In the world of the top online brokerages, talking about Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade is not enough. That is because both of the brokers are the giants in the industry. There is a basic need to compare both of them. Truly, these online brokers have millions of account owners investing heavily in feature-rich trading platforms.
Either Fidelity or Td Ameritrade offer large selections of the fund and great customer service. For investors who want to trade at low prices, these two brokers can be the best option to consider. In this post, you will be directed to head-to-head comparison of Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade by looking at their prices, platforms, free perk, international stocks and ADRs, research reports and news as well as tools. Thus, you can make a decision to choose one out of the largest brokers on the block.
So let’s check out all of the detailed descriptions below:
Head-To-Head Comparison of Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade
Prices
In prices, both Fidelity and Td Ameritrade have a high competitive price to place a trade. They even share the similar prices for the major types including stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs), options and mutual funds.
Look at the following table to quickly compare their basic commission schedules:
BROKER | STOCKS AND ETFS | OPTIONS | MUTUAL FUNDS |
Fidelity | $0 per trade | $0 plus $0.65 per contract | $49.95 (thousands for free) |
TD Ameritrade | $0 per trade | $0 plus $0.65 per contract | $49.99 (more than 1,800 for free) |
Based on the table above, it is clear that both fidelity and Td Ameritrade charge $0 for stocks and ETFs per trade. The options and mutual funds are nearly identical. Thus, both of the brokers are said to have competitive prices one to another.
Free Mutual Fund & ETF Trades
Similarly, Fidelity and Td Ameritrade offer both mutual funds & EFTs a free commission for trading. In the other words, you can trade freely without paying commission. However, the typical commission you must pay to trade mutual fund is around $50.
Look at the following chart to compare. .
FUND TYPE | FIDELITY | TD AMERITRADE |
Total mutual funds | More than 10,000 | More than 13,000 |
NTF mutual funds | More than 3,500 | More than 4,100 |
Based on the chart above, Fidelity comes with the competitive fund lineup to keep getting better and less costly. In short, the clients do not pay anything to buy. Neither in management fees.
Minimum Deposit Requirements
Generally, wanting to start small is possible. There is no minimum commitment in both of these online brokers. This way, opening an account is free. You don’t even need to empty your savings account.
Trading Platforms
Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade comparison can be viewed from its trading platforms. In trading platforms, Td Ameritrade is the clear leader. This is due to the act that this online broker allows the customers to enjoy the highly rated mobile apps on iOS, Android and Windows devices. They can also use their favorite web browser platform and a full desktop platform called Thinkorswim which is available in any Td Ameritrade customer, no matter what kind of trading volume and account balance they use.
Td Ameritrade’s Thinkorswim as a fully customizable layout, allowing you to adjust it so that you can see what you want to see. These includes the stock charts, real time streaming quotes, historical earnings results, video feed of recent CNBC interviews and etc. This platform can be access through mobile devices. It has even all of the functionality of the desktop platform.
Fidelity Active Pro is the Fidelity’s platform that is free for everyone with Fidelity account. It is an advanced desktop platform with a web browser trading tool and mobile apps. Similar to Thinkorswim, Fidelity Active Pro is completely customizable along with the features of real-time news, optional columns and hundreds of charting tools. Further, this platform is also able to view the most important information you need to view.
As we admitted, the quality of trading platform owned by both of the brokers do not have a minimum required investment. So, if you want to choose a broker, either Fidelity or Td Ameritrade can be easily listed in to consideration.
International Stocks and ADRs
To help you determine which broker to choose, let’s have a quick read on the international stocks and ADRs. This way, we would like to know how Fidelity and Td Ameritrade measure up on trading foreign stocks.
In this regards, Fidelity comes more opportunities than Td Ameritrade in trading foreign stocks. However, both of them similarly allows the customers to by American Depository Receipts (ARDs) which are best described to be the foreign stocks with the domestic tickers.
In addition to international stocks, only Fidelity that offers the ability for the customers to place trades in the international markets using online brokerage account. In detail, the Fidelity customers can trade in 25 countries and exchange between 16 currencies. Thus, it is just easy for you to buy a small-cap stock listed on Australian Securities Exchange. This is a plus point you can definitely expect from Fidelity and you cannot expect from Td Ameritrade.
Research Reports and News
Todays’ discount brokers do not like the way of trading in the past. In history, the industry emphasizes the elimination of the extras such as free research to reduce the trading cost. Nowadays, the brokers can trade electronically at the low cost yet excellent research.
Based on the research reports and news, Fidelity is considered having stock and fund research. This way, 12 independent third party research for individual stocks along with the proprietary research reports and the top-down analysis of the U.S stock market can be accessed by the Fidelity customers.
If you work with online brokers, you may find it hard to access the proprietary research. This might be because a few brokers have the scale to rationalize the cost of in-house analysis and commentary.
On the other hand, Td Ameritrade allows its customers to access proprietary research and commentary along with the research reports from some third-party providers such as Ford Equity Research, Market Edge and CFRA.
When you compare Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade, Fidelity is difficult to beat. It has reports that are over 6,000 stocks.
Which One Is The Top? Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade
If you want a clear comparison on Fidelity and Td Ameritrade, you can easily come down to the features and functionalities that seems crucial to you. This way, Fidelity joins the zero-commission revolution. Similarly, Td Ameritrade offers zero-commission stock trading and the best in-class trading platform. Besides, Td Ameritrade offers also an extensive branch network, making it the perfect choice for investors who prefer face-to-face guidance.
The pricing structures offered by these two brokers are nearly same. However, Fidelity comes out to be better if the customers want to trade internationally in the international stocks market. It is still arguable that Fidelity places the top online discount broker due to the third-parties that provide supply for other brokers.
Tips To Buy Your First Stock
If you have decided on selecting the broker, the next thing to do is ensuring yourself that you are going to buy the right stocks. This way, it is much recommended that you start with the Stock Advisor to help you pick up your fist stock.
Final Words
Our review on Fidelity Vs Td Ameritrade finally concludes that the two brokers are quite identical. Both of them offers zero-commission fee. However, if you want to trade on international markets, Fidelity is more considerable since it allows the customers to trade in 25 countries within 16 currencies. Thus, you have more opportunities to have more stocks either domestically or internationally.
However, Td Ameritrade is also great enough especially for investors who want to have a face-to-face guidance. Further, its platform is fully customizable to allows you to have the most desired and important information.
All in all, the choice depends much on what you need in trading.