Vanguard vs M1 Finance Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

Vanguard and M1 Finance 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 M1 Finance (2026)
Feature Vanguard M1 Finance
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://www.m1finance.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Self-directed discount brokerage
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online $0 commission; $3/mo platform fee if assets <$10k (waived at $10k+ or with loan)
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading Yes (to 1/100,000th of a share)
Percent Allocations? Yes; Vanguard Digital Advisor/asset-allocation tools Yes (M1 Pies with custom target % allocations)
Crypto Trading? No Yes (Bakkt Crypto Account; BTC, ETH, LTC; US 18+)
Crypto Fees Not applicable Bakkt 1% (100 bps) on buys/sells (in exec. price); M1 $0 commission
Options Trading? Yes No
Options Fee $1/contract N/A
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs No
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? No Yes (receives PFOF ~$0.002/share)
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes (web m1.com and iOS/Android apps)
Desktop trading? No No
API Trading? No No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes No
Total Mutual Funds Over 3,000 None
NTF Mutual Funds Over 1,800 None
Non-NTF Fund Fee $20 online for transaction-fee funds; $0 for NTF funds N/A
Early Redemption Fee? No N/A
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days N/A
Early Redemption Fee $50 N/A
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes; Individual/Joint brokerage accounts include M1 Margin Loan by default ($2,000 min equity). Not for IRAs.
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes; Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs available ($500 minimum).
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes; High-Yield Cash Account has FDIC bank sweep. Invest-account cash does not auto-sweep (transfer required).
CDs Offered? Yes No
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes No (self-directed Pies/auto-invest; optional non-discretionary M1 Advisory)
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor M1 Pies (self-directed); M1 Advisory / M1 Advisor (AI, non-discretionary)
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix $3/mo platform fee if <$10k assets (waived at $10k+ or Personal Loan); advisory currently 0% (up to 0.20%)
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA Chicago, IL
Year Founded 1975 2015
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services M1 Finance LLC (self-clearing Individual/Joint); Apex Clearing (IRA/Trust/Custodial)
Local Branches? No; phone/online service No
New Account Minimum $100 (individual/joint taxable); $500 (IRAs)

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