M1 Finance vs E*Trade Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

M1 Finance 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: M1 Finance vs E*Trade (2026)
Feature M1 Finance E*Trade
Website https://www.m1finance.com/ https://us.etrade.com/home
Broker Type Self-directed discount brokerage Online self-directed brokerage (Morgan Stanley; full-service advisors available)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 commission; $3/mo platform fee if assets <$10k (waived at $10k+ or with loan) $0 online US-listed stocks/ETFs (OTC $6.95; other fees may apply)
Fractional Shares? Yes (to 1/100,000th of a share) Yes, select listed stocks/ETFs (up to 3 decimals, $5 min notional; expanding)
Percent Allocations? Yes (M1 Pies with custom target % allocations) No (Prebuilt templates with suggested allocations; Core Portfolios managed)
Crypto Trading? Yes (Bakkt Crypto Account; BTC, ETH, LTC; US 18+) Yes; BTC, ETH, SOL via linked zerohash account for US individual brokerage clients.
Crypto Fees Bakkt 1% (100 bps) on buys/sells (in exec. price); M1 $0 commission 0.50% of notional value (no spread/markup); charged by zerohash (E*TRADE receives a portion).
Options Trading? No Yes
Options Fee N/A $0.65/contract ($0.50 with 30+ trades/quarter) plus regulatory/exchange fees.
Bond Trading Available? No Yes; 50,000+ bonds/CDs from many issuers.
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? Yes (receives PFOF ~$0.002/share) Yes (receives PFOF on NMS stocks, ETFs, and options).
Interface: Web trading? Yes (web m1.com and iOS/Android apps) 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? No Yes
Total Mutual Funds None 5,000+ (6,000+ NTF listed on pricing)
NTF Mutual Funds None 6,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee N/A $0 online (no-load NTF); loads per prospectus
Early Redemption Fee? N/A Yes (no E*TRADE fee; fund fees may apply)
Redemption Hold (Days) N/A None (0 days); E*TRADE charges no short-term redemption fee (fund prospectus fees may apply)
Early Redemption Fee N/A $0 from E*TRADE; fund prospectus redemption fees may apply
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes; Individual/Joint brokerage accounts include M1 Margin Loan by default ($2,000 min equity). Not for IRAs. Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs available ($500 minimum). Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, others)
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 (Bank Deposit Program / BDP)
CDs Offered? No Yes
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) Core Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fees $3/mo platform fee if <$10k assets (waived at $10k+ or Personal Loan); advisory currently 0% (up to 0.20%) 0.30% annual advisory fee ($500 min.)
Basics: Headquarters Chicago, IL Arlington, VA
Year Founded 2015 1982
Clearing Firm M1 Finance LLC (self-clearing Individual/Joint); Apex Clearing (IRA/Trust/Custodial) Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Local Branches? No No
New Account Minimum $100 (individual/joint taxable); $500 (IRAs) $0

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