Vanguard vs E*Trade Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

Vanguard and E*Trade 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 E*Trade (2026)
Feature Vanguard E*Trade
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://us.etrade.com/home
Broker Type Full-Service Online self-directed brokerage (Morgan Stanley; full-service advisors available)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online $0 online US-listed stocks/ETFs (OTC $6.95; other fees may apply)
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading Yes, select listed stocks/ETFs (up to 3 decimals, $5 min notional; expanding)
Percent Allocations? Yes; Vanguard Digital Advisor/asset-allocation tools No (Prebuilt templates with suggested allocations; Core Portfolios managed)
Crypto Trading? No Yes; BTC, ETH, SOL via linked zerohash account for US individual brokerage clients.
Crypto Fees Not applicable 0.50% of notional value (no spread/markup); charged by zerohash (E*TRADE receives a portion).
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $1/contract $0.65/contract ($0.50 with 30+ trades/quarter) plus regulatory/exchange fees.
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs Yes; 50,000+ bonds/CDs from many issuers.
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No Yes (receives PFOF on NMS stocks, ETFs, and options).
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes; E*TRADE web/app and Power E*TRADE web/app/desktop.
Desktop trading? No Yes, Power E*TRADE Pro (Windows/Mac download)
API Trading? No Yes (Developer Platform REST API; unattended algo orders prohibited)
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 3,000 5,000+ (6,000+ NTF listed on pricing)
NTF Mutual Funds Over 1,800 6,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee $20 online for transaction-fee funds; $0 for NTF funds $0 online (no-load NTF); loads per prospectus
Early Redemption Fee? No Yes (no E*TRADE fee; fund fees may apply)
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days None (0 days); E*TRADE charges no short-term redemption fee (fund prospectus fees may apply)
Early Redemption Fee $50 $0 from E*TRADE; fund prospectus redemption fees may apply
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, others)
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes (Bank Deposit Program / BDP)
CDs Offered? Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor Core Portfolios
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix 0.30% annual advisory fee ($500 min.)
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA Arlington, VA
Year Founded 1975 1982
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Local Branches? No; phone/online service No
New Account Minimum $0

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