Its standout offerings are its low-cost index funds, ideal for hands-off, long-term investing. The robo-advisor ensures portfolios are tailored to individual goals, making it an excellent choice for investors seeking simplicity and personalization. The best brokerage accounts for beginners have user-friendly platforms, educational tools, no fees, and the ability to buy fractional shares so you can start with even just a few dollars. To decide the best brokerage account for you, you should consider the fees, investment options, trading tools, customer support, and user experience.
Today’s beginner-focused brokers make it easier than ever to open an account, invest a few dollars and learn as you go. New investors are faced with unfamiliar terminology, a wide range of asset choices and the anxiety of making a mistake. That’s why a beginner-focused broker needs to do more than just facilitate trades, it should serve as a starting point for financial education and help build long-term confidence. The brokers below offer the simplicity, support and educational tools that new investors need to start building confidence and making smart financial decisions.
Fidelity’s mobile app and desktop platform (Active Trader Pro) are both robust and intuitively designed. Beginners will find the mobile app easy to navigate for placing trades and monitoring their portfolio. A standout feature is «Stocks by the Slice,» which allows you to buy fractional shares of thousands of U.S. stocks and ETFs for as little as $1. This is perfect for building a diversified portfolio without a large initial investment. With both active and automated investing options, SoFi allows beginners to choose between learning to pick their own stocks or using a robo-advisor. SoFi members also gain access to financial planners at no extra cost, making it easier to build long-term strategies from day one.
Best Trading Platforms for Beginners
Our aim is to maintain a balanced best-of list featuring top-scoring brokerages from reputable brands. Ordering within lists is influenced by advertiser compensation, including featured placements at the top of a given list, but our product recommendations are NEVER influenced by advertisers. Though the best online brokers charge low fees, you’ll likely be responsible for covering certain costs as you invest. SogoTrade is best for active traders who are looking for a low-cost option and don’t need access to a suite of impressive tools or services beyond straightforward trading.
Stock Apps Like Robinhood: Are There Better Robinhood Alternatives?
The first thing you need to know before choosing a brokerage account is what your needs will be as an investor or trader. Plus, its fractional share program allows you to start investing with as little as $1. While it has a web-based version, Robinhood is best known for its mobile app, which has the simplest, most user-friendly design of any broker on this list. For this reason, Robinhood is especially popular among younger (mobile-first) audiences.
- Public is another investing app that offers zero commission stock, ETF, and options trading just like Robinhood.
- TradeStation offers several asset classes, including stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, futures, and options.
- Parents and kids will enjoy the built-in education resources, such as the «mini-lessons,» which teach stock market basics that prepare anyone for a more successful future in the stock market.
- Charles Schwab offers a comprehensive range of investment options, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, IRAs, and more.
Best Stock Brokers for Beginners
You’ll also find podcasts, videos and in-person informational events catered toward new investors. Most online brokers provide a wealth of resources to help you understand the stock market better. These resources often include educational articles, webinars, video tutorials, and even simulated trading environments.
Best for uninvested funds: Vanguard
Rebates on options trades and no per-contract fees keep costs even lower, and Public’s avoidance of payment for order flow on equities adds a level of transparency you just don’t see with many brokers. If you care about fee transparency and want to create a balanced strategy for growth and stability, you can go ahead and stop looking for your next broker. Public’s commission-free stock, ETF and options trades and high-yield accounts means you can focus on growing your investments, not paying unnecessary fees. Online brokers have an array of educational tools to help inform investors, but also provide personal financial advising services to direct customers to the most suitable investment for their profile.
Nothing on Fear & Greed Tracker should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security. You are solely responsible for evaluating whether any investment, strategy, or transaction is appropriate based on your personal situation and risk tolerance. Any information provided on Fear & Greed Tracker is not financial advice, nor is it a buy or sell signal. Investing and trading involve significant risk, and losses can occur. The data and insights presented on this platform are for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for investment decisions.
Investopedia found Charles Schwab to be the best overall online broker for beginners. Schwab requires no minimum deposit to open an account, charges no fees for stock and ETF trades, provides industry-leading education, and has strong customer service. To find the best overall offering, Investopedia researched 27 various online brokers and compared each company based on 28 different criteria. While Schwab took top spots in several categories, there are a few other excellent brokers worthy of consideration.
For a complete overview of its features, check out our Robinhood review. You also want a brokerage that doesn’t nickel and dime you to death with unnecessary fees, and offers educational content to help you level-up your investing knowledge. Robinhood is the easiest place for new investors best online brokers for beginners to open a brokerage account and start investing.
Our Smile Money Picks are updated quarterly to make sure you’re always getting the best value with tools that actually help you grow. At phroogal, we believe in simplifying money decisions so you can live well and invest confidently. If you hold an asset for a year or more, however, it will be counted as long-term capital gains.
Firstrade is best for beginner investors who want to pay low fees across a range of securities, and don’t need access to advisory services or paper trading. For investors who want to use the platform’s model, the advisory fees as well as inherit fees from the investments are important. TradeStation offers one of the most advanced trading platforms in the industry, letting you create custom strategies, watchlists and charts. The platform also provides access to a vast database for backtesting trading strategies before execution. We think TradeStation is an attractive option for those who want to delve into a platform and personalize it for their needs. With so many online brokers out there, finding the right one can feel overwhelming—whether you’re just getting started or already deep in the markets.
- To determine the best approach for your specific investment goals, speaking with a reputable fiduciary investment advisor is recommended.
- We also regularly review and revise our selections to ensure our best provider lists reflect the most competitive available.
- For most investors, a long-term, passive investment strategy is ideal.
- For a beginner, the most important features aren’t just about cost; they’re about education, ease of use, and building good habits.
- Meanwhile, Opto’s Folios offer customizable portfolios with automatic rebalancing and an option to mirror the top-performing Folios managed by the OPTO community.
Resources
Simple charts, company news, key statistics and financials, earnings and analyst opinions all help you make informed investment decisions quickly and without fuss. The process isn’t all that different from opening a bank account, so don’t be intimidated. To walk you through, one of our Nerds recorded the step-by-step process when she opened an account as part of our research for this list.
My main beef with Vanguard’s apps is that they make it difficult to measure the performance of individual holdings. All that said, Vanguard might have made this by design, incentivizing you to check your funds less often and thus living by their buy-and-hold ethos. We make every effort to keep info accurate and current, but things change. And if you spot something off, let us know—we’re all about improving the financial journey together.