Buying stocks online for free is easier than ever in 2026 – but Do it well It still matters. While almost all major brokers now offer commission-free trades, the differences in tools, ease of use, education, and long-term support can have a real impact on your investment success.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to buy stocks online for free, step-by-step, and explain the investment platforms that make the most sense for beginners, long-term investors and hands-on traders.
Where to buy stocks online for free
Currently, there are only a few ways to buy stocks online for free (i.e., commission-free). However, technology continues to make investing cheaper, and more companies are fighting each other at lower prices. We should continue to see the cost of buying stock online decline in most companies over the next few years.
1. Robinhood
Robinhood It is an application for your phone (Android and iPhone) that allows you to trade stocks for free. We love Robinhood because it actually allows free trading — and that’s great. They have also added a lot of features that make it a compelling investment platform.
If you invest a low amount of money, it can save a really big amount as part of your portfolio expenses.
Plus, you’ll get free stock when you open an account with Robinhood!
Open a Robinhood account here >>
Get a free share of stock!
2. Sincerity
Sincerity It is one of our favorite picks for many reasons. In addition to being a full-service brokerage, it allows you to open and use every type of account, every type of investment, has excellent customer service, and offers commission-free stocks, ETFs, and options trading.
They also make it easy to do almost everything, whether on mobile or online. They have plenty of locations across the US too, if you need professional help. Check out our full Fidelity review here.
So, if you are looking for a brokerage firm to invest in for the long term, we highly recommend Fidelity. In addition, investing in stocks is commission-free!
3. Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab is another broker that has joined the commission-free investing arena – with commission-free stock trading, ETFs and options trading.
Schwab also has a consistently great sign-up bonus, with a lower minimum to get the same bonus as other brokers. Additionally, when they acquired TD Ameritrade, they also acquired Thinkorswim, which is one of the best trading platforms available.
Check out Charles Schwab’s full review.
4. Public.com
Public is another free investing platform that has focused heavily on the social aspect of investing and education. As a result of the use of influencers and education, audience awareness has increased dramatically.
Public has a powerful investing app – you can invest in any asset: from stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, fine art, collectibles and more – all in one place, including fractional shares and options. They also offer desktop support, which is very useful for things like looking at brokerage statements or tax forms.
They also advertise themselves as one of the few investment brokerage firms that does not pay for order flow.
Read the full overview here.
5. Wee pee
And he pees It is one of the newer players in free stock trading in the US, but has been in the business around the world for a few years.
Unlike Robinhood, which frowns on trading, Webull has plenty of tools and resources to help active traders use their platform.
One of the things that sets them apart is their powerful charts and technical tools. However, Webull does not currently support options trading, which is one of the areas that Robinhood supports.
Check out our full WeBull review to learn more.
Plus, if you open an account with Webull, you’ll get a free share of stock!
Open a Webull account here >>
Get a free share of stock!
Other free investment alternatives
While the options we discussed above are almost free ways to invest and buy stocks online, here are some other alternatives that have recently joined the commission-free investing game.
Investment ally
Investment ally It is an alternative broker that also offers commission-free investing for stocks, ETFs and options. They also have a large selection of no-commission, no-load mutual funds.
If you don’t want to do it yourself, Ally Invest also has a solid automated investing option. Check out our full Ally Invest review.
E-commerce from Morgan Stanley
E-commerce It is another major broker that has commission-free stocks, ETFs, and options. E*TRADE is the only company, outside of Vanguard itself, that allows its clients to invest in Vanguard funds at no cost (a select group of them).
E*Trade is also one of our top picks for people looking to open a Solo 401k.
Check out our full E*TRADE review and see if E*TRADE makes sense for you.
Momo
moomoo is a startup investing app that competes heavily with Robinhood and Webull. They offer advanced trading on their mobile app.
As with other companies, they offer commission-free stock investing. They are currently offering up to 15 free shares to new investors!
Check out our full moomoo review and find out if it makes sense for you.
Is there free options trading?
There are several different platforms that allow options trading. First, Robinhood, which we talked about above, allows options trading for free.
Robinhood It allows for Level 2 self-directed options strategies (buying calls and options, selling covered calls and options) as well as Level 3 self-directed options strategies such as spreads with fixed risk (credit spreads, iron condors).
Historically, options trading can get expensive – especially as it caters to more advanced traders willing to pay for an easy-to-use platform and tools. However, as options trading has become more free, it has allowed more people to take advantage of advanced methods that can work well for some savvy investors.
Check out our Full list of the best options trading platforms here >>
Why invest in free matters
The first factor that affects investment returns is fees. There are several types of fees:
1. Buying and selling fees (commission – which we talk about in this article)
2. Investment ownership fees (expense ratios – which you want to reduce)
3. The fees you pay to the advisor
Commissions can play a big role in how profitable your investment is, especially if you are only trading a little money. This is why commissions are so important in investing. For example, if you invest $100, and pay a commission of $7 – this equates to losing 7% of your investment on the first day. And since the stock market returns around 7% on average – you’ll literally be lucky to break even for the entire year!
Even if you were to invest $100,000 or more, paying commissions would still erode your returns. Especially since there are free investment options available, why would you still pay?
All that money you spend on commissions is wasted away from your own returns. Then, when you combine that with the possibility of other ongoing fees, such as an expense ratio on your funds, you can really start losing a lot of money in expenses. This is not good.
In order to maximize your potential profits from investing, you need to minimize expenses such as commissions!
How do these companies make money if they don’t charge anything?
This is the first question that skeptics ask about these companies that offer commission-free investing! How can they continue to exist if they don’t get paid any money. Even if they have huge investors backed by venture capital, they will eventually run out of money, right?
I was actually very concerned about this when Robinhood first launched. I spoke with the founder and asked him how he plans to make money — and what if he runs out of funding before he reaches scale.
Well, there are more ways for these companies to make money. Here are some of the most common methods:
- Lending securities owned by the user
- Lending cash held by the user
- They are paid for transactions in the market
- Interest on margin loans
- Interest on loans and other lending products
- Fees charged for additional products and services
The model of these companies is typically operated, leveraging technology, and making money through other methods besides charging commissions.
In fact, you can even make money by doing some of these things yourself. For example, securities lending is a popular way stock brokers make money. These securities are what short sellers borrow when they sell short. Companies like E*TRADE allow you to split the lending profits you would earn with them if you let them sell your securities. It is an added bonus that you can earn some extra money through investing.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of ways these companies can make money. The names on this list have simply chosen to focus on making money in other ways, and not charging commissions directly to their clients.
Final thoughts
It’s important to remember that fees and expenses are one of the main reasons investors don’t outperform the market over time (after choosing the investment, of course). We’ve tried all of these apps and can recommend them all for the reasons we mentioned.
If you are going to invest in individual stocks, or mutual funds and ETFs that are not commission-free, you need to find a broker that allows you to trade for free.
If you are looking for a premier broker, we recommend Fidelity or Vanguard. You can also check out our list of the best online stock brokers to find one that meets your criteria.
