finder.com’s rating: 4.3 / 5.0
★★★★★
TD Ameritrade is an online brokerage service designed for beginner investors and active traders. It features user-friendly trading platforms and a variety of mutual funds, but look out for costly short-term exchange-traded fund (ETF) and broker-assisted trade fees.
$0
or $25 broker-assisted
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit to open
| Stock trade fee | $0 or $25 broker-assisted |
|---|---|
| Option trade fee | $0 + $0.65/contract, or $25 broker-assisted |
| Asset types | Stocks, Bonds, Options, Mutual funds, ETFs, Cryptocurrency |
| Account types | Brokerage, Retirement |
| Mutual fund trade fee | $0 |
| Minimum deposit to open | $0 |
Review by
As the news editor at Finder, Ryan Brinks melds decades of experience in business news and online content into creating comprehensive and helpful comparisons of the companies you trust your money with. He loves to innovate and put money to work while keeping a careful eye on managing risk. Beyond work, Ryan's also passionate about his family and serving his community.
TD Ameritrade offers a host of attractive perks for a wide range of investors.
There’s no minimum deposit to open an account and no commissions on online trades. Plus, you get access to free educational resources and 24/7 online support.
But you may pay costly brokerage and short-term ETF fees. And you’ll pay a small fee for options contracts.
| Fees | ★★★★★ 3.5/5 | No commissions on stocks and fees are fair for other securities. |
| Available securities | ★★★★★ 5/5 | The only thing a Thinkorswim brokerage account can’t trade is cryptocurrency. |
| Customer support | ★★★★★ 5/5 | Support can quickly be reached in three ways. |
| Mobile app | ★★★★★ 4.6/5 | The app gets high marks in the Apple App Store but Google users report app freezes. |
| Research and tools | ★★★★★ 5/5 | A comprehensive suite of research and analytics tools are available. |
| Reliability | ★★★★★ 3/5 | One major outage has been reported. |
| Bonus star | ★ 1 | We awarded a bonus star for access to paper trading. |
To learn how our star ratings are calculated, read the methodology at the bottom of the page.
TD Ameritrade requires no minimum investment and provides education and market research. It may be best for:
In addition to its versatile platforms and educational resources, TD Ameritrade these perks:
TD Ameritrade offers a variety of investing platforms targeted at different types of investors from beginners to the advanced. Here are your choices.
TD Ameritrade web platform: This is TD Ameritrade’s all-inclusive web-based trading platform. It provides investors with what they need to screen and trade investments, build diversified portfolios, monitor their investments and access educational resources. Here are some features.
TD Ameritrade Mobile App: TD Ameritrade’s web-based tools and features extend to its mobile platform. Both currently have ratings of 3 out of 5 and 4.5 out of 5 on the Google Play and Apple App stores, respectively. Here’s some of what you can do.
Thinkorswim: This is a separate platform designed for experienced investors who want access to powerful research and analytical tools. You can access Thinkorswim online, on your desktop and via a mobile app. Here’s some of its highlights.
Keep an eye out for a few potential pitfalls:
Compare your investing options before deciding if this is the best fit for you.
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.
*Signup bonus information updated weekly.
TD Ameritrade is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but holds an B rating and an average of 1 out of 5 stars from 13 customer reviews as of October 2020.
Trustpilot gives TD Ameritrade 2 stars out of 5 based on 76 reviews. Of the 64% who rated the company “bad,” several appear to be scammers who are advertising services to help customers recover invested funds. Other users complain that they couldn’t connect with a human and had to solve issues with automation. Others found the app or website challenging to navigate.
Positive reviews touted the variety of products, free educational resources and affordability.
Visit a local TD Ameritrade branch to speak with a representative who can help you get started.
Whichever account you choose to open, you’ll need to meet a few eligibility requirements:
★★★★★ 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.
Our Top Pick
TD Ameritrade
