Fidelity, WellsTrade, and Schwab Comparison
Key Takeaways:
• Brokerage and investment-advisory accounts can be opened at Fidelity, WellsTrade, and Schwab.
• Banking and cash-management services are available at all three investment firms, too.
• The list of tradable products varies somewhat among these three firms.
Are you thinking about opening a new brokerage account? If so, you need to take a look at Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, and WellsTrade from Wells Fargo Advisors.
Pricing
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Charles Schwab
|
$0
|
$49.95 ($0 to sell)
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Fidelity
|
$0
|
$49.95
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
WellsTrade
|
$0
|
$35
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
Services
Promotions
Charles Schwab: $0 commissions + ACAT rebate + satisfaction guarantee at Charles Schwab.
Fidelity: Currently, no promotions.
WellsTrade: Does not offer promotions.
Trading and Investing
All three firms in this three-way comparison offer managed and brokerage accounts. Either investment approach can be set up as a full-service or budget account. A full-service account may come with access to a financial advisor or branch resources. On the discount side of things, a brokerage or managed account can be opened online.
Automated accounts are available at all three securities firms. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios uses ETFs and a cash allocation and has no advisory fee, although direct and indirect costs still apply. Fidelity Go uses Fidelity Flex mutual funds and has no advisory fee under $25,000; balances of $25,000 or more are charged 0.35%. Wells Fargo Advisors’ Intuitive Investor invests in ETF portfolios and costs 0.35%, with possible discounts to 0.30% or 0.25% for qualifying Wells Fargo checking customers.
Self-directed brokerage accounts have no management fees and come with larger investment lineups. We're talking stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, ETFs, money market funds, and closed-end funds, depending on the firm. Fidelity has direct cryptocurrency trading, and Schwab has futures, forex, and a phased rollout of direct bitcoin and ethereum trading. Foreign stocks are available at both Fidelity and Schwab.
Winner: Tie between Fidelity and Schwab
Cash Management
Schwab customers can open checking and savings accounts. A Schwab Bank debit card can be used with Schwab Bank Investor Checking, and Schwab provides unlimited ATM fee rebates worldwide with no monthly service fee on that checking account. Fidelity has a similar cash-management feature through its Cash Management Account, which reimburses eligible ATM fees at ATMs displaying the Visa, Plus, or Star logos.
WellsTrade is owned by Wells Fargo, a relationship that links Wells Fargo Bank accounts to investing accounts. Besides checking and savings accounts, there is a large suite of credit cards. Only withdrawals at Wells Fargo ATMs are fee-free. WellsTrade customers who would rather use brokerage cash tools can use Brokerage Cash Services, which include money transfers and mobile check deposit for eligible accounts.
Bank deposit and sweep features that can provide FDIC insurance for eligible cash are available in different forms at all three firms.
Winner: Pretty even overall
Margin
A brokerage account at any securities firm in this faceoff can be enabled for margin trading. Shorting is possible at any of the three, although WellsTrade’s options tools are more limited than what Fidelity and Schwab provide.
The cost of borrowing money at Fidelity starts at 11.825% with lower prices for high margin
balances. Schwab’s margin schedule starts at 11.825%. WellsTrade's stepped margin schedule begins at 12.5%.
Wells Fargo Advisors requires at least $2,000 in cash, or generally twice that amount in fully paid eligible securities, to open a margin account. The WellsTrade site has no margin calculator or other advanced tools for margin traders. Fidelity's site, on the other hand, has a margin calculator, and Schwab's site shows the margin maintenance requirement for individual stocks and ETFs.
Winner: Schwab and Fidelity
Computer Trading
To kick off the software battle, we have WellsTrade's website; it is rather simple. During our probing, we found multiple watchlists, alerts, screeners, and interactive charting. A graph can't quite be displayed the full width of the PC screen, although there are several nice graphing tools.
Over at Fidelity, we get even more graphing tools. For example, there are many drawing gadgets. And a chart can be expanded the full width of the monitor. Fidelity's site has multiple trade tickets for a very advanced trading experience; we found OTO and OCO orders. And there are many more calculators and planning tools, all of which are free of charge.
Fidelity also has Fidelity Trader+, a connected active-trading experience across web, desktop, and mobile. On the Schwab site, we found thinkorswim, a useful trading platform that occupies a tab within a browsing window. thinkorswim delivers some really nice features; we especially like paperMoney, which is a simulator.
paperMoney reappears on thinkorswim desktop; here we find a very advanced platform that even professional traders will find more than satisfactory. Direct-access routing is one example feature.
Over at Fidelity, investors can use Active Trader Pro, a desktop program which is quite sophisticated in its own right. We really enjoyed using ATP's option tools and its multi-leg trade ticket.
WellsTrade has no desktop program.
Winner: Schwab
Mobile Trading
Moving on to mobile software, we find a very good app from Fidelity. The platform has watchlists that sync with the website, and we really like horizontal charting with tools. The software's trade ticket can submit orders for stocks, mutual funds, and options.
Schwab customers get to use two apps: a regular app and a thinkorswim platform. The latter can trade futures and forex; it can also submit orders for stocks, ETFs, and options. Schwab's regular app has its own advanced features, including a great deal of educational materials.
WellsTrade's app focuses on banking and personal finance due to the firm's relationship with Wells Fargo Bank. The trading section has market news, simple charting, chains for calls and puts, an order ticket with discrete selections for sell short and buy to cover, Stock Fractions, and mobile extended-hours trading.
Winner: Schwab
Supplementary Services
Extended Hours: WellsTrade customers can trade eligible securities after the closing bell from 4:01 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET in the Wells Fargo Mobile app. Fidelity and Schwab also offer pre-market and after-hours trading. Schwab offers 24/5 trading in all S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, and Dow 30 stocks, plus more than 600 ETFs, on thinkorswim. Fidelity Crypto trades 7 days a week, 23 hours a day.
Fully-paid Stock Lending: Fidelity and Schwab traders can earn income by loaning out their equity shares.
Automatic Mutual Fund Purchases: Investors can set up systematic purchases of mutual funds at any one of the three broker-dealers in this survey. Schwab customers can set up recurring sales, too. Fidelity customers can establish autopilot purchases of stocks, ETFs, and Fidelity Basket Portfolios.
IPO Access: Primary stock releases are available at Fidelity and Schwab.
Fractional-share Trading: All three brokerage houses have some form of partial-share trading. Fidelity offers fractional-share trading in stocks and ETFs, Schwab has it for stocks and ETFs trading in the U.S. exchanges, and WellsTrade offers Stock Fractions in the Wells Fargo Mobile app for hundreds of stocks and ETFs.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: DRIP is available at all three broker-dealers.
Individual Retirement Accounts: An IRA can be opened at any brokerage firm in this contest; only WellsTrade charges an IRA termination fee, which is currently $49.95.
Winner: Schwab
Recommendations
Stock and ETF Trading: Schwab with its outstanding software.
Mutual Funds: Schwab or Fidelity.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: For do-it-yourselfers, we suggest Fidelity or Schwab.
For advisory customers, any of the three.
Small Investors: Small robo investors should go with Fidelity because Fidelity Go starts investing once the balance reaches $10. For a taxable brokerage account, we would go with any of the three. For a tax-sheltered brokerage account, Fidelity or Schwab.
Beginners: A managed account at any firm in this competition will work.
Promotions
Charles Schwab: $0 commissions + ACAT rebate + satisfaction guarantee at Charles Schwab.
Fidelity: Currently, no promotions.
WellsTrade: Does not offer promotions.
Final Judgment
A good showing from all three investment firms with a small lead for Schwab over Fidelity.
Updated on 8/20/2026.
Chad Morris has been analyzing investment firms for Brokerage-Review.com since 2015. Backed by FINRA Series 65, 66, and SIE credentials, his work reflects a deep knowledge of the retail brokerage industry and digital trading tools.
|