Merrill Edge vs Ally Invest Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

Merrill Edge 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: Merrill Edge vs Ally Invest (2026)
Feature Merrill Edge Ally Invest
Website https://www.merrilledge.com/ https://www.ally.com/invest/
Broker Type Self-directed discount/online brokerage Discount (online self-directed brokerage)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online commissions (ETF sales $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 principal) $0 eligible US stocks/ETFs ($2+); $4.95 + $0.01/share if <$2
Fractional Shares? No No
Percent Allocations? No No
Crypto Trading? No No
Crypto Fees N/A N/A
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $0 + $0.65 per contract online; $0 exercise/assignment. Broker-assisted extra. $0 commission + $0.50 per contract
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No; limited options-exchange payments Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes
Desktop trading? No (MarketPro is browser-based, not a downloadable desktop app) No
API Trading? No (no public retail trading API) No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Thousands Thousands (500+ fund families)
NTF Mutual Funds Many NTF (exact count unpublished) Over 5,400
Non-NTF Fund Fee $19.95 per online transaction (buys, sells, exchanges) for no-load TF funds $0 (no-load); fund loads otherwise
Early Redemption Fee? No ($39.95 short-term redemption fee on NTF funds held <90 days) Yes (no Ally fee)
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days (NTF funds) Varies by fund (prospectus); no Ally broker hold period listed
Early Redemption Fee $39.95 (NTF funds held <90 days) Fund-specific (often 0–2%); Ally $0 for no-load sales
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes ($2,000 minimum equity required)
IRAs Offered? Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP) Yes (Traditional/Roth/Rollover at Invest; SEP at Ally Bank)
HSAs Offered? Yes (Individual HSA) No
Money Market Sweep? Yes Yes (Apex FDIC bank sweep; 0% interest)
CDs Offered? Yes (brokered CDs) Yes (brokered CDs; $24.95 per transaction)
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Merrill Guided Investing Robo Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.45% AUM online; 0.85% with advisor (monthly in advance). Preferred Rewards discounts 0.05-0.15%. Fund expenses extra. 0% cash-enhanced (30% cash buffer) or 0.30% market-focused; ETF expenses extra
Basics: Headquarters New York, NY Charlotte, NC
Year Founded 2010 2017
Clearing Firm Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (self-clearing) Apex Clearing Corporation
Local Branches? Yes (~3,530 Bank of America financial centers, U.S., as of Q2 2026) No
New Account Minimum $0 (self-directed) $0

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