Vanguard vs Ally Invest Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

Vanguard and Ally Invest 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: Vanguard vs Ally Invest (2026)
Feature Vanguard Ally Invest
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://www.ally.com/invest/
Broker Type Full-Service Discount (online self-directed brokerage)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online $0 eligible US stocks/ETFs ($2+); $4.95 + $0.01/share if <$2
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading No
Percent Allocations? Yes; Vanguard Digital Advisor/asset-allocation tools No
Crypto Trading? No No
Crypto Fees Not applicable N/A
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $1/contract $0 commission + $0.50 per contract
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs Yes
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes
Desktop trading? No No
API Trading? No No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 3,000 Thousands (500+ fund families)
NTF Mutual Funds Over 1,800 Over 5,400
Non-NTF Fund Fee $20 online for transaction-fee funds; $0 for NTF funds $0 (no-load); fund loads otherwise
Early Redemption Fee? No Yes (no Ally fee)
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days Varies by fund (prospectus); no Ally broker hold period listed
Early Redemption Fee $50 Fund-specific (often 0–2%); Ally $0 for no-load sales
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes ($2,000 minimum equity required)
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes (Traditional/Roth/Rollover at Invest; SEP at Ally Bank)
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes (Apex FDIC bank sweep; 0% interest)
CDs Offered? Yes Yes (brokered CDs; $24.95 per transaction)
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor Robo Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix 0% cash-enhanced (30% cash buffer) or 0.30% market-focused; ETF expenses extra
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA Charlotte, NC
Year Founded 1975 2017
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services Apex Clearing Corporation
Local Branches? No; phone/online service No
New Account Minimum $0

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