Scottrade and E-Trade are dual of a biggest names in a online attorney business, with millions of patron accounts each. That approval is one reason since investors looking to open a new brokerage account mostly spin to these dual first.
When a time comes to pick one, we need to make a head-to-head comparison. We’ve pulled together a impending sum about these dual brokers, so we can make an prepared choice about that is a best home for your dollars: Scottrade or E-Trade.
Scottrade vs. E-Trade during a glance
ScottradeE-Trade
Overall
Stock trade costs
$7 per trade
$9.99 for fewer than 150 trades/quarter
$7.99 for 150 to 1,499 trades/quarter
$6.99 for 1,500+ trades/quarter
Options trades
$7 + $1.25/contract
$9.99 + $0.75 per contract. Base is tiered with batch elect to reward for active traders.
Account minimum
$0 for IRA accounts; $2,500 for brokerage
$0 for IRA accounts; $500 for brokerage
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity)
No annual or loitering fee; $75 effusive send fee
No annual or loitering fee; $60 effusive send fee
Trading platform
Browser trade and Scottrader Streaming Quotes height accessible to all customers; ScottradeELITE for business with change of $25,000 or some-more who have placed 9 or some-more trades in a past 3 months.
E-Trade 360 for browser; desktop height E-Trade Pro for business who say during slightest a $250,000 comment change or govern during slightest 30 batch or options trades per quarter
Mobile app
Above-average capabilities
Advanced facilities impersonate a desktop trade platform
Mutual funds
More than 2,500 no-transaction-fee mutual funds
Over 1,300 no-transaction-fee mutual funds
Commission-free ETFs
None
Over 100 commission-free ETFs
Research and data
Free
Free and extensive
Tradable securities
• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• ETFs
• Options
• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• ETFs
• Options
• Futures
Customer support/branches
500 internal branches in further to phone, email and discuss support
30 internal branches in further to 24/7 email and discuss support
Promotion
Up to $2,000 in money reward and 50 giveaway trades. Accounts saved with $10,000 or some-more start subordinate for tiered promotions.
Commission-free trades for 60 days, and adult to $2,500 in money bonuses. Accounts saved with $10,000 or some-more start subordinate for tiered promotions.
Fees and commissions
Neither attorney charges loitering or annual fees. But looking during straight-up batch trade costs, Scottrade is a flattering transparent winner: The company’s $7 prosaic elect simply beats E-Trade’s tiered pricing structure for all yet really high-volume traders. However, investors who trade 1,500 or some-more times per entertain — subordinate for a $6.99 reduced trade elect — will compensate somewhat reduction during E-Trade.
But options trade during Scottrade is expensive, with a $1.25 assign per agreement tacked on to that $7 bottom commission. E-Trade’s options trade commissions are tiered with a batch trade commissions, yet a agreement assign is only $0.75. A trade of 20 contracts would cost $32 during Scottrade, compared with $24.99 during E-Trade.
Winner: Scottrade for stock-trading costs; E-Trade for options trading. But what if we do both? NerdWallet’s online brokerage hunt tool can assistance we guess your intensity costs formed on your trade magnitude and investment preferences.
Investment selection
E-Trade — that was a collect for best online attorney for investment preference — has a leg adult here, for a few reasons. The association offers some-more than 100 commission-free ETFs; that’s not a stand-out series compared with a rest of a online attorney landscape, yet it beats Scottrade handily, as a attorney offers none. Also, E-Trade comment holders can trade futures.
Scottrade edges out E-Trade for mutual funds, though, charity some-more than 2,500 no-transaction-fee funds; E-Trade has some-more than 1,300.
Winner: E-Trade, nonetheless mutual comment investors might cite a incomparable preference of no-transaction-fee supports during Scottrade. Keep in mind that with no commission-free ETFs, you’ll compensate a $7 elect for any trade.
Research, collection and trade platforms
Both E-Trade and Scottrade got docked a star in a trade height apportionment of a reviews since their reward platforms (read: best and many advanced) have smallest change mandate and are indifferent for high-volume traders:
ScottradeELITE: Available for business with balances of $25,000 or some-more who have placed 9 or some-more trades in a past 3 months.
E-Trade Pro: Available for business with during slightest a $250,000 change or who govern during slightest 30 batch or options trades per quarter.
Of a two, E-Trade Pro will be many considerable to active traders. The height offers clever idea-generating collection like Strategy Scanner, backtesting, a professional-level options screener and customizable charting.
E-Trade also stairs it adult in other technology-driven areas. Its mobile app is one of a best accessible from any online broker, with modernized facilities like batch and ETF screeners, options sequence filters, educational videos, and real-time quotes, charts and CNBC Video on Demand. It does a best to impersonate a desktop platform. E-Trade also has an innovative Google Chrome plugin that investors can use to investigate and trade right from their browser. The apparatus scans webpages for batch black and displays a stream price.
ScottradeELITE wins for accessibility, however, since a $25,000 smallest isn’t utterly as out of reach. It also has a few standout features, like Intraday Trader from Recognia, that helps investors mark trade opportunities and lane and accept tradition notifications about technical events. Many investors will also find that ScottradeELITE’s charting functionality is a step above E-Trade Pro’s.
Both brokers also offer simple browser-based platforms that are open to all customers, as good as giveaway entrance to investigate and data. E-Trade’s offerings come from a wider preference of sources, including Credit Suisse, SP Capital IQ, Thomson Reuters, MarketEdge and Morningstar.
Winner: It’s a bit of a toss up, given that E-Trade’s trade collection are a bit some-more modernized yet a association has such a high smallest for E-Trade Pro. Still, we’ll give this one to E-Trade, with a note that investors who can’t validate for E-Trade Pro’s $250,000 comment smallest will be happy with ScottradeELITE (or Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade, that both offer high-quality trade platforms to all customers).
Which one is right for you?
The formula are clear: E-Trade flattering clean edges out Scottrade on most of a factors that investors import heavily, including platforms, collection and investment selection. The attorney also has a reduce smallest investment requirement of $500 to Scottrade’s $2,500 (though both brokers relinquish their smallest for IRAs).
That said, many investors will compensate reduce commissions during Scottrade, and costs count. Scottrade is also famous distant and far-reaching for a high-quality patron service; with 500 internal branches, a association roughly positively has one nearby you. New or amateur investors might conclude chatting with an consultant in person, that is one reason since Scottrade landed on a list of best brokers for beginners.
There’s a reason many investors find a happy home with both of these brokers: They surpass in opposite areas. Advanced investors, visit traders and ETF investors are expected to cite E-Trade, while Scottrade is a really clever compare for amateur investors.
Arielle O’Shea is a staff author during NerdWallet, a personal financial website. Email: aoshea@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @arioshea.
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