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Webull vs M1 Finance
M1 Finance versus Webull for online investing. Compare cost, brokerage fees, IRA
accounts, and differences. Which firm is better in 2025?
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Webull vs. M1 Finance Introduction
Before opening any brokerage account, you first need to know the available investing styles. Webull and M1 Finance have quite different approaches to this topic.
Pricing
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
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Webull
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$0
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na
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$0 per contract
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$0
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$0
|
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M1 Finance
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$0
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na
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na
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$0
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$0
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Promotions
Webull:
Up to $1,000 cash and 20 FREE shares when you make a deposit at Webull.
M1 Finance:
Fund within 30 days of joining with $10,000 to get $75 bonus.
Services
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
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Webull
|
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M1 Finance
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Investment Offerings
M1 Finance customers buy Pies, which are groups of stocks, closed-end funds, and ETFs that M1 creates. Pies have different themes like socially conscious investing, retirement, or global growth. It’s simple to scroll through these Pies and invest.
M1 clients who want more flexibility can build their own Pies. You just add stocks or funds and change their target allocations. You can also include cryptocurrencies in these Pies now. You can have up to five Pies per account, with a maximum of 100 positions in each Pie. That means 500 positions total.
No matter if an account holds M1’s Pies or custom ones, it’s entirely self-directed because the owner decides what to buy. M1 Finance doesn’t offer managed accounts.
Webull also has only self-directed trading. Within these accounts, you can buy the four asset classes M1 offers (stocks, ETFs, closed-end funds, and crypto) plus bonds, futures, and options. Webull also has more OTC stocks than M1 does, though M1 has a few.
The biggest difference is that Webull lets you trade for the full market day, from 9:30 am EST until 4:00 pm EST (and before and after that, too).
M1 Finance only lets you place trades at set times. Non-members get the morning window, while Plus members get a second window in the afternoon. The Plus subscription costs $3 a month.
M1 Finance Plus members also get 10 on-demand crypto trades a month. Regular members only have crypto trades during the morning session.
Accounts at either broker can be taxable or tax-advantaged. M1 Finance offers custodial, joint, and trust accounts, none of which are available at Webull.
Winner: Webull
Margin Accounts
Webull has a standard tiered scale for margin loans. Rates start at 8.74% below $25k in debit and go down to 4.74% above $3m. The platform itself shows useful margin values, including overnight leverage.
M1 Finance uses a different margin system called M1 Borrow. All qualified accounts are automatically enrolled. You can borrow up to 40% of your account’s total value. The current rate is 6.25%. M1’s software only reveals the maintenance requirement for each security.
Winner: Again, hard to say
Websites
The software at these two brokers shows even bigger differences. M1 Finance has a streamlined website for account management and trades. Because M1 uses set windows to send trades to the market, users don’t submit orders directly. Instead, they pick assets to add to their Pies, and M1 places trades in those assets at the scheduled times. The result is a very simple order page with no advanced options.
Charting on M1’s site is likewise basic. There aren’t any tools aside from volume, and you can only view a line chart.
Webull has advanced charting on its website. You can use full-screen mode, try different chart styles, and pick from many technical studies.
The Webull site also offers multiple order tickets with advanced features like OCO, short selling, and multi-leg trades.
Winner: Webull
Mobile Apps
The same story plays out on mobile. M1’s app is simple yet user-friendly. Menu icons at the bottom let you pick between areas of the broker (Invest, Borrow, Spend, and Research). You’ll find your Pies under the Invest tab and asset details under Research.
Webull’s app has two advanced order tickets (the same ones from its website). One of them is called “Big Button,” which uses large buttons to quickly send crypto or stock orders.
The Webull app also has a social feature missing from M1’s.
Winner: Webull
Extra Services
IPO Access: Webull has it; M1 Finance doesn’t.
Fractional-share Trading: Both brokers provide it.
IRAs: Both offer Roth and Traditional accounts. M1 also has SEP. Webull only allows one IRA type per customer. M1 charges $100 to close an IRA.
Banking Tools: M1 has Spend, which is a checking account and debit card. A savings account is coming soon. Webull pays 4.1% on uninvested cash.
Dividend Reinvesting: Only at M1 Finance.
Winner: M1 Finance
Recommendations
Active Stock Trading: Webull, no doubt. It also has paper trading.
Small Accounts: M1 requires $500 to invest in IRAs ($100 in taxable). Webull has no such minimum.
Beginners: While M1’s broker-made Pies may look good for novices, we’ve found Pies can still confuse newcomers. We suggest Webull instead, with fractional trading and a free practice mode.
Mutual Fund Trading: Neither broker offers mutual funds. Firstrade has thousands, all free of transaction fees.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: M1 Finance has an array of retirement-focused Pies that might help savers.
Webull vs M1 Finance Summary
Indeed, these two brokers are quite different, both in their strategies and software.
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Updated on 5/21/2025.
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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