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

Merrill Edge and Fidelity 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 Fidelity (2026)
Feature Merrill Edge Fidelity
Website https://www.merrilledge.com/ https://www.fidelity.com/
Broker Type Self-directed discount/online brokerage Full-service
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online commissions (ETF sales $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 principal) $0 online US stocks/ETFs
Fractional Shares? No Yes (7,000+ US stocks/ETFs, $1 min)
Percent Allocations? No Yes (Fidelity Basket Portfolios)
Crypto Trading? No Yes, via Fidelity Crypto® (BTC, ETH, SOL, LTC, FIDD) for US retail; also crypto ETPs in brokerage.
Crypto Fees N/A 1% of executed market value on buys/sells (Fidelity Crypto®/IRAs); none on FIDD vs USD.
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $0 + $0.65 per contract online; $0 exercise/assignment. Broker-assisted extra. $0 commission + $0.65/contract online; $0 for buy-to-close ≤$0.65. Extra fees for some indexes/pros.
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes; $0 online for new issues/US Treasuries; $1 per bond secondary (caps apply).
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No; limited options-exchange payments Yes (receives PFOF on equities from wholesalers and on options).
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes (Fidelity.com web; Fidelity Investments iOS/Android app; Fidelity Trader+).
Desktop trading? No (MarketPro is browser-based, not a downloadable desktop app) Yes (Fidelity Trader+ Desktop, PC/Mac; Active Trader Pro Classic also available)
API Trading? No (no public retail trading API) No (no official public retail trading API)
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Thousands Over 10,000
NTF Mutual Funds Many NTF (exact count unpublished) Thousands (all Fidelity funds plus many NTF third-party)
Non-NTF Fund Fee $19.95 per online transaction (buys, sells, exchanges) for no-load TF funds $49.95 per purchase (some up to $100); $0 redemption
Early Redemption Fee? No ($39.95 short-term redemption fee on NTF funds held <90 days) No ($49.95 Fidelity short-term fee on most NTF funds held <60 days)
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days (NTF funds) 60 days (NTF FundsNetwork non-Fidelity funds)
Early Redemption Fee $39.95 (NTF funds held <90 days) $49.95 online (NTF funds held <60 days)
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP) Yes (traditional, Roth, SEP)
HSAs Offered? Yes (Individual HSA) Yes
Money Market Sweep? Yes Yes
CDs Offered? Yes (brokered CDs) Yes (brokered CDs)
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Merrill Guided Investing Fidelity Go
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 under $25,000; 0.35%/yr for $25,000+
Basics: Headquarters New York, NY Boston, MA
Year Founded 2010 1946
Clearing Firm Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (self-clearing) National Financial Services LLC
Local Branches? Yes (~3,530 Bank of America financial centers, U.S., as of Q2 2026) Yes, ~215 U.S. Investor Centers
New Account Minimum $0 (self-directed) $0

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