Public: Platform Profile

Public has changed more than its understated brokerage interface suggests.

The platform now combines commission-free regular-hours stock and ETF trading with options, crypto, Treasuries, individual bonds, a Bond Account, High-Yield Cash, IRAs, recurring Investment Plans, alternative assets, AI research, APIs, Generated Assets and direct indexing.

That mix gives Public a different identity from app-first brokers such as Robinhood and Webull.

It is less focused on rapid-fire derivatives trading and more focused on building a multi-asset portfolio across public securities, fixed income, cash, crypto and selected alternatives.

The trade-off is complexity beneath the interface.

A Public brokerage account, Zero Hash crypto account, Apex-cleared Bond Account, bank-swept High-Yield Cash Account, Public Advisors advisory account and Jiko Treasury account can all appear within the broader Public experience while having different legal structures, fees and protections.

Public at a glance

Public's strongest distinction is multi-asset investing

Public is not trying to replicate a conventional brokerage product menu exactly.

Its current platform brings together:

* stocks * ETFs * options * crypto * Treasury securities * corporate bonds * municipal bonds * High-Yield Cash * royalties * managed Treasury strategies * custom indexes

That matters for an investor who wants more than equities but does not necessarily want the complexity of Interactive Brokers.

It also means the word "Public account" can describe several legally different structures.

Understanding which account actually holds an asset is important.

Stocks and ETFs remain inexpensive during regular hours

Eligible U.S.-listed stock and ETF trades during regular market hours currently cost:

$0.

Premium customers also receive $0 extended-hours stock and ETF trades.

Non-Premium customers currently pay:

$2.99

for an eligible extended-hours trade.

That distinction was absent from the old ROIStreet review.

Public's commission structure therefore depends partly on:

* when the order is placed * the type of security * Premium membership * selected routing

Public's equity routing model is unusual

Public has historically differentiated itself from many app-first brokers by not taking payment for order flow on ordinary NMS stock trades.

That remains an important qualification.

Public Investing states that it does not receive NMS equity PFOF.

Its clearing firm, Apex, may receive payment from venues, but Public states Apex does not share that equity PFOF with Public Investing.

Public also now allows customers to select certain equity routing choices.

Some selections can carry an execution fee.

That means "no PFOF" should not be reduced to a marketing slogan.

Order routing still affects execution economics.

Options are now a serious Public product

The old review barely mentioned options.

Public now supports:

* single-leg options * multi-leg strategies * spreads * straddles * strangles * butterflies * condors * index options * VIX options * strategy-building tools

Standard stock and ETF options carry:

* $0 commission * $0 Public contract fee

Regulatory and clearing charges can still apply.

Public does something unusual with options PFOF

Public receives order-flow revenue on stock and ETF options.

Instead of keeping all of it, Public operates an Options Order Flow Rebate Program.

Current rebates range from:

$0.06 to $0.18

per completed contract depending on the customer's tier.

That can produce a negative effective broker commission before regulatory fees.

This does not mean the trade has no execution cost.

The investor still faces:

* bid/ask spread * market impact * regulatory fees * clearing fees * execution quality

But it is a materially different model from brokers that retain all options PFOF.

Index options use separate pricing

Index options do not receive the options-order-flow rebate.

Current fees are:

* $0.50 per contract for non-Premium customers * $0.35 for Premium customers

Public also supports VIX options and multi-leg index-option strategies.

That makes the broad statement:

"Options are free on Public"

incomplete.

Stock and ETF options have no Public commission or contract fee.

Index options do.

Public Premium affects more than research

Public Premium currently costs:

* $10 monthly * $96 annually

The subscription is currently waived for accounts over:

$50,000.

Premium benefits include:

* advanced company data * institutional-grade research * extended-hours fee waivers * Investment Plan fee waivers * reduced index-options fees * Bond Account monthly-fee waiver

Whether Premium is worthwhile depends on which of those benefits the investor actually uses.

Crypto now runs through Zero Hash

Public migrated its cryptocurrency business to Zero Hash in October 2025.

Public itself does not execute or custody the crypto.

Zero Hash provides the underlying crypto execution and custody structure.

That matters because Public Investing's FINRA/SIPC brokerage status does not turn cryptocurrency into a SIPC-protected security.

Crypto pricing is not a simple percentage at smaller sizes

Standard Public crypto trades currently use a tiered fee schedule.

Examples include:

* up to $10: $0.49 * $10.01–$25: $0.69 * $25.01–$50: $1.19 * $50.01–$100: $1.69 * $100.01–$250: $3.29 * $250.01–$500: $6.29 * above $500: 1.25%

That creates unusual economics for very small trades.

A $5 crypto purchase carrying a $0.49 charge has an effective transaction cost close to 10%.

A $1,000 purchase at 1.25% costs:

$12.50.

The visible dollar fee matters more than the phrase "commission-free."

API crypto pricing is different

Crypto trades placed through Public's APIs use volume-based percentage pricing.

Current published tiers begin at:

0.60%

for lower monthly volume and fall as low as:

0.10%

for the highest published tier.

An API trader and an ordinary app user therefore should not assume identical crypto pricing.

Crypto transfers are supported

Eligible Zero Hash assets can be transferred:

* into Public * out to external wallets

Public does not currently charge its own crypto-transfer fee.

Network fees apply on withdrawals, and Zero Hash currently includes a $0.53 KYT charge within that network-fee structure.

New York customers currently cannot transfer crypto in or out.

Public does not currently offer crypto staking

The Zero Hash supplemental agreement specifically excludes staking through the Public cryptocurrency account.

That is an important difference from Robinhood and some dedicated crypto platforms.

Public also offers a separate Crypto IRA

Public's Crypto IRA has a different cost structure from the ordinary brokerage crypto account.

The current trading fee begins at:

1.25%.

The account also has a:

0.05%

monthly custody fee, accrued daily.

Trading fees paid during the month can offset that custody charge under the current fee-credit policy.

This is a separate retirement crypto product.

It should not be confused with an ordinary Public Traditional or Roth brokerage IRA.

Fixed income is one of Public's strongest differentiators

Public now has several distinct fixed-income products.

Investors can buy individual:

* Treasury securities * corporate bonds * municipal bonds

The platform also offers:

* Treasury Account * Bond Account

That is much broader than the old review's passing reference to "bond and Treasury tools."

Public's bond marketplace is substantial

Public currently advertises access to more than:

10,000

Treasury and corporate bonds through its screening experience.

The screener can filter by:

* maturity * credit rating * yield * coupon

This gives investors more control than using only a prebuilt bond portfolio.

Individual bond pricing uses small par-value fees

Public's current Treasury schedule charges:

$0.10 per $100 of par value

for securities maturing within one year.

Longer Treasury maturities currently cost:

$0.25 per $100.

Corporate-bond fees are higher.

For example, current corporate bonds maturing within one year cost:

$0.35 per $100

while longer maturities generally cost:

$0.50 per $100.

That structure is different from Fidelity's $1-per-bond model or Schwab's comparable per-bond commissions.

The Treasury Account is a managed advisory product

Public's current Treasury Account is advised through:

Public Advisors LLC.

Customers can build an allocation among Treasury maturities ranging from approximately:

3 months to 30 years.

The management fee uses marginal asset tiers:

* first $25,000: 0.29% * next amount through $100,000: 0.24% * next amount through $1 million: 0.19% * next amount through $5 million: 0.14% * assets above $5 million: 0.09%

Those are marginal tiers.

A $200,000 account does not pay 0.19% on the entire $200,000.

Brokerage transaction charges can apply in addition to the advisory fee.

Some older Public customers can have a different Treasury structure

Public has also used Jiko Securities for Treasury accounts.

The current fee schedule still describes certain Jiko accounts.

Those accounts invest in 6-month Treasury bills from:

$100

and currently carry a Jiko management fee of:

0.05% per month.

The Jiko account and Public Advisors Treasury Account are not the same product.

A review that collapses them into one "Public Treasury Account" can quote the wrong fee.

The Bond Account solves a different problem

Public's Bond Account holds a portfolio of:

10

investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds.

The initial minimum is:

$1,000.

The account is not a robo-advisor that continuously changes the allocation.

Public buys bonds according to the selected allocation as cash becomes available.

When enough cash accumulates to purchase another $100 of par value, the system can purchase the next underweight bond according to its methodology.

Bond Account pricing depends on Premium

Current monthly Bond Account maintenance is:

* $0 for Premium * $3.99 for non-Premium

Normal bond transaction fees also apply.

That makes Premium more valuable for someone who actually uses the Bond Account.

High-Yield Cash is a separate bank-sweep account

Public currently advertises:

3.30% APY

on its High-Yield Cash Account.

That rate is variable.

The account has:

* no account fee * no required subscription * no minimum balance

Public advertises access to up to:

$5 million

of FDIC insurance through a network of partner banks, subject to normal program and depositor rules.

Public itself is not a bank.

High-Yield Cash is not the same as brokerage cash

Only money swept to the program banks receives the High-Yield Cash treatment.

Cash sitting in the primary brokerage account does not automatically earn that rate.

That distinction matters when comparing the displayed cash balance with bank-sweep balances.

Public has become an unusually AI-heavy brokerage

Public now includes several AI-oriented tools.

Alpha is its AI research assistant.

It can draw on:

* SEC filings * earnings calls * transcripts * market data * analyst ratings * news * social sentiment

Public explicitly describes Alpha as experimental and not investment advice.

That warning is appropriate.

AI-generated research can be incomplete or wrong.

Agents go beyond research

Public's Agents allow users to create natural-language instructions that can monitor markets and execute recurring self-directed actions.

Public emphasizes that the customer defines the instruction and remains responsible for the investment decision.

That distinction matters.

An automated execution tool is not automatically a fiduciary investment adviser.

Generated Assets turns ideas into custom indexes

Generated Assets lets a customer define an investment concept and use AI to produce an investable index.

The user can:

* inspect holdings * change criteria * backtest the idea * invest in it

Once invested, the Generated Assets account is an advisory account managed through Public Advisors.

The current annual fee is:

0.49%.

Direct Indexing is another advisory product

Public Advisors also provides Direct Indexing.

The current annual management fee is:

0.19%.

These products create real managed-investing functionality.

They still do not make Public a conventional robo-advisor in the same sense as Betterment or Wealthfront.

Public's API is increasingly serious

Public's 2026 API releases added capabilities including:

* multiple brokerage accounts * multi-leg option strategy quotes * historical bar data * short selling * CLI access * crypto * broader account automation

That makes Public relevant to developers and algorithmically minded investors in a way the old review completely missed.

Royalties remain a live alternative investment

Public continues to offer royalty investments.

These can involve intellectual-property revenue such as music royalties.

The securities are offered under Regulation A.

They are speculative and can be highly illiquid.

Potential returns can come from:

* royalty distributions * secondary trading * sale or buyout of the underlying asset

None is guaranteed.

Alternative-asset fees require reading the offering documents

Public's published alternative-asset framework can include:

* 0%–10% initial true-up markup * 2.5% secondary trading fee on each side * 2% annual management fee for some non-cash-flowing assets * 10% carry on profits where applicable * up to 5% of revenue on certain cash-flowing assets

These are not universal charges.

The individual offering circular controls.

That makes alternatives one of the least appropriate areas for a simple platform-wide fee number.

Public's stock-lending economics are less generous than some competitors

Public uses Apex's Fully Paid Securities Lending Program.

When enrolled shares are actually loaned, the customer currently receives:

10%

of the total net proceeds Apex earns from lending those shares.

The remainder is retained within the lending arrangement.

Loaned securities can also receive different SIPC treatment while on loan.

The lending payment should therefore be evaluated against both economics and protection.

Leaving Public currently costs $100

Public's current fee schedule lists:

* incoming ACATS: $0 * outgoing ACATS: $100

Domestic outgoing wires cost:

$25.

There is no general account-maintenance fee.

However, an inactivity fee of:

$3.99 per month

can apply to an account with less than $70 in total value and no activity during the prior six months.

This is another example of why "$0 account fees" is too broad.

Public uses several different legal entities

Ordinary brokerage securities

Provided through:

Open to the Public Investing, Inc.

FINRA CRD:

127818

SEC file:

8-66049

Public Investing is a FINRA and SIPC member.

Brokerage clearing

Provided through:

Apex Clearing Corporation

for the ordinary Public brokerage relationship.

Cryptocurrency

Provided through:

Zero Hash

Public does not execute or custody direct crypto.

Crypto is not protected by SIPC or FDIC insurance.

Treasury / advisory accounts

Current advisory products such as Treasury Accounts, Generated Assets and Direct Indexing use:

Public Advisors LLC

as the SEC-registered adviser.

Certain Treasury accounts

Some customers can have accounts at:

Jiko Securities, Inc.

a separate FINRA/SIPC broker-dealer.

Alternative assets

Certain Regulation A alternative investments use:

Dalmore Group, LLC

as the offering broker-dealer.

The Public brand connects these products.

It does not erase the legal distinctions among them.

Where Public is strongest

Multi-asset breadth. Public combines equities, options, fixed income, crypto, cash and selected alternatives.

Fixed income. Individual bonds, Treasury Accounts and Bond Accounts give Public unusual depth for a modern app-based platform.

Options pricing. Standard equity/ETF options carry no contract fee, and eligible customers can receive order-flow rebates.

Yield products. High-Yield Cash, Treasuries and Bond Accounts give cash-oriented investors several distinct structures.

AI research. Alpha, Agents and Generated Assets differentiate the platform from traditional brokerage research interfaces.

API access. Public is increasingly useful for developers and automated workflows.

Fractional investing. Fractional investing remains central to the platform. Public supports fractional investing, but eligibility is not universal. As of September 1, 2026, Public says stocks trading at $400 or more per share may no longer be available for new fractional purchases, subject to listed exemptions; ETFs remain fractionally eligible regardless of share price. That eligibility rule also affects recurring purchases: if a restricted stock appears in a Recurring Buy or Investment Plan, the fractional portion of the scheduled purchase will not execute.

Alternative assets. Royalties provide access to something most mainstream brokers do not offer.

IRAs. Traditional and Roth IRAs plus rollover support make Public more useful for long-term portfolios than the old review suggests.

Where Public is weaker

Premium can complicate pricing. Some fees depend on whether the account has Premium.

Crypto is expensive at ordinary app rates. A 1.25% fee on larger trades is materially higher than many dedicated exchanges.

No crypto staking.

No futures. Active derivatives traders needing futures must use another broker.

No broad mutual-fund marketplace. Fidelity and Schwab are much stronger for traditional mutual-fund investors.

Outgoing ACATS costs $100.

Alternative investments can be illiquid and expensive. Their fee structures vary by offering.

The legal structure is complex. Brokerage, crypto, advisory, Treasury, cash and alternatives can use different entities.

AI tools require verification. Public itself warns that Alpha can generate inaccurate output.

Who is Public most appropriate for?

Public makes the strongest case for an investor who wants several asset classes in one modern interface but does not need the institutional trading complexity of Interactive Brokers.

That can include someone combining:

* stocks * fractional shares * options * bonds * Treasuries * crypto * cash * royalties

The platform can also appeal to investors who value:

* AI-assisted research * APIs * recurring plans * custom indexes * income-oriented portfolio tools

The fit is weaker for someone who primarily needs:

* futures * traditional mutual funds * the lowest possible crypto fees * highly specialized active-trading software

Public has moved well beyond its original social-investing identity.

Its current proposition is multi-asset investing with unusually strong fixed-income, AI and alternative-asset components.