6 Best Stock Brokers For Beginners
As a stock trader or investor, choosing the right online stock brokerage is a very challenging decision. The market is filled with tons of options, and choosing the one that meets your financial needs can be very daunting. You need to make sure that the online broker that you choose not only offers a great trading environment but must also be fully regulated. It'll allow you to manage your investment in the best possible way. Moreover, it'll also help you to keep your assets and capital secure in case of any misconduct from the brokerage.
This very article is the product of in-depth and comprehensive research work by the experts of Traders Union. It only contains the best online stock brokers, especially for beginners, for a great stock trading experience in 2025. In our testing, we analyzed and compared all the features and tools that each broker offers thoroughly. From investment offerings and trading platforms to customer services and commissions and fee structure, we took everything into account. So, if you're planning to start your stock trading journey, then consider reading this post till the end to find the best online stock broker for beginners. So, without any further ado, let’s jump right in.
What Is the Best Stock Broker for Beginners?
The best trading platforms make it easy for novice traders and investors to trade stocks seamlessly. For beginners, the fee structure of the stockbrokers is one of the most significant factors to consider. High minimum deposit requirements, as well as high commission percentage, can work as barriers and shut out beginners.
The best stock broker for beginners not only offers low commissions and minimum deposit requirements but also helps beginners with educational and research material to learn more about trading. Each stock broker for beginners that we choose in this list offers a great commission and fee structure and also offers a suitable trading environment that every inexperienced trader can use. So, if you're interested in investing or buying stocks, then read the comparison of all the online brokers carefully. It'll help you to choose the right option to grow your trading account in the shortest possible time.
Top 6 Best Brokers to Start Stock Trading
Here’s our list of the best stock trading brokers that you can use in 2025.
| Position | Broker | Best For |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Best for Stock Trading |
|
2 |
Best for Mobile Trading |
|
3 |
Best for Trading Tools and Research |
|
4 |
Best for Low-Cost Trading |
|
5 |
Best for Investments |
|
6 |
Best for Education |
eOption – Best for Stock Trading
The eOption broker (eoption.com) is an American stockbroker headquartered in Glenview, Illinois. It has been operating since 2007 and is a member of FINRA (CRD#: 7297/SEC#: 8-21765) and SIPC. It specializes in options trading and also acts as an intermediary in trades involving the popular securities classes. The company offers low trading commissions, super-fast execution of orders, and modern platforms with an advanced set of analytical tools. In 2020-2021, eOption was recognized as the best options broker by several resources such as Investopedia, The Tokenist, Benzinga, Investormint, and NerdWallet.
👍 Advantages of trading with eOption:
•Low commissions for options trading — $0.10 per contract plus $1.99 per trade.
•No minimum deposit requirements for cash trading accounts opened by US residents.
•FINRA membership and the protection of clients’ funds are available through Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
•Access to professional trading platforms such as DAS and Sterling Trader Pro are developed by third-party software developers for the proprietary eOption terminal.
•An affiliate program with high rewards.
•Compensation for commissions for funds or assets from other brokerage firms and institutions transfer.
•Prompt support by phone and online chat in the trading platform during company business hours.
👎 Disadvantages of eOption:
•The narrow range of choice of investment solutions to generate passive income.
•You cannot trade Pink Sheet and Bulletin Board stocks.
•There is no online chat on the company's website.
Wealthsimple – Best for Mobile Trading
Wealthsimple is a robo-advisor (algorithmic trading robot) that was founded in 2014 in Canada and also provides services in the UK. It is regulated by the UK and Canadian Securities Commissions, including the FCA (747883) and IIROC, and participates in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) as well as the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). Wealthsimple serves over 1 million investors and manages £3 billion of investments.
👍 Advantages of trading with Wealthsimple:
•No minimum deposit requirements for the basic account.
•Top-notch security and regulation by reputable securities commissions and participation in compensation schemes.
•Ability to earn income passively, i.e., without having to actively trade yourself.
•No additional charges for account maintenance, deposit, withdrawal, and use of a mobile application.
•A simple principle for charging commissions for portfolio management is a fixed percentage of the deposited amount.
•Possibility to open accounts not only in pounds sterling but also in Canadian dollars.
•Detailed statistics on commissions and rebalancing of the formed portfolios, which are available in the personal cabinet on the website and in the mobile application.
👎 Disadvantages of Wealthsimple:
•Registration is only available to UK and Canadian residents.
•The site does not have an online chat for prompt communication with the support team.
•The formation of an individual portfolio by an investment specialist is available when depositing £100,000 or more.
Revolut – Best for Trading Tools and Research
Revolut is a British fintech company that has been providing investors with accounts for trading precious metals, cryptocurrencies, and stocks listed on U.S. exchanges since 2015. The broker offers its clients access to investing in stocks and ETFs on European stock exchanges. For organizations and private clients, the company offers a multi-currency account with the possibility of exchanging currencies at the current inter-bank exchange rate. Revolut is supervised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
👍 Advantages of trading with Revolut:
•In addition to stock trades, customers can trade cryptocurrencies and precious metals.
•The broker offers commission-free trading plans.
•The minimum number of shares to buy is 0.00000001.
•There are no minimum deposit requirements.
•Social trading is available, which allows newcomers to the stock market to copy trades of successful traders.
•Communication with the support service via chat is available in the mobile application 24 hours a day.
•There is no fee for opening and maintaining a trading account.
👎 Disadvantages of Revolut:
•Stock trading is currently only available to UK residents.
•Operations in precious metals and cryptocurrencies are not regulated by supervisory authorities.
•The company does not offer fiduciary management of its investment portfolio.
Interactive Brokers – Best for Low-Cost Trading
Interactive Brokers is among the best-known global online brokers. Based in the US, it has been operating since 1977. Interactive Brokers allows clients to trade products from 160 exchanges including stocks, option, currencies, bonds, funds and more from a single unified platform. The company is regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the UK Financial Regulatory Authority (FCA, 208159), and other international financial regulation commissions. Interactive Brokers has earned recognition as a top broker, garnering multiple awards and accolades from respected industry sources such as Barron's, Investopedia, Stockbrokers.com,and many others. Also, the broker is popular in other countries. Here you can read reviews of Interactive Brokers in Canada, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland.
👍 Advantages of trading with Interactive Brokers:
•extensive and free educational resources through the IBKR Campus;
•access to160markets in 36 countries and territories;
•trading in stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, funds and more from a single unified platform.
👎 Disadvantages of Interactive Brokers:
•Support service does not work on Saturday;
SoFi Invest – Best for Investments
SoFi (Social Finance, Inc.) is an investment company founded in 2011 by graduates of Stanford Business School to provide federal and private student loans. The SoFi Invest division appeared in 2019 to provide brokerage services to active traders and passive investors from the United States. Currently, the broker is a member of FINRA (CRD#: 151717/SEC#: 8-68389) and SIPC and serves over 1,800,000 clients. SoFi Invest offers to invest in stocks (including fractional ones), cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and IPO.
👍 Advantages of trading with SoFi Invest:
•Membership with FINRA and SIPC. These organizations monitor the broker’s compliance with the rules specified in the Client Agreement.
•Clients can combine transactions with stock market instruments with lending, insurance, and financial planning.
•Providing clients with two types of investment: active trading with securities and a passive option with asset management by an automated advisor.
•No commissions for trading stocks and ETFs, or asset portfolio management.
•Possibility to invest in fractional shares of companies.
👎 Disadvantages of SoFi Invest:
•Only US residents can open an account with this broker.
•To invest in an IPO, you need to have more than $3000 on your account.
•Day traders can trade if they have an amount of $25,000 or more on their account.
Fidelity – Best for Education
Fidelity Investments is a large American financial services company. It was founded in 1946 by American businessman and lawyer Edward Crosby Johnson II. It provides services to traders in trading securities and commodity assets and allows investors to invest in mutual funds and investment funds, form portfolios for a variety of instruments, including bonds and annuities with fixed income. The company has received several awards: according to Barron's, Investors Business Daily, Kiplinger, and Stock Brokers. Fidelity Investments is recognized as the best online broker of 2020.
👍 Advantages of trading with Fidelity:
•availability of its own trading terminal for active trading, Active Trader Pro, with advanced analytics from experts and a wide range of technical analysis tools;
•no brokerage fee for consulting services with an account balance of up to $10,000, and only $3 if a larger deposit is made;
•there is the possibility of individual planning for investors, while the cost of the service is 0.5% of the size of the deposit for each month of use.
👎 Disadvantages of Fidelity:
•lack of localization;
•there are no active bonus programs; nor is there an opportunity to receive additional profit for attracting new customers;
•margin trading is possible if the account balance exceeds 250 thousand dollars;
•the demo account is limited in functionality and involves working only with investment portfolios.
What Are Usual Stock Trading Costs?
Some online stockbrokers that are available in the market charge commission on performing stock trading. Here’s a list of the most common expenses that, as a trader, you might need to pay.
Annual Fee
Some brokers charge an annual fee which typically costs somewhere between 50 to 75 US dollars. But you can avoid that by choosing the platform that doesn’t charge an annual fee.
Inactivity Fee
Different online brokers who charge inactivity fees have different criteria that can be based on yearly, quarterly, or even monthly cycles. Typically, it can cost you about 10 to 200 US dollars. Except for Interactive brokers, all the other online trading platforms that we mentioned don’t charge an inactivity fee.
Trading Platform Fee
Most online brokers offer more than one trading platform with unique and advanced features. You’ll need to pay a fee to use those platforms, such as Thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade. These specialized platforms can cost you around 50 to over 200 US dollars monthly.
Data Subscriptions and Research
Many online brokers offer paid subscriptions to access experts’ analyses and research data that can cost you 1 to 30 US dollars per month. However, many online brokers offer these features for free, and we recommend you choose the broker with free educational and research material.
Paper Statement Charges
Online brokers offer paper statement services that allow you to receive your financial statement monthly. It typically costs 1 to 2 US dollars on each statement. It’s not advisable to use this service in this era of technology because you can always choose a free email service.
Transfer or Account Closing Fee
Most online brokers charge a fee to close your trading account or on transfer which is typically somewhere between 50 to 75 US dollars.
Important Considerations
As you can see that most of the fees can be avoided or minimized by choosing the right brokerage. But it’s important to note that your primary concern must be the trading environment that a broker offers that must suit your investing and trading style.
You can find all the information on the official websites that brokers offer regarding every type of fee. You can also contact customer services to find out everything you need to know about the brokers’ fee structure. Moreover, a great strategy is to acquire the demo account that almost all the renowned brokers offer. This way, you’ll be able to analyze all the features and tools that a broker offers without risking your real money.
How Much Can I Earn?
The only thing that’s certain in trading is that your profits can never be guaranteed. The ROI (Return on Investment) depends upon multiple factors such as your trading strategy, the performance of the underlying asset, market volatility, and more. Moreover, active investment and trading can help you to increase your profit. But at the same time, this strategy also increases the risk factor that you’ll need to minimize by devising a comprehensive risk management strategy.
According to one of the most successful and iconic investors of all time, Warren Buffett, index investing by ETF can be a better option for unprofessional investors. Moreover, he says that beginners should consider investing and trading low-cost index funds. It might sound a little intimidating, but the fact of the matter is that index funds are only a stock basket that basically represents a broad market. For example, investing in S&P 500 index fund means that you’ve bought a little part of the biggest 500 US companies which are traded publicly. In other words, it automatically mitigates the overall risk and diversifies your investments.
Here’s a list of the stock indices and most popular shares with one year and average 10-year returns.
| Stocks | 1-year performance | 10-year performance | Risk level |
|---|---|---|---|
S&P 500 Index |
40.25 percent |
14.26 percent |
Average |
Nasdaq Index |
41.65 percent |
19.02 percent |
Average |
FTSE 100 Index |
17.71 percent |
4.40 percent |
Average |
Apple (AAPL) shares |
46.85 percent |
28.09 percent |
High |
Microsoft (MSFT) shares |
33.38 percent |
27.67 percent |
High |
Tesla (TSLA) shares |
240.71 percent |
61.66 percent |
High |
Amazon (AMZN) shares |
23.48 percent |
33.26 percent |
High |
How to Buy Stocks Online. A Beginner's Guide
If buying stocks is intimidating for you and you find it difficult, then consider following the step-by-step guide that we have prepared below.
Step One: Choose the Online Stock Broker
The first and the obvious step that you need to take in order to start your stock buying journey is to choose the right online stock brokerage. It’s the easiest way to buy stocks because other options such as directly buying shares from the company or using a full-service stockbroker can be very cumbersome. Webull is one of the best available options, and we'll use that for our example.
Step Two: Open Your Brokerage Account
The next step after choosing the online broker is to open your trading account. Webull offers a completely free signing up process without any hidden charges or any other catch. You can open your Webull account by going to its official website. Moreover, the brokerage also allows you to claim popular stocks such as SBUX, FB, GOOG, and more if you open your account by depositing 100 US dollars.
Step Three: Practice Stock Trading
It’s one of the best features that Webull offers, where you can practice the complete trading lifecycle without involving real money. Once your account is set up, you’ll need to open it and click on the “Paper Trading” option (icon with a dollar sign), as shown in the image below.
Webull Platform
Step Four: Setup Your Trading Account Size
The paper trade option provides you with one million US dollars (dummy data) to test your stock trading skills. We recommend you not to utilize all of it and choose the decent amount that you feel is best. Moreover, it's advisable to use the dummy capital to trade the stocks that you'd actually take into account while trading with real money. In order to set your trading account size, you'll need to click on the "Reset" option. It'll allow you to set the amount that you want to use to start trading.
Webull Trading Account
Step Five: Create a Watchlist
Webull offers all the major stocks such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, and more. Creating a watchlist of the stocks you're interested in comes in handy to follow their market performance.
In order to find a certain stock, you’ll need to search it by writing its name in the search bar available in the top right corner. Then you’ll need to click on the “Star” icon available on the right side.
Webull’s Watchlist
Step Six: Buy Stocks
You can easily buy the stock by clicking on the buy button once it has reached the price point that you provided to the system.
Buying Stocks in Webull
Buying Stocks in Webull
After that, you’ll need to follow the charts regularly in order to find out the stock’s market performance. You can also learn about the history of your selected stock whenever you want by using the intervals.
Webull’s Trading Chart
Methodology
For this Traders Union guide of the "best online stock brokers for beginners," hundreds of data points were collected by the platform's experts. Not only did we test the trading environment of each broker in real-time, but we also checked their customer service multiple times. Moreover, our experts analyzed each and every feature, tool, and technical indicator carefully to create this review. It makes Traders Union a reliable and one of the biggest independent databases providing authentic information about all the popular online brokers.
Because of our robust and in-depth data collection and validation method, the annual human error rate is negligible (about 0.01 percent). In simple words, we provide quality data that you can use and trust. Lastly, you can find the best options on the Traders Union website to start your online trading journey regardless of your expertise and requirements.
Summary
One of the most important factors that you must keep in mind is that you can't get rich overnight by stock trading. It requires time, effort, and most importantly, the right selection of the platform. Moreover, many novice traders fall victim to scam brokers and trading scams because of attractive deals and features that scammers put online. That’s why it’s critical to choose an online brokerage that’s fully regulated by world-famous financial and regulatory bodies.
All the brokers mentioned in this list are not only low-cost, but they're also highly regulated by renowned authorities. It means you can choose any listed option that suits your unique needs with the necessary peace of mind that your money is in safe hands.
Best Stock Brokers For Beginners by Countries
FAQs
How much amount do I need to open my brokerage trading account?
Some online brokers ask you to deposit several hundred or even thousands of US dollars to open your trading account. However, in order to open your fully functional trading account with the best online stock brokers that we have mentioned, you won’t need to deposit a single penny.
What is the paper trading account?
A paper trading account is a term used for a specialized account type that you can use to practice trading without risking your real money. It provides you with the real market data that you can use to determine how your real money would have performed in the same scenario.
What financial information do I need to open my online trading account?
According to most financial and regulatory bodies, brokers must know their customers. That’s why you’ll need to provide the broker you choose with extensive information that usually includes:
Net worth
Annual income
Investing experience (mostly in years)
Investment goals
Risk tolerance
What online broker should I choose?
The type of broker you should choose entirely depends upon your investment needs and financial goals. For example, if you're a beginner and looking for a stockbroker, then you'll need to choose a low-cost broker that allows you to access stock markets safely.
Glossary for novice traders
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1
Algorithmic trading
Algorithmic trading is an advanced method that relies on advanced coding and formulas based on a mathematical model. However, compared to traditional trading methods, the process differs by being automated.
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2
Investor
An investor is an individual, who invests money in an asset with the expectation that its value would appreciate in the future. The asset can be anything, including a bond, debenture, mutual fund, equity, gold, silver, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and real-estate property.
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3
Index
Index in trading is the measure of the performance of a group of stocks, which can include the assets and securities in it.
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4
Robo-Advisor
A Robo-Advisor is a digital platform using automated algorithms to provide investment advice and manage portfolios on behalf of clients, often with lower fees than traditional advisors.
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5
Brokerage fee
A brokerage fee, also known as a commission, is a fee charged by a brokerage or financial institution for facilitating and executing financial transactions on behalf of clients. Brokerage fees are typically associated with services related to buying or selling assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or mutual funds.
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Team that worked on the article
Andrey Mastykin is an experienced author, editor, and content strategist who has been with Traders Union since 2020. As an editor, he is meticulous about fact-checking and ensuring the accuracy of all information published on the Traders Union platform. Andrey focuses on educating readers about the potential rewards and risks involved in trading financial markets.
He firmly believes that passive investing is a more suitable strategy for most individuals. Andrey's conservative approach and focus on risk management resonate with many readers, making him a trusted source of financial information.
Also, Andrey is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (membership card No. 4574, international certificate UKR4492).
Dr. BJ Johnson is a PhD in English Language and an editor with over 15 years of experience. He earned his degree in English Language in the U.S and the UK. In 2020, Dr. Johnson joined the Traders Union team. Since then, he has created over 100 exclusive articles and edited over 300 articles of other authors.