Best Online Stock Brokers for Beginners of July 2025

The app has added crypto portfolios holding digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but again, you can’t buy them individually—only through pre-built portfolios held in separate crypto accounts. Robinhood Gold, which I mentioned above, is a monthly subscription service that offers several more features mostly geared toward advanced traders. Benefits include Level II market data provided by Nasdaq, a lower charged rate on margin investing than regular accounts, higher interest on uninvested brokerage cash via the cash sweep program, and bigger Instant Deposits. However, this group of products stands out in how close they are in quality to one another. In some product reviews, there can be a stark difference between the best-ranked product and the worst.

What should I look for in a brokerage account if I’m saving for retirement?

These brokers allow you to buy stocks yourself through their websites or trading platforms, often with no fee or commission. The best online brokerage accounts for beginners have no commissions to trade stocks, no minimum account or deposit requirements, and allow you to make trades conveniently right from your phone. Whether you want to save for retirement or focus on the best stocks to buy, you’re going to need a brokerage account before you can get started. There is no longer a real minimum to start investing in the financial markets.

Those are some of the major features that you’ll want to consider, but you may have other “must-have” features depending on your needs. Bankrate follows a stricteditorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first.

While it may not have the ultra-modern aesthetics of newer platforms like Robinhood, its reliability and functionality are consistently high. If a trusted brand with best online brokers for beginners a proven track record and robust customer service is a top priority, Fidelity is an excellent choice. These fees are fairly standard in the industry, but worth considering if you plan to engage in more complex trading activities. Explore our top-rated beginner-friendly platforms below to find the one that fits your needs. Currently Managing Director of Motley Fool Money, Brendan has worked full-time for The Motley Fool since 2011.

While it doesn’t offer retirement accounts or mutual funds, its user experience is one of the most beginner-friendly in the space. Schwab offers commission-free stocks, ETFs, thousands of mutual funds (from Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource), and even Treasury trades. Automated investing is one of the best solutions for beginner investors because it’s a way that people with very little financial knowledge can still put their money to work effectively and efficiently. Thus, several of our favorite brokerage accounts for beginners have some sort of robo-advisory feature. Robinhood has long catered to younger investors with its gamified interface and growing library of educational content. But over the years, it has added a boatload of other features for new and experienced investors alike.

The best online brokerage accounts are transparent with what and when you’re being charged. This idea of simplicity is really where things have been getting interesting for Interactive Brokers, as the company has committed to making its platforms more accessible to beginners. Most online stock brokers offer educational resources to help you learn about investing, though the content can vary. Interactive Brokers online courses will probably feel most familiar to younger investors.

What Is the Number One Online Stock Broker?

While not as beginner-focused as some others on this list, these materials are a strong asset for those looking to grow their financial expertise.
These platforms stand out for their ease of use, low cost, helpful support and educational resources.
Here are the features you should look for depending on your investment style.

Finder’s investments experts reviewed 19 brokers available on the market to narrow down the best trading apps for beginners. Lock in a 6.4% yield as of July 1, 2025, with a its bond account, earn 4.1% APY with a high-yield cash account and access Treasuries and individual bonds. 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. Notably, there are no fees for account maintenance, deposits, withdrawals, routing or platform usage.

How Much Should a Beginner Have Before Investing?

Fidelity has an exceptional brokerage account designed specifically for teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 and is our choice for young investors eager to grow their financial literacy from a young age. One key area for beginning traders where Schwab truly outshines the competition is education. The material is extensive and up-to-date and comes in multiple formats, such as articles, videos, podcasts, and live and on-demand coaching from a professional instructor. Choosing an online stock broker can be an intimidating process, but it’s an important first step in your investing journey and can help you build substantial wealth over time. While the task of choosing a broker can be daunting, especially when stocks are highly volatile, it’s actually quite simple to get started.

Fidelity is one of the most well-known financial services companies out there.
Charles Schwab is best for beginner investors who want a wealth of research, educational materials and access to advisory services.
While its educational resources are not as in-depth as other brokers on this list, Robinhood offers an accessible on-ramp for tech-savvy first-time investors.
Taxable accounts can be a good vehicle if you can check all the boxes.
Minimum balances and broker fees are also something to take into consideration when making your decision.
But if you’re investing for the long-term, these bouts of volatility shouldn’t deter you.

Once the account is established, the teenager can download the app and activate it. They can also request a debit card that will be linked to the account. There is certainly no shortage of investment options, but the differences among them are vast. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.

Brokerage accounts are taxed differently depending on the type of account you have and how long you hold assets for. It’s ideal for those who are interested in learning the market with no investment minimums attached. When investing with small sums, consistency is the key to building wealth. If you can regularly put a set amount of money into the market—even $10 a week—you will be surprised at how quickly it begins to grow. This consistency also helps to smooth market effects, as you will be buying dips and peaks as the market goes up and down. Fidelity has long been an industry leader when it comes to lowering fees, and its transparent and compelling fee schedule is the reason why—for the fourth year running—it wins for low costs.

If you’re taking all of your money out, whether transferring to a different stock broker or cashing out to move to Tahiti, there may be account closing fees as well. Once you’ve done that and opened your account, you’ll need to fund it, either by transferring money in from a bank account or from another brokerage account. Robinhood, for better or worse, makes investing fun and incredibly accessible. If you get bogged down with old-fashioned platforms and apps that feel like they were developed in the ’90s, Robinhood may be a good choice for you. While you can invest money in almost any asset class without an online stock broker, using an online broker is almost universally simpler, faster and easier.

Best stock broker – Charles Schwab

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. Charles Schwab offers a comprehensive range of investment options, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, IRAs, and more.

Best for active trading: Interactive Brokers

Some require a deposit upon opening, and you can use this deposit to trade. The online brokerage industry is a highly competitive space consisting of a wide range of companies, each offering it’s own set of features that will appeal differently to individuals. After two months of comprehensive research, Investopedia found that Fidelity offers the best overall online brokerage services and trading platform. Not only did Fidelity earned the highest overall score when measured by our proprietary scoring model it also scored highly for its low costs, excellent ETF selection and research, and for its robust cash management product. Those include everything from personal financial planning to insurance, estate planning, retirement planning, accounting services, tax advice, and more.

Through our exhaustive research, we found that Fidelity not only outshines the competition when it comes to ETF investing, low costs, and cash management features, but it is also the best online brokerage platform overall. Robinhood lacks access to mutual funds, bonds, futures, and international stocks, and doesn’t offer advisory services. Earning interest on cash requires a paid Gold account, unlike other brokerages that offer free interest-bearing accounts.

Final Word: The Best Online Brokerage for Beginners

Our editors independently research and recommend the best products and services. You can learn more about ourindependent review processand partners in ouradvertiser disclosure. At the very least, the broker you’re considering should be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of FINRA.