E*TRADE

The core pricing is hard to fault. Zero commissions on US-listed stocks, ETFs, and no-load mutual funds. Options run $0.65 per contract, dropping to $0.50 if you hit 30+ trades per quarter — competitive with tastytrade's $1 cap but without the per-leg limitation.

Futures: $1.50 per contract per side, standard across the industry. (For a full breakdown of brokerage fees across the industry, see our fee comparison.) Crypto futures cost $2.50. Bonds: $1 per bond on secondary market (minimum $10, maximum $250).

Where it gets expensive:

• Margin rates: Base rate 9.95% with a Fed funds rate at 3.64%. Accounts under $10,000 pay 12.45%. Even at $100K-$250K, you're paying 10.95%. Interactive Brokers charges roughly half.
• OTC stocks: $6.95 per trade. Active traders get $4.95. Fidelity and Schwab charge nothing.
• Broker-assisted trades: $25 surcharge on top of commission. In 2026, no phone call should cost more than a nice lunch.

Power E*TRADE is the reason options traders should pay attention. The platform offers real-time streaming Greeks, probability analysis, risk/reward visualizations, and a strategy optimizer that scans for trades matching your outlook.

The options chain layout is clean. You can build multi-leg strategies visually, see max profit and loss before execution, and paper trade to test ideas without capital at risk. The mobile version of Power E*TRADE mirrors the desktop experience — a genuine achievement when most brokers ship a watered-down mobile app.

Compare this to Robinhood's simplified options interface and the gap is obvious. Robinhood is training wheels. Power E*TRADE is the full toolkit.

Active traders who cross the 30-trade threshold get the $0.50 per-contract rate automatically. No application, no negotiation. That puts E*TRADE's effective options cost below Schwab's $0.65 flat rate and close to tastytrade's $1-per-trade cap for single-leg positions.

The platform also handles futures, including micro futures for smaller accounts. Charting uses TradingView-quality tools with 100+ technical indicators and customizable layouts.

This is where the acquisition actually pays off for customers.

E*TRADE's Premium Savings Account pays 3.75% APY for the first six months through Morgan Stanley Private Bank. No monthly fees, no minimum deposit, FDIC insured up to $500,000 through program bank arrangements. That promotional rate beats most high-yield savings accounts at competing banks, and having savings sitting next to your brokerage with instant transfers is genuinely convenient.

Max-Rate Checking offers worldwide ATM fee refunds and foreign transaction fee refunds — perks that typically require a premium banking relationship. The $15 monthly fee is waived with a $5,000 average balance.

Standard Checking comes with zero monthly fees and zero minimums for those who want basic banking without conditions.

The real power move: securities-based lines of credit. Borrow against your portfolio for major purchases without selling investments and triggering capital gains. This is a wealth management product from Morgan Stanley's playbook, now available to E*TRADE retail clients.

For someone consolidating their financial life under one login — investing, savings, checking, retirement, credit — E*TRADE's banking integration is its strongest argument against Fidelity or Schwab.

E*TRADE offers more retirement account types than any broker reviewed on this site:

• Traditional IRA — tax-deductible contributions, tax-deferred growth
• Roth IRA — tax-free qualified distributions, no RMDs during your lifetime
• Rollover IRA — consolidate former employer 401(k) plans
• Inherited IRA — for beneficiaries of retirement accounts
• SEP IRA — 0% to 25% of earned income for self-employed
• SIMPLE IRA — businesses with fewer than 100 employees
• Individual 401(k) — self-employed owners and spouses (see 2026 contribution limits)
• IRA for Minors — children with earned income, managed by an adult custodian
• Coverdell ESA — tax-advantaged education savings

The standout: E*TRADE Complete IRA for account holders 59½ and older. It adds checking, online bill pay, and ATM/debit card access directly to your retirement account. No other major broker offers this. For retirees drawing regular income from their IRA, eliminating the transfer step between retirement and checking accounts saves time and complexity.

Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors are also available through the platform for goals-based planning — bringing institutional-grade advice to retail accounts.

E*TRADE is excellent for:

• Options traders — Power E*TRADE is a top-three options platform. The $0.50 active trader rate, strategy optimizer, and mobile execution are hard to beat.
• All-in-one consolidators — Brokerage, banking, retirement, managed portfolios, and credit under one roof with Morgan Stanley's balance sheet behind it.
• Retirement savers — More IRA types than anyone, including the unique Complete IRA with checking for retirees. The range of small business retirement plans (SEP, SIMPLE, Solo 401k) is comprehensive.
• High-yield seekers — 3.75% APY savings with seamless brokerage integration beats maintaining separate bank and brokerage accounts.

Look elsewhere if:

• You trade on margin — 12.45% for small accounts is punishing. Interactive Brokers charges roughly half. This is E*TRADE's biggest weakness.
• You trade OTC or penny stocks — $6.95 when competitors charge zero. No justification for this in 2026.
• You want direct crypto — E*TRADE offers crypto futures but not spot trading. Robinhood and Webull have moved ahead here.
• You're purely cost-obsessed — Fidelity's zero-expense-ratio index funds and consistently lower margin rates make it the pure cost leader.

The honest comparison isn't Robinhood (too basic) or Interactive Brokers (too complex for most). E*TRADE's real competitors are Schwab and Fidelity.

E*TRADE wins on: options platform (Power E*TRADE is more intuitive than thinkorswim for most traders), banking integration (savings APY, checking, credit lines all under one platform), and retirement account variety (Complete IRA has no equivalent).

E*TRADE ties on: basic stock/ETF trading costs ($0 across all three), managed portfolio pricing (all in the 0.25-0.35% range), and research quality (all three offer strong third-party research).

E*TRADE loses on: margin rates (Schwab and Fidelity are comparable but ETRADE's OTC fee adds insult), zero-cost index funds (Fidelity's ZERO funds have no equivalent), branch access (Schwab has 400+ locations, ETRADE closed most of its branches), and direct crypto (Schwab now offers spot crypto trading).