Public.com vs Interactive Brokers Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2025)
Public.com and Interactive Brokers 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 2025.
| Feature | Public.com | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Website | https://www.public.com/ | https://www.interactivebrokers.com/ |
| Broker Type | Discount | Discount |
| Trading: Stock & ETF? | Yes | Yes |
| ETF & Stock commission | No fee | $0 for IBKR Lite, $0.005 per share for IBKR Pro (minimum $1) |
| Fractional Shares? | Yes | Yes |
| Percent Allocations? | No | Yes; Portfolio Builder or "Rebalance Portfolio" window in Trader Workstation |
| Crypto Trading? | Yes | Yes, via providers |
| Crypto Fees | 1.25% and up | 0.18% |
| Options Trading? | Yes | Yes |
| Options Fee | No fee | 15 to 65 cents |
| Bond Trading Available? | Yes | Yes |
| Pays for Order Flow (PFOF)? | Yes | No |
| Interface: Web trading? | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop trading? | No | Yes; Trader Workstation |
| API Trading? | No | Yes; Trader Workstation API |
| Mutual Funds: Offered? | No | Yes |
| Total Mutual Funds | None | Over 43,000 |
| NTF Mutual Funds | None | Over 19,000 |
| Non-NTF Fund Fee | not applicable | $14.95 or 3% of trade value (whichever is lower) |
| Early Redemption Fee? | not applicable | Yes |
| Redemption Hold (Days) | not applicable | 0 days (but fund company fees may apply) |
| Early Redemption Fee | not applicable | $0 (but fund company fees may apply) |
| Accounts: Margin Accounts? | Yes | Yes |
| IRAs Offered? | Yes | Yes |
| HSAs Offered? | No | No |
| Money Market Sweep? | Yes | Yes |
| CDs Offered? | Yes | Yes |
| Robo-Advisor: Offered | Yes | Yes |
| Robo-Advisor Service | none | PortfolioAnalyst |
| Robo-Advisor Fes | not applicable | 0.08% to 1.50% |
| Basics: Headquarters | New York, NY | Greenwich, CT |
| Year Founded | 2019 | 1978 |
| Clearing Firm | Apex Clearing | Self-clearing |
| Local Branches? | No | Yes, about 2 locations |
| New Account Minimum | $20 | $0 |
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