Ameriprise and Competitors Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Margin
Rate |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Charles Schwab
|
$0
|
$49.95 ($0 to sell)
|
12.575%
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Fidelity
|
$0
|
$49.95
|
12.575%
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Vanguard
|
$0
|
$20
|
12.75%
|
$20*
|
$20*
|
Ameriprise and Competitors Services
Ameriprise vs. Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab Introduction
If you want a broker for an upcoming investment account, you should take a look at Fidelity, Vanguard, Ameriprise, and Charles Schwab. Here’s an overview of these four giants:
Investing and Trading
All four companies in this comparison offer brokerage and managed investment accounts. Online
discount accounts are only available at Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard. Ameriprise strictly
provides full-service accounts only.
For self-directed accounts, all four brokers offer wide varieties of tradable assets.
You can expect to find stocks, options, funds (mutual, exchange-traded, and closed-end), and bonds at each firm. Fidelity is the only one with digital currencies, while Schwab alone has futures and forex. Ameriprise holds the most unusual choices, such as private equity, hedge funds, and off-exchange products. Schwab, Fidelity, and Ameriprise include OTC stocks, which Vanguard does not. Ameriprise’s brokerage accounts lack zero-commission trades (provided by the other three), which is a huge distinction.
Each of the four firms has advisory accounts with different costs and minimums. All four also have human financial advisors, though Vanguard operates without physical branches. Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity offer robo accounts, but Ameriprise does not.
Winner: Tie between Fidelity and Schwab
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If you are looking for a professional money management service in your area, you can
find a Financial Advisor on the Wiser Advisor
(or read
Wiser Advisor review).
Visit Wiser Advisor
Cash Management
The big players here, except Vanguard, do more than investing by offering strong banking perks. Fidelity, Ameriprise, and Schwab each offer debit cards with unlimited ATM fee refunds, though Ameriprise sets certain account minimums for that benefit. Schwab’s program covers ATMs around the globe, while Fidelity’s is only for the U.S.
All four firms have FDIC-sweep programs that deliver solid insurance for idle cash. Money market mutual funds are also offered, and some have yields above 4.25% annually.
Winner: Another tie between Fidelity and Schwab
Margin
If you want to trade with borrowed funds, each of the four brokerages can accommodate you, though you might not love the rates. Ameriprise uses a tiered system ranging from 13.75% to 13.75%. Vanguard’s schedule runs from 10.75% to 12.75%. Schwab charges between 10.825% and 12.575%. Fidelity spans 10.825% to 12.575%.
Winner: Schwab and Fidelity
Website Tech
Vanguard and Ameriprise both have websites that let you retrieve statements, place trades, and handle other account tasks. Fidelity offers a more sophisticated online service, which includes several order tickets and features like trailing, conditional, and bracket orders. Its options tools offer a strategy builder, a probability calculator, and built-in spreads.
While Fidelity’s site is quite advanced, Schwab provides a unique web-based platform called thinkorswim. Running in its own window, it brings impressive trading features like a stock screener, Level II quotes, and multiple order tickets. thinkorswim charts include technical studies and drawing tools, and a simulated trading mode makes practice easy.
Even without thinkorswim, Schwab’s site stands strong. It has advanced screeners for options, bonds, equities, and funds. You’ll also find conditional orders and plenty of educational tools.
Winner: Schwab
Mobile Apps
On the mobile side, Ameriprise’s app offers some handy functions like watchlists, bill pay, check deposit, links to external accounts, and a document upload feature. But it has no trading tools at all.
The Vanguard app addresses this shortfall by supporting stock, ETF, and Vanguard fund trading. Its order ticket has four order types.
Four order types might seem limited, but Schwab’s thinkorswim app raises that count to seven, including trail stop and limit on close. The app delivers robust charting with hundreds of technical indicators and multiple drawing tools. Schwab’s primary app offers extra features absent on thinkorswim, such as check deposit and market news.
Fidelity also provides two apps: its main trading app and the Bloom app for cash management. The main app has classic and Beta modes, both packed with significant investing power. Users get educational resources, watchlists, market updates, an AI assistant, and a sophisticated trade ticket with eight order types plus many option spreads.
Winner: Slight edge to Schwab
Desktop Software
Vanguard and Ameriprise emphasize long-term investing, so they lack desktop software for active trading. Fidelity and Schwab do offer such platforms, and we find both to be excellent.
Schwab’s desktop software again carries the thinkorswim name. This advanced platform delivers professional-level features like a backtesting tool, an economic calendar, and pairs trading. Live CNBC streaming is a bonus.
Fidelity’s desktop platform is Active Trader Pro, which likewise offers live video news (this time through Bloomberg) plus many top-tier trading features. Key strengths include basket orders, Level II quotes, alerts, time & sales data, watchlists, option strategies, and more.
Winner: Schwab
Add-on Services
Individual Retirement Accounts: All four brokerages in this review let you open an IRA. Ameriprise has annual IRA fees, while Vanguard has fees for certain business IRAs.
Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program: Offered at Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity.
Extended Hours: Vanguard, Schwab, and Fidelity allow after-hours trading. Schwab and Fidelity also permit pre-market trading, and Schwab even provides overnight ETF trading.
Fractional Shares: Vanguard permits dollar-based trading on its ETFs. Schwab allows dollar-based trades of S&P 500 stocks, while Fidelity offers over 7,000 stocks and ETFs in fractional shares.
Dividend Reinvestment Plans: All four brokers provide DRIP, but Ameriprise limits it to specific accounts.
Initial Public Offerings: Schwab and Fidelity let customers invest in IPOs. Ameriprise
clients can participate in new issues of preferred shares and closed-end funds.
Winner: Very close call between Schwab and Fidelity
Find a Financial Advisor
If you are looking for a professional money management service in your area, you can
find a Financial Advisor on the Wiser Advisor
(or read
Wiser Advisor review).
Visit Wiser Advisor
Our Recommendations
Small Accounts: Ameriprise charges high fees and maintains big minimums, so it’s not ideal for
smaller balances. Any of the three discount brokers are fine. Fidelity’s fractional-share program makes it the best option in general, while Vanguard’s business IRA fees make it less appealing. Fidelity Go, the firm’s robo service, can be started with just $10.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: Consider combining investment accounts and a financial
advisor at Ameriprise, Fidelity, or Schwab.
Beginners: Open an advisory account at any of these four firms.
Mutual Funds: Fidelity carries the biggest selection of mutual funds (9,318 as of the latest count). Schwab offers the most commission-free mutual funds.
Frequent Stock Trading: We recommend Schwab’s thinkorswim.
Ameriprise vs Competitors Outcome
While Ameriprise excels at traditional face-to-face service, it cannot compete with Fidelity and,
in particular, Charles Schwab.
Open Charles Schwab Account
Visit Schwab Website
Open Fidelity Account
Visit Fidelity Website
Open Ameriprise Account
Visit Ameriprise Website
Updated on 3/23/2025.
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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