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

Vanguard and Firstrade 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 Firstrade (2026)
Feature Vanguard Firstrade
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://www.firstrade.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Discount (self-directed online brokerage)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online $0 online ($19.95 broker-assisted)
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading Yes (most U.S. stocks/ETFs; $5 min)
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 and $0/contract; plus pass-through ORF (~$0.02/contract from Jul 2026) and SEC sell fees
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs Yes (web only; net yield basis/markup)
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 11,000+
NTF Mutual Funds Over 1,800 11,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee $20 online for transaction-fee funds; $0 for NTF funds $0 online; $19.95 broker-assisted (no-load)
Early Redemption Fee? No No ($19.95 if held <90 days)
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days 90 days
Early Redemption Fee $50 $19.95
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes (approval; $2,000 min assets; not IRAs/custodial/ESA)
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, Rollover)
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes (FDIC sweep via Apex; 0.15%; not margin/SIMPLE IRA/ESA)
CDs Offered? Yes Yes (primary $30; secondary net yield)
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes No
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor N/A
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix N/A
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA Flushing, NY
Year Founded 1975 1985
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services Apex Clearing Corporation
Local Branches? No; phone/online service Yes (Flushing, NY HQ office, Mon-Fri 10am-4pm ET); no nationwide network
New Account Minimum $0

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