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Best brokers to actually own US shares If you want the share registered to you — with dividends, voting rights and no overnight financing — you need a stockbroker, not a CFD provider.
Answer: 13 of the brokers we cover meet the criteria for this page. Ordered on those criteria, Charles Schwab is the first name to look at — US residents.
Charles Schwab Owns the share
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 US residents
Open account Fidelity Owns the share
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 Retirement accounts
Open account What we screened on The security is held in your name or in nominee for you Dividends paid as dividends, not as cash adjustments SIPC or equivalent client asset protection The comparison table Broker What you get Minimum Fractional Regulation Extended hours 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 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 Trading 212 Share ownership $1 Yes FCA, CySEC Not offered on real-stock orders Vanguard Share ownership None No SEC Limited Webull Share ownership None Yes SEC Long pre-market and after-hours sessions
Broker by broker ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 Built for people who want to stop looking at the screen, not for traders.
Minimum None
Fractional No
Regulators SEC
US universe US listed stocks and ETFs Index-fund-centred retirement portfolios Investors who trade rarely Weak active-trading tooling No fractional single-stock buys ★★★★★★★★★★ 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 Frequently asked questions Which broker is best to actually own US shares? Charles Schwab leads this list on our criteria: the security is held in your name or in nominee for you. A full-service US brokerage; thinkorswim gives it a genuinely strong active-trading platform.
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".
Related broker lists Reviewed August 2026 · sources linked on each broker profile.