Online Broker Review

Updated Monday, October 24, 2011

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visit our Discounts and Special Offers page

Looking for the broker with the best stock trading commissions? Here is your complete guide. You can use either the stock trading commission tool or view all results in the table below.

Stock Trading Commission Tool

Note: SEC fees, Trading Activity Fees (TAF), ECN fees for extended hours trading and special discounts afforded to investors with high nominal account values are not taken into account by this tool. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the results shown henceforth.

Stock Trading Commissions
Click on the broker name links to go to each broker's main review page. Click on the red links in the far right column to receive special discount offers.

Broker	Stock Commissions	Special Offers and Notes
E*TRADE	$9.99	$7.99 when executing 150+ trades/quarter
eOption	$3.00	Additional fees may apply to orders greater than 2,000 shares directed to the NYSE
Fidelity	$7.95	25 commission free ETFs available at Fidelity
Firstrade	$6.95	Get 250 commission-free equity trades, up to $100 transfer fee rebate and $250 cash rebate at Firstrade.com. 10 commission free ETFs available at Firstrade For stocks under $1 and trades over 5,000 shares, add 1/2 cent per share for the entire order.
Interactive Brokers	$1.00	For the North American flat rate pricing plan trading fees are $0.005/share with a minimum commission of $1 (in other words, trade up to 200 shares for $1). Different fees apply for non-US exchange orders, different order routing options and the North American cost plus pricing plan. Click here for further details. Minimum $10 in commissions per month, so charges will be applied if that level is not met
Just2Trade	$2.50	$2.50 for all order types, unlimited shares and stocks at all price levels
Merrill Edge	$6.95	Receive 30 free trades per month with $25,000+ in assets in one or more Bank of America or Merrill Lynch accounts
OptionsHouse	$3.95	Get 100 Commission-Free Trades at OptionsHouse.com
optionsXpress	$8.95	Learn how you can get $100 when you open up a new optionsXpress account and be in the money from the start.
Schwab	$8.95	11 commission free ETFs available at Schwab Trades that execute over more than one day will be charged a separate commission for each additional day; each separate commission will apply to the portion of the trade executed on the corresponding additional day. Up to 999,999 shares can be placed per trade.
Scottrade	$7.00	For stocks priced under $1, add 1/2% of the principal value to the commissions shown. Some foreign and pink sheet stocks must be traded with broker assistance. Commissions are charged on a per order basis. Limit orders executed over multiple days and orders modified after a partial execution on the same day will be treated as separate orders for commission calculation purposes.
ShareBuilder	$9.95	Add a $0.007 surcharge per share on trades when the average execution price per share is less than $1.00. The total commission (base commission + surcharge) is subject to a maximum of 15% of the principal amount of the trade, but no less than the base commission.
SogoTrade	$3.00	For stocks priced under $1.00, the online commission is $3 plus 1/2% of the principal value. For trades of more than 100,000 shares, please contact customer service for assistance. Limit orders executed over multiple days, and orders modified after a partial execution will be treated as separate orders for commission purposes.
TD Ameritrade	$9.99	101 commission free ETFs available at TD Ameritrade When an order is partially executed over multiple trading days, the order is subject to a separate commission charge for each trading day.
TradeKing	$4.95	Switch to TradeKing and get up to $150 in transfer fees reimbursed Add $0.01 per share on the entire order for stocks priced less than $1.00. Maximum commission per order not to exceed 5% of the trade value, with minimum commission of $4.95. Minimum investment of $100 per order in OTCBB and Pink Sheet stocks. TradeKing does not accept opening trades for stocks below $0.01 per share.
Vanguard	$20.00	49 commission free ETFs available at Vanguard First 25 trades per year are $7 for accounts with less than $50,000 in assets, subsequent trades are $20; $50,000 - $500,000 in assets is unlimited trades for $7; $500,000 - $1m assets unlimited trades $2; $1m+ is free for first 25 trades and $2 for additional trades
Wells Fargo Advisors	$19.95	$0.00 for 1st 100 trades per year and $8.95 thereafter for PMA accounts Stocks priced less than $1 is greater of $34.95 or 3.5% of principal; for PMA accounts it is $24.95 or 2.5% of principal An additional 1.5 cents per share will be charged for more than 1,000 shares. An order that executes over multiple trading days may be subject to additional commission.
Zecco	$4.95	$6.95 for stocks and ETFs priced under $1.00

Take a moment to review the special offers column in detail. You will notice that many brokers offer reduced commissions when certain account value thresholds are met, when trade thresholds are met or other special circumstances. In addition, some brokers charge additional commissions when the number of shares in a transaction reach a given threshold. Brokers that allow trading of stocks listed on foreign exchanges often charge much higher commissions to do so than an equivalent transaction on US exchanges. Also, note that the above basic commissions are for electronic trading and most brokers that accept trades over the phone charge significantly more for this service.