TOP BROKERS FOR FREE STOCK TRADING 2021
Free stock trading in 2021 should be based on more than just ETF trades and the stock price. That’s because all brokers offer free trades. But do all of them have great market research and trading platforms along with an excellent education?
Add to that the fact that most brokers charge a payment for order flow (PFOF). It is a hidden fee that makes almost $1B in profits each year for the stock market industry.
Our annual 2021 Review includes 11 different online brokers with free trading options. Each platform was evaluated and scored on:
- Testing of about 100 features of each broker
- The break-up of various account fees
- Implementation of order practices
TOP FREE TRADING BROKERS 2021
Tradezone101.com used 256 variable factors to post a review if the best online brokers 2021. They are:
- Plus500 – The best for everybody, even beginners
- Forex – The one to use for everyday investors
- Interactive Brokers– Best professional trading tools, free trading
- soFI– Best trader app, free trading
- Robinhood – Excellent research, free trading
Plus500 – Top free trading platform
Plus500 provides an interface for executing trades without the need for advanced functionality. The broker’s spreads are competitive, which keeps costs low, and the proprietary WebTrader platform is intuitively functional. Plus500 have the additional security of regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority. The lack of educational and research resources, not providing MT4 as an alternate platform, and no auto-trading make this broker unsuitable for beginners and technically oriented traders.
71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets & CFDs with the provider above.
Forex – Great education, free trading
Forex service all types of traders but its emphasis on fast, reliable execution for the high-volume trader makes them top rated in industry. They offers access to a variety of financial instruments with spread and commission costs that are on par with the industry, a choice of account types, multiple user interfaces, and educational and research resources. But more attention can be given to customers for achieving better rating.
Please check and review all terms and conditions before applying.
Interactive Brokers – Best professional trading tools, free trading
Interactive Brokers has made a great effort to make their technology more appealing to the mass market which makes them one of the few brokers with the latest technological upgrades. Traders with complex strategies are happy to be part of Interactive brokers but the new traders with more of hold on investment are still a dream come true for them.
Please check and review all terms and conditions before applying.
SoFI – Best Trader app, free trading
SoFi is well-known for its loan products, especially personal loans. SoFi is geared towards beginning investors. It isn’t intended to be the best place for experienced investors who are analyzing stocks. SoFi is a great place to buy and sell stocks or cryptocurrencies but If you want to invest in options, mutual funds, or pretty much anything else, you’ll have to do it elsewhere.
Please check and review all terms and conditions before applying.
OTHER LEADING PLATFORMS FOR FREE STOCK TRADING
Other top trading platforms that made it into our 2021 Review are:
- Robinhood
Read to find out more about their key features and deliverability.
Robinhood
If you’re new to investing and have a small balance to start with, Robinhood is the place to help you get used to the idea of trading. The extremely simple app and website are not at all intimidating and provide a smooth on-ramp to the investing experience, especially for those exploring stocks and ETFs. But If you’re a trader or an active investor who uses charts, screeners, and analyst research, you’re better off signing up for a broker that has those amenities.
Please check and review all terms and conditions before applying.
COMPARISON OF TRADING FEES
We’ve used our online brokerage comparison tool to compare the account and trading fees for the top free trading platforms.
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| 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets & CFDs with the provider above. | |||||
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| 76.4% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets & CFDs with the provider above. | |||||
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| 71.2% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets & CFDs with the provider above. | |||||
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COMMISSION FREE TRADING
In October 2019, there was a pricing war in the stock market. It led to brokerages stopping their commission charges on stock and ETF trades. It took the edge away from free trading platforms such as Robinhood.
Now, most brokerages have no charges for stock and ETF trades.
How do brokers make profits when there is no commission on trades?
The revenue sources for each brokerage are different. Webull and Robinhood largely depend on the income from their order flow payments (PFOF). Whereas, larger brokers like Charles Schwab and Fidelity earn profits from shifting the unused money in customer accounts into subsidiary accounts every night.
More information: When brokerage companies move the idle money into other accounts, they earn a percentage of interest from it. Even though they claim that they share the interest with their customers, the real story is that they keep most of it for themselves. The interest percentage is quite small for each account, but this activity is carried across millions of accounts. It all adds up because billions are lying around in unused cash in these accounts.
What is the top free trading platform?
Our choice for the top free trading platform based on $0 stock and ETF trades, industry-leading market research and education, and a wide range of trading tools are:
- Plus500
- Forex
- Interactive Brokers
- soFI
- Robinhood
OUR APPROACH AND PROCESS
For our annual best trading platforms review, we collected 2,816 data points over three months and used the results to rank brokers. Participation is mandatory for all the brokers included in the survey. Each participating broker completed a detailed data profile and had an annual meeting (live or web).
We have a comprehensive data validation process that has an error rate of 0.01%. each year. This gives our online readers credible and high-quality data.
Tradezone101.com has the largest database of information on the online broker industry. Our rigorous self-checks, combined with thorough research provides you the latest stock market information you can trust.
