Best Brokers

profile ranking · Primary query: best brokers for long-term investing

Best Brokers for Long-Term InvestingUpdated August 2026 · 12 brokers, every figure sourced

Published
Data verified

Quick verdict

Over a thirty-year holding period, the per-trade commission is close to irrelevant and the structural costs are not. What matters is whether the firm offers the account wrappers you will need, whether it charges you to hold or to leave, and whether it gives you access to low-cost funds. Fidelity leads on all four counts. Charles Schwab and Vanguard follow, with Vanguard held back by the only annual account fee in our set.

The ranking

Safety and regulation 32% · Fees and total cost 24% · Investment selection 14% · Account types and features 30% · Eligibility: Offers at least one retirement account type

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 11 of 11 brokers, sorted by editorial rank.

  1. Rank 1 of 11

    Fidelity

    CRD 7784 · SIPC member

    Widest wrapper coverage

    9.2

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection8
    • Account types and features10
    Account minimum
    $0No minimums to open an account
    Mutual funds
    $0Fidelity funds
    Account fee
    None published
    Account types
    12/12
  2. Rank 2 of 11

    Interactive Brokers

    CRD 36418 · SIPC member

    8.8

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection10
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    $0No account minimums
    Mutual funds
    $0 on no-transaction-fee funds; otherwise the lesser of 3% of trade value or $14.95US residents, per transaction
    Account fee
    None publishedNo platform fees or account minimums
    Account types
    8/12
  3. Rank 3 of 11

    Charles Schwab

    CRD 5393 · SIPC member

    Deepest fund range at zero transaction cost

    8.8

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection9
    • Account types and features9
    Account minimum
    $0$0 account minimum, $0 opening and maintenance
    Mutual funds
    $0Thousands of Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource funds
    Account fee
    $0
    Account types
    10/12
  4. Rank 4 of 11

    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
    Mutual funds
    $06,000+ no-load, no-transaction-fee funds
    Account fee
    Not verified
    Account types
    10/12
  5. Rank 5 of 11

    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
    Mutual funds
    $0 no-load NTF and load-waived; $19.95 no-load transaction-fee fundsOnline. $39.95 short-term redemption fee on NTF funds held under 90 days
    Account fee
    None published
    Account types
    10/12
  6. Rank 6 of 11

    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
    Mutual funds
    $0 Vanguard and non-Vanguard NTF; $20 non-Vanguard transaction-fee fundsOnline, under $1m qualifying assets
    Account fee
    $25 per yearWaived with e-delivery of statements, $1m+ in qualifying assets, or advisory enrolment
    Account types
    11/12
  7. Rank 7 of 11

    tastytrade

    CRD 277027 · SIPC member

    7.3

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection7
    • Account types and features6
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Mutual funds
    Not offered
    Account fee
    None published
    Account types
    7/12
  8. Rank 8 of 11

    Public

    CRD 127818 · SIPC member

    6.8

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Mutual funds
    Not offered
    Account fee
    $0Account maintenance
    Account types
    4/12
  9. Rank 9 of 11

    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
    Mutual funds
    Not offered
    Account fee
    Not verified
    Account types
    6/12
  10. Rank 10 of 11

    Webull

    CRD 289063 · SIPC member

    6.7

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation7
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    $0No deposit minimum stated in the fee schedule
    Mutual funds
    Not offered
    Account fee
    None published
    Account types
    5/12
  11. Rank 11 of 11

    Robinhood

    CRD 165998 · SIPC member

    6.2

    Limited

    • Safety and regulation6
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    $0No fees to open or maintain an account
    Mutual funds
    Not offered
    Account fee
    $0
    Account types
    4/12

Positions are computed from published sub-scores at build time. Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab lead; their unrounded totals are 9.16, 8.84, 8.76.

Why these weights

Account types is weighted heaviest of any ranking here, at 30%, because a long-term investor needs specific wrappers — IRAs, custodial, trust, solo 401(k), HSA — and switching firms later is the expensive outcome this ranking exists to avoid.

Winners by category

  • Widest wrapper coverage

    Fidelity

    The only firm here publishing HSA and solo 401(k) alongside the full IRA lineup.

  • Deepest fund range at zero transaction cost

    Charles Schwab

    $0 on thousands of Mutual Fund OneSource funds, plus $0 on new-issue bonds online.

Holding costs matter more than trading costs here

If you buy twice a year and sell nothing, a $0.65 options contract fee will never touch you. A $25 annual account service fee will, every year, compounding against you. Vanguard's fee is waivable with electronic statement delivery, which most readers should simply do — but it is the only recurring account charge in our published set, and it is the reason Vanguard's cost score sits at 7 rather than 9 despite its low fund expenses.

The second structural cost is the exit fee. A long-term investor is exactly the person who will eventually consolidate accounts, inherit one, or move to a firm that offers a wrapper their current broker does not. Fidelity publishes $0 for transfers. Merrill Edge publishes $49.95 for a full transfer out, Webull $75, and Vanguard $100 to close the account and move the assets.

The wrappers that quietly rule brokers out

A solo 401(k) matters if you have self-employment income, and it allows far higher contributions than an IRA. Fidelity and Vanguard publish one; most of the rest do not. An HSA, where you are eligible for one, is the only account with three-way tax advantages; Fidelity is the only firm in our set publishing one alongside brokerage accounts.

Custodial accounts matter if you are investing for a child. Fidelity, Schwab, E*TRADE, Vanguard and Merrill Edge all publish them. Robinhood, Webull, tastytrade, TradeStation and eToro US do not, on the pages we read.

None of this is a reason to avoid the app-first firms for a taxable account. It is a reason not to assume the account you open at 25 is the one you will still be using at 45.

Why each broker sits where it does

The figures that matter for long-term investing, 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

Mutual funds
$0
Account fee
None published
Inactivity
None published

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 1.1 at 14%.

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.Interactive Brokers

8.8/10

INTERACTIVE BROKERS LLC · CRD 36418 · SIPC member

Mutual funds
$0 on no-transaction-fee funds; otherwise the lesser of 3% of trade value or $14.95
Account fee
None published
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 2nd on 8.8/10. The largest single contribution is 9/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.9 of the total. Its 10/10 on investment selection adds 1.4 at 14%.

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

3.Charles Schwab

8.8/10

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

Mutual funds
$0
Account fee
$0
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 3rd on 8.8/10. 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 1.3 at 14%.

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

8.3/10

MORGAN STANLEY · CRD 149777 · SIPC member

Mutual funds
$0

Ranks 4th 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 1.1 at 14%.

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

5.Merrill Edge Self-Directed

7.8/10

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

Mutual funds
$0 no-load NTF and load-waived; $19.95 no-load transaction-fee funds
Account fee
None published
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 5th 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 0.8 at 14%, 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

6.Vanguard

7.6/10

VANGUARD MARKETING CORPORATION · CRD 7452 · SIPC member

Mutual funds
$0 Vanguard and non-Vanguard NTF; $20 non-Vanguard transaction-fee funds
Account fee
$25 per year
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 6th 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 0.8 at 14%, 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

7.tastytrade

7.3/10

TASTYTRADE, INC. · CRD 277027 · SIPC member

Account fee
None published
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 7th on 7.3/10. The largest single contribution is 8/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.6 of the total. Its 7/10 on investment selection adds 1.0 at 14%.

On safety and regulation: Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-69649), FINRA member and SIPC member. Scored below the incumbents on operating history — its CRD number places registration in the mid-2010s — with no enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.

Every fee, source and sub-score for tastytrade

8.Public

6.8/10

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

Account fee
$0
Inactivity
$3.99 per month

Ranks 8th on 6.8/10. The largest single contribution is 8/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.6 of the total. Its 6/10 on investment selection adds 0.8 at 14%, 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

9.TradeStation

6.8/10

TRADESTATION SECURITIES, INC. · CRD 39473 · SIPC member

Inactivity
$10 per month

Ranks 9th on 6.8/10. The largest single contribution is 8/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.6 of the total. Its 7/10 on investment selection adds 1.0 at 14%.

On safety and regulation: Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-48711) and SIPC member with a registration history predating the newer app-first firms. No enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.

Every fee, source and sub-score for TradeStation

10.Webull

6.7/10

WEBULL FINANCIAL LLC · CRD 289063 · SIPC member

Account fee
None published
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 10th on 6.7/10. The largest single contribution is 7/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 2.2 of the total. Its 6/10 on investment selection adds 0.8 at 14%, and is what holds it back here.

On safety and regulation: 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.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Webull

11.Robinhood

6.2/10

ROBINHOOD FINANCIAL, LLC · CRD 165998 · SIPC member

Account fee
$0
Inactivity
None published

Ranks 11th on 6.2/10. The largest single contribution is 6/10 on safety and regulation, weighted 32% here and worth 1.9 of the total. Its 6/10 on investment selection adds 0.8 at 14%, and is what holds it back here.

On safety and regulation: Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-69188) and SIPC member, so custody protection is equivalent to the rest of the set. Scored well below its peers because of two settled 2025 enforcement matters totalling roughly $75 million, one of which involved disclosure to customers about how their orders were handled.

Every fee, source and sub-score for Robinhood

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 × 24% = 2.2
Investment selection8/10 × 14% = 1.1
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
Interactive Brokers9 / 9 / 10 / 88.8/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 32% = 2.9
Fees and total cost9/10 × 24% = 2.2
Investment selection10/10 × 14% = 1.4
Account types and features8/10 × 30% = 2.4

Total 8.8/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Interactive Brokers review, with every fee and source
Charles Schwab9 / 8 / 9 / 98.8/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 32% = 2.9
Fees and total cost8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Investment selection9/10 × 14% = 1.3
Account types and features9/10 × 30% = 2.7

Total 8.8/10 · 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 × 24% = 1.9
Investment selection8/10 × 14% = 1.1
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 × 24% = 1.7
Investment selection6/10 × 14% = 0.8
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 × 24% = 1.4
Investment selection6/10 × 14% = 0.8
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
tastytrade8 / 8 / 7 / 67.3/10Mixed
Safety and regulation8/10 × 32% = 2.6
Fees and total cost8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Investment selection7/10 × 14% = 1.0
Account types and features6/10 × 30% = 1.8

Total 7.3/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full tastytrade review, with every fee and source
Public8 / 8 / 6 / 56.8/10Mixed
Safety and regulation8/10 × 32% = 2.6
Fees and total cost8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Investment selection6/10 × 14% = 0.8
Account types and features5/10 × 30% = 1.5

Total 6.8/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Public review, with every fee and source
TradeStation8 / 6 / 7 / 66.8/10Mixed
Safety and regulation8/10 × 32% = 2.6
Fees and total cost6/10 × 24% = 1.4
Investment selection7/10 × 14% = 1.0
Account types and features6/10 × 30% = 1.8

Total 6.8/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full TradeStation review, with every fee and source
Webull7 / 9 / 6 / 56.7/10Mixed
Safety and regulation7/10 × 32% = 2.2
Fees and total cost9/10 × 24% = 2.2
Investment selection6/10 × 14% = 0.8
Account types and features5/10 × 30% = 1.5

Total 6.7/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Webull review, with every fee and source
Robinhood6 / 8 / 6 / 56.2/10Limited
Safety and regulation6/10 × 32% = 1.9
Fees and total cost8/10 × 24% = 1.9
Investment selection6/10 × 14% = 0.8
Account types and features5/10 × 30% = 1.5

Total 6.2/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Robinhood 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 cost24%
Evidence: The firm's own published commission and fee schedule, read in full.
Investment selection14%
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

Does the broker I choose affect my long-term returns?
At the margin, and mostly through costs you keep paying rather than costs you pay once. Recurring account fees, fund transaction fees and expense ratios compound; a one-off commission does not. Nothing on this page is a prediction of returns, and no broker choice makes an investment safe.
Should I consolidate my accounts at one broker?
There are real arguments both ways — simpler administration and possible fee-tier benefits on one side, and SIPC coverage applying per firm on the other. It depends on your balances and your situation, and it is a question for a licensed adviser rather than for a comparison site.

Sources

  1. [1]Fidelity — Commissions and margin ratesRead August 28, 2026
  2. [2]FINRA BrokerCheck — Fidelity Brokerage Services LLCRead August 28, 2026
  3. [3]Interactive Brokers — Stocks, ETFs, warrants and structured products commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  4. [4]Interactive Brokers — Options commissionsRead August 30, 2026
  5. [5]FINRA BrokerCheck — Interactive Brokers LLCRead August 28, 2026
  6. [6]Interactive Brokers — Other feesRead August 30, 2026
  7. [7]Interactive Brokers — Mutual fund commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  8. [8]Interactive Brokers — Bond commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  9. [9]Interactive Brokers — Futures commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  10. [10]Interactive Brokers — Cryptocurrency commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  11. [11]Interactive Brokers — Margin ratesRead August 31, 2026
  12. [12]Interactive Brokers — Spot currency commissionsRead August 31, 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]Merrill — PricingRead August 28, 2026
  20. [20]FINRA BrokerCheck — Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith IncorporatedRead August 28, 2026
  21. [21]Vanguard — Investment fees and commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  22. [22]FINRA BrokerCheck — Vanguard Marketing CorporationRead August 28, 2026
  23. [23]tastytrade — Pricing and commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  24. [24]FINRA BrokerCheck — tastytrade, Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  25. [25]tastytrade — Commissions and fees (last updated 30 July 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  26. [26]FINRA BrokerCheck — Open to the Public Investing, Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  27. [27]Public — Fee schedule (last updated 14 August 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  28. [28]Public — Account types and asset lineupRead August 30, 2026
  29. [29]TradeStation — PricingRead August 28, 2026
  30. [30]FINRA BrokerCheck — TradeStation Securities, Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  31. [31]TradeStation — Service feesRead August 30, 2026
  32. [32]TradeStation — Margin ratesRead August 30, 2026
  33. [33]Webull — Pricing and feesRead August 28, 2026
  34. [34]FINRA BrokerCheck — Webull Financial LLCRead August 28, 2026
  35. [35]Robinhood — Trading feesRead August 28, 2026
  36. [36]FINRA — Robinhood ordered to pay $3.75m restitution; fines for AML, supervisory and disclosure violations (March 2025)Read August 28, 2026
  37. [37]FINRA BrokerCheck — Robinhood Financial, LLCRead August 28, 2026
  38. [38]Robinhood Financial — Standard Pricing Fee ScheduleRead August 30, 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.