Wealthsimple and Qtrade are user-friendly platforms that let you trade stocks online or via a mobile app. They’re legit and reputable brokers, and they both offer a host of useful tools and features for Canadian investors. But which one is right for you? Let’s compare Wealthsimple vs Qtrade side-by-side to find out.
| Wealthsimple | Qtrade | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded in | 2014 | 1999 |
| Best for | Go with this platform if you are just starting out with investing and want a commission-free option for buying standard securities like ETFs. | Go with this platform if you want commission-free trading and high-quality research and analysis tools |
| After-hours trading | Yes, 24 hours a day for 5 days a week for US-listed stocks and ETFs | Yes, pre-market trading on US exchanges from 8:30 to 9:29am and post-market trading from 4:00 to 5:00pm |
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 |
| Fractional shares | Yes, for Canadian and US stocks and ETFs | No |
| Customer support | Available via live chat and phone | Available via phone, email and live chat |
| Funding methods |
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| Withdrawal methods |
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| Get started |
Wealthsimple is a Canadian fintech that offers a variety of financial products and services through a user-friendly mobile app. Founded in 2014 as a robo-advisor, it now also offers a chequing account, a credit card, and self-directed investing services.
With a Wealthsimple Trade account, you can invest in US and Canadian stocks and ETFs, cryptocurrency and gold. Wealthsimple also does not charge any commissions on stock, ETF or options trades.
Qtrade is a Canadian discount online brokerage. Founded in 2000, it offers an online platform and mobile app where self-directed investors can trade Canadian and US stocks and ETFs as well as options, bonds and more.
As of October 2025, Qtrade now offers commission-free trading of stocks and ETFs. It also provides a robo-advisor service with its Qtrade Guided Portfolios.
The best trading platform for you will support all the assets and markets you want to trade. Here’s a breakdown of the investment products you can trade with Wealthsimple and Qtrade.
Who’s the winner?Qtrade provides access to a wider range of tradeable assets.
| Fee type | Wealthsimple | Qtrade |
|---|---|---|
| Account fee | $0 | $0 |
| Trading fees |
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| Management fee |
| 0.60% on first $2,000 to $100,000 0.50% on next $400,000 0.40% on next $500,000 0.35% on over $1 million |
| Currency conversion fee | 1.50% | 0.90% |
| Withdrawal fee | Instant withdrawals: 2.5% | $0 |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | $0 | $0 |
| Account transfer fee | $0 | $150 |
Who’s the winner?It’s a tie. Both platforms offer commission-free trading.
Wealthsimple and Qtrade both allow you to invest using a wide range of accounts. These include:
Who’s the winner?It’s a tie. Wealthsimple and Qtrade both offer an extensive range of account types.
Wealthsimple first launched in 2014 as a robo-advisor, and it continues to offer managed investment portfolios through its Wealthsimple Invest service. Its offerings are headlined by the Classic portfolio, which invests in a diverse range of ETFs based on your financial goals and the level of risk you’re willing to accept—Aggressive, Growth, Balanced or Conservative. Wealthsimple Income portfolios invest in dividend-paying and high-yield ETFs, the high-growth Summit portfolio invests in public equities and private market funds, and private credit funds round out the range.
Qtrade also has a robo-advisor service with its Guided Portfolios. Once you complete a questionnaire about your financial goals, you’ll be matched with an investment portfolio curated to suit your needs. Your portfolio features a combination of Canadian, US and global stocks and bonds. The available options are Income, Income & Growth, Balanced, Growth & Income, Growth and Maximum Growth.
Who’s the winner?Wealthsimple. has slightly lower management fees on portfolios for new investors.
When you invest in stocks and ETFs that trade in US dollars, foreign exchange costs when you convert CAD to USD and vice versa can eat into your profits. The good news is that Wealthsimple and Qtrade both have USD accounts so you can avoid currency conversion costs.
Wealthsimple charges a $10 monthly fee for USD accounts, but there’s no fee if you reach Premium or Generation client status. It also supports Norbert’s Gambit to help you save money on large CAD/USD conversions, but you’ll pay a $9.95 fee.
Qtrade also offers USD-denominated registered and non-registered accounts. But it’s worth noting that Qtrade charges a $15 per quarter admin fee for US dollar registered accounts. Qtrade supports Norbert’s Gambit too, with commission-free CAD/USD exchanges.
Who’s the winner?Qtrade has no ongoing fees for non-registered USD accounts, so it wins this category.
Wealthsimple and Qtrade both offer the flexibility to trade using cash or margin accounts. Margin trading allows you to borrow money to increase your buying power or short-sell stocks. Wealthsimple also allows you to link a TFSA to your margin account, which means you can use the equity in your TFSA to further boost your buying power.
Wealthsimple’s margin rates are displayed below.
| Core clients ($1 in assets) | Premium clients ($100,000 in assets) | Generation clients ($500,000 in assets) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAD | 4.95% | 4.45% | 3.95% |
| USD | 7.25% | 6.75% | 6.25% |
Check Qtrade’s margin interest rates in the table below.
| Currency | Tier | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| CAD | $0 – $99,999 | 6.00% (or 5.70% with Investor Plus status) |
| $100,000+ | 5.45% (or 5.20% with Investor Plus status) | |
| USD | $0 – $99,999 | 8.30% (or 8.00% with Investor Plus status) |
| $100,000+ | 7.75% (or 7.50% with Investor Plus status) |
Who’s the winner?Wealthsimple’s lower rates and TFSA linking feature mean it takes the win here.
Wealthsimple and Qtrade excel at different things, so determining which one offers the best investor experience depends on the type of investor you are.
The Wealthsimple app is best for quick and easy investing. It’s simple and straightforward to use even for novice investors, and you can access a wide range of other products—like a chequing account and credit card—all in a single app.
Where Qtrade shines is in the range of research and analysis tools it offers. With powerful market research tools, analyst ratings, detailed charting, investment screeners and portfolio analytics at your fingertips, it offers plenty to please slightly more experienced investors.
Who’s the winner?It really depends on what you want in a trading platform. If simplicity is your top priority, Wealthsimple is the winner. But if you want high-quality portfolio analytics and research tools, Qtrade is the winner.
For new investors, Wealthsimple offers handy guides and tutorials on everything from investing basics to technical analysis. It also offers in-depth portfolio analytics, advanced charting tools through its Trade Plus platform, and has announced plans to launch a range of AI stock research tools to help users choose their investments.
Qtrade also offers an online education centre, with different resources available to suit beginners as well as experienced investors. And if you’re looking for tools to help you choose investments and monitor the performance of your portfolio, Qtrade has well and truly got you covered. It offers investment screeners, financial goal planning tools, technical and fundamental research, and Morningstar analyst recommendations.
Qtrade also offers a suite of portfolio analytics tools. You can check the health of your portfolio with Portfolio Score, build a portfolio that meets your needs with Portfolio Creator, and use the Portfolio Simulator to test out different adjustments to your investments.
Who’s the winner?Qtrade. offers high-quality portfolio analytics and investment research tools.
Wealthsimple and Qtrade are both members of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), which oversees investment dealers in Canada. Both platforms are also members of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), ensuring that up to $1 million of your eligible assets will be covered in the unlikely event that either broker becomes insolvent.
Who’s the winner?It’s a tie. Both brokerages are properly regulated in Canada.
The best online trading platforms put a range of measures in place to safeguard your funds and personal data.
Wealthsimple undergoes regular third-party security audits to ensure that its protective measures are up to standard, and it is SOC 1 and SOC 2 industry standard-compliant. Security features on Wealthsimple include two-factor authentication, suspicious activity alerts, data encryption, and the ability to set up security restrictions on your account.
The Qtrade website only accepts browsers that use 256-bit encryption. It also uses firewalls to protect the personal information of users, requires mandatory two-factor authentication, and allows you to whitelist trusted devices so that any login from another device triggers an alert. Finally, Qtrade has an Investor Internet Security Guarantee, which ensures that you will be reimbursed for 100% of any losses resulting from unauthorized online brokerage activity (provided you are not at fault).
Who’s the winner?Qtrade. Wealthsimple and Qtrade are both safe and secure platforms, but we like the peace of mind of the Investor Internet Security Guarantee at Qtrade.
The speed and depth of market data a trading platform offers is crucial for active traders. Wealthsimple offers real-time Level 1 market data for Canadian and US exchanges, as does Qtrade.
But Qtrade offers Level 2 data quotes for all Canadian exchanges during the order execution process. And if you want to access Level 2 market data and full depth-of-book information for the US market, Qtrade customers get a $2 monthly subscription fee discount off market data plans from third-party partner Quotestream.
Who’s the winner?Qtrade has the edge here.
The Wealthsimple app offers a streamlined user experience right from the start. It offers a slick interface that makes it simple to buy and sell stocks, track your portfolio and research investments. Plus, you get the convenience of managing all your Wealthsimple products in one app.
Qtrade’s app is geared slightly towards more experienced investors. It all starts with the user-friendly account dashboard, where you can easily check your balance and track performance. You can also create watchlists, use charting tools, check your trading history and access analyst ratings.
| Wealthsimple | Qtrade | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple App Store rating |
4.2 –
★★★★★ 128,999 reviews |
3.7 –
★★★★★ 441 reviews |
| Google Play rating |
4.1 –
★★★★★ 80,820 reviews |
4.0 –
★★★★★ 397 reviews |
Who’s the winner?Wealthsimple. Despite some mixed reviews from Android users, Wealthsimple has a user-friendly app that has received many more reviews than Qtrade’s mobile app.
If you only have a small amount to invest, brokerages that offer fractional shares let you start trading with as little as $1. That’s the case at Wealthsimple, where you can buy fractional shares of thousands of Canadian and US stocks and ETFs. Meanwhile, fractional share trading is not supported on Qtrade.
If you want to trade over-the-counter stocks, Wealthsimple supports OTC trading of a limited selection of US stocks. Eligible stocks feature an “OTC” label when you search for them in the Wealthsimple app. OTC trading is also available in most registered and non-registered accounts at Qtrade.
Dollar-cost averaging is an investing strategy that involves making recurring purchases of a stock or ETF on a regular basis. Wealthsimple lets you automate your investing by setting up recurring stock, ETF and crypto purchases on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.
Qtrade allows you to set up regular automatic contributions to your self-directed investing account, and you can also establish recurring mutual fund purchases. But you can’t automate recurring stock or ETF purchases with Qtrade, so you will need to manually execute your trades.
The general consensus among Reddit users is that Wealthsimple is a good choice for new investors looking for an easy way to start their investing journey. It wins praise for its user-friendly interface, commission-free trading and welcome bonus offers. Qtrade, while sometimes confused with Questrade by Reddit posters, also received praise for its welcome bonuses and its research and analysis tools, so it’s seen as a better option for more experienced investors or frequent traders.
It’s a tough choice. Both Wealthsimple are legit and reputable platforms, offer $0 commission trading and offer features to suit different types of investors.
If you want an easy way to buy and hold stocks and ETFs commission-free for the long term, Wealthsimple is the winner.
If you’re an experienced investor looking for in-depth research tools and analysis, Qtrade is the better choice.
Not sure if either Wealthsimple or Qtrade is right for you? Check out these four alternative trading platforms.
Trading commissions apply, but students, young investors and active traders can take advantage of fee discounts. Investor’s Edge also offers a large suite of research and analysis tools, including screeners and CIBC Capital Markets research reports, to help you choose the right investments.
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