Online Brokerages
Platforms for buying and holding stocks, ETFs, funds and bonds in taxable and retirement accounts.
What this category covers
Online brokerages are regulated broker-dealers that hold customer accounts and route orders to market venues. This section describes what each platform offers: the securities available, account types supported, published commission schedules, research and trading tools, margin terms and the regulatory framework the firm operates under.
We may earn a commission if you open an account through links on this page. Our editorial analysis is independent and is never influenced by commercial partnerships. Full disclosure.
Platforms in this category (53)
| Platform | Account minimum | Stock commission | Fractional shares | Retirement accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ally Invest | $0 minimum for a standard Ally Invest Self-Directed brokerage account. Robo Portfolios use a separate $100 minimum, and individual securities or products can have their own purchase requirements. | $0 | Not documented | Not documented |
| Alpaca | No account minimum for individual live brokerage accounts; fractional stock/ETF orders can start at $1. Margin accounts are subject to applicable margin-deposit requirements. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Axos Self-Directed Trading | No minimum amount is required to open or maintain a standard Self-Directed Trading account; a Self-Directed Trading IRA currently requires $50 to open. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| BBAE | No universal minimum is established for BBAE's self-directed brokerage account. The MyAdvisor managed program requires a $2,000 minimum for individual taxable advisory accounts, while BBAE's $5 fractional-share reference is an order-size reference rather than an account minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Betterment | $0 to open automated investing; $100,000 in eligible household investments for Premium; $10 minimum deposit for Cash Reserve. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| Carry | No single platformwide investment minimum is published. Carry charges annual membership fees—currently $299 for Core and $499 for Pro—while funding and minimum investment amounts depend on the account and underlying security, fund, crypto transaction or self-directed alternative opportunity. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Cash App Investing | $1 minimum stock or ETF purchase through Cash App Investing; this is a transaction-size minimum, not a required account-opening balance. | $0 | Not documented | Not documented |
| CenterPoint Securities | No universal current account-opening minimum is published. CenterPoint's Edge Base tier uses a $30,000+ equity reference, but that is a platform/service-tier reference rather than a universal opening requirement. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Charles Schwab | Schwab states that its standard brokerage account has no opening minimum. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| ChoiceTrade | $100 current cash-account minimum; margin accounts and specific products can have separate regulatory or house requirements. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Citi Self Invest | $0 account-opening minimum for Citi Self Invest; individual securities, mutual funds or other products can have their own transaction or investment minimums. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Cobra Trading | Current Cobra marketing references a $27,000 opening minimum, but that is a broker house reference rather than a universal regulatory minimum; account type, current house requirements and applicable margin rules control. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Coinbase | No account minimum; $1 minimum for eligible fractional stock orders and $1 minimum USDC balance for USDC Rewards | Not documented | Minimum: $1; Available: Yes; Eligible symbols only: Yes | Not documented |
| Composer | $50 current minimum deposit, with a separate roughly $2,500 recommended funding reference for practical strategy deployment. The recommendation is not the account-opening minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Crypto.com | Stocks: $0 minimum deposit, with fractional investing referenced from $1. Crypto minimums depend on the asset and transaction. | $0 | Not documented | Not documented |
| dub | No universal brokerage-account or Premium Portfolio investment minimum is established. Current funding materials reference a $100 ACH deposit minimum, but that is a transfer minimum rather than an account-opening or advisory eligibility threshold; individual Premium Portfolios can set their own allocation minimums. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| E*TRADE | $0 minimum for a standard E*TRADE self-directed brokerage account. Core Portfolios has a separate $500 initial minimum and should not be presented as the brokerage-account minimum. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| eOption | No minimum to open a domestic eOption account. International accounts require $25,000 in eligible cash and/or securities; newly opened accounts must be funded within 60 days or may be closed. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| eToro | Fractional stock investing is referenced from $10. The current U.S. fee page lists a $0 withdrawal fee with a published $30 withdrawal minimum as a dated current reference. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Fennel | No account minimum. Fennel's current Form CRS states that the self-directed brokerage does not have account minimums. | $0 | Not documented | Not documented |
| Fidelity | Fidelity states that retail brokerage accounts have no opening minimum and no account fee; fractional share investing can begin with $1. | Not documented | Not documented | Yes |
| Firstrade | No stated account minimum in the supplied package; fractional shares are supported and the current intraday margin framework references a $2,000 minimum day-trade equity. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Frec | Classic direct indexing starts at $20,000, with some index/strategy minimums higher. Current long-short and Diversify strategies use substantially higher minimum ranges, generally $100,000-$500,000; no single minimum covers every Frec strategy. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Gemini | Not established in the current canonical source set. | $0 | Not established in the current canonical source set | No |
| Interactive Brokers | $0 brokerage account minimum; $0 maintenance and inactivity fees on individual accounts. | Not documented | Not documented | Yes |
| J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing | $0 account-opening minimum for the self-directed brokerage. The $5 fractional-share amount is a minimum eligible fractional purchase, not an account-funding requirement. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Kraken | Not established in the current canonical source set. | $0 | Not documented | No |
| Lightspeed | Product-specific. Lightspeed's U.S. Trader Pro account reference is $2,500, while futures accounts use a $10,000 opening minimum; the futures threshold must not be applied to every securities account. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| M1 Finance | $100 to open an individual, joint, custodial or crypto account; $500 for Traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs; $5,000 for trust accounts. Minimum stock or ETF order is $1. | Not documented | Yes | Not documented |
| Magnifi | No universal Magnifi investment-capital minimum is established. Magnifi's free and Premium subscription pricing is a software/advisory cost rather than an account-funding requirement; linked brokerages and individual securities or funds can impose their own minimums. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Merrill Edge | $0 | Not documented | Not documented | Yes |
| moomoo | No stated account minimum in the supplied package; fractional shares are supported. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Plynk | No broad account-funding minimum is established for the standard brokerage in current supplied materials. Plynk supports small-dollar investing with a $1 fractional-investing reference, and supported crypto also has a $1 minimum trade; those are transaction-size references, not a universal account minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Public | No broad platform minimum is emphasized for the standard self-directed account; product-specific minimums can apply. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| Robinhood | $0 brokerage account minimum; $1 minimum fractional order; $50 minimum for Robinhood Strategies. | Not documented | Not documented | Yes |
| SoFi Alternative Investments | Product-specific. Current 2026 references include $500 for the AngelList USVC Venture Capital Access Fund and $2,500 for the CAZ GP Stakes and CAZ Strategic Opportunities funds; no single minimum applies to every current or future SoFi alternative fund. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| SoFi Invest | Self-directed minimum $5. Robo Investing minimum $50. Private-market fund minimums are fund-specific, including USVC $500 and CAZ funds $2,500. | Not documented | Available on eligible securities; $5 is a current operational threshold for fractional transactions | Yes |
| SogoTrade | No clean universal account minimum should be stated. SogoTrade's current FAQ says no minimum deposit is required, while another current pricing page displays a $500 account-minimum reference and promotions can require $500 equity; stocks priced below $1 also have a $100 minimum investment. Treat these as conflicting/product-specific references rather than one universal opening minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| SpeedTrader | Product-specific. Current U.S. account-opening and ActiveWeb references are $2,500, while SpeedTrader Pro uses $10,000; a separate $30,000 day-trading FAQ reference is not internally consistent with the current post-2026 rule environment and should not be treated as a universal regulatory minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Stash | No minimum deposit is currently required to open Stash personal brokerage, custodial, retirement or discretionary managed accounts. Current disclosures require at least $0.01 to maintain personal/custodial/retirement accounts and $5 to maintain a discretionary managed account; consumer pages commonly use $5 as the practical starting investment reference. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| tastytrade | $0 minimum to open a standard cash or margin brokerage account. Product and strategy requirements remain separate; for example, margin borrowing privileges require applicable equity and certain futures or IRA strategies can have their own requirements. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| TIAA Brokerage | $0 retail brokerage opening minimum, $0 minimum balance and $0 account maintenance charge. Employer-plan brokerage windows can impose separate plan-specific transfer or investment minimums and must not be applied to the ordinary retail account. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| TradeStation | No stated brokerage account minimum; margin privileges require $2,000 minimum equity where applicable | Not documented | Not documented | Yes |
| TradeUP | No general account-opening minimum is established in the current supplied materials. Product-specific thresholds apply instead: margin requires more than $2,000 of account equity, while the Cash+ idle-cash program can participate with as little as $0.01; neither figure is a universal brokerage minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| TradeZero | $2,500 current ordinary U.S. account minimum reference. Some account types can require more, and the post-2026 intraday-margin framework has separate regulatory and house requirements, so $2,500 should not be applied to every TradeZero account. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Tradier | $0 brokerage account minimum. The current dedicated Tradier Futures page states a $2,000 futures account minimum and a Pro or Pro Plus plan requirement. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| U.S. Bancorp Advisors Self-Directed Investing | $0 account-opening minimum for the self-directed brokerage. Individual funds, bonds, options, margin privileges or other investments can have their own requirements, so the $0 opening minimum does not imply every investment can be purchased with no capital. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Uphold | Fractional stock investing from $5. The USD Interest Account is referenced with a $1 minimum to start. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Vanguard | No minimum to open a Vanguard brokerage account. Vanguard ETF fractional investing starts at $1; a typical Admiral share minimum is $3,000 but varies by fund. Digital Advisor starts at $100. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Wealthfront | $500 for Automated Investing; $1 for Stock Investing and the Cash Account; $20,000 for S&P 500 Direct; $100,000 for US Direct Indexing; $500,000 for Smart Beta. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| Webull | Webull states that its standard brokerage platform has no account minimum. | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| WellsTrade | $0 account-opening minimum. Individual mutual funds, fixed-income securities, margin privileges and other products can impose their own purchase or eligibility thresholds, so $0 is an account-opening reference rather than a universal investment minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Zacks Trade | $250 required minimum initial deposit for a new Zacks Trade account. Individual securities, mutual funds, bonds, margin privileges or other products can have their own purchase or eligibility requirements, so $250 is the account-opening minimum rather than a universal investment minimum. | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
Ally Invest
Ally Bank customers; investors who want $0 stock/ETF commissions; options traders attracted to a $0.50 contract fee; mutual-fund investors who want no-load funds with $0 purchase/sale transaction fees; IRA investors; investors considering low-minimum automated portfolios; investors comfortable with Apex as clearing firm.
- Minimum
- $0 minimum for a standard Ally Invest Self-Directed brokerage account. Robo Portfolios use a separate $100 minimum, and individual securities or products can have their own purchase requirements.
- Eligibility
- Open
Alpaca
Developers and active traders who want API-first access to U.S. stocks/ETFs, fractional shares and automated execution rather than a full-service advisory relationship.
- Minimum
- No account minimum for individual live brokerage accounts; fractional stock/ETF orders can start at $1. Margin accounts are subject to applicable margin-deposit requirements.
- Eligibility
- Open
Axos Self-Directed Trading
Axos Bank customers; stock and ETF investors who want $0 trades; mutual-fund investors; options traders who understand Basic vs Elite pricing; investors who value TipRanks research; margin users willing to pay for Elite; users who value bank and brokerage visibility together.
- Minimum
- No minimum amount is required to open or maintain a standard Self-Directed Trading account; a Self-Directed Trading IRA currently requires $50 to open.
- Eligibility
- Open
BBAE
Investors seeking commission-free U.S. stock and ETF trading, options and research tools in an app-based brokerage, plus users who want a separate 0.50% MyAdvisor managed option and are comfortable with the Redbridge/Apex/BBAE Advisors legal structure.
- Minimum
- No universal minimum is established for BBAE's self-directed brokerage account. The MyAdvisor managed program requires a $2,000 minimum for individual taxable advisory accounts, while BBAE's $5 fractional-share reference is an order-size reference rather than an account minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
Betterment
Investors who want automated, goal-based portfolio management with built-in tax tools and are comfortable with software-led decisions.
- Minimum
- $0 to open automated investing; $100,000 in eligible household investments for Premium; $10 minimum deposit for Cash Reserve.
- Eligibility
- Open
Carry
Self-employed investors who want Solo 401(k), IRA and taxable investing in one platform, particularly Pro members using self-directed alternatives or IRA crypto who are comfortable with membership fees and asset-specific liquidity.
- Minimum
- No single platformwide investment minimum is published. Carry charges annual membership fees—currently $299 for Core and $499 for Pro—while funding and minimum investment amounts depend on the account and underlying security, fund, crypto transaction or self-directed alternative opportunity.
- Eligibility
- Open
Cash App Investing
New investors who want a simple stock interface; investors starting with small dollar amounts; existing Cash App users; investors who want recurring fractional purchases; users who also want bitcoin in the same consumer app while understanding the legal separation.
- Minimum
- $1 minimum stock or ETF purchase through Cash App Investing; this is a transaction-size minimum, not a required account-opening balance.
- Eligibility
- Open
CenterPoint Securities
Serious active traders, short sellers and high-volume stock or options traders who value locate inventory, direct routing, ECN access and live trading-desk support and can absorb platform, data and trading costs.
- Minimum
- No universal current account-opening minimum is published. CenterPoint's Edge Base tier uses a $30,000+ equity reference, but that is a platform/service-tier reference rather than a universal opening requirement.
- Eligibility
- Open
Charles Schwab
Investors seeking a large full-service brokerage with trading, retirement, banking-linked services, funds, fixed income and planning resources.
- Minimum
- Schwab states that its standard brokerage account has no opening minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
ChoiceTrade
Investors seeking $0 eligible stock and ETF commissions; options traders; margin users who understand benchmark-linked rates; DAS Trader users; conventional IRA investors; developers or businesses evaluating API or white-label access.
- Minimum
- $100 current cash-account minimum; margin accounts and specific products can have separate regulatory or house requirements.
- Eligibility
- Open
Citi Self Invest
Citi banking customers; investors who want straightforward stock, ETF, and mutual-fund access; investors who value a $0 opening minimum; users who prefer a bank-linked digital brokerage; investors who occasionally use fixed income.
- Minimum
- $0 account-opening minimum for Citi Self Invest; individual securities, mutual funds or other products can have their own transaction or investment minimums.
- Eligibility
- Open
Cobra Trading
active stock traders; short sellers; options traders; traders who value DAS or Sterling; high-volume users who can qualify for lower commission tiers; customers who value direct-access support.
- Minimum
- Current Cobra marketing references a $27,000 opening minimum, but that is a broker house reference rather than a universal regulatory minimum; account type, current house requirements and applicable margin rules control.
- Eligibility
- Open
Coinbase
Investors who want crypto and traditional securities in one interface and are willing to understand which legal entity holds each balance.
- Minimum
- No account minimum; $1 minimum for eligible fractional stock orders and $1 minimum USDC balance for USDC Rewards
- Eligibility
- Open
Composer
systematic investors; investors who want rules-based automation; users who want no-code strategy construction; investors who use backtesting before deploying a strategy; investors who want automated stock and ETF portfolios; eligible options users; IRA investors who want automated strategies.
- Minimum
- $50 current minimum deposit, with a separate roughly $2,500 recommended funding reference for practical strategy deployment. The recommendation is not the account-opening minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
Crypto.com
Users who want crypto, stocks and other products in one app and are willing to understand the separate legal entities behind them.
- Minimum
- Stocks: $0 minimum deposit, with fractional investing referenced from $1. Crypto minimums depend on the asset and transaction.
- Eligibility
- Open
dub
Mobile-first investors who want real-time portfolio copying or a more managed Premium Portfolio option and are comfortable with recurring platform fees, creator or adviser strategy risk, and the fact that copied historical performance does not guarantee their own results.
- Minimum
- No universal brokerage-account or Premium Portfolio investment minimum is established. Current funding materials reference a $100 ACH deposit minimum, but that is a transfer minimum rather than an account-opening or advisory eligibility threshold; individual Premium Portfolios can set their own allocation minimums.
- Eligibility
- Open
E*TRADE
E*TRADE combines broad investing, Power E*TRADE tools, options, futures, crypto and retirement accounts under Morgan Stanley.
- Minimum
- $0 minimum for a standard E*TRADE self-directed brokerage account. Core Portfolios has a separate $500 initial minimum and should not be presented as the brokerage-account minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
eOption
Self-directed options traders, especially multi-contract traders, who want low per-contract pricing plus stock/ETF access and are comfortable with a discount brokerage rather than a full-service planning relationship.
- Minimum
- No minimum to open a domestic eOption account. International accounts require $25,000 in eligible cash and/or securities; newly opened accounts must be funded within 60 days or may be closed.
- Eligibility
- Open
eToro
Investors who want stocks, options and crypto in one consumer interface and who value social-market data.
- Minimum
- Fractional stock investing is referenced from $10. The current U.S. fee page lists a $0 withdrawal fee with a published $30 withdrawal minimum as a dated current reference.
- Eligibility
- Open
Fennel
Investors who value portfolio analytics, shareholder voting and API access; investors who prefer a subscription model without payment-for-order-flow revenue; fractional-share investors; conventional IRA investors; developers who want programmatic trading.
- Minimum
- No account minimum. Fennel's current Form CRS states that the self-directed brokerage does not have account minimums.
- Eligibility
- Open
Fidelity
Investors who want a broad full-service brokerage with taxable, retirement, cash-management and planning capabilities.
- Minimum
- Fidelity states that retail brokerage accounts have no opening minimum and no account fee; fractional share investing can begin with $1.
- Eligibility
- Open
Firstrade
Self-directed investors who trade options, online mutual funds and broad traditional brokerage products.
- Minimum
- No stated account minimum in the supplied package; fractional shares are supported and the current intraday margin framework references a $2,000 minimum day-trade equity.
- Eligibility
- Open
Frec
taxable investors with substantial embedded gains elsewhere; investors who want direct ownership of index constituents; investors who value tax-loss harvesting; concentrated-stock holders who want gradual diversification; investors who want lower-fee direct indexing; users willing to maintain a $20,000+ strategy minimum.
- Minimum
- Classic direct indexing starts at $20,000, with some index/strategy minimums higher. Current long-short and Diversify strategies use substantially higher minimum ranges, generally $100,000-$500,000; no single minimum covers every Frec strategy.
- Eligibility
- Open
Gemini
Customers who want crypto trading and custody, U.S. stocks and event contracts inside a single consumer interface.
- Minimum
- Not established in the current canonical source set.
- Eligibility
- Open
Interactive Brokers
Investors and traders who use global market access, active derivatives trading, margin, APIs or overnight markets.
- Minimum
- $0 brokerage account minimum; $0 maintenance and inactivity fees on individual accounts.
- Eligibility
- Open
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing
Existing Chase customers; long-term stock and ETF investors; investors who want $5 fractional purchases in eligible large-cap securities; mutual-fund investors; Treasury investors; IRA investors; investors who value banking and brokerage inside the same app.
- Minimum
- $0 account-opening minimum for the self-directed brokerage. The $5 fractional-share amount is a minimum eligible fractional purchase, not an account-funding requirement.
- Eligibility
- Open
Kraken
Active crypto traders who also want conventional equities and regulated U.S. futures in one ecosystem.
- Minimum
- Not established in the current canonical source set.
- Eligibility
- Open
Lightspeed
high-volume stock traders; high-volume options traders; futures traders; direct-access traders; users who need hotkeys and advanced order routing; traders willing to pay platform/data costs for specialized tools.
- Minimum
- Product-specific. Lightspeed's U.S. Trader Pro account reference is $2,500, while futures accounts use a $10,000 opening minimum; the futures threshold must not be applied to every securities account.
- Eligibility
- Open
M1 Finance
Investors who already know their target allocation and want contributions apportioned automatically across it, rather than traders who need intraday execution.
- Minimum
- $100 to open an individual, joint, custodial or crypto account; $500 for Traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs; $5,000 for trust accounts. Minimum stock or ETF order is $1.
- Eligibility
- Open
Magnifi
investors who want AI-assisted investment research; investors with accounts at multiple brokerages; users who want natural-language search rather than conventional screeners; investors who want to compare stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds; users who value portfolio-level risk and scenario tools; investors who want investment recommendations but retain final trading discretion.
- Minimum
- No universal Magnifi investment-capital minimum is established. Magnifi's free and Premium subscription pricing is a software/advisory cost rather than an account-funding requirement; linked brokerages and individual securities or funds can impose their own minimums.
- Eligibility
- Open
Merrill Edge
Traditional investors, retirement accounts and Bank of America households
- Minimum
- $0
- Eligibility
- Open
moomoo
Active traders who want deep market tools, aggressive options pricing and Asian-market access in one mobile-first platform.
- Minimum
- No stated account minimum in the supplied package; fractional shares are supported.
- Eligibility
- Open
Plynk
beginner investors; investors starting with small dollar amounts; users who want stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and crypto in one app; investors who value simulated trading and education; dividend investors who can use the current match program; users interested in a low-cost optional premium tier.
- Minimum
- No broad account-funding minimum is established for the standard brokerage in current supplied materials. Plynk supports small-dollar investing with a $1 fractional-investing reference, and supported crypto also has a $1 minimum trade; those are transaction-size references, not a universal account minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
Public
Self-directed investors who want stocks, ETFs, bonds, options and other products in a modern app with paid research/data features available through Public Premium.
- Minimum
- No broad platform minimum is emphasized for the standard self-directed account; product-specific minimums can apply.
- Eligibility
- Open
Robinhood
Self-directed investors and active traders who want commission-free stocks and options, Legend, futures, direct crypto, prediction markets, IRAs with a contribution match, and managed investing in one app.
- Minimum
- $0 brokerage account minimum; $1 minimum fractional order; $50 minimum for Robinhood Strategies.
- Eligibility
- Open
SoFi Alternative Investments
SoFi Invest users seeking private-market fund exposure at lower starting minimums than many traditional private funds who prefer a consumer brokerage workflow and can accept fund expenses, transaction fees and periodic rather than daily liquidity.
- Minimum
- Product-specific. Current 2026 references include $500 for the AngelList USVC Venture Capital Access Fund and $2,500 for the CAZ GP Stakes and CAZ Strategic Opportunities funds; no single minimum applies to every current or future SoFi alternative fund.
- Eligibility
- Open
SoFi Invest
Investors who want brokerage and robo investing in one ecosystem, alongside IPO, crypto and private-market access.
- Minimum
- Self-directed minimum $5. Robo Investing minimum $50. Private-market fund minimums are fund-specific, including USVC $500 and CAZ funds $2,500.
- Eligibility
- Open
SogoTrade
Self-directed investors comfortable using qualifying limit orders; options traders who value a $0.50 contract fee; investors who understand order-type pricing; users who want an integrated Bakkt crypto account; margin users whose balance qualifies for lower published tiers; investors who value the GP2T limit-order credit program.
- Minimum
- No clean universal account minimum should be stated. SogoTrade's current FAQ says no minimum deposit is required, while another current pricing page displays a $500 account-minimum reference and promotions can require $500 equity; stocks priced below $1 also have a $100 minimum investment. Treat these as conflicting/product-specific references rather than one universal opening minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
SpeedTrader
Active equity and options traders, short sellers and DAS/direct-routing users who value hard-to-borrow locates, extended-hours access and per-share pricing and can support the relevant platform account minimums and data/software costs.
- Minimum
- Product-specific. Current U.S. account-opening and ActiveWeb references are $2,500, while SpeedTrader Pro uses $10,000; a separate $30,000 day-trading FAQ reference is not internally consistent with the current post-2026 rule environment and should not be treated as a universal regulatory minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
Stash
Beginner investors who value guidance; investors who want automated and self-directed investing in one app; users who want IRAs and kids accounts; investors who value a 3% qualifying retirement contribution match; users who prefer a predictable subscription; investors comfortable with limited daily trading windows.
- Minimum
- No minimum deposit is currently required to open Stash personal brokerage, custodial, retirement or discretionary managed accounts. Current disclosures require at least $0.01 to maintain personal/custodial/retirement accounts and $5 to maintain a discretionary managed account; consumer pages commonly use $5 as the practical starting investment reference.
- Eligibility
- Open
tastytrade
tastytrade is built for active options and futures traders, with capped equity-options commissions, advanced tools, crypto, and IRAs.
- Minimum
- $0 minimum to open a standard cash or margin brokerage account. Product and strategy requirements remain separate; for example, margin borrowing privileges require applicable equity and certain futures or IRA strategies can have their own requirements.
- Eligibility
- Open
TIAA Brokerage
Existing TIAA clients; investors seeking stocks, funds, bonds and options in one account; IRA investors; mutual-fund investors using NTF funds; fixed-income investors; users who value TIAA integration.
- Minimum
- $0 retail brokerage opening minimum, $0 minimum balance and $0 account maintenance charge. Employer-plan brokerage windows can impose separate plan-specific transfer or investment minimums and must not be applied to the ordinary retail account.
- Eligibility
- Open
TradeStation
Active and technically oriented traders
- Minimum
- No stated brokerage account minimum; margin privileges require $2,000 minimum equity where applicable
- Eligibility
- Open
TradeUP
Investors seeking $0 eligible stock and ETF trades, current zero-contract-fee options, 24/5 trading, conventional IRAs, a flat advertised margin rate and API access, who understand that pricing and eligibility vary by product.
- Minimum
- No general account-opening minimum is established in the current supplied materials. Product-specific thresholds apply instead: margin requires more than $2,000 of account equity, while the Cash+ idle-cash program can participate with as little as $0.01; neither figure is a universal brokerage minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
TradeZero
active equity traders; short sellers who regularly need locates; options traders; users who value direct routing and advanced order tools; traders who want premarket access beginning at 4 a.m. ET; users willing to pay for ZeroPro when activity does not qualify for the waiver.
- Minimum
- $2,500 current ordinary U.S. account minimum reference. Some account types can require more, and the post-2026 intraday-margin framework has separate regulatory and house requirements, so $2,500 should not be applied to every TradeZero account.
- Eligibility
- Open
Tradier
Active options traders and developers who want subscription-based commissions, a full brokerage API and a wide choice of third-party front ends.
- Minimum
- $0 brokerage account minimum. The current dedicated Tradier Futures page states a $2,000 futures account minimum and a Pro or Pro Plus plan requirement.
- Eligibility
- Open
U.S. Bancorp Advisors Self-Directed Investing
Existing U.S. Bank or U.S. Bancorp Advisors clients who want integrated banking and self-directed investing, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, options and conventional IRAs, and who do not need a specialized direct-access trading platform.
- Minimum
- $0 account-opening minimum for the self-directed brokerage. Individual funds, bonds, options, margin privileges or other investments can have their own requirements, so the $0 opening minimum does not imply every investment can be purchased with no capital.
- Eligibility
- Open
Uphold
Users who value simple cross-asset conversion between crypto, stocks and metals in one interface.
- Minimum
- Fractional stock investing from $5. The USD Interest Account is referenced with a $1 minimum to start.
- Eligibility
- Open
Vanguard
Long-term investors building portfolios primarily from low-cost mutual funds and ETFs who want manufacturer and custodian in one relationship.
- Minimum
- No minimum to open a Vanguard brokerage account. Vanguard ETF fractional investing starts at $1; a typical Admiral share minimum is $3,000 but varies by fund. Digital Advisor starts at $100.
- Eligibility
- Open
Wealthfront
Investors who want low-cost automation, automated tax-loss harvesting and integrated cash and borrowing, without needing to speak to an advisor.
- Minimum
- $500 for Automated Investing; $1 for Stock Investing and the Cash Account; $20,000 for S&P 500 Direct; $100,000 for US Direct Indexing; $500,000 for Smart Beta.
- Eligibility
- Open
Webull
Self-directed traders who value technical charts, extended-hours access, active-trading tools and commission-free U.S. stock and ETF trading.
- Minimum
- Webull states that its standard brokerage platform has no account minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
WellsTrade
existing Wells Fargo customers; investors who want stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, options, and bonds in one account; IRA investors; investors who value bank and brokerage visibility in the same ecosystem; Treasury buyers; users who do not need specialized active-trader software.
- Minimum
- $0 account-opening minimum. Individual mutual funds, fixed-income securities, margin privileges and other products can impose their own purchase or eligibility thresholds, so $0 is an account-opening reference rather than a universal investment minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open
Zacks Trade
investors who use Zacks research; active stock traders who accept explicit commissions; options traders; margin users; investors who trade bonds or mutual funds; users who value broker-assisted service without an extra trade surcharge.
- Minimum
- $250 required minimum initial deposit for a new Zacks Trade account. Individual securities, mutual funds, bonds, margin privileges or other products can have their own purchase or eligibility requirements, so $250 is the account-opening minimum rather than a universal investment minimum.
- Eligibility
- Open