Charles Schwab vs ZacksTrade Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2025)

Charles Schwab and ZacksTrade are two leading discount brokerages offering commission-free stock and ETF trading. Use this head-to-head comparison table to evaluate fees, features, trading tools, and account options to help you decide which broker is right for you in 2025.

Head-to-Head Comparison: Charles Schwab vs ZacksTrade (2025)
Feature Charles Schwab ZacksTrade
Website https://www.schwab.com/ https://www.zackstrade.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Discount
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission No fee $0.01 per share (minimum $1)
Fractional Shares? No No
Percent Allocations? No No
Crypto Trading? No Yes, via Paxos
Crypto Fees not applicable 0.18%
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee 65 cents 50 to 75 cents
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes
Pays for Order Flow (PFOF)? Yes Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes
Desktop trading? Yes; thinkorswim and StreetSmart Edge Yes; ZacksTrader
API Trading? No No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 10,000 Over 12,000
NTF Mutual Funds Over 4,000 Over 4,000
Non-NTF Fund Fee $74.95 $27.50
Early Redemption Fee? Yes Yes
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days 180 days
Early Redemption Fee $49.95 1%
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes Yes
HSAs Offered? Yes, through other providers No
Money Market Sweep? No No
CDs Offered? Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes No
Robo-Advisor Service Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Zacks Advantage
Robo-Advisor Fes 0.00% to 0.30% 0.25% to 0.70%
Basics: Headquarters San Francisco, CA Chicago, IL
Year Founded 1971 2014
Clearing Firm Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Interactive Brokers
Local Branches? Yes, about 400 locations No
New Account Minimum $0 $0

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