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Interactive Brokers vs JP Morgan Chase (2025)
JP Morgan (Chase) vs Interactive Brokers (IBKR): which firm is better? Compare (Roth) IRA accounts, online investing fees, stock broker mutual fund rates, and differences.
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Interactive Brokers vs. J.P. Morgan: Key Takeaways
• Brokerage accounts can be opened at Interactive Brokers and J.P. Morgan Investing.
• Only Interactive Brokers has robo accounts.
• Advanced software and services will be found at Interactive Brokers but not at J.P. Morgan Investing.
J.P. Morgan vs. Interactive Brokers Introduction
The next time you open a brokerage account, you need to consider J.P. Morgan Investing and Interactive Brokers, who succeed in some areas but fail in others.
Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
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IB
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$0
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$14.95
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$0.70 per contract
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$0
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$30
|
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Chase
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$0
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$0
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$0.65 per contract
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$0
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$0
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Charles Schwab
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$0
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$49.95 ($0 to sell)
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$0.65 per contract
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$0
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$0
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Services
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
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IB
|
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Chase
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Charles Schwab
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Promotions
Charles Schwab: $0 commissions + satisfaction guarantee at Charles Schwab.
Interactive Brokers: Use this referral link to get up to $1,000 of IBKR stock for free!
Chase:
Get $0 stock commissions at J.P. Morgan.
Investing
J.P. Morgan Investing clients can buy and sell the following asset classes:
- Option contracts
- Equities
- Bonds and other fixed-income securities, such as brokered CDs
- Mutual Funds
- Exchange Traded Funds
- Closed End Funds
Traders at Interactive Brokers have the above list plus an additional assortment that includes:
- Precious metals
- Cryptocurrencies
- Futures
- Forex
- Warrants
- Foreign securities
Only Interactive Brokers offers robo accounts. Available through its sister company Interactive Advisors, the services provides automated trading in select ETFs.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Banking
Both investment firms in this competition offer FDIC-sweep programs for idle cash. However, Interactive Brokers
requires an IBKR Pro subscription to qualify for this feature, and the Pro plan removes commission-free
trading. Pro customers do get a 4.83% yield on such cash sweeps, though. J.P. Morgan Investing only pays 0.01% right now.
But J.P. Morgan Investing clients get one more option for uninvested cash: Chase Bank. Deposit accounts opened through J.P. Morgan Investing’s sister company are automatically linked to investing accounts, and it’s really easy to transfer money among multiple accounts. Chase’s checking accounts come with various perks like debit cards and checkwriting. Interactive Brokers has terminated its Mastercard debit card, so the broker’s FDIC sweep is the end of the line for it here.
Winner: J.P. Morgan Investing
Margin
Cash accounts and margin accounts are available at both firms. Interactive Brokers charges
6.83% for borrowed money, and Pro customers can get even
lower rates. J.P. Morgan Investing has just one margin schedule, and it starts at
12.25% and ends at 7.25% for balances above $10 million.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Websites
Each investment firm in this contest has a website with tools for charting, order entry, account management, and asset research. The J.P. Morgan Investing site is a little more user-friendly and is easier to navigate. But for sheer trading power, the IBKR site is much better.
For example, the J.P. Morgan Investing site’s order ticket only has four trade types. The IBKR web-based ticket, by comparison, has nine plus two bracket orders (take profit and stop loss). The realm of charting is a similar situation with no full-screen charts at J.P. Morgan Investing. Interactive Brokers does offer full-screen charting with many tools from TradingView.
Moving to options, we see the same bipolar setting. Interactive Brokers’ site delivers some really impressive tools, such as implied volatility graphs and a strategy builder. J.P. Morgan Investing’s site, by comparison, only has chains for calls and puts.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Desktop Programs
Interactive Brokers apparently wasn’t satisfied with its very good website. So it rolled out Trader Workstation, an advanced desktop trading system. Then it launched IBKR Desktop, a simpler desktop program that nevertheless is quite useful. J.P. Morgan Investing has no desktop software at all.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Mobile Apps
But J.P. Morgan Investing does have a mobile platform. It delivers mostly the same resources we saw on the website. These tools include the same order ticket and charting software plus a lot of great personal financial tools, courtesy of Chase Bank, an affiliated company. Mobile check deposit makes an appearance for added convenience.
Sadly, the IBKR app doesn’t the personal financial tools that the J.P. Morgan Investing app has. But trading is on a much higher level with very good charting and much more thorough security profiles. Here are some details most securities have:
- Analyst ratings with consensus recommendations
- Industry competitors
- News articles
- Advanced option tools
iBot is an Artificial Intelligence that makes an appearance on the IBKR app to bring the user’s experience to a high level.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Day/Swing Trading
Direct-Access Routing: Routing choices are integrated in Trader Workstation and IBKR Desktop.
Extended-Hours Trading: Only at Interactive Brokers (including overnight trading).
PDT Counter: IBKR’s software keeps track of an account’s day trades.
Shorting: Short selling is possible at Interactive Brokers, and the company delivers a lot of tools that bearish traders will want to use. Equity profiles, for instance, show the number of shares available for shorting.
Maker-Taker Fees: Interactive Brokers has them for smart-routed orders.
Level II Quotes: Only on Trader Workstation.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Complementary Services
Fully-Paid Stock Lending: Interactive Brokers has it.
Individual Retirement Accounts: Both firms offer IRAs, although Interactive Brokers has more IRA types and doesn’t charge a closeout fee. J.P. Morgan Investing does.
Automatic Mutual Fund Investing: Only with a brokerage account at J.P. Morgan Investing.
Initial Public Offerings: Not available at either brokerage house.
Fractional Shares: Traders at Interactive Brokers can buy and sell securities and cryptocurrencies in whole dollars.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: DRIP service is on tap at both firms for stocks. At Interactive Brokers, it can’t be enabled for ETFs, although it can be at J.P. Morgan Investing.
Winner: Interactive Brokers
Recommendations
Beginners: We suggest an automated account with Interactive Advisors.
Small Accounts: Brokerage accounts at both firms have no minimums and no commissions (assuming the IBKR Lite plan at Interactive Brokers). Because Interactive Brokers has fractional-share trading, it will have the lower trade minimums. Interactive Advisors requires $100 to get started.
Mutual Funds: J.P. Morgan Investing has better fund resources on its website.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: A full-service account through a local J.P. Morgan Advisor would be ideal.
Frequent Stock Trading: Interactive Brokers with its excellent software would be a great pick.
Chase vs IBKR Verdict
J.P. Morgan Investing has a much longer history of financial strength around the globe, but that doesn’t make it the best place to invest.
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Updated on 6/3/2025.
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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