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Best US stock brokers for beginners

For a first account, the deciding factors are a low minimum, fractional shares and an interface that does not offer leverage by default.

Answer: 9 of the brokers we cover meet the criteria for this page. Ordered on those criteria, Capital.com is the first name to look at — small starting balances. 8 of them give you real share ownership; 1 give CFD exposure only.

Capital.comCFD — no ownership

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

Small starting balances

Open account

Charles SchwabOwns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

US residents

Open account

eToroShares or CFD

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

Beginners

Open account

What we screened on

No or very low minimum deposit
Fractional shares so a $200 balance can still be diversified
Plain-language order tickets

The comparison table

Broker	What you get	Minimum	Fractional	Regulation	Extended hours
Capital.com	CFD exposure only	$20	Yes	FCA, CySEC, ASIC, FSA	Extended-hours pricing on selected US shares
Charles Schwab	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC	Pre-market and after-hours sessions supported
eToro	Share ownership	$50	Yes	FCA, CySEC, ASIC	Not offered on real-stock orders
Fidelity	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC	Extended-hours trading supported
Interactive Brokers	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC, FCA, CBI	Pre-market and after-hours routing available
moomoo	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC, MAS, ASIC	Pre-market and after-hours supported
Robinhood	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC	Extended sessions available, longest on paid tiers
Trading 212	Share ownership	$1	Yes	FCA, CySEC	Not offered on real-stock orders
Webull	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC	Long pre-market and after-hours sessions

Broker by broker

Capital.com

CFD — no ownership

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

Low entry barrier and a wide share-CFD list; the trade-off is that everything is a derivative, so there is no dividend ownership or voting right — only cash adjustments.

Minimum: $20
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: FCA, CySEC, ASIC, FSA
US universe: 3,000+ share CFDs across US and global exchanges

Small starting balances
Fractional-size share CFD positions
Traders who want one account for stocks, indices and FX

CFDs are leveraged and you do not own the underlying share
Not available to US residents

Visit Capital.com Full review

Charles Schwab

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

A full-service US brokerage; thinkorswim gives it a genuinely strong active-trading platform.

Minimum: None
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: SEC
US universe: Full US listed market

US residents
Long-term investors who want research and banking in one place
Options traders via thinkorswim

International account availability is limited and varies by country

Visit Charles Schwab Full review

eToro

Shares or CFD

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

Whether a position is a real share or a derivative is decided by your region and leverage setting — check before assuming ownership.

Minimum: $50
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: FCA, CySEC, ASIC
US universe: 3,000+ stocks across US and global exchanges

Beginners
Copy trading
Mixing real shares and CFDs in one app

Whether you get a real share or a CFD depends on your region and whether leverage is applied
FX conversion costs on non-USD deposits

Visit eToro Full review

Fidelity

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

Strongest on the long-term-investor side: research, cash management and low-cost index funds.

Minimum: None
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: SEC
US universe: Full US listed market

Retirement accounts
Buy-and-hold investors
Fractional investing in dollar amounts

Primarily a US-resident offering

Visit Fidelity Full review

Interactive Brokers

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

The default answer for a non-US investor who wants to actually own US shares rather than a derivative of them.

Minimum: None
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: SEC, FCA, CBI
US universe: Full US listed market (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX) plus 150+ global markets

Real share ownership from almost any country
Multi-currency accounts
Options, futures and international listings in one account

The desktop platform is dense and unforgiving for first-timers
Data subscriptions are billed separately

Visit Interactive Brokers Full review

moomoo

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

Unusually deep data for the price; the offering differs a lot between its US, SG and AU entities.

Minimum: None
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: SEC, MAS, ASIC
US universe: US listed stocks, ETFs and options

Level 2 data on a budget
Asian-market investors buying US stocks

Promotional pricing changes often — read the current schedule
Feature set differs by entity

Visit moomoo Full review

Robinhood

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

The simplest US app for buying a first share; the trade-off is depth of tools and research.

Minimum: None
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: SEC
US universe: US listed stocks and ETFs

Mobile-first US investors
Small dollar-amount buys
Simplicity over depth

Thin research tooling
Limited to a small set of countries

Visit Robinhood Full review

Trading 212

Shares or CFD

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

The FX conversion charge, not commission, is where the cost of a US trade actually sits.

Minimum: $1
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: FCA, CySEC
US universe: US listed stocks and ETFs plus share CFDs

European investors
Auto-invest pies
Very small starting amounts

FX conversion cost is the real fee on US stocks
Not available in the US

Visit Trading 212 Full review

Webull

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

Charting and screening well beyond what a zero-commission app usually ships with.

Minimum: None
Fractional: Yes
Regulators: SEC
US universe: US listed stocks, ETFs and options

Active traders who want free charting
Paper trading before going live
Options

Support is app-based
Country availability varies

Visit Webull Full review

Frequently asked questions

Which broker is best for beginners?

Capital.com leads this list on our criteria: no or very low minimum deposit. Low entry barrier and a wide share-CFD list; the trade-off is that everything is a derivative, so there is no dividend ownership or voting right — only cash adjustments.

Does a CFD count as owning the stock?

No. A contract for difference tracks the share price but confers no ownership, no voting rights and no real dividend — only a cash adjustment. It is a leveraged trading product, not an investment holding.

How is this list ordered?

By the criteria named on this page, using each broker's own published data. Commercial relationships never move a broker up a data-ordered table; where two brokers are genuinely equal on the criteria, our partners appear first and are labelled as partners.

Are the fees on this page current?

Every fee statement links to the broker's own pricing page, which is the authoritative source. We restate published figures rather than estimating them, and where a broker does not publish a number we print "not published".

Reviewed August 2026 · sources linked on each broker profile.