10 Best Free Stock Trading Apps (Alternative to Robinhood)

Gone are the days when only a selected few can indulge in stock trading. With the influx of apps on iOS and Android, stock trading has been simplified and anyone and everyone can do it now. Over the past few years, investors and traders have adopted using phones as their primary devices. Trading apps have blossomed allowing users to learn & invest in stocks right away. I know there are hundreds of free stock trading apps available on just a click, however, choosing the one isn’t that easy.

Based on our previous stock trading experience using apps, here’s a list of top 10 best free stock trading apps you can try.

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is a great avenue for beginners. It requires a minimum account balance of $0 although it isn’t free for all types of trades. The app is intuitive and packed with a lot of features that would enable beginners to invest in stocks. It gives a glimpse at everything including trade history, positions, and orders. The app is also responsive based on the type of phone you have. It integrates with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Business Chat as well.

It is analogous to E*Erade offers the best of features in an app for beginners. The app has over 400+ indicators to monitor stock and how it fares in the stock market. There’s a 60-days commission-free trading option for new joiner. They can trade with ETFs and other options free of any commission. There are also hundreds of mutual funds that don’t attract any transaction fee at all.

Key Features: 300+ commission-free ETFs | Commission-free promotional signup offer | Cash management | Information, data & research management | Easy to use | 400+ indicators for stocks

Download the app: iOS | Android

Related: 7 Best Stock Simulator Apps for iPhone to Practise Trading

Robinhood

Robinhood is one of the fastest-growing fintech startups thanks to its free stock trading model. It has resulted in the meteoric rise in popularity with over million users added in 2019 alone. Robinhood follows a commission-free trading model which is a boon for investors. You can start investing in Robinhood with as small as $1. Your money isn’t sitting idle when you haven’t invested. It’s earning you a competitive interest thanks to the cash management feature.

Robinhood has every resource you’d need for your journey towards financial freedom. Robinhood has employed bleeding-edge security measures to keep personal information and assets secure. The app aids in trading with limited orders and stop-loss orders as well. Subscribing to Robinhood Gold gives you access to buy and sell stocks and funds within hours.

To get started with trading on Robinhood, you’ll have to submit an application. There’s a list of minimum requirements that users will have to fulfill before signing up. The app supports everything from options to ETFs to cryptocurrencies. Although it didn’t arrive with it now, you can use its fractional investing feature as well.

Key Features: Fractional Shares | Cash Management | Invest in stocks, crypto, Options & Funds | In-depth financial info & resources

Download the app: iOS | Android

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is a bank and a stockbroker offering an array of 200+ ETFs with all commission-free. It is an all-in-one app featuring more than 4,000 mutual funds with no transaction fee associated with it. Get real-time trade notifications that would allow you to make lightning-fast decisions. The user interface is pretty straightforward and the app doesn’t have any unwanted bells and whistles.

Share from the variety of mutual funds, stocks, and ETFs and options. Build your portfolio by researching the performance of each fund, check out if the market is going up or down all within the app. It is one of the best broker’s apps with a fully-fledged list of features like its desktop website. Charles Schwab is also good for beginners who are seeking no fluff app issuing commission-free stocks. Keep in mind that some of the account types of Charles Schwab attract $1000 as a minimum deposit.

Key Features: Real-Time Trade Notifications | 200+ commission-free ETFs | 4000+ mutual funds | No minimum balance requirement

Download the app: iOS | Android

Related: 7 Best Android Stock Market Apps for Status & Portfolio Management

E*Trade

E*Trade is one of the best stock trading apps. Although not all the accounts are free, the portal runs a lot of promotions that you must look out for. The platform is active 24/7 and offers round the clock customer service for those who have queries on the go. Apart from that, it is feature-rich and easy to use and offers a lot of options to trade for.

E-Trade is a great app for casual traders and beginners who have started into trading stocks. The Power ETrade jacks up the capability of the ordinary app and gives access to complex options. Note that the ETrade is a pack of two apps each for iOS and Android with varying capabilities.

Apart from that, ETrade has a built-in feature to chat with financial advisors. With leading mutual funds and other options, it is a great venue for diversity stocks. The app has easy navigation, streams chars, and has customer support within the app. ETrade charges on trading are minimal. Further, there are no charges on minimum deposit, options, or ETF trade. But there are charges on mutual fund trade and broker-assisted trades.

Key Features: Easy Navigation | Access to Financial Advisors | Built-in customer support | Ideal for beginners & experts | No charges & commission-free | Gives lots of options to trade

Download the app: iOS | Android (ETrade) & iOS | Android (ETrade Power)

Merrill Edge

Merrill Edge offers a robust and extensive set of research and data which is one of its USPs. It integrates with Bank of America which is great for account holders at the bank. There’s no cost of stock trading when you are at Merrill Edge. It was tagged as the top pick by Stockbrokers.com in 2020 thanks to its brokerage and banking under a single roof. Charles Schwab, also listed here, has an identical platform.

Merrill Edge offers a competitive $0.65 as a contract fee on options. It has more than 2,680 free from any fee mutual funds. Moreover, it’s a huge portfolio of stocks and ETFs are primarily commission-free at all stages. It is a feature-rich platform available on both Android and iOS and it is known for its ease of use. The MarketPro is a feature that comes built-in offering users with 285 optional columns for the watch list. It also uses charting, technical analysis, and option tools that would aid stock trading like a pro.

Key Features: No minimum account balance | 2,680 no-fee mutual funds | Supports stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, and bonds | Extensive research and data | 24/7 live chat and phone support

Download the app: iOS | Android

Webull

Webull is a great app focusing on technical trading. It’s USP is commission-free trading although there are other charges such as margin fee. When you sign up on Webull, you get a free stock valued from $2.50 to $250 if you sign up for a Webull brokerage account. If you sign up with a deposit of no less than $100, you’ll get a gift worth $12 to $1,400. The commission-free stock trading app focuses on technical indicators such as Money Flow Index, Bollinger Bands, RSI among others. There are a bunch of investment research tools including stock screeners, news, historical EPS, revenue data, and more.

Webull charges a small fee between 3.99% to 6.99% where the margin is lower when the dollar amount increases. Also, Webull is a member of SIPC that protects assets of members up to half a million dollars. Although Webull supports stock trading, there’s no support for mutual funds trading. Likewise, it does miss a few key features while banking on those available. Webull offers a great search function, it is user-friendly and showcases trading charts and price alerts.

Key Features: Commission-free trading | In-depth market research | Powerful charting trading | Zero minimum balance required | Price alerts

Download the app: iOS | Android

Fidelity

Fidelity is rated with flying colors thanks to its uber-impressive website and app. Talking about Fidelity, one of the best commission-free stock trading apps, it is interactive and easy to use. It doesn’t require a rocket science degree to understand it. It offers plenty of educational resources that would help beginners understand stock trading. Additionally, it enables them to engage in the adrenaline-pumping stock trading avenue. Check out the array of stock research features that enables you to research on 16 third-party reports & counting. The app also screens the best mutual funds and ETFs for its users.

Fidelity has a wide range of commission-free ETFs to invest as well as $0 commission on ETF, option, and stock trading. Can’t buy or invest in a whole unit? Check out fractional investing features that let you invest a part of a share instead of a whole.

Apart from that, Fidelity now has 0.00% expense ratio funds that not only drop commission but also management fees. It has a full suite of features for those who are looking for investing albeit without any prior knowledge. Note that people with knowledge of stock trading can invest too. It has been listed as Best in Class for active trading while listing one of the top five when it comes to options trading.

Key Features: Commission-free & no management fees | Fractional Investing | No minimum deposit | No PFOF | Abundant educational resources | Market commentary

Download the app: iOS | Android

Related: 8 Best Stock Market Apps for iPhone (Stock Status, Trading & Portfolio Management)

Interactive Brokers

Unlike other free stock trading apps USA, Interactive Brokers is a well-known app among professionals. It offers one of the low-cost tradings, the app offers full-fledged portfolio management on an app. Interactive Brokers targets professionals with IBKR Pro and casual investors with IBKR Lite. It offers trading services in over 135 markets in 33 countries. There’s a string of features including Stream Live TV, charting, stock alerts, watch list syncing, and others.

Interactive Brokers offers Futures Trading, Options Trading, Day Trading, Professional Trading services with 65 different order types. It doesn’t have any minimum deposit. It has a minimum commission on all types of stock trading and there are over 96 commission-free ETFs. The app also offers numerous screeners, portfolio analysis tools, extensive back-testing functionality. The app offers excellent customer service with a score of 7.2/10 stars as per Stockbroker.com.

Key Features: Low-cost trading for professionals | 96 commission-free ETFs | Support 65 different order types | Supports stocks, ETFs, options trading

Download the app: iOS | Android

Vanguard

Vanguard has maintained its low-cost index fund investing platform for a long time now. Earlier, it used to charge on ETFs and mutual funds with a little fee. However, as its competitors are driving towards going commission-free, Vanguard has finally waived off commissions for buying and selling. Note that there’s a $20 service fee that the portal charges on an annual basis. Vanguard has a portfolio of more than 1,800 ETFs which is just 200 short of Robinhood also listed here. The portal also has a portfolio of 3,000 mutual funds that traders can choose from.

Vanguard doesn’t require any minimum account balance. There’s no minimum purchase requirement on the platform. However, ETFs and stocks are available on a whole share basis. The fee-free stock trading app doesn’t offer bells and whistles but it is basic & powerful.

Key Features: 1,800+ ETFs | 3,000+ mutual funds | No minimum investment | Commission-free stocks. ETFs, & options | Personal Advisor Services

Download the app: iOS | Android

M1 Finance

M1 Finance is not one of the ordinary investment or commission-free stock trading apps. It uses a customized interface where you can customize your portfolio to diversify it and earn returns like no other apps. The app offers commission-free investment options including stocks and ETFs. Even with that, it maintains no transaction or management fee at all.

The app lets you diversify your portfolio or you can leave it up to M1 Finance to take care of the rest. That’s all without paying even a penny as any charges. It also allows investing in fractional shares rather than buying a whole unit that would cost a lot. There’s also automatic deposits that relieve you from processing the payment every time transact on it.

Apart from that, M1 requires a minimum deposit of $100 although it is completely fee-free so don’t worry. You can create your pie of different kinds of stocks and ETFs based on your risk tolerance and return on investments. Choose from stocks from Market Cap 100 to ultra-aggressive to moderate based on your needs. Note that some of the account types are taxable as per IRA.

Key Features: Fractional Investing | Automatic deposits | Commission-free ETFs, stocks| Customize your portfolio

Download the app: iOS | Android

Well, this concludes our top 10 best stock trading apps to choose from. Not all these free stock trading apps are powerful and may lack or gain one or more functionalities. The best way to choose the right app is to look for functions like real-time streaming quotes. Many of the apps mentioned above offer auto-reloading quotes.

Choosing an app with decent stock trading capability and nil commission fee can save a fortune at least for naive and beginners. The intermediate and expert traders will find their way around these expenses as they have prior knowledge about it.