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Costs
Robinhood was the investing app that kicked off the no-cost trading frenzy for stocks, ETFs and options, and then added cryptocurrency trading to the mix, too. But recently an able competitor has emerged in Webull, which offers many of the same no-cost trading features. While most online brokers now allow zero-commission trading of stocks and ETFs, too, Robinhood and Webull offer that and no-cost trading for options, a real differentiator. That compares to the industry standard of $0.65 per contract, . Both brokers offer , though you’ll implicitly pay a spread markup on any transactions, so it’s more like the costs are hidden in the trading price. Of course, there’s nothing uncommon in this pricing structure, as it’s typical in forex markets. Here Webull wins points for publicly disclosing its spread markup (100 basis points, or 1 percent of the trade value). Robinhood does not reveal how much you’ll pay via the spread, however. Generally, both brokers are comparable in terms of account costs, with no activity fees or ongoing account fees. Both do charge a $75 transfer-out fee — while at least one big broker, , charges nothing. So you won’t notice this fee until you’re ready to leave either Robinhood or Webull and need to move securities out of your account. Account minimum
Neither Robinhood nor Webull has an account minimum, so investors of all wealth levels can get started immediately. No account minimum is a . Tradable securities
Robinhood and Webull cater to the most popular trading categories, meaning that they don’t offer some other securities that are usually offered at other brokers (, bonds and mutual funds, for example). Instead, these investing apps stick to stocks, ETFs, options and . That’s a clear downside for traders looking to get involved in some of these other fast-paced sectors of the market, but the vast majority of investors won’t need those sectors to amass a comfortable nest egg. So this narrowed selection will work well for most investors. That said, a clear negative is that neither Robinhood nor Webull offers trading in mutual funds, which may not be a dealbreaker if you’re only choosing these brokers for short-term trading. But investors looking for . Account types
Robinhood and Webull both have a restricted set of account types. Robinhood offers only an individual taxable account for now, but it may finally be about to step up with a move to IRAs, if reports from prove to be true. An IRA would be a welcome addition to its stable, since investors have been severely limited on this dimension of Robinhood’s service. But until then, Webull remains the winner here, allowing individual accounts as well as IRAs, including a , or rollover IRA. If your financial needs expand beyond these accounts, you’ll likely need one of the bigger brokers that offers a more comprehensive set of accounts, such as . Fractional shares
Robinhood is a great pick if you need fractional shares. The broker allows you to and invest directly in stock with fractional ownership. The combination is not something that many large brokerages such as or offer, though each of these latter brokerages permit dividend reinvestment. Robinhood lets you invest with as little as $1, and it can divide stock into chunks as little as one-millionth of a share. Robinhood allows partial shares in all but the smallest stocks and those trading below $1 per share. So Robinhood sits . Webull is no slouch here either, but not quite as good. The investing app permits investors to purchase fractional shares, though reinvesting in fractional shares is not offered. But that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker at all: You’ll just have to invest your cash dividend yourself. Customer support
Webull and Robinhood are more closely matched here than they had been previously, after Robinhood’s relatively recent upgrade to 24/7 call-back support. At Robinhood, you’ll also be able to email customer support or consult with its sometimes-useful chatbot or FAQs. Meanwhile, Webull customer support is available by phone 24/7 and is accessible via email and in-app chat. It also has an online help center for more routine questions. Neither investing app has any physical branches for customers who need in-person support. Other factors
Both Webull and Robinhood offer one of the easiest bonus promotions to achieve, even if it ends up being a modest freebie. Each gives away a free share or two of stock, including some of the market’s pricier stocks, even if you’re likely to receive a share trading for a few bucks. Still, you won’t have to pony up big bucks for a promotion as you will at the larger brokers, . Robinhood and Webull both offer instant funding of accounts, allowing you to get an initial credit of up to $1,000 as the broker awaits your bank transfer to arrive. If you subscribe to Robinhood Gold, the broker’s $5 per month premium program, you’ll receive higher instant transfer amounts, (at some the industry’s cheapest interest rates), Level II market data and access to Morningstar’s stock research. While Webull offers only limited research, it provides a nice suite of charting tools and a few dozen technical indicators. Even if you don’t use these tools much or at all, it’s an impressive visual experience. Plus, you can hone your trading chops with a that gives you $1 million in virtual cash and lets you run wild on the trading platform. Webull doesn’t charge for access to a margin account and offers a sliding scale on rates that goes as low as 4 percent, so the cost here is generally less competitive than Robinhood. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Robinhood has been hit from time to time with service outages, especially during periods of intense market activity. This level of unreliability may be a turn-off to traders who need to jump into the market to make a trade at a specific time. Bottom line
SHARE: Bankrate senior reporter James F. Royal, Ph.D., covers investing and wealth management. His work has been cited by CNBC, the Washington Post, The New York Times and more. Brian Beers is the managing editor for the Wealth team at Bankrate. He oversees editorial coverage of banking, investing, the economy and all things money. Related Articles