Overview of Firstrade vs Fidelity Investments
Firstrade was one of the earliest brokerages to reduce its trading fees to $0.
Fidelity followed a bit later, arriving a few months after Firstrade. Perhaps Fidelity clients
should explore this lesser-known firm. Could they find a broker that offers a better deal?
Cost Comparison
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Firstrade
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Fidelity
|
$0
|
$49.95
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
When it comes to costs, Firstrade can’t be matched. It offers no commissions on every product.
Services Comparison
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
|
Firstrade
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidelity
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Firstrade: 3% match on contributions and 2% on transfers with a No-Fee IRA.
Fidelity Investments: Currently, no promotions.
Tradable Assets
Even though Firstrade quickly lowered its commissions to $0, it didn’t limit its product lineup. You can trade:
- Mutual funds (including a very large selection)
- Stocks (including over-the-counter and penny stocks)
- ETFs and closed-end funds
- Bonds and other fixed-income securities
- IPOs
- Options
Fidelity carries the same selection but also lets you trade foreign stocks on local exchanges using local currencies.
Winner: Even
Financial Education
Before investing, it’s wise to understand what you’re doing. Fidelity provides a lot of educational materials for its customers. On its website, you can find:
- Articles
- Videos
- Webinars
- In-person events at some Fidelity branches (may be paused during major disruptions)
- Security profiles
These tools include both general guidance (for instance, how to place an options trade) and in-depth security data. Fidelity also supplies free stock reports from various analysts. During our check, we saw 9 pdf reports on General Electric.
Fidelity’s asset screeners make it easier to locate potential trades.
Over at Firstrade, screeners are also available and include multiple search criteria. However, Firstrade’s security profiles differ from Fidelity’s. Firstrade draws profiles right from Morningstar, so there is a lot of information, but only from one analyst source (Morningstar).
For general investing guidance, Firstrade has short articles on its site, which don’t stack up to Fidelity’s robust content.
Winner: Fidelity
Cash Management
Fidelity provides a cash management account known as the Cash Management Account. It’s a separate account from any Fidelity brokerage account you open (though you can still trade securities in it).
This account comes with some attractive perks, such as:
- No fees of any kind
- No minimum balance
- Unlimited ATM fee rebates across the U.S.
- Free checks (including free reorders)
Firstrade clients can link checks and a Visa debit card to an existing brokerage account instead of creating a new one. Unlike Fidelity, Firstrade requires a $25,000 minimum balance to use banking tools, and Firstrade doesn’t reimburse ATM fees.
Winner: Fidelity
Websites
Once you have your banking features set up and have done your research, you can start placing trades.
Fidelity’s website is straightforward, with a menu at the top that makes navigation easy. We found the search bar in the top-right corner especially useful.
Fidelity doesn’t include a trade bar on its site but does use a pop-up trade ticket. Clicking buy or sell on a security’s profile opens it automatically. The ticket includes advanced features. Fidelity’s charting is also well-equipped and can operate in full-screen mode.
Firstrade’s site has a permanent trade bar. In our tests, we found it very convenient. We especially appreciated the ability to trade options through it, a feature Fidelity’s pop-up ticket lacks.
Firstrade’s charting, however, isn’t as robust as Fidelity’s. As noted earlier, Firstrade relies on Morningstar’s software, which doesn’t match Fidelity’s tools.
Neither firm offers a browser-based platform, which is a bit disappointing.
Winner: Firstrade
Desktop Software
Fidelity customers who don’t love the company’s website can try Active Trader Pro, its top-tier trading platform. It’s available on both Windows and Mac.
In our test, we found many advanced features, including:
- Multiple layouts (you can also create your own and save it)
- Streaming video news from Bloomberg
- An order form with several time-in-force choices and order types
- Level II quotes
- Charts with technical indicators, full-screen capability, drawing tools, and more
Firstrade doesn’t have a desktop platform at all.
Winner: Fidelity
Mobile Trading
If you can’t sit at your computer to trade, both brokers have free apps. Fidelity’s app supports Touch ID, although it didn’t function the day we tested it. The app includes:
- Mobile check deposit
- PayPal transfers
- The ability to trade mutual funds and options
- A watchlist
- Alerts
We also like that it features podcasts and Bloomberg video news. Reuters news articles show up as well, and so do some educational resources from Fidelity.
Firstrade doesn’t include podcasts or live news, but it does have a working Touch ID. Its trade ticket is user-friendly, though it doesn’t have as many choices as Fidelity’s. You can trade options through Firstrade’s app, but not mutual funds.
Winner: Fidelity
Funds
Using Fidelity’s mutual fund screener, we located 9,898 choices that were open to new investors. Nearly 3,500 carried no transaction fee. You can’t filter by load status on Fidelity’s screener, though we can guess that around half have no load.
Firstrade impressively offers 15,630 mutual funds, and all come with no transaction fee. More than 9,000 of them are also no-load.
Both firms have commission-free ETFs, but Fidelity’s website has a more thorough ETF center, featuring:
- A comparison tool
- A search-by-stock feature
- Preset screens
- ETF educational videos
Winner: Firstrade
Miscellaneous Services
Dividend reinvestment program: Both brokerages in this review provide free DRIP setups.
Portfolio management: If you ever feel you need professional guidance, Fidelity has multiple options. It offers both automated and traditional advisor programs. The cheapest one, a digital plan, charges 0.35% annually with no minimum. The more traditional plans cost more and have higher entry points. Firstrade doesn’t provide managed account services.
IRAs: Both Fidelity and Firstrade have IRAs, and Fidelity also has a solo 401k option.
Automatic mutual fund investing: Both brokers let you set this up for free.
Fractional-share trading: Each firm supports dollar-based investing in stocks and ETFs.
Winner: Fidelity
Our Recommendations
Stock and ETF trading: Fidelity is the top pick.
Beginners: Either choice works.
Mutual fund traders: Firstrade due to its extensive selection of funds.
Small accounts: Firstrade.
Long-term investors and retirement savers: Fidelity offers annuities and advisory
services (Firstrade doesn’t), so we suggest Fidelity.
Promotions
Firstrade: 3% match on contributions and 2% on transfers with a No-Fee IRA.
Fidelity Investments: Currently, no promotions.
Fidelity vs Firstrade Results
Although Firstrade stands out for mutual fund investing and free options trades, Fidelity still
offers more advantages in most other categories.
Updated on 1/28/2025.
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.
|