Broker review
Vanguard review
Built around long-term fund investing, with the most expensive options schedule in our set.
- Written by
- Juan Manuel Gonzalez
- Published
- Data verified
In summary
Vanguard Brokerage is provided by Vanguard Marketing Corporation, an active SEC-registered broker-dealer and SIPC member. Under pricing effective 10 July 2026, online stock and ETF trades are $0, options carry a $1.00 per contract fee for accounts under $1 million in qualifying assets, and a $25 annual account service fee applies unless waived — most simply by choosing electronic delivery of statements.
Editorial score, based on our methodology
How this is calculated- Safety2.7
- Cost1.8
- Selection1.3
- Accounts1.4
- Headroom2.7
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
- VANGUARD MARKETING CORPORATION
- CRD
- 7452
- SEC
- 8-21570
- Registration status
- ACTIVE
- Regulators
- SEC, FINRA
- Investor protection
- SIPC member — up to $500,000, including $250,000 for cash
Published fees
8 of 14 fields verifiedRead from Vanguard’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.
| US stocks and ETFs | $0Online |
|---|---|
| Options base commission | $0 |
| Options per contract | $1.00Under $1m qualifying assets. $0 for the first 25 trades at $1m–$5m; first 100 at $5m+ |
| Account minimum | Not verified |
| Mutual funds | $0 Vanguard and non-Vanguard NTF; $20 non-Vanguard transaction-fee fundsOnline, under $1m qualifying assets |
| Bonds | Not verified |
| Futures | Not offered |
| Crypto | Not offered |
| Account service fee | $25 per yearWaived with e-delivery of statements, $1m+ in qualifying assets, or advisory enrolment |
| Inactivity fee | None published |
| Outgoing transfer fee | $100Processing fee per account closure and full transfer out. Waived at $5m+ in qualifying assets or with advisory enrolment |
| Broker-assisted trade | $25 per tradeUnder $1m qualifying assets |
| Margin rate | Not verified |
| Currency conversion | Not verified |
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.
What you can hold
- US stocksOffered
- ETFsOffered
- OptionsOffered
- Mutual fundsOffered
- BondsOffered
- FuturesNot offered
- Spot currenciesNot offered
- CryptoNot offered
- International listingsNot verified
- Fractional sharesNot verified
- OTC equitiesNot offered
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) offered
- HSA not offered
- Margin offered
- Managed portfolio offered
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- $0 online stock and ETF commissions and $0 on Vanguard and no-transaction-fee mutual funds
- Options contract fees fall to zero on the first 25 or 100 trades at higher asset tiers
- Solo 401(k) available, which most low-cost brokerages in our set do not offer
- The $25 account service fee is waivable simply by choosing electronic delivery
Limitations
- $1.00 per options contract — the most expensive options schedule we recorded
- $25 annual account service fee unless a waiver condition is met
- $100 to close the account and transfer assets out — the highest exit charge in our set
- No futures and no crypto
- $20 per online trade on non-Vanguard transaction-fee mutual funds
Check these yourself
- Pricing we recorded is stated as effective 10 July 2026 — confirm the current schedule before acting
- Several fee reductions are tiered on qualifying assets of $1m and $5m, which most readers will not reach
How Vanguard scores
Under our default weights. Individual rankings re-weight these same sub-scores, which is why Vanguard sits in different positions on different pages.
- Safety and regulationweight 30%9/10
- Fees and total costweight 30%6/10
- Investment selectionweight 22%6/10
- Account types and featuresweight 18%8/10
- Safety and regulation9/10 · weighted 30%
- 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.
- Fees and total cost6/10 · weighted 30%
- $0 online stock and ETF trades and $0 on Vanguard and no-transaction-fee funds. Marked down twice: it carries the highest options contract fee in our set at $1.00, a $25 annual account service fee unless waived, $20 per trade on non-Vanguard transaction-fee funds, and — read on 30 August 2026 — a $100 processing fee to close the account and transfer assets out, the largest exit charge of any broker we publish. A low-cost fund house is not automatically a low-cost brokerage account.
- Investment selection6/10 · weighted 22%
- Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds and a deep mutual fund range are published. No futures and no crypto. Fractional share availability for individual stocks was not confirmed from the page we read.
- Account types and features8/10 · weighted 18%
- Broad long-term lineup including all IRA variants, custodial, trust and solo 401(k). 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.
Vanguard compared
Sources
- [1]Vanguard — Investment fees and commissionsRead August 28, 2026
- [2]FINRA BrokerCheck — Vanguard Marketing CorporationRead August 28, 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.