Best Brokers

profile ranking · Primary query: best brokers for custodial accounts

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

Written by
Juan Manuel Gonzalez
Published
Data verified

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.

The ranking

Safety and regulation 32% · Fees and total cost 26% · Investment selection 12% · Account types and features 30% · Eligibility: Publishes a custodial account

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 5 of 5 brokers, sorted by editorial rank.

  1. Rank 1 of 5

    Fidelity

    CRD 7784 · SIPC member

    Widest wrapper lineup

    9.2

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection8
    • Account types and features10
    Account minimum
    $0No minimums to open an account
    To open
    $0No minimums to open an account
    Account fee
    None published
    Account types
    12/12
    Visit FidelityFull review →

  2. Rank 2 of 5

    Charles Schwab

    CRD 5393 · SIPC member

    Longest registration record

    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
    To open
    $0$0 account minimum, $0 opening and maintenance
    Account fee
    $0
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit Charles SchwabFull review →

  3. Rank 3 of 5

    E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

    CRD 149777 · SIPC member

    8.3

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection8
    • Account types and features9
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    To open
    Not verified
    Account fee
    Not verified
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit E*TRADE from Morgan StanleyFull review →

  4. Rank 4 of 5

    Merrill Edge Self-Directed

    CRD 7691 · SIPC member

    7.8

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost7
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    $0No minimum for general investing accounts
    To open
    $0No minimum for general investing accounts
    Account fee
    None published
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit Merrill Edge Self-DirectedFull review →

  5. Rank 5 of 5

    Vanguard

    CRD 7452 · SIPC member

    7.6

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost6
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    To open
    Not verified
    Account fee
    $25 per yearWaived with e-delivery of statements, $1m+ in qualifying assets, or advisory enrolment
    Account types
    11/12
    Visit VanguardFull review →

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.

Winners by category

  • Widest wrapper lineup

    Fidelity

    The only firm in our set publishing every account type we track, including an HSA and a solo 401(k).

  • Longest registration record

    Charles Schwab

    One of the lowest CRD numbers in our set, indicating a registration history measured in decades.

Seven brokers cannot help you at all

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.

What actually matters over fifteen years

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.

Why each broker sits where it does

The figures that matter for custodial accounts, 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.Fidelity

9.2/10

FIDELITY BROKERAGE SERVICES LLC · CRD 7784 · SIPC member

To open
$0
Account fee
None published
Stocks and ETFs
$0

Leads this ranking on 9.2/10. The largest single contribution is 10/10 on account types and features, weighted 30% here and worth 3.0 of the total. Its 8/10 on investment selection adds 1.0 at 12%.

On account types and features: Widest published lineup in our set: taxable, joint, all IRA variants, custodial, trust, solo 401(k) and HSA.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Fidelity

2.Charles Schwab

8.7/10

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

To open
$0
Account fee
$0
Stocks and ETFs
$0

Ranks 2nd on 8.7/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.9 of the total. Its 9/10 on investment selection adds 1.1 at 12%.

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

3.E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

8.3/10

MORGAN STANLEY · CRD 149777 · SIPC member

Stocks and ETFs
$0

Ranks 3rd on 8.3/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on account types and features, weighted 30% here and worth 2.7 of the total. Its 8/10 on investment selection adds 1.0 at 12%.

On account types and features: Full retail lineup including all IRA variants, custodial, trust and managed Core Portfolios, backed by integrated banking through Morgan Stanley Private Bank.

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

4.Merrill Edge Self-Directed

7.8/10

MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED · CRD 7691 · SIPC member

To open
$0
Account fee
None published
Stocks and ETFs
$0

Ranks 4th on 7.8/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.9 of the total. Its 6/10 on investment selection adds 0.7 at 12%, and is what holds it back here.

On safety and regulation: Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-7221) — the lowest SEC file number in our set, indicating a very long registration history — and a SIPC member within Bank of America. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Merrill Edge Self-Directed

5.Vanguard

7.6/10

VANGUARD MARKETING CORPORATION · CRD 7452 · SIPC member

Account fee
$25 per year
Stocks and ETFs
$0

Ranks 5th on 7.6/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.9 of the total. Its 6/10 on investment selection adds 0.7 at 12%, and is what holds it back here.

On safety and regulation: Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-21570) with a low CRD number indicating long registration history, and a SIPC member. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Vanguard

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.

Fidelity9 / 9 / 8 / 109.2/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 32% = 2.9
Fees and total cost9/10 × 26% = 2.3
Investment selection8/10 × 12% = 1.0
Account types and features10/10 × 30% = 3.0

Total 9.2/10 · 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 × 32% = 2.9
Fees and total cost8/10 × 26% = 2.1
Investment selection9/10 × 12% = 1.1
Account types and features9/10 × 30% = 2.7

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 / 98.3/10Solid
Safety and regulation8/10 × 32% = 2.6
Fees and total cost8/10 × 26% = 2.1
Investment selection8/10 × 12% = 1.0
Account types and features9/10 × 30% = 2.7

Total 8.3/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley review, with every fee and source
Merrill Edge Self-Directed9 / 7 / 6 / 87.8/10Solid
Safety and regulation9/10 × 32% = 2.9
Fees and total cost7/10 × 26% = 1.8
Investment selection6/10 × 12% = 0.7
Account types and features8/10 × 30% = 2.4

Total 7.8/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Merrill Edge Self-Directed review, with every fee and source
Vanguard9 / 6 / 6 / 87.6/10Solid
Safety and regulation9/10 × 32% = 2.9
Fees and total cost6/10 × 26% = 1.6
Investment selection6/10 × 12% = 0.7
Account types and features8/10 × 30% = 2.4

Total 7.6/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Vanguard review, with every fee and source

How we evaluated

Safety and regulation32%
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 cost26%
Evidence: The firm's own published commission and fee schedule, read in full.
Investment selection12%
Evidence: The asset classes named on the firm's own published pricing or product pages.
Account types and features30%
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 brokers offer custodial accounts for children?
Of the twelve US brokers we score, five publish a custodial account: Fidelity, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Vanguard and Merrill Edge. Interactive Brokers, tastytrade, TradeStation, Robinhood, Webull, Public and eToro do not.
Do custodial accounts have fees?
Among the five that offer them, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE and Merrill Edge publish no annual account service fee. Vanguard publishes $25 a year, waived by electronic delivery of statements among other conditions. Trading commissions are $0 on stocks and ETFs at all five.

Sources

  1. [1]Fidelity — Commissions and margin ratesRead August 28, 2026
  2. [2]FINRA BrokerCheck — Fidelity Brokerage Services LLCRead August 28, 2026
  3. [3]Charles Schwab — Pricing and account feesRead August 28, 2026
  4. [4]FINRA BrokerCheck — Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  5. [5]Charles Schwab — Pricing Guide for Individual Investors (April 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  6. [6]Charles Schwab — Margin rates and requirementsRead August 31, 2026
  7. [7]E*TRADE — Pricing and ratesRead August 28, 2026
  8. [8]FINRA BrokerCheck — Morgan Stanley / E*TRADE Securities LLCRead August 28, 2026
  9. [9]Merrill — PricingRead August 28, 2026
  10. [10]FINRA BrokerCheck — Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith IncorporatedRead August 28, 2026
  11. [11]Vanguard — Investment fees and commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  12. [12]FINRA BrokerCheck — Vanguard Marketing CorporationRead 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.