Scottrade vs TD Ameritrade vs Etrade vs ShareBuilder

Scottrade vs TD Ameritrade vs Etrade vs ShareBuilder

Etrade vs Scottrade vs TD Ameritrade vs ShareBuilder: Comparison Chart
Broker Commissions/Costs Investment Products Trading Tools Customer Service Research
Scottrade Review $7
TD Ameritrade Review $9.99
Etrade Review $9.99
ShareBuilder Review $9.95

Etrade vs Scottrade vs ShareBuilder vs TD Ameritrade: Brokers Review 2012


We start our brokerage comparison with the most crucial factor to most investors - trading expenses. Scottrade is clearly the best priced online broker among these companies, with flat-rate $7 commission on stock and ETF trades. ShareBuilder, TD Ameritrade and Etrade all charge the same, very high $10 per trade rate.

Scottrade offers its customers an impressive selection of over 2,800 free mutual funds. While other brokerage firms also have free mutual funds, their selection is much more modest, especially at ShareBuilder. Scottrade has the best price for not-free mutual funds: $17 per transaction. ShareBuilder charges $20 per transaction and the rest are charging $50 for these mutual funds.

ShareBuilder is the only online broker out of these four offering automatic investing plans, which allow investors to take advantage of dollar-cost-averaging by arranging to have a set amount invested daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly. The biggest disadvantage of these plans is that customer has no control over the price the investments are bought.

Scottrade is the best ranking firm in customer service. The company was rated at the top in customer satisfaction according to JD Power Associates in 2011. TD Ameritrade also got very high rating in this category. ShareBuilder, on the other hand, has real customer service problems and many frustrated clients.

All these brokerage firms (with exception of ShareBuilder) provide great trading tools that have more than enough features and speed to satisfy most investors. ShareBuilder, again, drops the ball big time: its trading tools are basic, slow and poorly designed.

Since Scottrade created very easy to use trading screens and provides very helpful customer service, we believe it's one of the best brokers for beginner investors.


Etrade vs Scottrade vs ShareBuilder vs TD Ameritrade: Summary


Because of significantly lower commissions and fees, we strongly recommend Scottrade over TD Ameritrade, Etrade and ShareBuilder. Make sure to read full, detailed reviews (containing brokerage promotional offers) for Scottrade (Scottrade Review), TD Ameritrade (TD Ameritrade Review), Etrade (Etrade Review) and ShareBuilder (ShareBuilder Review) before making final decision.


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