Best Free Investing Apps in 2026

Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Robinhood, Webull, Public, SoFi Invest, E*TRADE, Vanguard, M1 Finance and Firstrade all charge $0 commission on online US stock and ETF trades, confirmed on each broker's own pricing page on September 25, 2026. None of them charges an account fee just to hold a self-directed brokerage account. The real gap between them is what happens once you trade options, move money out, or let a small account sit idle.

A free investing app is not a promise that nothing ever costs money. It means the trade itself, the part every broker used to charge for, is free. Financeradar data: the 36 high-yield savings accounts we verify average 3.53% APY as of September 25, 2026 (high-yield savings statistics), which is the number worth knowing before you park uninvested cash inside any of these apps, since several of them route idle balances into their own cash sweep at a lower rate.

Every price below was read on the broker's own commission, fee or pricing page on September 25, 2026. This is general information, not personalized financial advice: confirm current terms on the provider's site before you fund an account.

A free investing app in this list means a self-directed brokerage account for US-listed stocks and ETFs. It is a different product from a robo-advisor, which charges an annual management fee to build the portfolio for you (compared in best robo-advisors). It is also different from an AI-managed account, which charges a fee or a subscription for a person or a model to run the account (compared in best AI investing apps).

1. Fidelity, the default pick for one account that does everything

Fidelity's commissions and fees page states plainly: $0 commissions for online US stock, ETF, and option trades. Options carry a separate $0.65 per-contract fee on top of the free trade itself, which is standard across the industry and shows up again at two other brokers below.

Fidelity does not publish an account minimum or a monthly fee on that page. The brokerage also runs a cash management account, a debit card, and Fidelity's own money market default for uninvested cash, so a first-time investor can open one login and never need a second app for checking-style spending. The tradeoff is scale. Fidelity's site and app carry more menus and research tools than a Robinhood or a Firstrade. That is a strength for someone who wants Full View, retirement planning, and stock research in one place, and mild overhead for someone who only wants to buy three ETFs and stop looking.

Fidelity's own cash management account is the natural landing spot for money you are not actively trading, and it is worth comparing against the 3.53% catalog average above before you leave a balance parked there by default.

2. Charles Schwab, for traders who want thinkorswim in the same account

Schwab's pricing page confirms a free online commission on stock and ETF trades, with the same per-contract options fee as Fidelity's $0.65. Broker-assisted trades add a flat $25 on top of whatever the trade itself would have cost online, so calling in an order is the fee to avoid.

What separates Schwab from Fidelity in practice is thinkorswim, the trading platform Schwab kept after absorbing TD Ameritrade, built for someone who watches options chains and futures rather than someone who checks a 401(k) balance twice a year. Schwab backs commissions and fees with a satisfaction guarantee: if a listed fee is wrong for your account, Schwab will refund it on request within 90 days. That is a support policy, not a lower price, and it does not cover a trade you regret after the fact.

Schwab also runs its own bank; the Schwab Bank Investor Checking account links to the brokerage and waives ATM fees worldwide, a detail that matters more to someone who travels than to someone investing from one city.

3. Robinhood, the simplest app, with the real cost in the Gold tier

Robinhood's own homepage still leads with "Commission-Free Stock Trading," and that holds for stocks, ETFs, and options with no per-contract fee, which undercuts Fidelity and Schwab's options charge outright. The catch is not in the free tier, it is in Gold. The membership page prices Gold at $5 a month or $50 a year, after a one-time 30-day free trial. Gold is what unlocks a bigger instant deposit, a higher APY on the cash sweep, and access to Robinhood's AI feature, Cortex.

A year of Gold billed monthly runs $60, ten dollars more than paying the annual price up front, so anyone planning to keep it past the trial saves by switching to annual billing on day one. Robinhood is the app most likely to appeal to someone who has never opened a brokerage account before, because fractional shares and a plain interface remove the two biggest points of friction. It is a weaker fit for someone who wants deep research or bond trading, both of which sit outside Robinhood's core product.

Robinhood's uninvested cash sweep is a separate product from the brokerage account itself; see the Robinhood Gold cash sweep for how that rate compares with a standalone high-yield account.

4. Webull, for a charting-heavy free platform

Webull's pricing page confirms free commissions for stocks, ETFs, and options, with no deposit minimum listed. The one carve-out: certain index options carry a $0.50 per-contract fee, and an oversized option order adds $0.10 a contract, both narrower exceptions than the flat per-contract fee charged on every options contract at Fidelity or Schwab.

Webull's draw is the platform itself: desktop-grade charting, extended-hours sessions, and a paper-trading mode, all free, which is unusual outside platforms built for professional traders. That makes Webull a better fit for someone who wants to study price action than for someone who wants a single tap-and-forget portfolio. Webull does not run its own bank or cash management product the way Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard do, so uninvested cash inside Webull is not the place to compare against a high-yield account.

5. Public, for themed investing with two fees worth knowing up front

Public's fee schedule sets US-listed stock and ETF trades, in regular and extended hours, at no cost, including OTC stocks. Two other costs matter more here than the trade itself. An outgoing ACAT transfer is $100, charged if you ever move your holdings to a different broker. An inactivity fee of $3.99 a month applies to any account under $70 in total value with no activity for six months, aimed at a forgotten leftover account rather than an active one.

Public layers themed investing, bonds, and a social feed onto the free trading core. That fits someone who wants to invest around an idea, such as an index they build themselves or a company theme, more than someone who wants the cheapest possible way to buy one ETF and never look again. If you plan to open, fund small, and forget, the inactivity fee is the number that actually applies to you, not the headline of a free trade.

6. SoFi Invest, for bundling investing with SoFi's banking products

SoFi's pricing and rates page states free commissions for self-directed accounts trading US-listed and OTC stocks, ETFs, and options, whether placed through the app or the website. Small regulatory pass-through charges still apply, the same trading activity fee and options regulatory fee every US broker is required to collect and forward to regulators, and those show up as fractions of a cent per share rather than a broker markup.

SoFi's advantage is less about the trading account on its own and more about the rest of SoFi. Checking, a high-yield cash option, and personal loans all sit under one login, which suits someone who already banks with SoFi and wants one less app rather than someone shopping for the single cheapest broker. SoFi's checking and savings account is the natural pairing if idle investing cash needs somewhere to sit between trades.

7. E*TRADE, for options traders who place enough volume to earn a discount

ETRADE's pricing and rates page confirms free commission on US exchange-listed stock and ETF trades regardless of how often you trade. Options are where ETRADE's tiers kick in: $0.65 per contract at up to 29 trades a quarter, dropping to $0.50 per contract once you clear 30 trades in a quarter. It is the only broker on this list that discounts options pricing by volume rather than charging one flat rate.

That tiered structure only pays off for someone trading options often enough to hit the 30-trade line; below it, E*TRADE's options pricing matches Fidelity and Schwab exactly. Broker-assisted trades add a flat $25 on top of the online commission, the same penalty Schwab and Vanguard both charge for picking up the phone instead of trading online.

E*TRADE, now under Morgan Stanley, also runs its own bank; the E*TRADE Premium Savings account is the linked option for cash not currently in the market.

8. Vanguard, for an index investor who rarely trades

Vanguard's commission and fee schedule sets ETFs and stocks at no cost online, with a broker-assisted commission matching the $25 charged elsewhere if you place the trade by phone instead. Vanguard's entire brand is built on buy-and-hold index funds, so a free trade commission matters less here than at a broker built for frequent trading, because the whole point of a Vanguard account is to trade rarely.

Vanguard waives that phone-assistance fee for larger accounts: clients with $1 million or more in qualifying assets are not charged it at all, a threshold that will not apply to a first account but signals how the fee schedule shifts once a portfolio grows. Vanguard Cash Plus is Vanguard's own cash management product for money not currently invested in a fund.

9. M1 Finance, automated pies with a fee that is easy to avoid

M1's own investing pages confirm M1 does not charge commission, trading, or management fees on self-directed brokerage accounts. The real number to know sits in M1's platform fee disclosure, updated May 2026: a $3 monthly Platform Fee applies unless you hold $10,000 or more in total M1 assets or have an active M1 personal loan. Meeting either condition waives the fee automatically each 30-day cycle.

M1's product, "pies," lets you build a portfolio of stocks and ETFs by percentage allocation and have every deposit auto-invested along those weights, a genuinely different mechanic from placing individual trades at Fidelity or Schwab. That makes M1 a fit for someone who wants to automate contributions into a fixed allocation and a weaker fit for someone who wants to place a single trade today, since M1's trading windows batch orders rather than executing instantly like the brokers above.

10. Firstrade, the lowest floor if all you want is a free trade

Firstrade's pricing overview is the shortest list on this page: $0 commission and $0 contract fees for stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds, no account minimum, and no inactivity fee. Every other broker here charges something beyond the headline trade, whether it is an options fee, a transfer or inactivity charge, or a monthly platform fee; Firstrade is the one name on this list that does not.

The gap between Firstrade and the other nine is depth, not price: a thinner research library, fewer account types, and a smaller support footprint than Fidelity or Schwab. Firstrade fits someone who has already decided what to buy and wants the cheapest possible account to hold it in, not someone who wants research and planning tools bundled with the trade.

What free actually costs once you trade options or move money

The table above prices the trade. The one below prices the moments that catch people off guard: an options order, a transfer out, or a small account nobody touches for six months.

None of these fees apply to every investor. Someone who buys index ETFs twice a year and never calls a broker will pay nothing at eight of the ten names on this list. The fee shows up only if your behavior matches the trigger: trading options often, transferring accounts, letting a balance go dormant, or wanting the extras behind a subscription.

How we ranked

Ten brokers were read on their own commission, pricing, or fee-schedule pages on September 25, 2026. Sources: Fidelity's commissions page, Schwab's pricing page, Robinhood's homepage and Gold membership page, Webull's pricing page, Public's fee schedule, SoFi's pricing and rates page, E*TRADE's pricing and rates page, Vanguard's commission and fee schedule, M1's platform fee disclosure, and Firstrade's pricing overview. The savings average in the introduction is the September 25, 2026 figure on our statistics page. Rank follows the free-trade baseline plus what a real account triggers beyond it: options fees, transfer fees, inactivity fees, and subscription tiers. No paid placement moved a row, and none of these ten names is a Dupple advertiser on this page.

Louis Corneloup, founder of Financeradar and Dupple, editorially reviewed this ranking. This is general information, not personalized financial advice; confirm current terms and fees on each provider's own site before opening an account. A commission on a broker link, if Financeradar is paid one, does not move a broker above a cheaper or better-fitting one (how we make money). For a managed account instead of a self-directed one, see best robo-advisors and best AI investing apps. For money that should not be in the market at all, our high-yield savings statistics and the rate tracker track where cash earns more without the risk.

FAQ

What is the best free investing app in 2026?

There is no single best free investing app because all ten names here charge nothing to trade US stocks and ETFs online, verified on their own pages September 25, 2026. Fidelity and Schwab suit someone who wants one account for everything; Firstrade suits someone who wants the fewest extra fees; Robinhood suits a first-time investor who wants the simplest app; M1 suits someone who wants automated, rules-based investing.

Are these investing apps actually free?

The trade itself is free at all ten brokers, with no commission on US-listed stock and ETF orders. Fees can still apply elsewhere. Options contracts carry a per-contract charge at Fidelity, Schwab, and E*TRADE under 30 trades a quarter. Public charges $100 to transfer your account out and $3.99 a month on a near-empty, inactive account, and M1 charges a monthly fee below its asset threshold. Firstrade is the one name here with no options fee, no minimum, and no inactivity fee.

Does Robinhood charge for trades?

No, Robinhood's stock, ETF, and options trades are commission-free with no per-contract options fee, undercutting the flat per-contract charge that Fidelity, Schwab, and E*TRADE apply to every options trade. The cost sits in Robinhood Gold, the optional paid tier, at $5 a month or $50 a year after a 30-day free trial, which unlocks a bigger instant deposit and a higher cash sweep rate rather than being required to trade.

Is there a minimum balance to open one of these accounts?

Fidelity, Schwab, Robinhood, Webull, Public, SoFi, E*TRADE, Vanguard, and Firstrade do not publish a minimum deposit to open a self-directed brokerage account on the pages checked for this piece. M1 does not require a minimum to open an account either. Its monthly platform fee only waives automatically once total assets reach the threshold in the table above, so a small M1 balance can carry a running fee that a small account at the other nine brokers would not.

What is the cheapest way to trade options?

ETRADE drops its options fee once you place 30 or more trades in a quarter, the only volume discount on this list; below that threshold, ETRADE's options pricing matches Fidelity and Schwab exactly. Robinhood and Firstrade charge no separate per-contract fee at all, which makes either one cheaper than the tiered brokers for an investor who only trades options occasionally.

Should I leave uninvested cash inside these apps?

Several of these brokers route uninvested cash into their own linked bank product, such as the Fidelity cash management account, Vanguard Cash Plus, or SoFi's checking and savings account, and those rates move independently of the trading commission. Our catalog of high-yield savings accounts averages 3.53% APY as of September 25, 2026 (statistics), the benchmark to check a broker's cash sweep against before leaving a large balance parked there by default. This page is general information, not personalized financial advice; confirm current cash sweep and account terms directly with the provider.

Do any of these apps charge an inactivity fee?

Public is the one broker on this list with a published inactivity fee: $3.99 a month on any account under $70 in total value with no trading or deposit activity for six months. Firstrade explicitly advertises no inactivity fee. Fidelity, Schwab, Robinhood, Webull, SoFi, E*TRADE, and Vanguard do not list an inactivity fee on the pages checked for this piece. M1's monthly platform fee is not an inactivity fee: it applies to any account below the asset threshold regardless of activity, unless an M1 personal loan is active.

Cite this: Financeradar, "Best Free Investing Apps in 2026", September 2026.