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

Vanguard and Stash 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 Stash (2026)
Feature Vanguard Stash
Website https://investor.vanguard.com/ https://www.stash.com/
Broker Type Full-Service Subscription-based digital brokerage
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 online $0 trade commission; $12/month subscription plan
Fractional Shares? Yes; eligible Vanguard ETFs/dollar-based trading Yes
Percent Allocations? Yes; Vanguard Digital Advisor/asset-allocation tools No
Crypto Trading? No No (crypto ETFs only)
Crypto Fees Not applicable Not applicable
Options Trading? Yes No
Options Fee $1/contract Not applicable
Bond Trading Available? Yes; Treasuries, bonds, and CDs No
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 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 Not applicable
Early Redemption Fee? No Not applicable
Redemption Hold (Days) 60 days Not applicable
Early Redemption Fee $50 Not applicable
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes No
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, SEP, Rollover, and Custodial Yes; Traditional and Roth
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; settlement-fund/cash-deposit sweep Yes; Apex FDIC-insured sweep
CDs Offered? Yes No
Robo-Advisor: Offered Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor Service Vanguard Digital Advisor Smart Portfolio
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.20% all-index; 0.25% active/index mix $12/month plan; 0.25% of managed balance quarterly (>= $1,000)
Basics: Headquarters Valley Forge, PA New York, NY
Year Founded 1975 2015
Clearing Firm Vanguard Brokerage Services Apex Clearing
Local Branches? No; phone/online service No
New Account Minimum

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