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Best brokers for pre-market and after-hours US trading

Earnings move prices outside the regular session, and only some brokers let you act in that window.

Answer: 12 of the brokers we cover meet the criteria for this page. Ordered on those criteria, Pepperstone is the first name to look at — non-US residents trading US shares as CFDs. 10 of them give you real share ownership; 2 give CFD exposure only.

PepperstoneCFD — no ownership

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

Non-US residents trading US shares as CFDs

Open account

Capital.comCFD — no ownership

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

Small starting balances

Open account

Charles SchwabOwns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

US residents

Open account

What we screened on

Length of the pre-market and after-hours sessions
Order types permitted outside regular hours — usually limit only
Liquidity warning: spreads widen sharply

The comparison table

Broker	What you get	Minimum	Fractional	Regulation	Extended hours
Pepperstone	CFD exposure only	None	n/a	FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, BaFin	Selected US share CFDs only — check the instrument schedule
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
Fidelity	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC	Extended-hours trading supported
IG	Share ownership	None	No	FCA, ASIC, MAS	Out-of-hours pricing on selected US shares
Interactive Brokers	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC, FCA, CBI	Pre-market and after-hours routing available
Merrill Edge	Share ownership	None	No	SEC	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
Saxo	Share ownership	None	No	DFSA, FCA, MAS	Available on selected US listings
tastytrade	Share ownership	None	No	SEC	Extended-hours routing available
Webull	Share ownership	None	Yes	SEC	Long pre-market and after-hours sessions

Broker by broker

Pepperstone

CFD — no ownership

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

A CFD and spread-betting broker, not a US stockbroker. It is on this site because for most non-US traders it is one of the few regulated routes to US-share exposure with leverage.

Minimum: None
Fractional: n/a
Regulators: FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, BaFin
US universe: 1,000+ US share CFDs

Non-US residents trading US shares as CFDs
Leveraged short-term positions
MetaTrader and TradingView users

CFDs are leveraged: you do not own the share, get no shareholder rights, and can lose more than you expect
Not available to US residents

Visit Pepperstone Full review

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

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

IG

Shares or CFD

★★★★★★★★★★5.0

One of the few names offering genuine share dealing and CFDs under one login, with the rules changing by jurisdiction.

Minimum: None
Fractional: No
Regulators: FCA, ASIC, MAS
US universe: US share dealing plus a large US share CFD list

UK and AU investors
Traders who want share dealing and CFDs side by side

Inactivity fees on dormant accounts
Product mix differs sharply by country

Visit IG 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

Merrill Edge

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.0

The reason to choose it is the banking relationship, not the trading platform.

Minimum: None
Fractional: No
Regulators: SEC
US universe: US listed stocks and ETFs

Existing Bank of America customers
Banking and investing under one login

Best value only if you already bank with BofA
US residents only

Visit Merrill Edge 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

Saxo

Shares or CFD

★★★★★★★★★★4.5

Priced for size — the tiering rewards larger balances and punishes small ones.

Minimum: None
Fractional: No
Regulators: DFSA, FCA, MAS
US universe: US listed stocks plus 50+ global exchanges

Larger portfolios
Investors wanting US plus European and Asian listings
Bank-grade custody

Costs bite at small account sizes
No fractional shares

Visit Saxo Full review

tastytrade

Owns the share

★★★★★★★★★★4.0

Built around options mechanics; stock trading is the supporting act.

Minimum: None
Fractional: No
Regulators: SEC
US universe: US listed stocks, ETFs, options and futures

Options-first traders
Derivatives alongside stock positions

Not a long-term buy-and-hold platform
No fractional shares

Visit tastytrade 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 pre-market and after-hours US trading?

Pepperstone leads this list on our criteria: length of the pre-market and after-hours sessions. A CFD and spread-betting broker, not a US stockbroker. It is on this site because for most non-US traders it is one of the few regulated routes to US-share exposure with leverage.

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.