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

Merrill Edge and ZacksTrade 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 ZacksTrade (2026)
Feature Merrill Edge ZacksTrade
Website https://www.merrilledge.com/ https://www.zackstrade.com/
Broker Type Self-directed discount/online brokerage Discount
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online commissions (ETF sales $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 principal) $0.01 per share (minimum $1); 1% of trade value below $1/share
Fractional Shares? No No
Percent Allocations? No Yes; Rebalance Portfolio
Crypto Trading? No No
Crypto Fees N/A Not applicable
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $0 + $0.65 per contract online; $0 exercise/assignment. Broker-assisted extra. $1 for first contract + $0.75 per additional
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes; corporate and government bonds
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) Yes; Zacks Trade Pro/Client Portal/app
API Trading? No (no public retail trading API) No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Thousands Not publicly stated
NTF Mutual Funds Many NTF (exact count unpublished) Not publicly stated
Non-NTF Fund Fee $19.95 per online transaction (buys, sells, exchanges) for no-load TF funds $27.50
Early Redemption Fee? No ($39.95 short-term redemption fee on NTF funds held <90 days) Varies by fund
Redemption Hold (Days) 90 days (NTF funds) Fund-specific
Early Redemption Fee $39.95 (NTF funds held <90 days) Fund-specific
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP) Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, and Rollover
HSAs Offered? Yes (Individual HSA) No
Money Market Sweep? Yes No
CDs Offered? Yes (brokered CDs) No
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes No
Robo-Advisor Service Merrill Guided Investing None
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.45% AUM online; 0.85% with advisor (monthly in advance). Preferred Rewards discounts 0.05-0.15%. Fund expenses extra. Not applicable
Basics: Headquarters New York, NY Chicago, IL
Year Founded 2010 2013
Clearing Firm Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (self-clearing) Interactive Brokers LLC
Local Branches? Yes (~3,530 Bank of America financial centers, U.S., as of Q2 2026) No; online broker
New Account Minimum $0 (self-directed) $0

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