Comparison (US)
Ameritrade vs Interactive Brokers: Which is the best to invest in?
If you are looking for a great investment platform, you can find great features on Ameritrade or Interactive Brokers. So, keep reading to know which one is best!
Ameritrade or Interactive Brokers: comparison for investors
Are you looking for a great investment and trading platform to help you with your own investments? The Ameritrade broker and Interactive Brokers can be great options for you, depending on what are your investment needs. So, which one can be the best choice for you, Ameritrade or Interactive Brokers? We can help you find out in this post!
The Ameritrade broker is an online trader, and it has been active since 1975. It can give you great features if you are a beginner in the investment world. There are great investment options and lots of research and education tools to help first-time traders. And it can even be great for more experienced traders as well. And you can have amazing customer service!
Interactive Brokers is an online broker that is more designed for experienced and professional traders. This platform has great software and features to help you invest better. Also, it can be great for first-time users too. That is because they have a new platform called IBKR Lite that can be great for beginners.
So, if you want to know more about these two great online brokers, keep reading our post and also find out which one can be the best for you!
How to join the Interactive Brokers Investing app?
Do you fit the trader profile to join Interactive Brokers Investing? If so, keep reading to know how to open your IBKR account!
How to join the Ameritrade Investing app?
Do you fit the investor profile to use Ameritrade Investing? If so, keep reading to know more about how to apply!
Ameritrade | Interactive Brokers | |
Trading fees | Stocks, ETFs, and options are all free (base fee) $2.25 per contract in futures Per contract, $0.65 in options | $0 for IBKR Lite 1% of trade value $0.005 per share (Pro Platform) |
Account minimum | No account minimum | $0 |
Promotion | $0 for commission fees | No promotions are available now |
Investment choices | Long and short stocks Mutual funds OTCBB Forex Bonds Futures and more! *Terms apply | Stocks, fractional shares, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, options, Futures, Forex, and metals |
Ameritrade
Ameritrade is an online broker that can be a good option for first-time investors or traders. This broker offers a great mobile app where you can use many of the features offered. Also, this broker offers incredibly useful tools for research and education in its platform.
Moreover, this broker does not charge for some trades, and it has no account minimum amount. In addition, users have good customer support to help them with any doubts or problems that they might have regarding the platforms. Also, you can get many benefits from using this broker, even if you are an active and more experienced trader or investor.
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Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers is a broker that offers great features that can be explored by experienced traders. Also, there is a new platform called IBKR Lite, which was designed for those who are starting in the trading market.
Moreover, this broker charges very low fees for trading if compared to other similar brokers. And this broker offers great trading options, such as ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, stocks, options, futures, and more. In addition, there is the option of investing in cryptocurrency.
Also, this broker offers a great mobile app that can be great for experienced traders or investors. So, this broker can aid you with amazing tools that you can make the best of if you are a more experienced investor. And, with the IBKR Lite platform, there are also great features available for more beginner traders or investors.
Benefits of Ameritrade
- This broker offers a free research and education platform to its users.
- There is no account minimum requirement to become a user.
- You can have very good customer support to help you as a user.
- There are no charges for ETFs, stocks, and more options.
- Great benefits for people who are starting in the investment and trading world.
Benefits of Interactive Brokers
- This broker offers great trading tools, Such as the Trader Workstation platform, which is a great tool for professional traders and investors, and it has amazing technical tools to help with analysis.
- The margin interest rates offered by this broker can be very low if compared with other brokers’ rates.
- This broker also offers incredible research and education features to its users.
Disadvantages of Ameritrade
- If you are an active trader who wants to get the best out of this broker’s features, you might have to use several trading systems. And that can be a downside for some.
- The website offered by this broker can be a little bit complicated to use, as it has some features that are not so easy to be found.
- This broker does not offer the option for fractional shares.
Disadvantages of Interactive Brokers
- The process of opening your account with this broker can be a bit complicated when compared with other processes of similar brokers.
- The online platform for trading that this broker offers can be a bit complicated as well for some people.
- The customer service that this broker offers to its users can be a bit of a downside as it has some negative reviews about it.
Ameritrade or Interactive Brokers: which you should choose?
Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers are both great online trading brokers. So, if you are looking for a platform that can help you as a first-time trader or investor, Ameritrade can be best for you. That is because Ameritrade is a platform that can give you great research and education tools.
However, if you are a more experienced trader or investor and you are looking for a platform to help you with more complex investments and trading features, IBKR might be the one for you. Interactive Brokers offers the opportunity for investors to make high-volume of trades and investments that involve more complex features.
But if you are interested in different brokers and want to keep researching the best options in the market, we can help you with this task. The Charles Schwab broker can be great for traders who want great investment options. So, check out our post below with an overview of the Charles Schwab Investing app!
Charles Schwab: overview on Charles Schwab
Have you heard of Charles Schwab? It is a great trading platform with incredible features for traders. Check out our overview to know more!
About the author / Victória Lourenço
Reviewed by / Aline Barbosa
Senior Editor
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