Which brokerage is best for beginners?

Almost every large US brokerage now charges $0 for an online stock or ETF trade, so commissions no longer separate them. What does separate them, for someone starting out, is a short list.

• No minimum to open. A $0 minimum means you can open the account today and fund it when you are ready.
• Fractional shares. Without them, one share of a large company can cost several hundred dollars, and a $100 deposit buys one or two things. With them, the same $100 can be split across a fund and a few stocks.
• The right account types. A taxable brokerage account, a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA at minimum. A custodial account matters if you are investing for a child.
• Automatic investing. A recurring buy on a schedule is the habit that does most of the work for a new investor.
• Few hidden fees. Phone trades, account maintenance fees, transfer-out fees and mutual fund commissions are where a "$0" broker can still charge you.
• SIPC membership. It protects your account if the firm fails, up to $500,000 per customer including up to $250,000 in cash, according to SIPC.

Research tools and education matter too, but less than people expect at the start. A beginner who buys a broad index fund every month needs very little research. The tools become useful later, once you start picking individual companies.

The account type decides how your money is taxed, which matters more over decades than which app you pick. Most brokerages let you open several types under one login.

Taxable brokerage account

No contribution limit and no rules on when you can withdraw. You pay tax on dividends each year and on gains when you sell. This is where money for goals before retirement usually sits. The taxable brokerage account guide covers how the tax works.

Roth IRA

You contribute money you have already paid tax on, and qualified withdrawals in retirement are tax free. The IRS sets the 2026 IRA contribution limit at $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up for people 50 and over. Contributions (not earnings) can come back out at any time, which is why many beginners start here. See how to open a Roth IRA.

Traditional IRA

Contributions may be tax deductible, and withdrawals in retirement are taxed as income. It shares the same $7,500 limit with the Roth, so the two together cannot exceed it.

Custodial account

An account an adult runs for a child, which passes to the child at the age of majority in their state. Not every broker offers one.

A common pattern is a Roth IRA for long-term money and a taxable account for everything else, both at the same broker. The taxable account vs IRA guide sets the two side by side.

The table below uses each firm's own published pricing as of October 2026. "Check before opening" means the broker's public pages did not state a fractional share policy clearly enough to quote.

Public lists $0 commissions on US-listed stocks and ETFs in its fee schedule and states a zero minimum balance on every account. Its fractional shares disclosure sets a $5 minimum for a one-off fractional order and $1 inside a recurring Investment Plan, and accepts both market and limit orders for fractions. It offers taxable accounts and IRAs in the same app, which keeps a beginner's whole setup in one place.

Robinhood lets you buy a fractional share with as little as $1, per its fractional shares help page. Its IRA adds a feature few others have: a match on contributions of 1%, or 3% with Robinhood Gold at $5 a month, according to the IRA match FAQ. The match comes with strings. Matched money has to stay in the IRA for five years, and the 3% rate needs Gold kept for at least a year after the first match, or part of it is clawed back.

Both are built for phones first and keep the buy screen short, which is most of what a new investor needs. Both also take orders through Walnut, covered at the end of this guide.

Vanguard is the classic choice for someone who wants to buy index funds and rarely log in. It states $0 commissions on online stock and ETF trades, and its brokerage account page lists a $1 minimum for Vanguard ETFs, bought by dollar amount.

Three details catch beginners. Dollar-based buying applies to Vanguard's own ETFs, not to every stock. The same page lists a $25 annual account fee that is waived if you sign up for electronic statements. And Vanguard's commission schedule charges $25 for a broker-assisted ETF trade on accounts under $1 million, so placing orders by phone is costly.

E*Trade, now part of Morgan Stanley, suits a beginner who expects to want more tools later. Its pricing page lists $0 for online stock and ETF trades and no account minimum. Options are $0.65 per contract, falling to $0.50 for customers who make 30 or more trades a quarter.

The $0 rate does not cover over-the-counter stocks, foreign stocks, large block trades, futures or fixed income, and a broker-assisted trade adds $25. For someone buying US funds and large companies online, none of those come up.

tastytrade is built around options trading, and its education content leans that way. Stock and ETF trades are $0 to open and close. Options on stocks cost $1 per contract to open, capped at $10 per leg, and $0 to close, according to its commissions and fees page (last updated July 2026). Exchange, clearing and regulatory fees apply on top.

For a beginner who only wants to buy funds, the platform shows more than they need. For one who has decided to learn options, the pricing cap and the teaching material are the reason to pick it.

Webull advertises $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs and options, with detailed charts and market data even in the phone app. Its stock trading page offers fractional shares of stocks and ETFs from $5, and regulatory and exchange fees may still apply on top of the $0 commission.

The amount of data on screen is the main thing to weigh. Some beginners find it helpful; others find a busier screen nudges them toward trading more often than they planned.

A brokerage at the bank you already use is convenient: transfers are instant between your own accounts and everything sits under one login. The pricing has caught up with the online brokers, though eligibility and fund fees differ.

Citi Self Invest lists a $0 account minimum and $0 commissions on online and mobile stock and ETF trades on Citi's investing page. Leveraged and inverse ETFs are excluded from the $0 rate.

PNC offers $0 commissions on online stock and ETF trades with no minimum balance, per its online investing page. Opening one requires an eligible PNC banking relationship. Trades placed through a PNC financial advisor follow a separate commission schedule, so the $0 rate applies to what you place online yourself.

U.S. Bank lists $0 online stock and ETF trades, no annual account fee and no minimum on its self-directed investing page. Options cost $4.95 per order plus $1.00 per contract.

Most people meet these two through work rather than by choosing them.

TIAA serves teachers, university staff and nonprofit employees. Its summary of brokerage commissions and fees lists no commission on online stock, ETF and options trades. A trade placed with a live agent costs $55 (plus $2.50 a contract on options), and mutual funds outside its no-transaction-fee list cost $50 a trade. There is no fee to open a TIAA Brokerage account. If your retirement plan is already at TIAA, a brokerage account there keeps things together; if not, there is little reason to start there.

Transamerica is mainly a workplace 401(k) provider. Its IRA page describes a self-directed Transamerica IRA where you choose and change the investment mix, alongside advisor-managed options. The common beginner question is whether to roll an old Transamerica 401(k) into an IRA there or move it to a general brokerage; the rollover IRA vs old 401(k) guide walks through that choice.

• Choosing by sign-up bonus. Free-stock and cash offers change monthly and are usually small next to the cost of the wrong account type or a fund with a high expense ratio.
• Opening only a taxable account. Money meant for retirement often belongs in an IRA first, where it grows without yearly tax.
• Assuming fractional shares move with you. Public's own disclosure says fractional shares are not transferable to another broker. Moving brokers later can mean selling the fractions, which can trigger tax in a taxable account.
• Saying yes to margin by default. Some applications offer a margin account during sign-up. A cash account means you can never owe more than you put in. See how to open a brokerage account for the settings worth checking on day one.
• Placing orders by phone. The $0 rate is almost always online only. Vanguard and E*Trade, for example, each charge $25 for a broker-assisted trade.
• Misreading SIPC. It covers a broker failing, not your investments falling. More on that in what happens if your broker goes out of business.
• Skipping the background check. FINRA BrokerCheck shows a firm's registration and any disciplinary history in a minute.

Walnut is an AI investing app that sits on top of a brokerage account rather than replacing one. It connects to 33 brokers, reads every holding, checks each against the S&P 500 and gives it a keep, trim or exit read with a one-line reason. An assistant answers questions about what you actually own, and you can turn an idea into a basket of stocks with target weights.

When you want to buy, Walnut splits an amount across a basket and sends the orders only after you approve the plan. It places those buys at Public and at Robinhood, where buys go into a Robinhood Agentic account and the main Robinhood account stays view-only to outside apps. E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull (US and Canada), moomoo, Questrade, Wealthsimple, Trading 212 and Stake also take orders you approve. Vanguard, Citi, PNC, U.S. Bank, TIAA and Transamerica are read in full: holdings, the keep, trim or exit read, and the assistant on your real positions.

Recurring investments into a basket spend cash that is already in the brokerage account; Walnut never moves money from your bank. If you are opening a new account specifically to buy through Walnut, Public and Robinhood are the two it is built around. The what Walnut does guide covers the rest.

Protection limits: SIPC, What SIPC protects. 2026 IRA limits: IRS. Broker pricing from each firm's own pages, checked October 2026: Public fee schedule and fractional disclosure, Robinhood fractional shares and IRA match, Vanguard, E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull, Citi, PNC, U.S. Bank, TIAA and Transamerica. Prices change, so confirm on the broker's site before opening an account. Walnut is not a registered investment adviser, and this guide is educational rather than personalized advice.