TD Ameritrade and Webull are two of the top online investment brokers. Webull offers investment products for investors who tend to trade frequently. It has a strong platform with technical analysis tools and market research. It is commission-free except for a $1 fee for trading cryptocurrency. TD Ameritrade is more of a full-service brokerage with a broad array of investment products and services. It has a sophisticated platform that may appeal to both beginning and advanced investors. It also offers educational material for beginning investors and a vast amount of market research. We compare Webull and TD Ameritrade fees, services, online experiences, mobile features and more. Consider working with a financial advisor as you choose a platform that fits your goals and engagement level.
Consider availing yourself of the experience and insights of a financial advisor as you choose an online brokerage.
Webull vs. TD Ameritrade: Overview
TD Ameritrade is a decades-old brokerage, having been around since 1971. They have educational events at their brick-and-mortar branches, as well as virtual events, for investors. They also have large amounts of educational material on their website along with state-of-the-art market research. TD Ameritrade has over 12 million client accounts and handles $2.1 million trades per day. It is a full-service brokerage with a complete line of investment products and services.
Webull is the new brokerage on the block. It was launched in 2017 and was primarily a mobile app although it has a desktop version. It quickly became popular, particularly for the millennial generation. Webull has grown quickly and offers investment products, including cryptocurrency, but not a full line. The investment products it offers encourage frequent and short-term trading.
Webull vs. TD Ameritrade: Products and Services
Webull and TD Ameritrade have different approaches to the services and investment products that they have to offer. Webull offers only four investment products – equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options and cryptocurrency although it does not offer a full line of tokens. Webull also allows the trading of fractional shares. These are usually attractive to younger investors. IRAs are available if they are transferred in. Webull’s focus appears to be frequent and often speculative trading. It does not offer long-term investment instruments like bonds and fixed income securities.
TD Ameritrade offers a plethora of investment products – stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, options, futures, forex, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and even IPOs. It does not offer cryptocurrency although you can trade Bitcoin futures. A positive for TD Ameritrade is that they have over 4,000 mutual funds to choose from along with bonds. Combined with their other product offerings, you can build an excellent diversified portfolio on the TD Ameritrade platform. TD Ameritrade may work better for long-term investors.
TD Ameritrade also offers retirement accounts and individual 401(k)s along with a robo-advisor and professional portfolio management. Webull does not offer these features.
Webull vs. TD Ameritrade: Fees
Webull charges no trading fees, nor does it charge for inactivity, deposits, withdrawals or any other standard interactions. Certain non-standard transactions will come with fees on the Webull platform. For example users can pay extra to get additional data, or can engage in margin trading with interest rates that start at 9.49% for balances under $25,000, and drops to 5.49% for balances over $3 million. The minimum balance to have a margin account is $2,000. Webull offers commission-free options trading, but some such trades carry a $0.55 fee per contract. Mutual funds and fixed-income securities can’t be traded on Webull.
TD Ameritrade offers no commission trading and no minimum account balances. It has a $2,500 requirement for margin accounts. It also offers a wide variety of trading options. They also assess a $0.00019 TAF for equity shares and $0.002 for options contracts. There is a charge for futures and options trading. Each futures contract is $2.25 each and options contracts are $0.65 each. TD Ameritrade does assess a $49.99 commission for mutual fund trading. You do have the option to talk to a live broker by phone and that cost is $25. TD Ameritrade is usually attractive to more experienced investors. TD Ameritrade offers two mobile apps and one desktop app.
Webull vs. TD Ameritrade: Platform, Other Products, Services
Both Webull and TD Ameritrade have powerful trading platforms. TD Ameritrade has excellent trading tools and a good platform, but its professional-level platform, called thinkorswim, is state of the art. It can also trade forex and futures but not mutual funds. They do have another app that can trade their 4,000 mutual funds. TD Ameritrade also offers live streaming of CNBC.
Webull offers extended trading hours that are three hours longer than TD Ameritrade. Webull’s platform offers real-time quotes, analyst ratings, charts and the full financial calendar. Their mobile app offers information on international securities and global markets, but you cannot trade in them.
TD Ameritrade offers communication by iMessage, Amazon Echo and Apple Watch. It has an app for Apple Watch. It also offers a free dividend reinvestment program (DRIP) that turns dividends into fractional shares. Webull does not have any of these services. Webull has excellent market research information. So does TD Ameritrade and it also offers a lot of good investor education material along with market research. Webull has some educational content, mostly on the broker’s app, but it does not rival TD Ameritrade’s. TD Ameritrade also offers free pdf stock reports on its website.
Bottom Line
Webull and TD Ameritrade both have their strong points. Webull seems to be an online brokerage that serves traders with a shorter-term, more speculative orientation.
TD Ameritrade certainly can support the same type of trader, but it also supports investors who have a long-term, investing concern.
Tips on Investing
- The number of factors involved in choosing an online brokerage can feel overwhelming, plus those factors often change as companies tweak their prices and offerings in this highly competitive market. A financial advisor can help you make a good decision when it comes to selecting an online brokerage. Finding a 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, get started now.
- Determining what assets to include in your portfolio is a complex decision. Take a look at SmartAsset’s asset allocation calculator for some help.
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