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

Vanguard and Fidelity 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 Fidelity (2026)
Feature Vanguard Fidelity
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://www.fidelity.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Full-service
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online $0 online US stocks/ETFs
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading Yes (7,000+ US stocks/ETFs, $1 min)
Percent Allocations? Yes; Vanguard Digital Advisor/asset-allocation tools Yes (Fidelity Basket Portfolios)
Crypto Trading? No Yes, via Fidelity Crypto® (BTC, ETH, SOL, LTC, FIDD) for US retail; also crypto ETPs in brokerage.
Crypto Fees Not applicable 1% of executed market value on buys/sells (Fidelity Crypto®/IRAs); none on FIDD vs USD.
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $1/contract $0 commission + $0.65/contract online; $0 for buy-to-close ≤$0.65. Extra fees for some indexes/pros.
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs Yes; $0 online for new issues/US Treasuries; $1 per bond secondary (caps apply).
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No Yes (receives PFOF on equities from wholesalers and on options).
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes (Fidelity.com web; Fidelity Investments iOS/Android app; Fidelity Trader+).
Desktop trading? No Yes (Fidelity Trader+ Desktop, PC/Mac; Active Trader Pro Classic also available)
API Trading? No No (no official public retail trading API)
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 3,000 Over 10,000
NTF Mutual Funds Over 1,800 Thousands (all Fidelity funds plus many NTF third-party)
Non-NTF Fund Fee $20 online for transaction-fee funds; $0 for NTF funds $49.95 per purchase (some up to $100); $0 redemption
Early Redemption Fee? No No ($49.95 Fidelity short-term fee on most NTF funds held <60 days)
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days 60 days (NTF FundsNetwork non-Fidelity funds)
Early Redemption Fee $50 $49.95 online (NTF funds held <60 days)
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes (traditional, Roth, SEP)
HSAs Offered? No Yes
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes
CDs Offered? Yes Yes (brokered CDs)
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor Fidelity Go
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix $0 under $25,000; 0.35%/yr for $25,000+
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA Boston, MA
Year Founded 1975 1946
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services National Financial Services LLC
Local Branches? No; phone/online service Yes, ~215 U.S. Investor Centers
New Account Minimum $0

Once you’ve chosen a broker, find high-performing, investable model portfolios at RecipeInvesting.com


Picked a Broker? Now Build Your Perfect Portfolio

Find high-performing, investable model portfolios (Tactical, Strategic, and Managed) at RecipeInvesting.com.

Get FREE Access
Recipe Investing Logo

Compare Vanguard to All Brokers