WeBull vs Merrill Edge

Merrill Edge or WeBull - which is better in 2021? Compare investing accounts, online trading fees, stock broker extended hours, and differences.

Overview of Merrill Edge and Webull

Should you choose Webull or Merrill Edge? Merrill Edge wins in the realm of trading tools, mutual funds, and options trading; while Webull is the better firm for shorting and margin trading. Merrill Edge is owned by Bank of America, which gives it some powerful banking resources that are absent at Webull. Here’s an in-depth look:

Cost

Broker Fees	Stock/ETF Commission	Mutual Fund Commission	Options Commission	Maintenance Fee	Annual IRA Fee
WeBull	$0	na	$0 per contract	$0	$0
Merrill Edge	$0	$19.99	$0.65 per contract	$0	$0

Services

Broker Review	Cost	Investment Products	Trading Tools	Customer Service	Research	Overall Rating
WeBull
Merrill Edge

Promotions

WeBull: Get 2 FREE stocks valued up to $1,850.

Merrill Edge: Get up to $600 when you open a new Merrill Edge account with at least $20,000.

Merrill Edge Pros and Cons

Merrill Edge is a full-service brokerage firm that offers both self-directed and managed accounts. Because of its relationship with Bank of America, accounts from both financial institutions can be accessed with a single login.

Merrill Edge’s strengths include:

Excellent desktop platform
Cash management tools
Well-designed website
Low-cost investment advice
Free credit score

Merrill Edge’s weaknesses are:

No robo advisor
Small selection of mutual funds

Webull Pros and Cons

Webull is newer to the brokerage world than Merrill, but nevertheless manages to deliver a worthwhile trading experience. Since its founding in 2018, it has added options trading and has greatly improved its software.

Webull’s advantages include:

Simulated trading on multiple platforms
Good tools for margin trading and shorting
Several advanced features like extended-hours and Level II quotes

Webull’s disadvantages are:

No investment advice
Small selection of tradable assets

Now let’s take a look at how Webull and Merrill Edge stack up against each other in the most important investment categories.

Securities Offered

Merrill Edge offers the following investment vehicles:

Option contracts
Equities (with OTC and penny stocks)
Mutual, exchange-traded, and closed-end funds
Bonds

Webull starts with the same list but subtracts bonds, mutual funds, and over-the-counter stocks. The broker-dealer also offers crypto-currencies.

Winner: Merrill Edge

Websites

Not surprisingly, both brokerage firms in this rivalry have websites. But the similarity stops there.

Webull has a very simple site. In the past, there wasn’t even a login. Now, there is a login, but once inside, there aren’t many resources. There are tools to download documents and transfer funds. The broker recently added security profiles and market details.

At Merrill Edge, we find a complete website. Besides account management and funds transfer tools, there is an actual trading ticket (Webull’s site doesn’t have one). Merrill’s has:

Merrill Lynch or Webull

2 duration choices (day and GTC)
8 trade types
Calculator to convert dollar amount to share amount
Refreshable trade details
Extended-hours mode

While charts on Webull’s site have no tools of any kind, Merrill offers several advanced charting features, such as:

Comparisons
Technical studies
Multiple graph styles
More than 10 years of price history

A search field in the top-right of the Merrill site makes finding resources quick and easy.

Winner: Merrill Edge

Desktop Software

For a more advanced trading experience, both firms in this examination offer desktop platforms.

MarketPro is Merrill’s program. It offers countless professional-level widgets. Our favorites include:

Economic calendar
Portfolio analysis tool
Market movers
Level II quote box
Alerts
Web feeds

Very advanced full-screen charting with the following highlights:

More than 100 technical studies
More than 20 drawing tools
High degree of customization
Right-click trading
13 graph styles, including Renko Plot

Webull’s platform has no name, but it does offer these features:

Webull Trading Platform

Margin details for every entered ticker symbol
Demo mode
Order ticket with stop, limit, and bracket orders
Level II data
Upcoming IPOs

Full-screen charts with:

8 graph styles, including colored bar
9 technical indicators
Right-click trading

Winner: Draw

Mobile Apps

The Merrill Edge app functions on both Apple and Android devices, including both phones and tablets. The broker also provides a platform for Apple Watch. Combined, the broker’s mobile software offers:

Merrill Edge or Webull

Watchlists
Market news
Order ticket with several trade types, including trailing orders
Mutual fund trading
Mobile check deposit
Bill pay
Educational materials

Webull’s app also functions on both tablets and phones. However, the broker doesn’t have a smartwatch platform. Also missing is mobile check deposit. Highlights on Webull’s app include:

WeBull or Merrill Edge

Simulated trading for extra practice
Trading competitions
Community forum where users can connect with each other

The major advantage of Webull’s app over Merrill’s lies in the realm of charting. Webull’s platform offers many trailblazing features, like dual charting and a replay tool.

Winner: Webull

Options Trading

Webull provides trading in calls and puts on both its computer platform and its mobile software. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any advanced tools or multi-leg strategies.

At Merrill Edge, the situation improves quite a bit. The brokerage house provides its customers with a lot of derivative tools, particularly on its website. Highlights include:

Options screener
Strategy builder
Profit-loss diagrams
Explanations of trade ideas

MarketPro offers (free of charge) OptionsPlay, which generates trade ideas from a ticker symbol and bullish or bearish projections.

Merrill Edge is charging 65 cents for each contract, while Webull has no commissions.

Winner: Webull

Fund Investing

As already mentioned, mutual funds aren’t available to Webull customers; so that pretty much ends the comparison. For ETFs, it’s a different story.

Merrill’s website has an ETF screener that is able to scan the fund marketplace for potential investments. The tool has roughly 50 search variables. It’s easy to look through the results and even place a trade directly from the search engine.

Merrill Edge also provides a list of ETFs that have been hand-picked by the company’s human advisors. These funds are recommended based on a variety of risk-return metrics.

Webull doesn’t provide any ETF recommendations, nor does it even have a fund screener. ETF profiles have brief details, mostly on trade characteristics, like order flow and time & sales data.

Winner: Merrill Edge

Financial Education

Although Webull has a list of FAQ’s on its website, there’s not much in terms of investment education. The broker has 16 videos on its YouTube channel.

Merrill Edge has an Investor Education tab on its website that appears before logging in, which means guests can use these resources. Here, we found many useful materials, including:

Retirement calculators
Articles
Webinars
Self-guided courses
Videos

Merrill’s resources can be sorted by topic or experience level, and this makes sorting through them quick and easy.

For account holders already logged in, the Guidance & Retirement and Research tabs are ground zero for Merrill’s learning materials. Some of the resources are slightly different, so we recommend opening an account to get the full cornucopia of materials.

Winner: Merrill Edge

Miscellaneous Services

Virtual trading: Webull offers a simulated trading, but Merrill Edge doesn’t.

Margin lending: Webull's margin rates are much lower than at the competitor.

Winner: Webull

Now, Our Recommendations

Stock trading: Webull.

Beginners: Either.

Small accounts: Either for taxable accounts. Webull for IRA’s.

Long-term investors and retirement savers: Merrill Edge.

Promotions

WeBull: Get 2 FREE stocks valued up to $1,850.

Merrill Edge: Get up to $600 when you open a new Merrill Edge account with at least $20,000.