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

Firstrade and Charles Schwab 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: Firstrade vs Charles Schwab (2025)
Feature Firstrade Charles Schwab
Website https://www.firstrade.com/ https://www.schwab.com/
Broker Type Discount 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 No fee 65 cents
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes
Pays for Order Flow (PFOF)? Yes Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes
Desktop trading? No Yes; thinkorswim and StreetSmart Edge
API Trading? No No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 4,000 Over 10,000
NTF Mutual Funds Over 700 Over 4,000
Non-NTF Fund Fee $19.95 $74.95
Early Redemption Fee? Yes Yes
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days 90 days
Early Redemption Fee $19.95 $49.95
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes Yes
HSAs Offered? No Yes, through other providers
Money Market Sweep? No No
CDs Offered? Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered No Yes
Robo-Advisor Service none Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fes not applicable 0.00% to 0.30%
Basics: Headquarters Flushing, NY San Francisco, CA
Year Founded 1985 1971
Clearing Firm Apex Clearing Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Local Branches? No Yes, about 400 locations
New Account Minimum $0 $0

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