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

Vanguard 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 2026.

Head-to-Head Comparison: Vanguard vs Interactive Brokers (2026)
Feature Vanguard Interactive Brokers
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://www.interactivebrokers.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Self-directed online discount broker
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online IBKR Lite: $0 US-listed stocks/ETFs (US residents); IBKR Pro: $0.005/share fixed (min $1) or $0.0005–$0.0035/share tiered (min $0.35)
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading Yes (eligible US/CA/EU stocks & ETFs, from $1)
Percent Allocations? Yes; Vanguard Digital Advisor/asset-allocation tools Yes (TWS Rebalance Portfolio sets custom target %)
Crypto Trading? No Yes (spot crypto via Paxos/Zero Hash for eligible US IB LLC clients; permissions required; also futures/ETPs)
Crypto Fees Not applicable 0.12%–0.18% of trade value (monthly volume tiers), USD 1.75 min/order (capped at 1% of value); no added spreads/markups/custody fees; possible $0.15/mo Paxos fee
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee $1/contract US: Lite $0.65/contract ($1 min; Pro rates after 1k contracts/mo); Pro $0.15–$0.65/contract (volume/premium tiers), $1 min/order + exchange/reg/clearing fees
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs Yes (US Treasuries, corporates, munis, CDs, 1M+ global bonds)
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No Sometimes (Lite receives PFOF on US stocks/options; Pro generally avoids via SmartRouting)
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes (Client Portal web; IBKR Mobile and GlobalTrader apps)
Desktop trading? No Yes; Trader Workstation (TWS) and IBKR Desktop.
API Trading? No Yes; TWS API and Web API for retail algorithmic trading.
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 3,000 50,000+
NTF Mutual Funds Over 1,800 20,000+
Non-NTF Fund Fee $20 online for transaction-fee funds; $0 for NTF funds Lesser of 3% of trade value or USD 14.95 per transaction (US).
Early Redemption Fee? No Yes (no IBKR fee); fund companies may charge per prospectus.
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days None by IBKR (0 days); fund prospectus may impose.
Early Redemption Fee $50 $0 from IBKR; funds may charge per prospectus.
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes (Cash, Margin, or Portfolio Margin; typically $2,000 equity for margin).
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes (Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, Inherited, Rollover).
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes (Insured Bank Deposit Sweep Program).
CDs Offered? Yes Yes (brokered CDs).
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor Interactive Advisors
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix 0.10%–0.75% AUM/year (varies by portfolio; IA 0.10%–0.20%, managers 0.25%–0.75%); no commissions
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA Greenwich, CT
Year Founded 1975 1977
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services Self-clearing
Local Branches? No; phone/online service No
New Account Minimum $0

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