Our best brokerage accounts for beginners have features that help new investors learn as they begin their investing journey. The best trading platforms for beginners were selected based on top-notch educational resources, easy navigation, clear commission and pricing structures, portfolio construction tools, and a high level of customer service. Some online brokers for beginners also offer low minimum account balances and demo accounts to practice.

Best Brokerage Accounts and Trading Platforms for Beginners:

TD Ameritrade: Best for Beginners

Why We Chose It

Due to its strength in providing investor education, TD Ameritrade is our best overall choice for beginners. In addition to a robust educational platform, new investors may find that TD Ameritrade is also easy to use and navigate. The platform is comprehensive without feeling overwhelming, and the company has the resources, range of offerings, and support that will help new investors improve over the long term.

TD Ameritrade: Best for Investor Education

Why We Chose It

TD Ameritrade is unmatched as far as the variety and depth of its educational offerings. It personalizes the learning experience through recommendations based on your history, holdings, and other content viewed by similar investors. TD Ameritrade’s educational platform includes everything from beginning to advanced trading as well as the ability to paper trade on the platform without making any commitment, allowing users to practice trading.

E*TRADE: Best for Ease of Trading Experience

Why We Chose It

Good for new and experienced investors, E*TRADE’s intuitive website and mobile app provide easy access to the most relevant tools and straightforward menus to help users move quickly from research to trading. As investors gain experience, they can paper trade on a platform that mirrors the Power E*TRADE platform with more advanced features and customization options. Power E*TRADE also comes with its own mobile app, so you can upgrade the desktop and app when you are ready.

TD Ameritrade: Best for Customer Service

Why We Chose It

In addition to its ease of use and robust educational library, TD Ameritrade also provides outstanding customer service along several ways to access its customer service options. Customers can contact the company 24/7 via phone, Meta’s Messenger platform, or Twitter Direct Message.

Final Verdict

Finding the best brokerage platform for beginners puts a clear emphasis on how well a broker prepares you to become a participant in the financial markets. Lots of brokers have put work into streamlining their sign-up process and making getting up and running very easy for the customer.

To be Investopedia’s pick for best for beginners, however, a broker has to give investors access to the knowledge they need to invest successfully in a variety of formats. E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade are strong brokerage platforms overall, and both have extra appeal thanks to their large content libraries of resources and paper trading capabilities.

Most importantly, these resources are available to you without putting your cash at risk. This can help hesitant investors gain a level of comfort with the market and the platforms. In the end, TD Ameritrade is our best overall choice thanks to a slightly more immersive learning experience and ample customer support.

That said, if you are just starting out, both E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade offer an excellent onboarding to the market and supply all the necessary capabilities you’ll need to grow as an investor.

Trading vs. Investing

Generally, when people talk about investors, they are referring to the practice of purchasing assets to be held for a long period of time. Investors hold their assets long-term so that they may reach a retirement goal or their money can grow more quickly than it would in a standard savings account.

In contrast, trading involves buying and selling assets in a short period of time with the goal of making quick profits. Trading is typically seen as riskier than investing, and those new or inexperienced in trading should do so cautiously.

Before selecting an online broker to use, you’ll need to ask yourself questions including:

• Am I a beginner? If so, you’ll want to find a broker with solid education resources and ideally a paper trading account to practice in. You’ll also want calculators and analysis tools to help you plan, invest, and manage your portfolio. The quality of tools and resources can vary widely by broker, but generally the larger brokers have a much wider selection.
• How much can I afford to invest right now? Some brokers require larger initial investment to open an account and access the trading platform. If you have a small amount of money, you’ll want a broker with a low to no account minimum.
• Am I a trader or an investor? While investors can usually get away with a web platform or app, the complex needs of traders generally require a customizable desktop platform with all the bells and whistles.
• What kind of assets would I like to invest in? While most brokers offer the basics of stocks and ETFs, you may find other seemingly standard offerings like bonds and options are far from universal. If you are interested in trading forex, futures, cryptocurrency, and so on, you will be looking to larger brokers with asset offerings far beyond the basics.

How to Pick a Brokerage

You’ll also need to decide the type of brokerage account you’ll want, the fees involved, and how involved you want to be, day-to-day, with your account. You can also read our guide to choosing the right online broker for additional assistance in choosing the right brokerage account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Terms Beginners Should Know

• Cash accounts: A cash account is a brokerage account in which a customer is required to pay the full amount for securities purchased, and buying on margin is prohibited. The Federal Reserve’s Regulation T governs cash accounts and the purchase of securities on margin. This regulation gives investors two business days to pay for securities.
• Margin Accounts: A margin account is a brokerage account in which the broker lends the customer cash to purchase stocks or other financial products. The loan in the account is collateralized by the securities purchased and cash, and comes with a periodic interest rate. Because the customer is investing with borrowed money, the customer is using leverage which will magnify profits and losses for the customer.
• Retirement Accounts: Brokerages offer all types of retirement accounts like Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and 401(k)s.

Anyone who would like to get involved in the stock market should know some basic terminology:

• Stock: A stock (also known as “shares” or “equity”) is a type of security that signifies proportionate ownership in the issuing corporation. This entitles the stockholder to that proportion of the corporation’s assets and earnings.
• Price-to-Earnings Ratio – P/E Ratio: The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is a ratio for valuing a company that measures its current share price relative to its per-share earnings (EPS). The price-to-earnings ratio is also sometimes known as the price multiple or the earnings multiple.
• Market Capitalization: Market capitalization, commonly referred to as “market cap,” refers to the total dollar market value of a company’s outstanding shares. Market cap is calculated by multiplying a company’s shares outstanding by the current market price of one share.
• Dividend: A dividend is the distribution of reward from a portion of the company’s earnings and is paid to a class of its shareholders.
• Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF): An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a collection of securities—such as stocks—that typically tracks an underlying index.
• Bond: A bond is a fixed income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically corporate or governmental). A bond could be thought of as an I.O.U. between the lender and borrower that includes the details of the loan and its payments.
• Mutual Fund: A mutual fund is a type of financial vehicle made up of a pool of money collected from many investors to invest in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other assets. Mutual funds are operated by professional money managers, who allocate the fund’s assets and attempt to produce capital gains or income for the fund’s investors.
• Limit Order: A limit order is the use of a pre-specified price to buy or sell a security. For example, if a trader is looking to buy XYZ’s stock but has a limit of $14.50, they will only buy the stock at a price of $14.50 or lower. If the trader is looking to sell shares of XYZ’s stock with a $14.50 limit, the trader will not sell any shares until the price is $14.50 or higher.  
• Market Order: A market order is a request by an investor – usually made through a broker – to buy or sell a security at the best available price in the current market. It is widely considered the fastest and most reliable way to enter or exit a trade and provides the most likely method of getting in or out of a trade quickly. For many large-cap liquid stocks, market orders fill nearly instantaneously.

If you’re interested in learning more about the stock market you can check out our guide to investing.