Merrill Edge vs E*Trade Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

Merrill Edge 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: Merrill Edge vs E*Trade (2026)
Feature Merrill Edge E*Trade
Website https://www.merrilledge.com/ https://us.etrade.com/home
Broker Type Self-directed discount/online brokerage Online self-directed brokerage (Morgan Stanley; full-service advisors available)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online commissions (ETF sales $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 principal) $0 online US-listed stocks/ETFs (OTC $6.95; other fees may apply)
Fractional Shares? No Yes, select listed stocks/ETFs (up to 3 decimals, $5 min notional; expanding)
Percent Allocations? No No (Prebuilt templates with suggested allocations; Core Portfolios managed)
Crypto Trading? No Yes; BTC, ETH, SOL via linked zerohash account for US individual brokerage clients.
Crypto Fees N/A 0.50% of notional value (no spread/markup); charged by zerohash (E*TRADE receives a portion).
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $0 + $0.65 per contract online; $0 exercise/assignment. Broker-assisted extra. $0.65/contract ($0.50 with 30+ trades/quarter) plus regulatory/exchange fees.
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes; 50,000+ bonds/CDs from many issuers.
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No; limited options-exchange payments Yes (receives PFOF on NMS stocks, ETFs, and options).
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes; E*TRADE web/app and Power E*TRADE web/app/desktop.
Desktop trading? No (MarketPro is browser-based, not a downloadable desktop app) Yes, Power E*TRADE Pro (Windows/Mac download)
API Trading? No (no public retail trading API) Yes (Developer Platform REST API; unattended algo orders prohibited)
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Thousands 5,000+ (6,000+ NTF listed on pricing)
NTF Mutual Funds Many NTF (exact count unpublished) 6,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee $19.95 per online transaction (buys, sells, exchanges) for no-load TF funds $0 online (no-load NTF); loads per prospectus
Early Redemption Fee? No ($39.95 short-term redemption fee on NTF funds held <90 days) Yes (no E*TRADE fee; fund fees may apply)
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days (NTF funds) None (0 days); E*TRADE charges no short-term redemption fee (fund prospectus fees may apply)
Early Redemption Fee $39.95 (NTF funds held <90 days) $0 from E*TRADE; fund prospectus redemption fees may apply
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP) Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, others)
HSAs Offered? Yes (Individual HSA) No
Money Market Sweep? Yes Yes (Bank Deposit Program / BDP)
CDs Offered? Yes (brokered CDs) Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Merrill Guided Investing Core 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. 0.30% annual advisory fee ($500 min.)
Basics: Headquarters New York, NY Arlington, VA
Year Founded 2010 1982
Clearing Firm Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (self-clearing) Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
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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