What are Fidelity's trading commissions?

Fidelity charges $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs, and options trades (plus $0.65 per options contract). There are no account fees or minimum account balances. US Treasury trades are also commission-free online, though mutual funds vary—Fidelity's own funds and hundreds of no-transaction-fee funds are free to trade, while some transaction-fee funds carry a $49.95 purchase fee.

Does Fidelity charge fees to open or maintain accounts?

No. Fidelity charges $0 to open any retail brokerage or IRA account, has no account maintenance fees, no IRA closeout fees, and no account transfer-out fees. They also offer free electronic statements, wire transfers, and other services that competitors may charge for.

What types of accounts does Fidelity offer?

Fidelity offers approximately 50 account types, including taxable brokerage accounts, Traditional and Roth IRAs, Rollover IRAs, SEP IRAs, 529 education savings plans, HSAs, custodial accounts for minors, trust accounts, and youth accounts for teens ages 13-17.

What are Fidelity's margin rates?

Fidelity's base margin rate is 10.575%, with tiered rates that improve at higher account balances. The lowest rate is 7.50% for accounts with $1M+. These are among the lowest margin rates offered by major brokers.

Does Fidelity offer robo-advisor and wealth management services?

Yes. Fidelity Go (robo-advisor) is free for accounts under $25K and costs 0.35% annually above that threshold. Fidelity also offers Wealth Management (0.50%–1.50%, requires $500K+) and Private Wealth Management (0.20%–1.04%, requires $2M+ and $10M total investable assets).

Fidelity Review: The Broker That's Hard to Beat

Fidelity is the rare financial giant that actually competes on price like a scrappy upstart. Zero commissions on stocks, ETFs, and options trades. Zero account fees. Zero minimums. Zero expense ratio index funds. That's a lot of zeros from a company managing trillions of dollars.

For most US investors — beginners, buy-and-hold types, even active traders — Fidelity sits at or near the top of the list. They offer a genuinely full-service experience without the fees that usually come with it. The brokerage account doubles as a cash management hub earning 3.33% on uninvested cash (as of late January 2026), and they've built out crypto, fractional shares, and a robo-advisor alongside the traditional toolkit.

The real question isn't whether Fidelity is good. It's whether anyone else is meaningfully better for your specific situation. Let's dig into the details.

Fees

This is where Fidelity shines brightest. Here's the full breakdown from their commissions page:

Stock & ETF Trading:

$0 per online US stock trade — any number of shares
$0 per online ETF trade
A tiny activity assessment fee on sell orders (historically $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 of principal)
A small number of ETFs carry a $100 service fee — check their list before buying

Options:

$0 base commission + $0.65 per contract
Buy-to-close orders of $0.65 or less are free — a nice touch for closing out cheap contracts
Options Regulatory Fee applies on both buys and sells (small, industry-standard)

Bonds & CDs:

$0 for new issues
$1 per bond on secondary market trades
$0 for US Treasuries traded online (auctions and secondary)
$19.95 flat fee if you trade Treasuries with a representative

Mutual Funds:

$0 for all Fidelity funds
$0 for hundreds of no-transaction-fee (NTF) funds from other firms — but a $49.95 early redemption fee if you sell within 60 days
$49.95 per purchase for transaction-fee funds (some up to $100)
Four ZERO expense ratio index funds: Total Market (FZROX), International (FZILX), Extended Market (FZIPX), and Large Cap (FNILX)

Account Fees:

$0 to open any retail brokerage or IRA account
$0 account maintenance fee
$0 IRA closeout fee
$0 account transfer-out fee — Schwab charges $50 for a full transfer, so this matters
$0 for electronic statements, trade confirms, bank wires, bill pay, stop payments, check ordering, and even cashier's checks

Margin Rates (as of December 2025):

Base rate: 10.575%
$1M+: 7.50%
$500K–$999K: 7.75%
$250K–$499K: 10.075%
$100K–$249K: 10.325%
$50K–$99K: 10.375%
$25K–$49K: 11.325%
Under $25K: 11.825%

Fidelity publishes the lowest margin rates among major brokers. For comparison: Schwab's base is 10.075% but their effective rates run higher, E*Trade sits at 10.45%, and Vanguard is at 10.00%. At the $1M+ tier, Fidelity's 7.50% is genuinely competitive.

Advisory Fees:

Fidelity Go (robo-advisor): Free under $25K, 0.35%/year above $25K
Wealth Management: 0.50%–1.50% (requires $500K+)
Private Wealth: 0.20%–1.04% (requires $2M+ and $10M total investable assets)

Account Types and What You Can Trade

Fidelity offers roughly 50 account types — more than most people will ever need. The core lineup:

The Fidelity Account (taxable brokerage) — the flagship, no minimums, no fees
Traditional IRA — tax-deferred retirement savings
Roth IRA — tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement
Rollover IRA — consolidate old 401(k)s without penalties
SEP IRA — for self-employed and small business owners
529 Plan — tax-advantaged education savings
HSA (Health Savings Account) — triple tax-advantaged medical savings
Custodial Account — invest for a minor
Trust Account — estate planning
Youth Account — for teens 13–17, with parental oversight
Cash Management Account — basically a checking account with ATM fee reimbursement and competitive rates

Most of these also come in Fidelity Go (robo-advisor) and Managed FidFolios (professionally managed) variants. FidFolios charge 0.40% for index portfolios and 0.70% for actively managed, with a $5,000 minimum.

What you can trade:

US and international stocks
ETFs (broad selection, commission-free)
Options
Mutual funds (thousands, including Fidelity's ZERO funds)
Bonds and CDs
US Treasuries
Fractional shares — over 7,000 US stocks and ETFs, starting at just $1
Crypto — bitcoin, ethereum, solana, and more through Fidelity Crypto, plus crypto ETPs, and even crypto in IRAs
Fidelity's own stablecoin, Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), pegged 1:1 to USD

The fractional shares offering deserves emphasis. Schwab limits fractional trading to S&P 500 stocks. Vanguard only does fractional on its own ETFs. Fidelity gives you 7,000+ options with a $1 minimum. That's a meaningful advantage for newer investors or anyone dollar-cost averaging.

What's Good and What's Not

The good stuff:

Genuinely zero-fee structure. Not "zero with asterisks" — actually zero. No account fees, no transfer fees, no IRA closeout fees, no wire fees. The fee comparison table against Schwab and Vanguard is embarrassing for the competition.
ZERO expense ratio funds. Four index funds with literally no expense ratio. You can build a diversified portfolio — US total market, international, large cap, extended market — and pay nothing in fund fees. Nobody else offers this.
Cash earns real money. The SPAXX money market fund yields 3.33% (as of January 2026) with no subscription or premium tier required. That's your default sweep — no action needed.
Does not take payment for order flow (PFOF). Fidelity routes your stock and ETF orders without selling them to market makers. Schwab and E*Trade both take PFOF. This means Fidelity may get you slightly better execution prices.
24/7 live support. Real humans, any hour. This matters when something goes wrong at 2 AM.
Research from 20+ independent providers. More third-party research than any competitor.
Crypto in IRAs. You can hold bitcoin and ethereum directly in a Roth IRA. That's a tax planning tool most brokers don't offer.

The not-so-good stuff:

The website and app can feel overwhelming. Fidelity offers so much that finding what you need sometimes takes work. The UI has improved but still trails the simplicity of a Robinhood or even Schwab's cleaner design.
Margin rates aren't cheap for small balances. At 11.825% for under $25K, you're paying a lot. The rates only get competitive at $250K+. Interactive Brokers beats Fidelity on margin across the board.
Mutual fund early redemption fee. Sell a no-transaction-fee fund within 60 days and you'll pay $49.95. It's there to discourage short-term trading, but it can catch you off guard.
Options per-contract fee is middle-of-pack. The $0.65 per contract is standard, matching Schwab and E*Trade. But Robinhood and Webull charge $0. Active options traders doing high volume may find better deals elsewhere.
Crypto isn't SIPC-insured. This is industry-standard, not a Fidelity-specific flaw — but worth knowing. Your crypto is held through Fidelity Digital Assets, separate from your brokerage account protections.

Who Should Use Fidelity (and Who Shouldn't)

Fidelity is ideal for:

Buy-and-hold investors building long-term wealth. The ZERO funds, fractional shares, and no-fee IRAs make it practically free to invest and compound over decades.
Retirement savers who want all their accounts — Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, rollover from an old 401(k), HSA — under one roof with no fees.
Beginners who want room to grow. Start with a simple index fund portfolio, and as you learn, the research tools, options trading, and advisory services are already there.
People who care about execution quality. No PFOF means your orders aren't being sold to Citadel or Virtu. For large orders, this can save meaningful money.
Families. The Youth Account for teens, custodial accounts for younger kids, and 529 plans make Fidelity a solid family financial hub.

Fidelity might not be right for:

Active day traders who need the absolute lowest margin rates and fastest execution. Interactive Brokers is purpose-built for this crowd.
People who want maximum simplicity. If Fidelity's 50 account types and feature-rich platform feel like too much, a simpler app like Betterment or Wealthfront might be less overwhelming.
Heavy options traders on a budget. If you're trading hundreds of contracts weekly, that $0.65 per contract adds up. Brokers like Robinhood and Tastytrade offer cheaper or free options commissions.
International traders who primarily want foreign market access. Fidelity offers some international trading, but Interactive Brokers dominates this space.

How It Stacks Up

Fidelity vs. Charles Schwab: The closest competitor. Both offer $0 stock/ETF commissions, $0.65 options contracts, and broad account types. Fidelity wins on: no PFOF, ZERO expense ratio funds, lower margin rates, no account transfer fee, and fractional shares across 7,000+ securities (Schwab limits to S&P 500). Schwab's edge: a slightly cleaner interface and thinkorswim (inherited from TD Ameritrade) for active traders.

Fidelity vs. Vanguard: Vanguard pioneered low-cost indexing, but Fidelity has out-Vanguarded Vanguard on fees. Vanguard charges a $20/year account service fee (waivable), has no ZERO expense ratio funds, limits fractional shares to its own ETFs, and charges for bill pay and stop payments. Fidelity is strictly cheaper. Vanguard's advantage is its mutual ownership structure — it's literally owned by its fund shareholders — which aligns incentives long-term.

Fidelity vs. Robinhood: Robinhood is simpler, offers $0 options contracts (no per-contract fee), and has a slick mobile experience. But Robinhood takes PFOF, offers far less research, has limited account types (no IRAs with the same breadth), and doesn't match Fidelity's cash yield without a Gold subscription. For serious investing, Fidelity is the better long-term home.

Fidelity vs. Interactive Brokers: IBKR wins on margin rates, international market access, and tools for professional-grade traders. But IBKR's interface is notoriously complex, and the experience for casual investors is poor. For most people, Fidelity offers 90% of the capability with a far more approachable experience.

Conclusion

Fidelity is the closest thing to a "right for everyone" broker in the US market. The combination of zero commissions, zero account fees, zero expense ratio index funds, no payment for order flow, competitive cash yields, and a massive selection of account types is genuinely hard to beat. They've managed to be both the largest and one of the cheapest — a rare combination in any industry.

The weak spots are real but niche. Margin rates hurt at small balances. The platform can feel like it has too many features. Options traders paying $0.65 per contract can find cheaper alternatives. But for the vast majority of US investors — especially anyone building a retirement portfolio, saving in IRAs, or just starting out — Fidelity delivers more value with fewer catches than any competitor.

Would I use it? I'd make it my primary brokerage without hesitation. Park your emergency fund in the cash management account earning 3.33%, max out your Roth IRA with ZERO expense ratio funds, set up fractional share purchases on autopilot, and forget about it. That's a genuinely excellent financial foundation, and it costs you nothing.