finder.com’s rating: 4.3 / 5.0
★★★★★
$0
or $25 if it is a broker-assisted trade
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit to open
| Intro or bonus offer | Receive a $500 account bonus with a $100,000 minimum deposit |
|---|---|
| Stock trade fee | $0 or $25 if it is a broker-assisted trade |
| Option trade fee | $0 + $0.65/contract, or $25 if it is a broker-assisted trade |
| Asset types | Stocks, Bonds, Options, Mutual funds, ETFs |
| Account types | Brokerage, Retirement |
| Government bond trade fee | $1 |
| Corporate bond trade fee | $1 |
| Minimum deposit to open | $0 |
Review by
Cassidy Horton is a writer for Finder, specializing in banking and kids’ debit cards. She’s been featured on Legal Zoom, MSN, and Consolidated Credit and has a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia Southern University. When not writing, you can find her exploring the Pacific Northwest and watching endless reruns of The Office.
Charles Schwab is a popular online broker offering commission-free trades with no investment minimums. These low barriers to entry make it a great option for most investors — both new and experienced. Plus, it has 24/7 customer support and an extensive suite of educational resources.
But it has a B- rating with the Better Business Bureau and several customers complain about Charles Schwab closing their account without warning.
| Fees | ★★★★★ 4/5 | Stocks are commission-free and fees for options, bonds, funds and futures are competitive. |
| Available securities | ★★★★★ 5/5 | Schwab brokerage accounts can trade everything but forex and crypto. |
| Customer support | ★★★★★ 5/5 | Support can quickly be reached in three ways. |
| Mobile app | ★★★★★ 4.7/5 | Charles Schwab’s mobile platform is well-liked by both Google and Apple users. |
| Research and tools | ★★★★★ 5/5 | Schwab’s investment tools and research offerings are robust. |
| Reliability | ★★★★★ 3/5 | A couple of service outages have been reported for this platform. |
To learn how our star ratings are calculated, read the methodology at the bottom of the page.
You can swap a wide variety of assets with a Charles Schwab brokerage account — with the exception of forex and crypto.
Charles Schwab caters to a wide range of investors including:
Charles Schwab’s trading fees are competitive. Like many brokers, it has done away with commissions on stocks and ETFs. Its fees for trading mutual funds are the same as what you’d pay at TD Ameritrade and Fidelity, and its fees for derivatives contracts are on par with most trading platforms.
You can open an account with any amount, and Charles Schwab’s account transfer fees are better than most — brokers typically charge $75 for account transfers.
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Stocks and ETFs trading fee | $0 |
| Options trading fee | $0.65 per contract |
| Futures trading fee | $1.50 per contract |
| Futures options trading fee | $1.50 per contract |
| No-load mutual fund trading fee | $49.95 |
| Inactivity fee | $0 |
| Account transfer fee | $15 – $25 |
Charles Schwab offers a spectrum of portfolio and wealth management services for hands-off investors. If you’re ready to entrust your portfolio to a human or robo-advisor, be prepared to meet the corresponding portfolio minimums and cover any one-time or annual management fees associated with the service.
| Details | Account minimum | Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | Robo-advisor | $5,000 | None |
| Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium | Robo-advisor with unlimited one-on-one guidance with a financial planner | $25,000 | $300 one-time planning fee, $30 monthly advisory fee |
| Schwab Advisor Network | Portfolio guidance from a financial planner or analyst inside the Schwab Advisor Network | $500,000 | Fees vary by advisor |
| Schwab Private Client | Portfolio management from a team of dedicated financial consultants, advisors and wealth strategists | $1 million | 0.80% |
Sign up for an account with Charles Schwab either online or by visiting a branch location.
To sign up online:
You must meet the following eligibility criteria to open an account with Charles Schwab:
Have the following information ready when you set up your Charles Schwab account:
Charles Schwab is well-equipped to serve a variety of investors with a wide swath of research tools and features.
You have three options when executing trades through Charles Schwab: its mobile app, its web platform and its desktop platform. All platforms have the ability to execute trades, but each offers a unique blend of features to help you research and monitor your positions.
Charles Schwab’s mobile app isn’t exclusively designed for investing, which makes it difficult to isolate feedback about the app’s trading interface. That said, its mobile app ratings still provide practical insight into the app as a whole.
Charles Schwab’s reputation among Apple users is far superior to its standing with Android users — although the sheer volume of Apple App Store ratings far outweighs those left on Google Play.
| Apple App Store | Google Play Store | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating< | ★★★★★ 4.8/5 Based on 424,700 reviews | ★★★★★ 3.1/5 Based on 19,287 reviews |
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In 2019, Charles Schwab announced its plans to acquire TD Ameritrade in a transaction valued at $26 billion. The acquisition is moving forward as planned, with shareholders and US Justice Department officials both voting in favor of the merger.
The process is expected to take 18 to 36 months to complete. Until then, both platforms will continue to operate independently.
Explore your options by fees, asset types and signup bonus to find the best place for your portfolio.
*Signup bonus information updated weekly.
Charles Schwab was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas. It’s a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities for customers up to $500,000 or $250,000 for claims for cash.
Charles Schwab lacks Better Business Bureau (BBB) accreditation but receives an A+ rating based on its length of time in business and responsiveness to BBB complaints. It has 207 complaints to its name on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), most of which are about its banking products. CFPB complaints about Charles Schwab’s investment platform are few and far between.
Customer reviews of Charles Schwab are mixed. As of March 2021, Charles Schwab receives 1.35 out of 5 stars on the Better Business Bureau after 23 customer reviews. The company’s Trustpilot presence is similarly lackluster, earning a TrustScore of 1.9 out of 5 based on the feedback of 50 customers.
Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot complaints mention slow customer service and transfer delays. Some reviewers say they had trouble closing their accounts and felt like they were being scammed. Happier customers note low fees and helpful support reps. It’s worth noting that feedback on these review platforms is feedback left for the company as a whole — and Charles Schwab is a lot more than an investment platform.
Reviews on Reddit are generally positive and align with sentiment found elsewhere, praising Schwab for low fees and investment options and criticizing its disappointing customer service.
There are three ways to contact Charles Schwab customer service:
★★★★★ 5/5 — Excellent
★★★★★ 4/5 — Good
★★★★★ 3/5 — Average
★★★★★ 2/5 — Subpar
★★★★★ 1/5 — Poor
We analyze top online trading platforms and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include fees, securities available for trade, customer support, customer feedback, platform resources and overall reliability.
For a complete breakdown of how we score each category, read the full methodology of how we rate trading platforms.
