The Best Online Discount Brokers (Updated)

Written by nickel - 10 Comments

Not long ago, I asked readers to list their favorite online brokers. The results are now in, so I thought I’d compile the results here, for your edification. What follows is a list of online brokers that garnered multiple recommendations. There were a number of broker that received a single recommendation, but I’m only including those that got at least two votes.

» Zecco (Click to Apply)

It was a close race, but Zecco came out on top. Zecco is best known for it’s free online stock trades. This makes it particularly powerful if you’d like to invest in ETFs instead of mutual funds, but don’t want to pay the commissions.

» Scottrade (Click to Apply)

There was a lot of love for Scottrade despite the relatively high cost. Don’t get me wrong — it’s still cheap by traditional brokerage standards at $7/trade, but it’s considerably more expensive than free. Readers liked it for ease of use and good customer service. They also have a number of branch offices.

» Sharebuilder (Click to Apply)

Cheap, convenient, and backed by ING Direct. What more could you ask for? Sharebuilder has no account minimum, no inactivity fees, and you can invest any amount (i.e., they can handle fractional shares). It’s not free, but it’s darn close in that it only costs $4/trade.

» TradeKing (Click to Apply)

TradeKing was the only other online broker that garnered multiple votes. They feature low commissions ($4.95/trade) and a wealth of investing tools. TradeKing was also rated the best discount broker by SmartMoney in each of the last two years, and Barron’s listed it as their top pick for online brokers based on the results of a 2008 reader survey.

Published on April 28th, 2008 - 10 Comments
Filed under: Online
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

I have been with sharebuilder for a while and was very excited to see that ING bought them, but I will be opening a zecco account soon. You just can’t beat free trades and their layout doesn’t look bad either…
Comment by ChristianPF — Apr 28th 2008 @ 1:21 pm
You should try out TradeKing!
Comment by optionstrader — Apr 28th 2008 @ 3:40 pm
Woohoo - go Zecco! Thanks everyone for helping us come out on top.

-Tony (Zecco Product Manager)
Comment by Tony Leach — Apr 28th 2008 @ 5:52 pm
I’m a huge fan of ING, so naturally I’m drawn to ShareBuilder. In my book there’s a lot to be said about customer service…
Comment by thehungrydollar.com — Apr 28th 2008 @ 7:49 pm
Sorry I missed the survey. I use Think or Swim and love it. Great charting tools and low fees (especially on options).
Comment by Vernon Keszler — Apr 29th 2008 @ 8:07 am
Go zecco,i think zecco is the best so far , cos of free trade and very good customer serivices!
Comment by jackie b — Apr 30th 2008 @ 8:46 pm
I have accounts with both Zecco and E*TRADE. While I use Zecco for purchasing individual stocks, all of my mutual funds (mostly in IRAs) are at E*TRADE, and I do all of my research there. I’m willing to put up with some frustration to get free trades, but E*TRADE’s research and analysis tools (which you can get by opening an very good savings or checking account) beat anything else I’ve seen.
Comment by Christopher Smith — May 1st 2008 @ 6:57 am
Only one issue with your results - you failed to publish how many votes were cast and how were they distributed among the brokers.
Comment by Jack — May 23rd 2008 @ 1:02 am
I have been using Sharebuilder too! however, looking at Zecco with the great prices I will be opening a new zecco account.
Comment by Linda — Jun 4th 2008 @ 3:28 pm
The Carnival of Creative Investing is up!
http://idealinvestment.blogspo.....up_05.html
Comment by ide — Jun 5th 2008 @ 4:28 pm