Charles Schwab offers low fees, robust research tools and a broad investment menu. But you can’t trade cryptocurrency through Schwab. And you won’t find many high-yield savings accounts to store cash you don’t want to invest. Charles Schwab competitors provide all this and more.
Robinhood is a broker known for low fees and an intuitive app. You can trade stocks, ETFs and options with no commissions. Plus, Robinhood doesn't charge a per-contract fee on options, which is quite rare for brokerages. Schwab charges $0.65 per contract — the industry standard. Robinhood also offers a savings account that pays a 0.30% interest rate on uninvested cash. However, you won't find the same powerful research tools and investment menu that Schwab offers.
Interactive Brokers lets you invest in more than 100 markets compared to Schwab's 12 markets. Like Schwab, Interactive Brokers also provides advanced research tools, including a risk navigator and portfolio builder. Its IBKR Lite platform, designed for beginners, charges no commissions on stock and ETF trades. But beyond this Lite platform, Interactive Brokers is known for tools that may be complex for inexperienced traders.
SoFi Invest is a Charles Schwab alternative that offers no-fee commission stock and ETF trades. Beginners may be interested in its automated investing account. This automated account is a robo-advisor that uses computer technology to build and manage a personalized portfolio for you. These portfolios invest in ETFs from large investment management companies like BlackRock and Vanguard. Charles Schwab's Intelligent Portfolios are similar but invest only in Schwab funds. You may find more diversification at SoFi®.
INVESTMENTS ARE NOT FDIC INSURED • ARE NOT BANK GUARANTEED • MAY LOSE VALUE
Other fees, such as exchange fees, may apply. Please view our fee disclosure to view a full listing of fees.
Investing in alternative investments and/or strategies may not be suitable for all investors and involves unique risks, including the risk of loss. An investor should consider their individual circumstances and any investment information, such as a prospectus, prior to investing. Interval Funds are illiquid instruments, the ability to trade on your timeline may be restricted. Brokerage and Active investing products offered through SoFi Securities LLC, Member FINRA(www.finra.org) /SIPC(www.sipc.org).
There are limitations with fractional shares to consider before investing. During market hours fractional share orders are transmitted immediately in the order received. There may be system delays from receipt of your order until execution and market conditions may adversely impact execution prices. Outside of market hours orders are received on a not held basis and will be aggregated for each security then executed in the morning trade window of the next business day at market open. Share will be delivered at an average price received for executing the securities through a single batched order. Fractional shares may not be transferred to another firm. Fractional shares will be sold when a transfer or closure request is initiated. Please consider that selling securities is a taxable event.
Options involve risks, including substantial risk of loss and the possibility an investor may lose the entire investment Before trading options please review the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options
Advisory services are offered by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser.
Utilizing a margin loan is generally considered more appropriate for experienced investors as there are additional costs and risks associated. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment when using margin. Please see https://www.sofi.com/wealth/assets/documents/brokerage-margin-disclosure-statement.pdf for detailed disclosure information
Probability of Member receiving $1,000 is a probability of 0.028%
Terms and conditions apply. Roll over a minimum of $20K to receive the 1% match offer. Matches on contributions are made up to the annual limits.
For full promotion terms please visit: https://www.sofi.com/acatoffer. SoFi does not accept cryptocurrencies and has limitations on some mutual funds and OTC stocks. Brokerage and Active Investing Products offered by SoFi Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC.
Robo Advisor: Automated investing is offered through SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. 0.25% fee is based on your account value. The wrap program fee may cost more or less than purchasing brokerage, custodial, and recordkeeping services separately.
As with Schwab, you can open an Ally Invest brokerage account with $0. You can also trade commission-free stocks and ETFs. Ally provides sophisticated research tools like streaming charts, watchlists, profit-loss graphs and probability calculators. Options traders would be satisfied with Ally's $0.50 per-contract fee, which is lower than Schwab's $0.65 per-contract fee. In addition, Ally Bank offers a wide range of financial products. Its online savings account currently pays an annual percentage yield (APY) of 0.50% compared to 0.05% earned on the Schwab Bank High-Yield Investor Savings Account.
Like Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments is a full-service brokerage that offers commission-free stocks, ETFs and options. At Fidelity, you can also find thousands of funds that don't charge expense ratios. Active traders can benefit from a wealth of research tools that include stock screeners with more than 100 criteria. Passive investors can take advantage of Fidelity Go, which combines a robo-advisor with an investment team's expertise. Fidelity Go charges no management fee on account balances of $10,000 or less.
Charles Schwab is one of the largest and most well-known brokers around. But it may not be the best for everyone. Here are some benefits and drawbacks to consider.
Pros
Several investment types to choose from
Powerful research tools
Low fees
Cons
No access to cryptocurrency
Few savings options to choose from
Large broker-assisted fees
Transfer your brokerage account
If you’re switching brokers, the process may vary depending on your current broker and which one you’re moving to. Charles Schwab charges $50 to transfer all funds to another broker and $25 for a partial transfer. Charles Schwab engages in the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS). So expect to go through the following process.
Get a statement from your broker that has information like your account number and current assets.
Open the same type of account with your new broker. For example, an individual brokerage account should go to another individual brokerage account.
Fill out a transfer initiation or ACAT form with your current broker.
Your current broker validates your form or notifies you of the next steps within three business days.
Your old broker completes the process and moves funds within six business days.
Note: Some brokers don’t accept the proprietary funds of others. So you may not be able to transfer mutual funds or ETFs managed by your old broker.
Compare trading platforms
1 - 9 of 9
Paid non-client promotion. Finder does not invest money with providers on this page. If a brand is a referral partner, we're paid when you click or tap through to, open an account with or provide your contact information to the provider. Partnerships are not a recommendation for you to invest with any one company. Learn more about how we make money.
Finder is not an advisor or brokerage service. Information on this page is for educational purposes only and not a recommendation to invest with any one company, trade specific stocks or fund specific investments. All editorial opinions are our own.
Javier Simon is a freelance finance writer at Finder and a certified educator in personal finance (CEPF).
He’s featured on NerdWallet, Bankrate, Yahoo Finance and Fox Business, where he’s shared his expertise on personal finance topics, such as investing, retirement planning, taxes, budgeting and savings.
He has also covered breaking news, such as student loan forgiveness initiatives, the housing market and inflation’s impact on consumers’ wallets.
His passion is turning complex financial concepts into actionable content that can help people improve their financial lives.
Javier holds a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism from SUNY Plattsburgh. See full bio
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Finder receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
