ZacksTrade vs Firstrade Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2025)

ZacksTrade 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 2025.

Head-to-Head Comparison: ZacksTrade vs Firstrade (2025)
Feature ZacksTrade Firstrade
Website https://www.zackstrade.com/ https://www.firstrade.com/
Broker Type Discount Discount
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0.01 per share (minimum $1) No fee
Fractional Shares? No No
Percent Allocations? No No
Crypto Trading? Yes, via Paxos No
Crypto Fees 0.18% not applicable
Options Trading? Yes Yes
Options Fee 50 to 75 cents No fee
Bond Trading Available? Yes Yes
Pays for Order Flow (PFOF)? Yes Yes
Interface: Web trading? Yes Yes
Desktop trading? Yes; ZacksTrader No
API Trading? No No
Mutual Funds: Offered? Yes Yes
Total Mutual Funds Over 12,000 Over 4,000
NTF Mutual Funds Over 4,000 Over 700
Non-NTF Fund Fee $27.50 $19.95
Early Redemption Fee? Yes Yes
Redemption Hold (Days) 180 days 90 days
Early Redemption Fee 1% $19.95
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes Yes
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? No No
CDs Offered? Yes Yes
Robo-Advisor: Offered No No
Robo-Advisor Service Zacks Advantage none
Robo-Advisor Fees 0.25% to 0.70% not applicable
Basics: Headquarters Chicago, IL Flushing, NY
Year Founded 2014 1985
Clearing Firm Interactive Brokers Apex Clearing
Local Branches? No No
New Account Minimum $0 $0

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