Highlights
• Investors at Schwab, Vanguard, and WellsTrade can open advisory and brokerage accounts.
• All three broker-dealers have attractive banking features.
• Experienced traders will find the best software at Schwab.
Vanguard vs. WellsTrade vs. Schwab Introduction
Are you looking for a brokerage firm to help you with your trading? If so, you really need to check out Schwab, WellsTrade, and Vanguard. Although there are important differences among these three, they do all succeed in delivering a lot of useful services.
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
|
|
WellsTrade
|
$0
|
$35
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Vanguard
|
$0
|
$20
|
$1.00 per contract
|
$25*
|
$25*
|
Services
New Account Promotions
Charles Schwab: $0 commissions + ACAT rebate + satisfaction guarantee at Charles Schwab.
WellsTrade and Vanguard: none right now.
Trading
With a brokerage account at any investment firm in this comparison, the following list of securities can be bought and sold:
- Domestic stocks
- Bonds and other fixed-income vehicles
- Option contracts
- Funds (mutual, exchange-traded, and closed-end)
Schwab goes a step further than its competitors with offerings of futures contracts, forex, and foreign equity exchanges.
Investment-advisory accounts at all three securities firms open up an entirely different way of investing. A financial advisor, either digital or human, will decide what to trade in an account in return for a small fee. At Schwab, there is actually no fee for the company’s automated service. Vanguard charges 0.15%, while WellsTrade is at 0.35%. In all three cases, ETFs are the only investment vehicles available.
Winner: Schwab
Trading on Margin
A cash account is a good way to start a self-directed trading journey, although switching to a margin account brings many benefits, not least of which is the ability to use borrowed money. Like any other loan, there is an interest rate on borrowed funds. Here are the three brokers’ margin schedules:
Vanguard: 12% to 10%
Schwab: 11.825% to 10.075%*
WellsTrade: 12.5% to 8.5%
*Schwab and Vanguard clients get negotiated rates on debit balances above $500k.
Winner: Schwab
Cash Management
If you thought these three financial powerhouses were going to stop at trading and investing, you have underestimated them. All three broker-dealers offer banking tools, although they do vary quite a bit.
On the low end, we have Vanguard with its Cash Plus Account. This is a savings account alternative with
a bank sweep program that offers five money market funds and FDIC insurance up to $1.25 million for
individual accounts. The APY on uninvested cash is 3.1%,
although the money market funds pay above 3.25%.
Schwab customers get 17 money market mutual funds, some of which yield above 3.25%
on a tax-adjusted basis. It doesn’t have an FDIC sweep, although it does provide FDIC insurance on checking and savings accounts, which aren’t available at Vanguard.
Finally, we have WellsTrade, who is partnered with the very famous Wells Fargo Bank. Deposit accounts opened with the banking unit of the company are automatically linked to investing accounts for seamless funds transfer. Plus, brokerage accounts get cash sub-accounts with checkwriting.
Winner: Schwab
Websites
Vanguard does not cater to active traders, and it really shows in its website. Charts cannot be expanded the full width of the computer screen, and there is just a handful of technical studies. The site’s order ticket has only four trade types.
WellsTrade’s website has the same four order types (limit, market, stop, and stop limit) and the same emphasis on simplicity. There are more technical studies for chartists, though. We counted 31.
Schwab’s website has more than 50 indicators, and that’s just the site alone. There’s also a browser platform called thinkorswim that adds many more. Plus, thinkorswim has a trade ticket with 12 order types. Examples include trailing stop and OCO.
Winner: Schwab
Mobile Apps
Although we were not impressed with Vanguard’s website, its mobile app is even worse. Charts on the app, for instance, have no technical studies at all. Trading in options is completely removed.
WellsTrade’s app does provide options trading, although charts are very simple with no tools at all. Mutual funds have a discrete ticket, and there are a lot of personal finance resources on the app.
Schwab has a ton of investing resources on its app. A great deal of market news is available, and we really like free bill pay. For hardcore trading, there is a thinkorswim app that has robust charting and order-entry tools.
Winner: Schwab
Desktop Platforms
Rounding out the software competition is desktop trading. Vanguard and WellsTrade, being the insipid firms they are, simply don’t offer any desktop software. Schwab, on the other hand, has thinkorswim, and in desktop format, it really packs a punch. During our investigation, we really liked:
- Simulated trading
- Multi-chart views
- Hundreds of graphing tools
- Right-click trading
- Multiple order tickets
- Lots of advanced trade types
- Market news in article and video formats
- Forex and futures dealing boxes
- Heat maps
- Economic calendar
- Ability to create even more tools using a special computer language called thinkScript®
Winner: Schwab
Added Services
IRA Lineups: Business and personal retirement accounts are available at all three brokerage houses. WellsTrade has an IRA closeout fee, and Vanguard imposes fees on business accounts in some situations.
Systematic Mutual Fund Purchases: Available at all three firms, although Vanguard restricts its service to Vanguard funds.
Extended Hours: Vanguard offers post-market trading. Schwab and WellsTrade have both post-market and
pre-market trading, but Schwab also offers 24/5 trading for many stocks and ETFs.
IPO Access: Only at Schwab.
Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program: On tap at Schwab and Vanguard.
Fractional Shares: Whole-dollar trades can be made for some stocks or ETFs at all three broker-dealers.
Dividend Reinvestment Plans: Also available at all three.
Winner: Schwab
New Account Promotions
Charles Schwab: $0 commissions + ACAT rebate + satisfaction guarantee at Charles Schwab.
WellsTrade and Vanguard: none right now.
Recommendations
Beginners: A managed account at any of the three.
Mutual Fund Trading: Schwab.
Long-Term Investing & Retirement Saving: Schwab.
Stock and ETF Trading: Schwab with thinkorswim in desktop mode.
Small Accounts: WellsTrade for robo investing. Schwab or WellsTrade for brokerage accounts. Vanguard can now forcibly close small brokerage accounts and assess a fee for doing so.
Wells Fargo vs Vanguard Summary
WellsTrade and Vanguard have good investment services in a few areas, but they are no match for the leviathan Charles Schwab.
Free Charles Schwab Account
Visit Schwab Website
Free Vanguard Account
Visit Vanguard Website
Updated on 2/4/2026.
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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