E-Trade also has a live chat option and even a few branches throughout the U.S. These features, coupled with the 24/7 telephone support, make the higher E-Trade fees, compared to TradeKing, more justifiable. The Contingent Order tool allows a user to plug in certain parameters that have to be met. The average execution quality of all brokers we review was 97.4% as of August 31, 2023. That means 97.4% of orders were executed at a price that was at or better than the National Best Bid and Offer.

• If the buyer, Person B, agrees to this and sells Person A the option, he/she must honor this price.
• One limitation with Ally Invest is that it restricts foreigners from opening accounts, reserving them for US citizens only.
• Its platform is very user-friendly, offering an intuitive design and layout for investors.
• Most online trading accounts offer the basics, like stocks and bonds, while others may vary, offering financial instruments, like ETFs and mutual funds.
• Not only are their commissions some of the lowest in the business, but beginner traders will find their numerous resources quite helpful in getting their investing careers started.

Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Of course, your perspective may vary — personal opinions are personal, after all. If trading isn’t your thing, you’ll probably find that virtually every broker can give you a trading platform that is good enough for you.

Free Tools

Even when E-Trade earns money, it manages to share part of its revenue with customers. It is generally more efficient, thorough, and customer service-oriented. Therefore, both sites match in their usability, with their fully functional web and mobile platforms appealing to customers. While Robinhood lacks customization features, its mobile and PC platforms are easy to navigate.

As a [Type] interested in opening an account, you may be curious about the pros and cons of choosing TradeKing over other brokers, such as E-Trade. In this article, we will provide an overview of the benefits and drawbacks of TradeKing, as well as some regulatory information. TradeKing and E-Trade are two of the most popular online brokers in the United States.

Whether you are trading in crypto, options, trade stocks, or ETFs, you can do it for free on Robinhood. The only demerit is that when Robinhood loans out customer stock, it takes the entire share of returns, unlike its competition which shares revenue with customers. Robinhood attracted investors who loved the platform’s easy trade-in options, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs with its commission-free investment model. Compared to Ally Invest, E-Trade’s charges are high, with a per contract option fee of $0.65 and $25 for a live brokerage account. E-Trade also charges $19.99 to investors trading outside the No-Transaction-Fee Program. E-Trade also provides high quality customer service, especially with their 30 local branches in which customers can get real-world help with their trades.

All the user has to do is cover the cost of the newsletter subscription and pay the base commission of the trades to be executed. When it comes to mutual fund investing, TradeKing still beats out E-Trade for fees. For their no-load, no-fee mutual funds, TradeKing only charges $10 per transaction, while E-Trade charges $20 per mutual fund commissions. However, both companies also provide NTF program funds that permit clients to avoid commission fees with the right criteria.

Etrade vs TradeKing: Results

TradeKing’s interface is well laid out and full of helpful information on trends, charts, and industry research. The TradeKing platform lays out this information without overloading users with a confusing display. In this particular category, E-Trade wins out simply due to the presence of actual, honest to God commission-free ETFs. When you start trading, you quickly learn the importance of commission-free ETFs in building up an affordable, low-overhead profile, and the fact that TradeKing offers none is a shame. Unlike TradeKing LIVE, however, E-Trade PRO has some pretty high requirements to qualify for the service. Traders must make 30 or more trades each quarter, or at least have a balance of $250,000 or more.

Which is Better: Ally Invest or E*TRADE?

Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool’s premium services. Robinhood was made out to look like the bad guy, but in reality, they had no choice to suspend trading because of clearing firm costs. Importantly, ADRs are most commonly available for larger foreign companies, so many foreign large caps should be available to you at either brokerage. The regular TradeKing platform does not allow users to trade currency, but there is separate platform they can sign up for, which is part of the TradeKing brand called TradeKing Forex. There are a number of diverse and useful TradeKing option tools at the users’ disposal.

Investing in the digital era is all about finding a trading platform that supports the right functionalities. E-Trade has been around for at least 40 years, a period charles schwab vs etrade it has used to learn the best ways to reach traders. Another perk is the enhanced customization features that make it possible to watch particular trades closely.

Commissions aren’t what they used to be, and that’s a very good thing, indeed. The internet has played an integral role in driving down trading costs, and many brokers rolled out new price cuts in 2017. Studies frequently show that fewer than one in five Americans use an IRA to save for retirement. That may be a huge mistake, as IRAs offer investors the unrivaled combination of more choices and big tax advantages.

Compare to Similar Brokers

Many of the world’s largest companies, like Honda, have ADRs in the United States, but smaller companies are more likely to have a ticker only on their home exchanges. For this reason, investors who want to be able to explore more of the world’s exchanges may want to shop from the few brokers that offer international trading. But in a market where platform allegiance is determined by access to investment options, there’s a need to know just who’s on top. Both online brokerage platforms are dedicated to meet customer expectations. With constant improvements, the gaps between them keep narrowing.

Using the criteria detailed above (even with the tie), E-Trade is a different and slightly more advanced brokerage firm than Robinhood. E-Trade’s PC and mobile apps offer customizable features, and in customer service expectations, E-Trade checks all the right boxes. But it’s not all bad news for Robinhood, as its zero fees make it the more affordable option.

If Person A goes more than three months without buying it, then he/she will lose that opportunity and the initial investment, which is the money paid to secure that option. StockHax strives to provide unbiased and reliable information on cryptocurrency, finance, trading, and stocks. However, we cannot provide financial advice and urge users to do their own research and due diligence. TradeKing LIVE, in particular, is intuitive and user-friendly, allowing traders to ease into trading with market indexing, watch lists, easy-to-use trade tickets, and option chains. NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers by assets under management, along with emerging industry players. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs.

After the mess that large, reputable financial institutions made with mortgage-backed securities and irresponsible lending, it can be hard to hold much faith in the financial system. E-Trade’s asset allocation resources handily beat TradeKing just by virtue of having dedicated tools to help customers with that. TradeKing customers can still rely on their community forums to get advice, however, which is always a big help. E-Trade, meanwhile, offers a bit more robust arsenal of third-party offerings, such as Morningstar and Thomson Reuters in addition to S&P Capital IQ.

TradeKing’s app, in particular, has some sophisticated mobile charting features that make it particularly effective as a small-scale trading solution. E-Trade’s own mobile app allows you to make watch lists, stream live market data, and make trades as well. Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry.