Webull vs. Fidelity: How They Compare

Webull and Fidelity are two of the top online investment platforms. Fidelity is a full-service brokerage with a complete line of investment products and services. Fidelity has decades of experience and offers an array of educational and market research material to its clients. Webull offers investment products that investors can use to trade frequently. It is a relatively new online brokerage that deals mostly in liquid assets. They both serve the market in many similar, and several different, ways. We compare Webull vs. Fidelity regarding their fees, services, online experiences, mobile features and more.

A financial advisor can help you select an online brokerage that best suits your goals and level of engagement in the investment process.

Webull vs. Fidelity: An Overview

Webull is a U.S.-based fintech company, regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). It was launched in 2017. Initially, it was primarily a mobile app, but now it has a desktop and web-based version. It’s especially popular with the millennial generation. Webull has grown rapidly and it is one of the most popular online brokerages. Webull has a limited line of investment products, but they do allow trading in cryptocurrency.

Fidelity was established in 1946. It is a tried and true, trusted brokerage with brick-and-mortar locations along with its online presence. Fidelity has upwards of 20 million investors and has more than $8 trillion in customer assets. The brokerage has a full-service range of investment vehicles including international investing capabilities. Fidelity appeals to long-term investors. It does not allow trading in cryptocurrency. Fidelity is also regulated by the SEC and FINRA. One difference between Webull and Fidelity is that Fidelity deals mostly in its own financial products.

Webull vs. Fidelity: Products

Webull and Fidelity often appeal to different types of investors because of their different product and services offerings. Webull offers four types of investment vehicles. These are equity securities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options and cryptocurrency. They have a limited offering of digital tokens and you must sign up for the privilege of trading cryptocurrency on Webull. Webull also offers the trading of fractional shares, which often appeals to young investors.

Webull’s account types include cash and margin accounts. IRAs are available if you already have an individual account with Webull. They support traditional and Roth IRAs along with rollover IRAs.

The products that Webull offers often appeal to young investors and speculators because they encourage frequent trading. It doesn’t offer long-term investment products like bonds and other fixed-income securities.

Fidelity is a full-service brokerage with a broad line of investment products. It offers a full line of equities and fixed income securities in addition to around 10,000 mutual funds with 3,500 of those no-load with no transactions fees. Fidelity does not offer futures trading, but it does offer forex. One unique aspect of Fidelity is that it offers a full line of its own investment products and seems to prefer them since its own mutual funds and index funds carry a 0% expense ratio. Fidelity also offers ETFs and options. Further, it also offers international stocks and access to over 25 global stock markets.

Fidelity offers an extensive list of accounts, including IRAs. It offers traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs as well as rollover IRAs. It offers 401(k)s for the self-employed and college 529 plans. Account types also include personal, business and managed accounts along with annuities.

Webull vs. Fidelity: Fees

Webull offers no commission trading and no minimum deposit or balance for accounts except for a $1 deposit fee for cryptocurrency accounts. They require a $2,000 deposit to open a margin account. Webull’s margin rates range from 9.49% for balances under $25,000 to 5.49% for balances over $3 million. The firm also assess a trading account fee (TAF) of $0.000145 for sells only, and there is a maximum of $7.27 per trade. Trading options contracts is not currently available. Webull charges $8 in the U.S. for each wire transfer (and $12.50 for international wires). The brokerage also charges $25 for withdrawals in the U.S. and $40 abroad. Webull does not charge an inactivity fee.

Fidelity lets customers trade stocks, ETFs and bonds free of charge and without minimum deposit amounts. However, to minimum deposit of $2,500 to open a margin account with a very high 9.325% annual percentage rate. There are several thousand no-fee mutual funds. Fidelity charges $49.95 to trade funds that aren’t on its no-fee list. Options trading costs $0.65 per contract. There is a zero expense ratio for four Fidelity funds. The Depository Foreign Trust Company foreign settlement fee is $50 per trade. The firm does not offer access to futures trading or cryptocurrency markets

Webull vs. Fidelity: Education and Research

Webull can’t compete with Fidelity regarding its educational material. It does have some educational material for investors, but it doesn’t compare to Fidelity’s vast library. Webull has a reasonably strong research presence on its platform. It specializes in technical analysis with some tools available for fundamental analysis. Even some necessary technical indicators are a paid upgrade. Webull does have a strong investor dashboard with alert and watch lists available along with real-time streaming quotes and analyst reviews. Portfolio management tools are lacking.

Fidelity’s stock and fund research center is top-notch with everything an investor can ask for. You can analyze stocks and funds, tap into real-time analysis and use technical trading tools. Fundamental analysis information is also available.

Webull vs. Fidelity: Platforms and Online Experience

Webull’s platform has mobile, web-based and desktop capabilities. Investors find it intuitive and easy to use. There is a customizable workplace station that provides news, technical trading tools like charting, fundamental analysis, a stock screener and ratings from analysts. Webull also offers extended trading hours, which are particularly important to many investors. Fidelity does not have this feature. In order to use Webull, investors have to be relatively knowledgeable and self-sufficient since it is lacking tools for investment portfolio management. Webull does not offer robo-advisors, a dividend reinvestment program (DRIP) or recommended portfolios while Fidelity does. It’s difficult to reach customer service by phone and there is no chat feature.

Fidelity offers the ActiveTrader Pro as its premier platform, which is downloadable. It is more than sufficient for an active trader or long-term investor. In addition, Fidelity offers a web-based platform and a mobile app. For most buy-and-hold investors, the web-based platform is sufficient although more active traders may prefer ActiveTrader Pro, which has more sophisticated technical analysis tools. Fidelity also has robo-advisors and excellent customer service, both lacking in Webull.

Webull vs. Fidelity: Mobile Apps

Fidelity offers an easy-to-navigate mobile app. You can access your watchlists from the desktop or web-based version of the platform. You can also make most of the types of trades except conditional orders. Fidelity’s mobile app has one significant drawback. You don’t have access to the technical trading tools or the fundamental research that you have if you used the other versions of the platform.

Webull offers a good mobile app that is consistent with web-based and desktop platforms. There are some design differences to accommodate the smaller screen. Watchlists can be created through the mobile app as easily as on the other platforms. You don’t need to set up multiple platforms. You can also customize trading ticket information on the mobile app. Research is available when you use the mobile app, unlike Fidelity.

Bottom Line

Webull and Fidelity appeal to different types of investors. Webull, which is relatively inexpensive, seems more suited to active traders and speculators. Fidelity attracts more buy-and-hold or long-term investors. The Fidelity platform supports a full product and services line and is mostly for medium to advanced investors, while Webull seems geared more to speculators and active traders. Webull offers a limited range of investment products and it appeals to the active trader audience. Fidelity is a full-service brokerage that offers most investment products except cryptocurrency and futures. They, unlike Webull, do offer international investing. There are, however, similarities: Both offer no commission trading and no minimum account balances except for margin accounts, and both offer a highly usable mobile app.

Tips on Investing

When you are trying to choose an online brokerage, consider allowing a financial advisor to help you. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors in your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
The effect of capital gains on income taxes is an important concern for investors. SmartAsset can help you if you use our capital gains calculator.