If you’re on the hunt for a new brokerage account, the two biggest names in the field — Vanguard and Fidelity — might come to mind first. So, how do these two stack up side by side?
Both Fidelity and Vanguard are great for retirement investors, but Fidelity also caters to active traders, with robust trading platforms and tools. Vanguard, not so much: The company doesn’t offer a trading platform. If you want to actively trade any type of security, Fidelity is your answer. Fidelity also has overall lower fees and better customer service hours. If having access to an app that offers more complexity feels overwhelming for you, and you just want to invest for retirement, Vanguard could work well for you.
Side note: Both Vanguard and Fidelity offer robo-advisor services, but we're focusing on their self-directed brokerage accounts here. To learn more about the robo-advisors, read our reviews of Fidelity Go and Vanguard Digital Advisor.
Account minimum | |
$0 | $0; however some fund minimums are as high as $1,000 |
Stock trading costs | |
$0 | $0 |
Options trades | |
$0.65 per contract | Up to $1 per contract |
Account fees | |
Annual fee: $0 Inactivity fee: $0 Closing fee: $0 | Annual fee: $25 (no fee with e-delivery statements) Inactivity fee: $0 Closing fee: $100 |
Interest rate on uninvested cash | |
Rates change frequently. For the current rate, check the 7-day SEC yield for Fidelity's SPAXX money market fund, its default account for idle cash. | Over 4% |
Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds | |
3,220 | Over 3,600 |
Tradable securities | |
Stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, options, bonds and fixed income, precious metals, crypto | Stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, options, bonds, CDs |
Trading platform | |
Three: Fidelity.com, app, Fidelity Trader+ | Two: Website and mobile app |
Mobile app | |
Available for iOS and Android | Available for iOS and Android |
Research and data | |
Several data providers, including Argus, Zacks, CFRA and S&P Global | Two: Argus and Market Grader |
Customer support options | |
24/7. Phone, email, chat, social media or physical branch (hours vary by method) | Phone support Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern; email support |
IRA match | |
None | None |
» Read our full review of Fidelity or our full review of Vanguard
Nerdy Perspective
I've had retirement accounts with Vanguard and Fidelity for many years, and both institutions make it perfectly easy to set it and forget it, which is the point of these types of accounts. The one thing I would have done differently is choose one or the other for all my retirement accounts. And I really love how well Fidelity combines all of its different account types, from workplace retirement plans to taxable brokerage accounts, into a single app. Fidelity definitely has the edge over Vanguard in the app user experience arena, but it's not quite enough of an incentive for me to transfer my IRA over to Fidelity (at this time, at least).
» Want to dive deeper? Explore our picks for the best brokers for first-time investors
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Methodology
Methodology
How do we review brokers?
All NerdWallet reviews and lists of the best investing products are created by our editorial team of full-time writers and editors, independent of any business relationships. In this case, our investing team'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, balanced assessment of brokerages to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgments on which ones will best meet your needs. Our highest priority is maintaining editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from brokerages through detailed questionnaires and conduct first-hand testing and observation through demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the brokerages and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each broker's performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).
For more details about the categories considered when rating brokers and our process, read our full methodology.
