E*Trade Competitors Intro
E*Trade has some entertaining advertisements on television. E*Trade's competitors—TD Ameritrade, Firstrade,
M1 Finance, Webull, and Ally Invest—also have a lot going for them. So how does E*Trade compare
to some of its main rivals in terms of actual brokerage services and pricing?
E*Trade Competitors Prices
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Ally Invest
|
$0
|
$9.95
|
$0.50 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
TD Ameritrade
|
$0
|
$49.99 ($0 to sell)
|
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Etrade
|
$0
|
$19.95
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Vanguard
|
$0
|
$20
|
$1.00 per contract
|
$20*
|
$20*
|
E*Trade Competitors Services
Promotions
TD Ameritrade: $0 commissions + transfer fee reimbursement.
Ally Invest:
Up to $3,000 cash bonus + $0 commission trades.
Etrade:
Get zero commission on stock and ETF trades.
Vanguard: none.
Cost
Ally Invest, E*Trade, Vanguard and TD Ameritrade charge $0 for stock and ETF trades.
For derivative traders, Vanguard charges $1.00 extra for option contracts. TD Ameritrade and E*Trade are much
lower at $0.65 per contract, while investors at Ally Invest pay $0.50 extra per contract.
For investors who prefer to use a live broker to execute a trade, all four brokers charge a rather
steep commission of $25.
All firms offer brokerage accounts with no maintenance or inactivity fees, except Vanguard that charges an annual fee for some IRAs
as well as for regular accounts if not signed in for electronic statements. E*Trade requires a deposit of at least $500 to open an
account. Ally Invest, Vanguard and TD Ameritrade have no opening deposit requirement.
Ally Invest wins this category.
Fund Offerings
Mutual fund investors have access to over 13,000 funds at TD Ameritrade. Of these, over 4,400
have no load and no transaction fee. Traders will pay $49.99 to buy mutual funds that carry
a transaction fee. Sales of these funds is free.
Mutual fund transactions at Ally Invest come with a much lower $9.95 fee. However, unlike TD Ameritrade, Ally Invest doesn't offer any commission-free mutual funds.
At E*Trade, investors can buy and sell over 4,400 mutual funds with no load and no transaction
fee. The broker offers more than 8,000 mutual funds in total. For funds that do come with a
transaction fee, the firm charges $19.99 to buy or sell.
Vanguard also provides no-transaction-fee mutual funds, with almost 3,000 that are free to trade. The broker has more than
16,000 mutual funds in total. Transaction-fee funds cost $35.
TD Ameritrade wins this category for having the largest selection of commission-free funds.
Customer Service
Ally Invest, TD Ameritrade and E*Trade offer customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over the telephone. Both firms also have branch locations across the United States.
Currently, E*Trade has 30 locations, while TD Ameritrade has more than 450.
Vanguard has weekday phone service. The broker offers a phone number for investors traveling outside America. Regrettably, the
firm does not have local branches.
Overall, TD Ameritrade wins this category.
Trading Tools
E*Trade's website is nicely designed and unproblematic to use. The firm provides its customers with advanced trading platforms in browser and desktop formats. However, there are active trader requirements to use them.
TD Ameritrade also has a well-designed website, where trading is a simple and straightforward process. Besides the website, there is Trade Architect, a user-friendly Java platform. The most sophisticated platform is thinkorswim, which launches from the desktop. There are no active trader requirements for any of the broker's platforms.
Investors at Ally Invest trade on a web-based platform. The website is very intuitive and easy to use even for beginners. There are no minimums to use the platform.
Compared to E*Trade and TD Ameritrade, Vanguard's website is less advanced and more cumbersome to navigate. Unfortunately, the broker
does not offer an advanced trading platform.
TD Ameritrade is successful here.
Mobile Platforms
Investors at E*Trade can use Windows phone, Android phone and tablet, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, Amazon Fire phone, and Kindle Fire HD. Users have access to a video library at no cost. Mobile check deposit is also available, and frequent traders can watch live streaming of CNBC.
TD Ameritrade also has live streaming of CNBC, but the broker maintains no active trader requirement to watch. There are a total of three TD Ameritrade apps, which can be used on Android, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. One of the three apps can be used on Windows 10. Important features include funds transfer and securities research.
Mobile applications for Apple, Android, and mobile web are available at Ally Invest. Users can trade stocks, options, or ETFs, and read the day's market news.
Vanguard has apps for Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, and Android. The app is user friendly. Customers
can make a mobile check deposits, contact customer service, or place trades.
Victory here goes to TD Ameritrade.
E*Trade Competitors Results
Ally Invest was victorious in one category, TD Ameritrade won three categories, E*Trade scored once, and Vanguard failed to acquire
a single victory. TD Ameritrade wins by a wide margin. Despite the results, Ally Invest is still a good choice for active stock and
option traders, while Vanguard remains a good value for mutual funds investors.
New Customer Promotions
TD Ameritrade: $0 commissions + transfer fee reimbursement.
Ally Invest:
Up to $3,000 cash bonus + $0 commission trades.
Etrade:
Get zero commission on stock and ETF trades.
Vanguard: none.
Our Recommendations
Beginner Investors: TD Ameritrade, Etrade and Ally Invest.
IRA Accounts: all brokers.
Stocks/ETFs Traders: Ally Invest and TD Ameritrade.
Options Traders: Ally Invest.
Long Term Investors: all four brokers.
Mutual Fund Investors: all four brokers.
Small Accounts: Ally Invest.
Updated on 4/30/2022.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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