7 Best Online Stock Brokers For Beginners

You have decided to hurry up to get a brokerage account. But the task may sound a little daunting, especially after the sharp fluctuations in the stock market in 2020 and 2021. Even so, getting started can be very easy – and many brokers are affordable for investors, especially beginners.

While there are many options, you may want mediation that includes affordable educational resources, easy-to-navigate apps and websites, no commissions, low fees, and the lowest achievable price – all attractive features when you get started. Here are a few options to consider.

The best online stock brokers for beginners:

• TD Ameritrade
• E-Trade Financial
• Ally Invest
• Merrill Edge
• Robinhood
• Charles Schwab
• Fidelity Investments

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is good for beginners because of all of the information it makes available to guide you into the world of investments. New investors can take advantage of all kinds of educational material, including more than 200 instructional videos, tutorials, and more.

TD Ameritrade also makes it easy to ask investment questions without worrying about whether you’re getting judged for asking something “too basic.” You can also interact with the brand on apps you already use, like Facebook Messenger and Amazon Alexa devices.

Two mobile trading apps, TD Ameritrade Mobile and TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader give you trading access and much more wherever you are.

(Charles Schwab has purchased TD Ameritrade, and will eventually integrate the two companies.)

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

E-Trade Financial

E-Trade is considered by many as the online brokerage pioneer, but it’s kept up with the times, too, offering two mobile apps. On the E-Trade mobile app, you can move money using a mobile check deposit in addition to other features, such as tracking the market or trading stocks and ETFs. Its other mobile app is called Power E-Trade and allows you to enter orders, including complex options trades, on a single ticket. You’ll also get streaming news, quotes, and a customizable options chain.

Importantly, E-Trade is great for beginners because it also offers all kinds of content to help you understand what you’re doing — videos, articles, and live education sessions included.

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

Ally Invest

Ally Invest is a newer entrant to the brokerage space, launching a few years ago after purchasing TradeKing. Ally is a solid offering for those who already do business with Ally Bank and would like an easy way to expand their relationship into investing.

You can also access your account on Ally’s mobile app to get quotes and make trades. Direct Bank is also widely recognized for its excellent customer service and its progressive digital banking features, and you can quickly move cash from your bank account to your investment account.

It also offers a resource center with helpful content written in a more enjoyable way than most — think headlines like “What mutual funds and pizza have in common,” for instance.

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

Merrill Edge

With no minimum investment, Bank of America’s Merrill Edge is another good option for beginning investors — particularly if you’re a Bank of America bank customer. As one of the bank’s customers, you’ll have immediate access to cash transfers to your brokerage account, and you’ll be able to access a Merrill advisor at more than 2,000 Bank of America locations.

Merrill Edge’s integrated mobile experience lets you make credit card payments and place trades — assuming you’re a bank customer and investor.

Merrill Edge also provides ample research to help you make trading decisions and a wealth of educational materials can help you get up to speed on investing.

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

Robinhood

Robinhood is the poster child for fintech disruptors, and subscriber growth has been meteoric, especially when it was among the only brokers offering free trades. This mobile-first broker made phone-based trading its standard, and its app retains that easy functionality.

If you’re just getting started, Robinhood will give you immediate access t up to $1,000 when you make a deposit, so you can start trading immediately. While the app’s basic functionality does not include much research or educational material, you can opt for Robinhood Gold (at $5 per month) and receive Morningstar reports on 1,700 companies as well as margin trading.

Robinhood hasn’t had the smoothest of starts to the year so far.

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is the original discount broker and it’s made the leap to online broker with ease. Schwab is as investor-friendly as they come and offers a full range of features, which will help you as you make your way from novice to confident investor.

Schwab offers stock reports, Morningstar reports, and news from Reuters, while the broker’s ETF screener will help you search for a winning fund. Schwab also provides great educational materials for beginners, so you’ll be able to learn all the fundamentals of good investing.

A fully featured mobile app allows you to do virtually all you can do on the desktop platform. Also a nice feature for beginners: you can receive a $100 bonus with just a $1,000 initial deposit, with a referral code from a friend.

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

Fidelity Investments

Fidelity may be the most investor-friendly broker out there, making it a great choice for beginners. This broker offers it all and does it at a high level, with remarkable customer service, too, especially by phone, where you can get an answer to your detailed question in seconds.

The research resources here are deep, with a variety of reports available. You’ll get all the basics on how to invest smartly and so much more. You can attend webinars or view recorded ones, that cover almost any area of funding, so you’ll be knowledgeable in no time.

Fidelity’s site is easy to navigate, and you’ll find what you’re looking for quickly without much fuss.

• Cost per stock/ETF trade: $0
• Minimum balance to open an account: $0

Other options: Top Robo-advisors

If getting started is still too daunting and you want a low-cost option that manages a portfolio of investments for you, then a Robo-advisor is an excellent option. A Robo-advisor will create a portfolio based on your risk tolerance and time horizon, and you’ll pay a low fee based on how much you have in the account. And it still takes only a few minutes to get started.

Two of the largest independent Robo-advisors are Betterment and Wealthfront.

Do you need a lot of money to use a broker?

The good news for investors today is that it has never been this cheap or easier to start investing. Lower fees have made online intermediary services cheaper than ever for investors. So you don’t need a lot of money to invest.

Nearly every major online broker allows you to get started with no minimum account, so you can start with $ 5 or $ 500.It’s also easy to find brokers that don’t offer commission trading on stocks and ETFs (and sometimes options) so there are no fees to buy or sell. With no commission, you can invest a small amount and all of this will flow to your securities.

The only regular fee the broker charges is a “wire transfer fee” whenever you wish to transfer securities to another account. And you will only pay for this when you make a security transfer, but you will not pay for the transfer.

For this reason, it has never been this cheap for investors to invest in the market.

What other resources do you need?

While price is an important factor when choosing mediation, there are other features you should also consider that can enhance your experience, such as:

• Research: How much research does the broker offer? Is it in-house work or from third parties? Do you need to research individual stocks or are you looking for funds?
• Education: Many brokers offer a ton of educational resources so you can understand how to invest effectively. Quite a few brokers offer articles and webinars on how to use their advanced products and tools, especially if you’re looking to trade more often.
• Trading simulators: Some brokers offer trading simulators that give you a wad of virtual money and let you use the simulator to try out their platform and test your skills.
• Customer support: If you’re just starting, you may have a lot of questions, so good customer support can be vital. Check a broker’s availability and see if it matches up with your needs.
• Mobile apps: If you’re looking to trade via mobile, you may want to take a peek at the broker’s app first. While some brokers are mobile-first and known for the quality of their apps, almost all major online brokers offer an app that can get the job done.

These are some of the basic features that you will want to consider. However, depending on your needs, you can use other “mandatory” functions.