity
Read the full Charles Schwab reviewMORGAN STANLEY · CRD 149777 · SIPC member
A zero-commission equity schedule inside Morgan Stanley, with futures, bonds and crypto on the same statement.
Against it: $1.50 per futures contract is the highest futures rate in our set
Read the full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley reviewMERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED · CRD 7691 · SIPC member
Zero-commission investing wired into Bank of America, with a $49.95 charge to move the account out.
Against it: $49.95 to transfer the full account out
Read the full Merrill Edge Self-Directed reviewVANGUARD MARKETING CORPORATION · CRD 7452 · SIPC member
Built around long-term fund investing, with the most expensive options schedule in our set.
Against it: $1.00 per options contract — the most expensive options schedule we recorded
Read the full Vanguard reviewEach 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.
Total 9.2/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal
Full Fidelity review, with every fee and sourceTotal 8.7/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal
Full Charles Schwab review, with every fee and sourceTotal 8.3/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal
Full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley review, with every fee and sourceTotal 7.8/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal
Full Merrill Edge Self-Directed review, with every fee and sourceTotal 7.6/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal
Full Vanguard review, with every fee and sourceNot scored, and why
Researched but excluded
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.