Public vs Interactive Brokers

What each platform is

Public and Interactive Brokers both provide access to several asset classes, but they are designed for different investors.

Public packages investing into a consumer experience built around stocks, options, bonds, Treasuries, direct crypto, a high-yield cash account, AI-assisted research and alternative products. Its canonical record describes $0 commissions on qualifying regular-hours U.S.-listed stock and ETF trades, a Premium tier at $10 monthly or $96 annually, and a set of advised products run by Public Advisors LLC.

Interactive Brokers is built around global market infrastructure. Its canonical record describes approximately 170 markets in 40 countries and 29 currencies, listed futures, retail spot forex, bonds, brokered CDs, direct crypto through Paxos and Zero Hash, prediction and event contracts, and an extensive API family.

The useful question is not which record contains more features. It is whether the reader wants investment products presented simply or market infrastructure exposed directly.

U.S. equity trading can be inexpensive at both

Public charges $0 on qualifying regular-hours U.S.-listed stock and ETF trades, with $2.99 extended-hours and OTC trades unless Premium applies. IBKR Lite is $0 on qualifying U.S. exchange-listed stocks and ETFs and uses payment for order flow. IBKR Pro replaces that with explicit commissions: tiered $0.0035 down to $0.0005 per share with a $0.35 order minimum, or fixed $0.005 per share with a $1.00 minimum. The IBKR record notes that Lite and Pro differ in order-routing economics, not only in commission schedule.

Options pricing follows different models

Public charges $0 commission and $0 per contract on stock and ETF options and pays an order-flow rebate of $0.06 to $0.18 per contract, while index options are $0.50 per contract, or $0.35 with Premium, and carry no rebate. Interactive Brokers charges a fixed $0.65 per contract or, under Pro tiered pricing, $0.15 to $0.65 per contract with a $1.00 order minimum, and states that contract pricing varies with option premium, monthly volume, routing and exchange charges.

Neither structure reduces to one universal cost. A frequent index-options trader and an occasional single-leg trader can reach different conclusions from the same two schedules.

Futures and spot forex are IBKR-only in these records

Interactive Brokers documents listed futures at $0.25 to $0.85 per contract tiered or $0.85 fixed on applicable standard U.S. contracts, plus micro, crypto and futures options, and retail spot forex at 0.08 to 0.20 basis points times trade value charged separately from the quoted spread.

Public establishes neither product. For a reader who requires futures or direct currency trading, that is a straightforward availability difference rather than a quality judgment.

Global access is one of the largest differences

IBKR records approximately 170 markets, 40 countries and 29 currencies with a multi-currency account, and notes that availability varies by country, affiliate, account type and permissions. Public does not establish direct international-exchange access, and it should not be credited with any.

For an investor buying only U.S. securities, this difference may not matter at all. For an investor who wants to hold and trade in several currencies, it can decide the account.

Margin economics are documented on one side only

IBKR publishes Lite USD margin at 6.13% under a benchmark plus 2.5% formula and Pro USD at 5.13% on the first $100,000 under benchmark plus 1.5%, with higher balance tiers narrowing to benchmark plus 0.5%. Those figures were fact-checked 2026-09-02, and IBKR notes rates are blended across tiers, so the lowest institutional-size rate does not apply to a small debit balance.

Public supports margin accounts but publishes no rate in its canonical record, so no comparison rate is assigned here. Margin pricing matters mainly to readers who actually borrow.

Platform depth versus platform accessibility

Trader Workstation, IBKR Desktop, Client Portal, GlobalTrader, IMPACT and ForecastTrader expose advanced order types, algorithmic orders, direct routing, Risk Navigator, PortfolioAnalyst and overnight U.S. equity sessions from 8:00 p.m. to 3:50 a.m. ET, where IBKR warns liquidity can be thinner and spreads wider.

Public emphasizes an approachable app with options chains, a strategy builder, profit and loss tools, a bond screener and real-time fractional investing. Complexity is an advantage only when a reader needs the capability behind it.

APIs are a clear structural difference

IBKR documents TWS API, Web API, Client Portal API, FIX and Excel across stocks, options, futures, forex, crypto and event contracts. Public documents a trading API covering stocks, options, multi-leg option quotes, short selling, crypto and historical market data, plus a command-line interface. Both are real; they are not equivalent in scope, and neither record supports inferring capability the other has.

Both offer direct crypto, with different economics

Public routes crypto to Zero Hash, which executes and custodies, with flat order-size tiers from $0.49 up to $6.29 and 1.25% above $500, API tiers from 0.60% to 0.10%, a supported crypto IRA at a 0.05% monthly custody fee and no staking. New York crypto transfers are not supported.

Interactive Brokers routes crypto to Paxos and Zero Hash, with 0.18% of trade value at the normal lowest-volume tier, 0.15% at the second tier and 0.12% only at the highest published tier, a $1.75 minimum, a 1% of trade value cap, a $0 IBKR custody fee and stablecoin funding.

In both records the assets sit outside the brokerage account and are not SIPC or FDIC protected.

Public makes fixed income unusually visible

Public presents individual bonds, fractional bonds, a Bond Account holding 10 bonds from $1,000 at $3.99 monthly or $0 with Premium, and a Treasury Account advised by Public Advisors LLC with marginal fees from 0.29% to 0.09%.

Interactive Brokers documents corporate, municipal, international and government bonds, Treasuries and brokered CDs priced in basis points of face value, with overnight Treasury and global bond sessions. The distinction is packaging on one side and market breadth on the other.

Cash and research

Public documents a High-Yield Cash Account at a variable 3.30% APY as of 2026-08 with FDIC pass-through insurance through partner banks and headline coverage of $5 million subject to program rules. IBKR documents no dated cash yield, so no yield comparison is drawn.

Public also makes AI-assisted research explicit through Alpha and Agents, while noting Agents do not provide investment advice. IBKR emphasizes scanners, Risk Navigator, PortfolioAnalyst, Volatility Lab and third-party research. AI-assisted research is a workflow difference, not evidence about future returns.

Advisory and alternative products solve different problems

Public Advisors LLC advises Generated Assets at 0.49% and Direct Indexing at 0.19%, and Public offers royalties and Reg A securities through Dalmore Group with offering-specific fees, limited liquidity and a 2.5% secondary-market fee each side. Its record explicitly states there is no conventional robo-advisor, so these products should not be described as one.

IBKR instead documents professional advisor, family office, institutional and hedge fund accounts, plus prediction and event contracts through ForecastEx, Kalshi and CME Group that are not ordinary SIPC-protected securities.

Practical distinction

Public may fit better for bonds and Treasuries, cash, direct crypto with small orders, AI-assisted research, Direct Indexing, Generated Assets, royalties and approachable multi-asset investing.

Interactive Brokers may fit better for global markets, futures, spot forex, documented margin pricing, professional routing, APIs and multi-currency investing.

Both records are current as of a 2026-09-02 fact check, and readers should confirm live pricing before funding an account.