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Charles Schwab review

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

Written by
Juan Manuel Gonzalez
Published
Data verified

In summary

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is an active SEC-registered broker-dealer and SIPC member. Published pricing is $0 for online listed stocks and ETFs, $0 base plus $0.65 per options contract, and $0 to open or maintain an account. Over-the-counter equities carry a $6.95 online commission, which is the notable exception to the zero-commission headline.

Editorial score, based on our methodology

How this is calculated
Score composition, out of 10Safety and regulation contributes 2.7 of 8.7. Fees and total cost contributes 2.4 of 8.7. Investment selection contributes 2.0 of 8.7. Account types and features contributes 1.6 of 8.7. The full breakdown is in the table below.
  • Safety2.7
  • Cost2.4
  • Selection2.0
  • Accounts1.6
  • Headroom1.3
How the total is built · Segment width = sub-score × weight. Widths sum to the total.

Legal entity and regulation

Read from FINRA BrokerCheck on August 28, 2026. Check it yourself — the reference number below is all you need.

Legal name
CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC.
CRD
5393
SEC
8-16514
Registration status
ACTIVE
Regulators
SEC, FINRA
Investor protection
SIPC member — up to $500,000, including $250,000 for cash

Published fees

12 of 14 fields verified

Read from Charles Schwab’s own published schedule. Fields we could not find on the pages we read are marked not verified — we do not fill them with estimates, and a blank would read as zero.

Charles Schwab published fee schedule
US stocks and ETFs$0Online listed stocks and ETFs
Options base commission$0
Options per contract$0.65
Account minimum$0$0 account minimum, $0 opening and maintenance
Mutual funds$0Thousands of Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource funds
Bonds$0New issues, online
Futures$2.25 per contractFutures and futures options, per contract per side. Excludes NFA and exchange fees
CryptoNot offered
Account service fee$0
Inactivity feeNone published
Outgoing transfer fee$50 full, $0 partialTransfer (out) of assets, per account
Broker-assisted trade$0 + $25 service charge
Margin rateNot verified
Currency conversionUp to 3% of principalMarkup of up to 300 basis points when converting USD to or from a foreign currency

Where these costs sit

Against every other broker we publish that has a verified figure for the same field. Brokers whose figure we could not verify are left out rather than plotted at zero.

$0cheapest$1most expensive
Options, per contract · 12 brokers with a verified figure
$0cheapest$2,000most expensive
Account minimum · 7 brokers with a verified figure

What you can hold

  • US stocksOffered
  • ETFsOffered
  • OptionsOffered
  • Mutual fundsOffered
  • BondsOffered
  • FuturesOffered
  • Spot currenciesNot offered
  • CryptoNot offered
  • International listingsOffered
  • Fractional sharesOffered
  • OTC equitiesOffered

Account types

  • Individual taxable offered
  • Joint offered
  • Traditional IRA offered
  • Roth IRA offered
  • Rollover IRA offered
  • SEP / SIMPLE IRA offered
  • Custodial offered
  • Trust offered
  • Solo 401(k) not offered
  • HSA not offered
  • Margin offered
  • Managed portfolio offered

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • $0 account minimum with $0 opening and maintenance fees across the published account lineup
  • A Schwab Global Account appears in the published lineup for international exposure
  • Very long registration history under a single legal entity
  • Schwab Intelligent Portfolios carries no advisory fee, from a $5,000 minimum

Limitations

  • $50 to transfer a full account out, against $0 at Fidelity
  • Currency conversion carries a markup of up to 3% of principal
  • $6.95 online commission on US over-the-counter equities
  • No direct spot crypto trading identified in the published pricing
  • Broker-assisted trades add a $25 service charge

Check these yourself

  • Schwab Intelligent Portfolios allocates part of the portfolio to an FDIC-insured cash deposit — read how that affects your expected return
  • Managed offerings start at 0.80% and require $500,000 (Wealth Advisory) or $2,000,000 (Advisor Network)

How Charles Schwab scores

Under our default weights. Individual rankings re-weight these same sub-scores, which is why Charles Schwab sits in different positions on different pages.

  • Safety and regulationweight 30%
    9/10
  • Fees and total costweight 30%
    8/10
  • Investment selectionweight 22%
    9/10
  • Account types and featuresweight 18%
    9/10
Sub-scores by pillar · Each pillar scored 0–10 from published evidence
Safety and regulation9/10 · weighted 30%
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 · weighted 30%
$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 · weighted 22%
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 · weighted 18%
Published lineup covers taxable, joint, all IRA variants, custodial and trust accounts, plus managed portfolios from a $5,000 minimum. No HSA identified.

Not scored

  • Access and eligibility — Not scored in v1.0. Requires per-country eligibility confirmed against each firm's own onboarding terms, which we have not completed.
  • Platform and usability — Not scored in v1.0. Requires hands-on use of a funded account, which we have not done.
  • Research and education — Not scored in v1.0. Requires logged-in access to the research suite, which we have not had.
  • Customer service — Not scored in v1.0. Requires timed contact tests across channels, which we have not run.
  • Execution quality — Not scored in v1.0. Requires analysis of Rule 605/606 order-execution reports, which is scheduled for a later release.

Charles Schwab compared

Sources

  1. [1]Charles Schwab — Pricing and account feesRead August 28, 2026
  2. [2]FINRA BrokerCheck — Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  3. [3]Charles Schwab — Pricing Guide for Individual Investors (April 2026)Read August 30, 2026

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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.