M1 Finance vs Interactive Brokers Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

M1 Finance and Interactive Brokers 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 Interactive Brokers (2026)
Feature M1 Finance Interactive Brokers
Website https://www.m1finance.com/ https://www.interactivebrokers.com/
Broker Type Self-directed discount brokerage Self-directed online discount broker
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 commission; $3/mo platform fee if assets <$10k (waived at $10k+ or with loan) IBKR Lite: $0 US-listed stocks/ETFs (US residents); IBKR Pro: $0.005/share fixed (min $1) or $0.0005–$0.0035/share tiered (min $0.35)
Fractional Shares? Yes (to 1/100,000th of a share) Yes (eligible US/CA/EU stocks & ETFs, from $1)
Percent Allocations? Yes (M1 Pies with custom target % allocations) Yes (TWS Rebalance Portfolio sets custom target %)
Crypto Trading? Yes (Bakkt Crypto Account; BTC, ETH, LTC; US 18+) Yes (spot crypto via Paxos/Zero Hash for eligible US IB LLC clients; permissions required; also futures/ETPs)
Crypto Fees Bakkt 1% (100 bps) on buys/sells (in exec. price); M1 $0 commission 0.12%–0.18% of trade value (monthly volume tiers), USD 1.75 min/order (capped at 1% of value); no added spreads/markups/custody fees; possible $0.15/mo Paxos fee
Options Trading? No Yes
Options Fee N/A US: Lite $0.65/contract ($1 min; Pro rates after 1k contracts/mo); Pro $0.15–$0.65/contract (volume/premium tiers), $1 min/order + exchange/reg/clearing fees
Bond Trading Available? No Yes (US Treasuries, corporates, munis, CDs, 1M+ global bonds)
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? Yes (receives PFOF ~$0.002/share) Sometimes (Lite receives PFOF on US stocks/options; Pro generally avoids via SmartRouting)
Interface: Web trading? Yes (web m1.com and iOS/Android apps) Yes (Client Portal web; IBKR Mobile and GlobalTrader apps)
Desktop trading? No Yes; Trader Workstation (TWS) and IBKR Desktop.
API Trading? No Yes; TWS API and Web API for retail algorithmic trading.
Mutual Funds: Offered? No Yes
Total Mutual Funds None 50,000+
NTF Mutual Funds None 20,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee N/A Lesser of 3% of trade value or USD 14.95 per transaction (US).
Early Redemption Fee? N/A Yes (no IBKR fee); fund companies may charge per prospectus.
Redemption Hold (Days) N/A None by IBKR (0 days); fund prospectus may impose.
Early Redemption Fee N/A $0 from IBKR; funds may charge per prospectus.
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes; Individual/Joint brokerage accounts include M1 Margin Loan by default ($2,000 min equity). Not for IRAs. Yes (Cash, Margin, or Portfolio Margin; typically $2,000 equity for margin).
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs available ($500 minimum). Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, Inherited, Rollover).
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 (Insured Bank Deposit Sweep Program).
CDs Offered? No Yes (brokered CDs).
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) Interactive Advisors
Robo-Advisor Fees $3/mo platform fee if <$10k assets (waived at $10k+ or Personal Loan); advisory currently 0% (up to 0.20%) 0.10%–0.75% AUM/year (varies by portfolio; IA 0.10%–0.20%, managers 0.25%–0.75%); no commissions
Basics: Headquarters Chicago, IL Greenwich, CT
Year Founded 2015 1977
Clearing Firm M1 Finance LLC (self-clearing Individual/Joint); Apex Clearing (IRA/Trust/Custodial) Self-clearing
Local Branches? No No
New Account Minimum $100 (individual/joint taxable); $500 (IRAs) $0

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