Top Brokerages for US Residents

Charles Schwab is one of the largest and most trusted financial institutions in the world, managing over $8 trillion in client assets. With $0 stock and ETF trading commissions, no account minimums, 24/7 dedicated telephone customer support, and the professional-grade thinkorswim platform, Schwab is an all-around financial powerhouse for retail and sophisticated traders alike.

Fidelity is arguably the best consumer brokerage in the US today. Unlike competitors that pay 0% on uninvested cash, Fidelity automatically sweeps your cash into SPAXX (a core money market fund) earning around 5.0%. They do not use Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) for equity trades, ensuring you get excellent price execution.

Founded by index fund pioneer John Bogle, Vanguard is client-owned — meaning the funds are owned by their shareholders, keeping expense ratios at absolute rock bottom (0.03% on VOO/VTI). Vanguard is the definitive choice for long-term buy-and-hold retirement investors funding traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and Solo 401(k) accounts.

Webull sits in the sweet spot between Robinhood’s mobile simplicity and institutional desktop workstations like thinkorswim. Offering $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs, and equity options (with $0 per-contract fee on most standard equity options), Webull gives self-directed traders 50+ technical indicators, Level 2 Nasdaq TotalView order book depth, a full-featured Paper Trading simulator with $1M in virtual cash, and a built-in Cash Management sweep earning competitive APY on uninvested cash.

M1 Finance bridges the gap between a self-directed brokerage (like Fidelity) and an automated robo-advisor (like Wealthfront). Instead of placing manual buy orders for 15 different ETFs and dividend stocks every payday, you design a custom portfolio "Pie" with target percentage weights (e.g., 60% VTI, 20% VXUS, 10% SCHD, 10% AAPL). Every time cash hits your account—or dividends are paid—M1’s dynamic rebalancing engine automatically buys fractional shares of whichever slices have drifted below their target weight.

E*TRADE is one of the original pioneers of online trading, now fully integrated with Morgan Stanley’s global wealth management infrastructure. Through Power E*TRADE, active investors gain access to cutting-edge technical analysis, options probability calculators, paper trading, and real-time streaming data.

Robinhood fundamentally changed retail investing. While they suffered immense reputational damage during the 2021 meme-stock craze, their app remains the most intuitive and beautifully designed trading platform on the market. With Robinhood Gold, they offer a 5.0% APY on cash and a 3% IRA match.