TDAmeritrade vs Merrill Edge Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2025)

TDAmeritrade and Merrill Edge 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: TDAmeritrade vs Merrill Edge (2025)
Feature TDAmeritrade Merrill Edge
Website https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.merrilledge.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Full-Service
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission No fee No fee
Fractional Shares? No No
Percent Allocations? No No
Crypto Trading? No No
Crypto Fees not applicable not applicable
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee 65 cents 65 cents
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes
Pays for Order Flow (PFOF)? Yes Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes
Desktop trading? Yes; thinkorswim No
API Trading? Yes; TD Ameritrade for Developers No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 13,000 Over 2,300
NTF Mutual Funds Over 3,700 Over 800
Non-NTF Fund Fee $49.99 $19.95
Early Redemption Fee? Yes Yes
Redemption Hold (Days) 30 days 90 days
Early Redemption Fee $49.99 $39.95
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes Yes
HSAs Offered? Yes, through other providers No
Money Market Sweep? No Yes
CDs Offered? Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Merrill Guided Investing
Robo-Advisor Fes 0.00% to 0.30% 0.30% to 0.45%
Basics: Headquarters Omaha, NE Charlotte, NC
Year Founded 1975 2010
Clearing Firm TD Ameritrade Clearing Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith
Local Branches? Yes, about 260 locations Yes, about 2,800 locations
New Account Minimum $0 $0

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