Robinhood and Webull are two of the most popular investing apps, and millions of users have flocked to them for their ability to quickly trade and track stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies.

For those looking for another broker in the wake of the GameStop contraction, Webull competes favorably with Robinhood in a number of key areas, if not beating his rival. Robinhood is great for toll-free trading, a nifty mobile app, and fractional stocks, while Webull has helpful charts, better customer support, and still does the trading work commission-free.

So what is right for you? It not only depends on what the broker offers but also what features you need. Here’s how these apps stack up against some of the more common features.

Fresh

Robinhood was the investing app that started the no-cost trading frenzy for stocks, ETFs, and options, and then also added cryptocurrency trading to the mix. But recently, a capable competitor has appeared in Webull, which offers many of the same trading features at no cost.

While most online brokers now allow commission-free equity and ETF trading, Robinhood and Webull offer this and options trading at no cost, a real differentiator. This compares to the industry standard of $ 0.65 per contract, although some brokers offer discounts to high volume traders.

Both brokers offer cryptocurrency exchanges with no refundable fees, although you will implicitly pay a spread markup on all trades, so it’s more like the costs are hidden in the trading price. Of course, there is nothing abnormal about this price structure, as is the case in the forex markets.

Generally, the two brokers are comparable in terms of account costs, with no activity fees or ongoing account fees. Both charge a transfer fee of $ 75, while some large brokers, such as Fidelity Investments, charge nothing. So you won’t notice these fees until you are ready to leave Robinhood or Webull and need to withdraw securities from your account.

Minimum Account

Neither Robinhood nor Webull have a minimum account, so investors of all wealth levels can get started right away. No minimum account is one of the main characteristics of the best brokers for beginners.

Negotiable securities

Robinhood and Webull cater to the most popular trading categories, which means they don’t offer other securities that are typically offered by other brokers (forex, bonds, and mutual funds, for example) . Instead, these investing apps stick to stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto.

This is an obvious drawback for traders looking to get involved in some of these other fast paced sectors of the market, but the vast majority of investors will not need these sectors to build up a comfortable nest egg. This narrow selection will therefore work well for most investors.

That said, a clear negative point is that neither Robinhood nor Webull offer to trade mutual funds, which may not be a big deal if you only choose these brokers for short-term trading. But investors looking for mutual funds will want to look to a leading broker with an offering in this area.

Account types

Robinhood and Webull both have a narrow set of account types. Robinhood only offers an individual taxable account, while Webull offers this and a bit more, allowing clients to set up IRAs, including a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or rollover IRA. So if your financial needs increase, you are likely going to need one of the bigger brokers that offers a full set of accounts.

Fractions

Robinhood is a great choice if you need fractional stocks. The broker allows you to reinvest dividends in stocks and invest directly in stocks with fractional ownership. The combination is not something that many large brokerage houses such as E-Trade or Merrill Edge offer, although each of the latter brokerages allow reinvestment of dividends.

Robinhood lets you invest with as little as $ 1, and it can split stocks into chunks as small as a millionth of a share. Robinhood allows partial shares in all stocks except the smallest and those that trade for less than $ 1 per share. Robinhood is therefore one of the best brokers for fractional shares.

On the other hand, Webull does not offer reinvestment of dividends or buyback of fractional shares.

Customer service

Webull is opening some distance on Robinhood in the customer support category. The broker is available by phone and email 24/7 and answers questions through the in-app chat. It also has an online help center for the most common questions.

Robinhood has more limited customer support options, and the recent Bankrate review has rung the broker for difficulty finding its service number. You’ll be forced to email customer support, try the broker’s help page, or check out their sometimes helpful chatbot.

None of the investment apps have physical branches for clients who need in-person assistance.

Other factors

Both Webull and Robinhood offer one of the easiest bonus promotions to pull off, even if it turns out to be a modest giveaway. Each gives away a free stock or two, including some of the more expensive stocks on the market, although you’re likely to get a stock for a few dollars. Still, you won’t have to shell out a lot of money for a promotion like you will with the bigger brokers, even if you are guaranteed to get a bigger salary there.

Robinhood and Webull both offer instant account funding, allowing you to get up to $ 1,000 upfront credit while the broker waits for your wire transfer to arrive. If you subscribe to Robinhood Gold, the broker’s $ 5 per month premium program, you will receive higher instant transfer amounts, the ability to trade on margin (at a rate of only 2.5%, among the cheapest sector) and access to Morningstar stock research.

Although Webull only offers limited research, it does provide a nice suite of graphing tools and a few dozen technical indicators. Even if you don’t use these tools a lot or at all, it’s an awesome viewing experience. Moreover, you can hone your trading techniques with a paper money account which gives you $ 1 million in virtual cash and lets you go wild on the trading platform. Webull does not charge for access to a margin account and offers a sliding scale of rates of up to 4%.

Finally, it should be mentioned that Robinhood is sometimes affected by service outages, especially during times of intense market activity. This level of unreliability can be a drag for traders who need to enter the market to make a trade at a specific time.

At the end of the line

Robinhood and Webull are deadlocked in so many categories that it can be difficult to call a winner. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use investing app, either will do, although Webull’s charting apps really add a nice edge. So your needs are likely to be the deciding factor in which is the best. If you need smooth charting and a paper trading account then Webull may be your choice. If you need low cost margin or split stock trading, you can go for Robinhood. That said, opening multiple brokerage accounts can also have key benefits.

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