Public vs Webull

Public and Webull both started as modern alternatives to traditional brokerages, and both now charge $0 commission on U.S. stocks and ETFs and $0 contract fees on ordinary stock and ETF options. Their product sets have moved in different directions since.

Every fact below is drawn from the two canonical ROIStreet review records. Where a fact is absent from a record, it is stated as not established rather than borrowed from the other platform.

Options pricing is competitive on both sides

Public charges $0 commission and $0 contract fee on stock and ETF options and discloses per-contract rebates of $0.06 to $0.18 under its order-flow arrangement, plus pass-through charges of $0.02 per contract OCC clearing capped at $55, a $0.02 options regulatory fee, $0.0009 CAT and $0.00279 TAF on sells. Index options are $0.50 per contract standard and $0.35 with Public Premium.

Webull charges $0 commission and no Webull contract fee on stock and ETF options, with exchange and regulatory fees additional and a $0.10 per contract oversized-order fee at 500 contracts or more. Its index-option contract fee is $0.50 on the current main pricing page, which is the controlling figure; some marketing pages still display $0.55. Index-option volume discounts sit inside the Webull Premium tier.

Neither platform reduces to a single generic options number.

Futures and prediction markets are a Webull-only category here

Webull offers listed futures through Webull Futures LLC (NFA 0568685) at $0.25 per contract for micro, $0.70 for mini and $1.25 for regular contracts, with exchange and NFA fees additional, spanning equity index, rates, currencies, agriculture, metals, energy and cryptocurrency products. It also offers event contracts on Kalshi, priced $0.01 to $0.99, with a $0.01 Webull fee and $0.01 exchange fee per contract on open and on close, settling at $1 or $0.

Public's canonical record establishes no futures and no prediction markets. A reader who wants either product will not find it at Public.

Webull is the more trading-oriented technical environment

Webull's current platform family — Desktop, WebTrade, mobile and Lite — includes advanced charting, drawing tools, technical indicators, screeners, unusual options activity, an options calculator, probability analysis, a futures ladder, TurboTrader and paper trading, together with 24/5 overnight sessions on select securities.

Public's environment emphasises multi-leg options, an options strategy builder, profit and loss tools, a bond screener, analyst insights and institutional research rather than high-frequency chart interaction.

Fixed income is where Public packages more product

Public carries corporate bonds, municipal bonds, Treasuries, fractional bonds, a Bond Account and a Treasury Account. Treasuries cost $0.10 per $100 par to one year and $0.25 beyond; corporates $0.35 and $0.50 per $100 par on the same split; Treasury Account marginal tiers run from 0.29% down to 0.09%. The Bond Account costs $3.99 per month for non-Premium members and $0 with Premium, with a $1,000 initial minimum.

Webull's record establishes bonds, corporate and municipal bonds, Treasuries, fractional bonds from a $100 minimum and money market funds, with a 0.10% of principal markup on corporates (minimum $10) and Treasuries and a $1,000 standard Treasury minimum. That is real fixed-income access, but not the same consumer-facing product packaging.

Cash products should be read with their dates

Public's High-Yield Cash Account is stated at 3.30% APY as of 2026-08, variable, with a headline $5 million FDIC pass-through subject to program-bank and depositor eligibility rules.

Webull's cash management uses an eligible FDIC bank-sweep program with a variable APY plus money market fund access, and its record notes that not every Webull cash balance is FDIC insured — only cash enrolled in the eligible sweep, subject to program rules and limits.

Both offer direct crypto, through different providers

Public's crypto is executed and custodied by Zero Hash LLC; Public provides the interface and funding facilitation only. Fees run from $0.49 up to $6.29 by order size and 1.25% of the order amount above $500, with a 1.25% fee on crypto investment plans, crypto IRAs at a 0.05% monthly custody fee accrued daily, no staking, and no crypto transfers in New York.

Webull's crypto runs through Webull Pay LLC (NMLS 1886762) with Coinbase for execution and custody generally, and Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS 1890144) in New York, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Pricing is a $0 separately stated commission with a 1% spread included in the buy and sell price for many current trades, stablecoins excepted, a headline 70+ assets and a $0 custody fee.

Crypto at neither platform is SIPC protected or FDIC insured.

AI research versus API breadth

Public's record includes Alpha AI research and AI Agents — the record states that Agents do not provide investment advice — alongside analyst insights, premium and institutional research. Public also exposes stock trading, options, multi-leg quote, short-selling, crypto and historical market-data APIs plus a CLI, with crypto API tiers from 0.60% down to 0.10% by volume.

Webull's record establishes no AI research product, but its OpenAPI covers stocks, fractional stocks, options, futures, crypto and event contracts across HTTP, gRPC streaming and MQTT with Python and Java SDKs.

Advisory products are structured differently

Webull Advisors LLC runs conventional automated portfolios at 0.15% to 0.30% annually with a $100 minimum, managed IRAs and taxable managed accounts using BlackRock models or technology.

Public Advisors LLC offers Generated Assets at 0.49% annually, Direct Indexing at 0.19% annually and the Treasury Account, which should not be described as a conventional robo-advisor.

Alternatives point in different directions

Public's alternative access includes royalties and Reg A securities, with Dalmore Group, LLC as the applicable broker, offering-specific fees, an initial true-up range of 0% to 10% (historically around 5%), a possible 2% annual management fee on non-cash-flowing assets, possible 10% profit carry and a 2.5% secondary-market fee each side, with limited liquidity.

Webull's expansion runs instead through trading categories: futures and Kalshi event contracts. Royalty or Reg A private-market products are not established in its record.

How to read the difference

This is less about which app is easier and more about whether the account is for trading markets or for building a multi-asset portfolio. Public leans toward bonds, Treasuries, cash, AI-assisted research, direct indexing and royalties. Webull leans toward charts, futures, event contracts, 24/5 equities and programmatic access.