Stock trading and investing is easy to do today, but with so many options out there it has never been harder to pick the right broker. Luckily, we’ve put together this guide to the best free stock trading apps of 2025 in order to help you make the right decision.

Choosing a free stock trading app can be tricky thanks to the variables involved, with different assets, commission structures, and account types going around. We’ll dig into all of that and show you some of the top options on offer, as well as what to look for when you’re comparing this year’s top trading apps.

Why use a free trading app?

Free stock trading sounds like a no-brainer today, but it hasn’t actually been an option for all that long. Prior to 2015, just about every stockbroker or trading app charged some sort of fee, whether flat or percentage based. Some would also engage in a certain amount of gatekeeping, requiring minimum deposits in the thousands or even tens of thousands in order to get started.

The advent of free trading apps has created a market where low or no-cost trading has become the rule rather than the exception, and stocks (along with other asset classes) are much more readily available to the public.

Picking a free trading app, as with choosing any other product or service, tends to be a matter of your circumstances, behavior, and risk tolerance.

If you’re just looking to learn how trading works and would like to start off with some $5 trades, for instance, a broker that charges $1 per trade would be a bad idea. By the same token, if you can’t afford the sign-up fee or minimum deposit required by a traditional broker, then a free trading app might be your only choice.

Whatever your situation is, though, the free stock trading market is mature enough in 2025 that finding the right app for you is far from impossible!

10 best free stock trading apps in 2025

Here are our picks for 2025’s best free stock trading apps along with a list of several honorable mentions below!

1. Fidelity

Fidelity is better known as a traditional stock broker, and has been one of the giants of the field for a long time. It may come as no surprise, therefore, that they’ve kept up with market trends and can offer a free trading app of their own!

Setting up with a traditional powerhouse like Fidelity can help you alleviate some of the major risks that smaller free trading apps might pose. Fidelity also has billions of assets under its purview, so it’s unlikely to run into any problems where stability and safety is concerned.

Stock and ETF transactions are free on the Fidelity app, and the mobile experience is user-friendly and offers a slick, intuitive design. You also don’t have to deal with any account minimums, and there are plenty of zero expense ratio index and mutual funds to choose from.

The main down-side of Fidelity is that options contract fees can be more expensive than with competing brokers. This isn’t a problem if you’re just starting your investing journey, but if you’re actively looking for higher risk via options and margin trading, it may be the wrong platform for you.

For a top all-round experience and zero fee operations across the board, along with the security of knowing your assets are in safe hands, Fidelity is the undisputed number one.

2. Interactive Brokers & IBKR Lite

interactive brokers

If you’re looking to trade or invest on a truly global scale, then it’s hard to beat Interactive Brokers. On the one hand, they offer access to stocks and ETFs from a variety of foreign markets in addition to a comprehensive selection of US-listed assets, and on the other, they’ve got their doors open to customers from all over the world.

To put it quite simply, if you aren’t a US customer, then it’s highly likely that Interactive Brokers is going to be one of your top choices. And if you are a US resident, then you’re in luck, because you can sign up for IBKR Lite—and despite what the name might suggest, the Lite alternative does carry with it several extra benefits, including zero commission trading.

Interactive Brokers is as professional a trading platform as you’re likely going to find, and beyond the global selection of assets, you’ve also got access to every asset class imaginable—stocks, ETFs, funds, options, futures, forex, and even crypto can all be traded under one account with this trading platform.

One of the main criticisms levied against IBKR is the fact that it isn’t beginner friendly, and that’s a necessary compromise in order to give you so many tools and trading instruments. That being said, IBKR offsets this drawback with a major plus point in how they combine their free trial package with paper trading—so if you’re a beginner, you can get used to IBKR in your own time and engage in a little trial and error without having any real funds on the line. 

3. SoFi Invest

SoFi is a stock trading app targeting beginner investors, but don’t let that fool you if you’ve got a little experience in the trading game—it’s an excellent option for users of every knowledge and experience level.

It features low commissions across all assets and completely free stock and options trading, meaning that it may be your top pick if options are your thing given that just about every other platform charges options contract fees. You can also invest in fractional shares with a minimum of just $5, so it's a great place to start building your long-term portfolio.

SoFi Invest's only practical down-side is the fact that it charges multiple layers of fees on mutual funds, where offered, so a little bit of due diligence is needed if that's an asset class you're keen on. There are also a few other fees, such as an inactivity fee, that could cut into your balance if you've not taken a gander at their fee schedule.

4. Vanguard

Vanguard is often mentioned in the same breath as Fidelity, and is a pioneer of passive index fund investing. As such, if index and mutual funds are going to be a big part of your strategy, you can’t go wrong with Vanguard given their breadth of options and low-cost access.

You also don’t need to worry about account minimums or commissions on stocks, ETFs, or even mutual funds. Watch out for fees on assets like options, though, which can still have a contract fee while being free of commission.

Vanguard’s interface isn’t as smooth as you might want from a stock trading app, and they do lack some of the research tools and other bells and whistles that competitors offer. Still, Vanguard is massively capitalized and their safe, steady reputation ought to count for a lot.

The firm's ownership structure also merits a mention here since it isn't owned by shareholders but rather the folks who invest in the Vanguard funds. This means that, by and large, Vanguard's customers are its users, who in turn the company is beholden to. That's a great formula for ensuring top-notch customer service, and you can be assured that your user experience isn't going to be compromised in service of shareholder profits.

5. Webull

webull

Webull might be one of, if not the newest stock trading platform on this list, but it’s definitely one of the better ones and certainly capable of competing in the sort of rarefied air that other neo-brokers can’t sniff.

Very much mobile-first, Webull has built a reputation around offering deposit incentives, which is quite the hook—there are some very expensive stocks on the market, and as long as you meet the required initial deposit threshold, there’s a decent chance of getting your portfolio off to a running start.

Fortunately though, Webull doesn’t rely on too much gamification beyond that. Quite the opposite, in fact—Webull is well ahead of most of its competitors in several areas including charting and technical indicators, which among other things means it also attracts more skilled traders as customers than the average stock app.

It must be noted that Webull is in fact owned by a Chinese company, but it’s fully regulated in the US and generally has a solid track record as far as safety and security goes.

6. Ally Invest

ally invest

Ally Invest takes things a step further from just trading; it offers an all-in-one financial suite that lets you manage your finances efficiently in one place. Whether it’s your checking account, savings, or stock portfolio, you can manage the lot with the Ally Invest app.

This does mean that it’s a little light on options as a sophisticated trading platform, but if you’re just looking to start building a portfolio it’ll do just fine. Ally also brings low commissions when it comes to mutual funds, but it doesn’t actually offer no-transaction-fee (NFT) mutual funds.

7. Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is yet another specialist broker to make the list, but there’s a good reason for that. Schwab has a vast selection of assets for you to invest in, offers fractionals, and has several account types based on your profile as a customer.

Customer service is a noted strength of the company, and while the mobile app isn’t quite as slick and refined as a neo-broker’s might be, Schwab more than makes up for that with its wealth of resources and sterling reputation.

8. Trading 212

trading212

Trading 212 is a low-cost stock trading app that’s extremely easy to use, and a great option if you’re not in the US—in fact, it isn’t an option at all if you’re stateside, focusing instead on markets like the UK, Australia, and the European Union.

In fact, Trading 212 serves over 100 countries and was the first platform to offer zero-commission trading to many of these, and time in the market shows given that the app has held the number one app store rating for the UK and Germany since 2016 and 2017 respectively.

If your main interest is buying or trading stocks, then Trading 212 is a solid choice, with a vast selection of shares as well as ETFs to pick from. The platform now has comfortably over 10,000 assets for you to purchase, and the charting tools and indicators to back up your trading strategies even before you take the plunge.

Trading 212 also notably offers CFDs or contracts for difference, a trading instrument that is available in many markets but banned in the US. These are extremely high risk propositions and can cause you to lose a lot more money than you gamble (and CFDs are indeed gambling) but if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for, then this is the platform for it.

9. eToro

etoro

Originally known as RetailFX when it was founded back in 2007, eToro has come a long way from its Forex-focused roots and is now considered one of the top social investing platforms out there. Much of the credit for that paradigm shift is down to its flagship CopyTrader feature, which allows users to follow top traders and copy their exact trading strategies in just a single click.

This feature made a lot of sense, especially in the last decade when post-recession gains shot a lot of professional traders to superstardom, and its ease of use and simple UI has kept it relevant in the time since.

Given the prominence of eToro’s CopyTrader feature it’s important to note that using it requires a minimum of $200, and there are other cash-based social features in play as well. One of them is the eToro Club, where traders are organized into tiers based on portfolio (cash plus assets) value, from Silver at $5k all the way to Diamond at $250k+. These tiers automatically unlock different rewards, such as zero-fee withdrawals, live webinars, and VIP events.

Just like the other entries on this list, eToro offers zero-commission trading of US stocks or ETFs, but there’s 1% charge on crypto trades and a few other fees to look out for depending on your region.

10. Robinhood

robinhood

Robinhood is one of the biggest names in trading, and remains very much part of the trading zeitgeist even though it receives a lot less press these days than it once enjoyed—for better or for worse.

A pioneer of free stock trading in the US, this app was once on every phone and could be spied in practically every coffee shop, and the simple, pleasing charts it generates are still very much part of many a trading influencer’s social media quiver. Simplicity, in fact, is core to the platform as a whole, and it makes trading extremely easy.

Some would argue that it makes trading too easy, and it’s definitely the place to go if you’d like to play with instruments like options without jumping through hoops like trading permissions and other restrictions. The app also features quite a bit of gamification, and these literal bells and whistles can help to make trading fun, especially for novices.

Robinhood also stands out by offering options and crypto trading free of any fees in addition to stocks and ETFs, and that’s not something that many other stock trading apps are willing to match. However, all of these features for free means that Robinhood are more beholden than most to their true customers, market makers, and they’ve also had significantly more regulatory issues in their brief history than the average trading app.

Notable mentions

Here are some of the other top stock trading apps that offer free or commission-less trading but didn’t quite make our list:

  • TDAmeritrade
  • eTrade from Morgan Stanley
  • Public.com
  • Hargreaves Lansdown
  • Merrill Edge
  • Degiro

How to choose a free stock trading app

If you’re on the fence about which free stock trading app to try out, here are some of the factors you might want to consider when making your decision:

Free stock and ETF trading

By definition, this is the main thing you’re looking for in a free stock trading app since, without the ability to buy stocks and ETF shares without any extra charge, the broker wouldn’t be free! That being said, it may still be worth checking out brokers who charge low rather than no fees—the additional benefits may be worth it, and some free brokers could actually end up being more expensive thanks to how high they bill you for things like sending paper documents your way.

Minimal fees and commissions

Keep an eye out for what sort of fees brokers charge outside of stock and ETF transactions. It’s unlikely that every product offered by the broker will be free, so make sure you know what you can do and how much you’re going to pay for each option. Speaking of which, many derivatives (such as options) tend to have a small fee attached to them, so make sure you check the broker's commission schedule so you know exactly what you're getting into.

Access to different assets

If you’re on a stock trading app, you’re either looking to invest or trade. To do either of these, you need access to different investment or trading options. Whether you’re after stocks and ETFs or derivatives and even cryptocurrencies, make sure that the stock trading app gives you access to everything you may want now or in the future. Generally, the bigger the selection of assets or trading instruments, the better the broker.

Options and margin

This is a big one, because you might either discard these completely or be very interested in them. Stock trading apps know this, so keep an eye out for what sorts of fees and charges apply to options and margin trading on the app if you do want to use them. If you do indeed want to trade on margin and use high-risk instruments like options, make sure you check on whether the trading app has different levels of trading permission. Many brokers deny access to things like margin and options unless you're able to prove you have the wealth and the skill to handle them.

Fractional shares

One of the benefits offered by newer stock trading apps is that, unlike traditional brokers, they give you the option to buy fractional shares. If you only have a small amount of money to invest at a time but want access to very pricey stocks, you’ll need a stock trading app that allows you to buy fractionals. This way, you can build the portfolio of your dreams brick by brick, and even dollar cost average your way into a highly diversified portfolio with low starting capital.

Direct registration system

You may not have heard of the direct registration system, but it’s the only way to take full ownership of your stocks outside of requesting physical certificates. Checking if the stock trading app allows you to directly register your shares is a great litmus test of how legit they are—that way, you know that they’re actually buying your shares rather than just taking your money and changing a number in their UI. If a broker or trading platform lets you DRS your shares, it's a good bet that they're rock solid in other aspects of operation, too.

Customer service

Aside from a slick, comfortable, bug-free user experience, this might be the most important thing outside of proper, low-cost access to financial options and services. Good customer service can be fantastic to have especially when things go wrong, especially given that it's your wealth that's at stake here.

How can a trading app be free?

Different stock trading apps have different revenue models, but the general rule of thumb at play here is that if something’s completely free, then you’re the product.

This is mostly true when it comes to stock trading apps thanks to a practice called Payment For Order Flow that is still legal in the U.S. at the time of writing. PFOF sees free stock trading apps getting compensation for directing your stock and option orders to third parties for execution.

Proponents of this practice (generally the brokers themselves and market makers who benefit from this) argue that it results in faster trade execution and better prices, but this isn’t always the case. It’s also viewed by many as a blatant conflict of interest.

Almost every free stock trading app accepts PFOF, with the notable exceptions of Fidelity, Merrill Edge, and Public.com. For a full list, you can look up the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Rule 606 reports since brokers are mandated to disclose their participation in PFOF.

Key takeaways

Choosing a free stock trading app comes down to what you’re really looking for. If you just want to buy a few dollars’ worth of stocks or ETF shares on a regular basis then a simpler, more convenient app might be for you, but if you’re looking to trade options, then you need to have a hard look at contract fees and research tools.

Neo-brokers pioneered the concept of free stock trading, but all of that gamification is geared toward making you trade as frequently as possible—meaning that they have more orders to sell to market makers for execution via PFOF. As such, our top recommendations include more traditional brokers who can offer free trading without resorting to these practices.

Whatever you’re after when it comes to finance and whichever app you like the look of, remember to check out Whop's trading communities! You can compare stock trading apps with other investors or traders and see what others just like you say about the different options on offer.

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