M1 Finance vs Ally Invest Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

M1 Finance and Ally Invest 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: M1 Finance vs Ally Invest (2026)
Feature M1 Finance Ally Invest
Website https://www.m1finance.com/ https://www.ally.com/invest/
Broker Type Self-directed discount brokerage Discount (online self-directed brokerage)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 commission; $3/mo platform fee if assets <$10k (waived at $10k+ or with loan) $0 eligible US stocks/ETFs ($2+); $4.95 + $0.01/share if <$2
Fractional Shares? Yes (to 1/100,000th of a share) No
Percent Allocations? Yes (M1 Pies with custom target % allocations) No
Crypto Trading? Yes (Bakkt Crypto Account; BTC, ETH, LTC; US 18+) No
Crypto Fees Bakkt 1% (100 bps) on buys/sells (in exec. price); M1 $0 commission N/A
Options Trading? No Yes
Options Fee N/A $0 commission + $0.50 per contract
Bond Trading Available? No Yes
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? Yes (receives PFOF ~$0.002/share) Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes (web m1.com and iOS/Android apps) Yes
Desktop trading? No No
API Trading? No No
Mutual Funds: Offered? No Yes
Total Mutual Funds None Thousands (500+ fund families)
NTF Mutual Funds None Over 5,400
Non-NTF Fund Fee N/A $0 (no-load); fund loads otherwise
Early Redemption Fee? N/A Yes (no Ally fee)
Redemption Hold (Days) N/A Varies by fund (prospectus); no Ally broker hold period listed
Early Redemption Fee N/A Fund-specific (often 0–2%); Ally $0 for no-load sales
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes; Individual/Joint brokerage accounts include M1 Margin Loan by default ($2,000 min equity). Not for IRAs. Yes ($2,000 minimum equity required)
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs available ($500 minimum). Yes (Traditional/Roth/Rollover at Invest; SEP at Ally Bank)
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; High-Yield Cash Account has FDIC bank sweep. Invest-account cash does not auto-sweep (transfer required). Yes (Apex FDIC bank sweep; 0% interest)
CDs Offered? No Yes (brokered CDs; $24.95 per transaction)
Robo-Advisor: Offered No (self-directed Pies/auto-invest; optional non-discretionary M1 Advisory) Yes
Robo-Advisor Service M1 Pies (self-directed); M1 Advisory / M1 Advisor (AI, non-discretionary) Robo Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fees $3/mo platform fee if <$10k assets (waived at $10k+ or Personal Loan); advisory currently 0% (up to 0.20%) 0% cash-enhanced (30% cash buffer) or 0.30% market-focused; ETF expenses extra
Basics: Headquarters Chicago, IL Charlotte, NC
Year Founded 2015 2017
Clearing Firm M1 Finance LLC (self-clearing Individual/Joint); Apex Clearing (IRA/Trust/Custodial) Apex Clearing Corporation
Local Branches? No No
New Account Minimum $100 (individual/joint taxable); $500 (IRAs) $0

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