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

Merrill Edge and Robinhood 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 Robinhood (2026)
Feature Merrill Edge Robinhood
Website https://www.merrilledge.com/ https://robinhood.com/
Broker Type Self-directed discount/online brokerage Online discount brokerage (mobile app, web, Legend)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online commissions (ETF sales $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 principal) $0 commissions (SEC/FINRA sell fees may apply)
Fractional Shares? No Yes ($1 min; most NMS stocks/ETFs)
Percent Allocations? No No
Crypto Trading? No Yes (US-wide via Robinhood Crypto, LLC; all states, DC, PR, USVI)
Crypto Fees N/A MM routing: $0 commissions (RH rebate in spread); exchange routing: 0.00-0.95% volume-tiered maker/taker; transfers $0 + network fees
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $0 + $0.65 per contract online; $0 exercise/assignment. Broker-assisted extra. $0 commissions for stock/ETF options; $0.35 Gold/$0.50 non-Gold per index contract plus regulatory/exchange fees
Bond Trading Available? Yes No (individual bonds/fixed-income not supported; bond ETFs/CEFs available)
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No; limited options-exchange payments Yes (receives PFOF/rebates from market makers for equities, options, and crypto)
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes (web including Legend browser platform; iOS/Android mobile apps)
Desktop trading? No (MarketPro is browser-based, not a downloadable desktop app) No; Robinhood Legend is a free browser-based (web) platform, not downloadable.
API Trading? No (no public retail trading API) Yes for crypto (official US Crypto Trading API); no official stocks/equities trading API.
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes No
Total Mutual Funds Thousands 0
NTF Mutual Funds Many NTF (exact count unpublished) 0
Non-NTF Fund Fee $19.95 per online transaction (buys, sells, exchanges) for no-load TF funds N/A
Early Redemption Fee? No ($39.95 short-term redemption fee on NTF funds held <90 days) N/A
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days (NTF funds) N/A
Early Redemption Fee $39.95 (NTF funds held <90 days) N/A
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP) Yes (Traditional and Roth; no SEP)
HSAs Offered? Yes (Individual HSA) No
Money Market Sweep? Yes Yes
CDs Offered? Yes (brokered CDs) No
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes (Robinhood Strategies hybrid managed portfolios)
Robo-Advisor Service Merrill Guided Investing Robinhood Strategies
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.45% AUM online; 0.85% with advisor (monthly in advance). Preferred Rewards discounts 0.05-0.15%. Fund expenses extra. 0.25% AUM/yr; Gold ($5/mo): 0% over $100k ($250/yr cap). $50 min. ETF expenses extra.
Basics: Headquarters New York, NY Menlo Park, CA
Year Founded 2010 2013
Clearing Firm Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (self-clearing) Robinhood Securities, 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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