Ally Invest vs E*Trade Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

Ally Invest and E*Trade 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 2026.

Head-to-Head Comparison: Ally Invest vs E*Trade (2026)
Feature Ally Invest E*Trade
Website https://www.ally.com/invest/ https://us.etrade.com/home
Broker Type Discount (online self-directed brokerage) Online self-directed brokerage (Morgan Stanley; full-service advisors available)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 eligible US stocks/ETFs ($2+); $4.95 + $0.01/share if <$2 $0 online US-listed stocks/ETFs (OTC $6.95; other fees may apply)
Fractional Shares? No Yes, select listed stocks/ETFs (up to 3 decimals, $5 min notional; expanding)
Percent Allocations? No No (Prebuilt templates with suggested allocations; Core Portfolios managed)
Crypto Trading? No Yes; BTC, ETH, SOL via linked zerohash account for US individual brokerage clients.
Crypto Fees N/A 0.50% of notional value (no spread/markup); charged by zerohash (E*TRADE receives a portion).
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $0 commission + $0.50 per contract $0.65/contract ($0.50 with 30+ trades/quarter) plus regulatory/exchange fees.
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes; 50,000+ bonds/CDs from many issuers.
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? Yes Yes (receives PFOF on NMS stocks, ETFs, and options).
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes; E*TRADE web/app and Power E*TRADE web/app/desktop.
Desktop trading? No Yes, Power E*TRADE Pro (Windows/Mac download)
API Trading? No Yes (Developer Platform REST API; unattended algo orders prohibited)
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Thousands (500+ fund families) 5,000+ (6,000+ NTF listed on pricing)
NTF Mutual Funds Over 5,400 6,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee $0 (no-load); fund loads otherwise $0 online (no-load NTF); loads per prospectus
Early Redemption Fee? Yes (no Ally fee) Yes (no E*TRADE fee; fund fees may apply)
Redemption Hold (Days) Varies by fund (prospectus); no Ally broker hold period listed None (0 days); E*TRADE charges no short-term redemption fee (fund prospectus fees may apply)
Early Redemption Fee Fund-specific (often 0–2%); Ally $0 for no-load sales $0 from E*TRADE; fund prospectus redemption fees may apply
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes ($2,000 minimum equity required) Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes (Traditional/Roth/Rollover at Invest; SEP at Ally Bank) Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, others)
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes (Apex FDIC bank sweep; 0% interest) Yes (Bank Deposit Program / BDP)
CDs Offered? Yes (brokered CDs; $24.95 per transaction) Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Robo Portfolios Core Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fees 0% cash-enhanced (30% cash buffer) or 0.30% market-focused; ETF expenses extra 0.30% annual advisory fee ($500 min.)
Basics: Headquarters Charlotte, NC Arlington, VA
Year Founded 2017 1982
Clearing Firm Apex Clearing Corporation Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Local Branches? No No
New Account Minimum $0 $0

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