Fidelity offers a more robust platform
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Jean Folger
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Jean Folger has 15+ years of experience as a financial writer covering real estate, investing, active trading, the economy, and retirement planning. She is the co-founder of PowerZone Trading, a company that has provided programming, consulting, and strategy development services to active traders and investors since 2004.
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Updated June 03, 2024
Reviewed by
Michael J Boyle
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Michael Boyle is an experienced financial professional with more than 10 years working with financial planning, derivatives, equities, fixed income, project management, and analytics.
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Fidelity and Vanguard are two of the largest investment companies in the world. Fidelity boasts over 50 million individual investors and $13.7 trillion in assets under administration (AUA). Meanwhile, Vanguard also has more than 50 million investors and $8.6 trillion in assets under management. Both brokers have solid industry reputations and offer a large selection of low-cost mutual funds, ETFs, advice, and related services.
Founded in 1946, Fidelity offers a robust trading platform, excellent research and asset screeners, and terrific trade executions. Vanguard was introduced in 1975 and offers an impressive lineup of low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) aimed at buy-and-hold investors. While these companies have a few similarities, one clear way they've differed is in the approach to cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency funds. Vanguard is not interested at all, while Fidelity is slowly dipping its toes into this alternate asset class. We'll compare Vanguard versus Fidelity to help you determine which broker might be a better fit for your investing needs.
New and Notable
In January 2024, Fidelity launched the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin fund (FBTC), a spot bitcoin exchange-traded product tracking bitcoin performance.
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- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $0 for stock/ETF trades, $0 plus $0.65/contract for options trades
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Fidelity: Pros & Cons
Pros
Well rounded trading platform
Superb research and asset screeners
Excellent trade executions
Cons
Cryptocurrency options at Fidelity have increased, but futures and options on futures not supported
Quotes delayed by 15 minutes
- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $0/stock and ETF trade, $0 plus $1 per contract for options
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Vanguard: Pros & Cons
Pros
Low cost ETFS and mutual funds
Good net price improvement
Updated, user-friendly website
Cons
Outdated mobile app
Does not support futures, options on futures, or cryptocurrency trading
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Usability
You can open and fund a Vanguard account online, but there is a several-day delay before you can log in and start investing. It's easier (and faster) to get started at Fidelity. With either broker, you need to sign more documents—and wait a bit longer for your application to be approved—if you want to trade options or have access to margin.
Vanguard's website has been updated and is now more user-friendly and modern-looking. However, there's still work to be done to make the website easier to navigate, and you can't get very far unless you log into your account. Fidelity's website offers far more tools and resources to support a broader range of investor types.
Usability Verdict: Fidelity
Overall, we found Vanguard is an excellent choice for long-term and retirement investors—especially those who want access to professional advice and some of the lowest-cost funds in the industry. At the same time, Fidelity is better for casual investors and traders who wish to access more tools, charting, and technical analysis.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Trade Experience
Desktop Trade Experience
Vanguard's platform is geared toward buy-and-hold investors, not active traders. While the platform gets the job done (i.e., you can enter orders), there aren't any bells and whistles. The order entry process is clunky and not particularly intuitive, and there's no real-time data until you open a trade ticket. Overall, the trading platform is adequate for passive investors, but it falls predictably short for traders and investors who want a responsive and customizable experience. Of course, keep in mind that Vanguard is, by design, not intended for frequent traders or short-term investors, so this should not be viewed as a shortcoming for the company.
Fidelity offers a better trading experience for every type of investor. Buy-and-hold investors should find Fidelity's web-based platform more than adequate. However, quotes are delayed by 15 minutes unless you sign up for real-time quotes. More active and technical traders will appreciate Active Trader Pro's charts, technical indicators, screeners, advanced order types, and more. In addition, recent dashboard enhancements, new thematic baskets, custom indexing, and robust rebalancing features make Fidelity a solid choice for more sophisticated investors.
Desktop Trade Experience Verdict: Fidelity
Overall, when compared to Vanguard, Fidelity is the clear winner in terms of trading experience.
Mobile Experience
Vanguard's mobile app is a bit outdated and light in terms of features. There is no charting, and the quotes are delayed until you open an order ticket. Still, you can monitor your positions, analyze your portfolio, read the news, and place basic orders—albeit for limited asset classes—as a buy-and-hold investor.
Fidelity's mobile app is easy to navigate, and you can manage orders, check pending transactions, and place trades. Where the app falls short is in its fundamental research and charting, which are very limited. Mobile watchlists sync with desktop and web applications, and you can use most of the same order types on mobile as on the web or desktop platforms.
While both apps are well-rated on the App Store, Fidelity has far more reviews. Vanguard has 4.7 stars from about 173,000 reviews, while Fidelity has a 4.8-star rating from some 2.4 million reviews.
Mobile Trade Experience Verdict: Fidelity
Overall, we found that Fidelity's app offers more functionality and will be valuable to a greater range of investors.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Range of Offerings
Compared to some large brokers, Vanguard and Fidelity have a limited range of offerings. Both brokers offer equities, bonds, options, ETFs, and thousands of no-load, no-fee mutual funds. However, neither supports futures, options on futures, or cryptocurrency trading, and only Fidelity offers Forex, precious metals, OTC, and fractional shares for purchase.
Compare Range of Offerings
| Criteria | Fidelity | Vanguard |
|---|---|---|
| Short Sales | Yes | Yes |
| Number of No-Load Mutual Funds | 3,396 | 191 Vanguard funds, 9,951 third party |
| Assets Available to Trade on Website | Stocks, Mutual Funds, ETFs, Bonds, CD's, Options, OTC | Stocks, Mutual Funds, ETFs, Bonds, CDs, Options, OTC trading is generally restricted (except for certain global ADRs) |
| Assets Available to Trade on Desktop Software | Stocks, Mutual Funds, ETFs, Bonds, CD's, Options, OTC | N/A |
| Max Number of Options Legs | 3 | 1 |
| Robo Advisory | Yes | Yes |
| Number of International Exchanges | 25 | None |
| Fractional Share Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Fractional Dividend Reinvestments | Yes | Yes |
Range of Offerings Verdict: Fidelity
While both brokers have quite extensive offerings, Fidelity takes this category for having more investments available and more exposure to cryptocurrency.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Order Types
Predictably, Vanguard supports only the order types that buy-and-hold investors typically use, including market, limit, and stop-limit orders. You can't stage orders for later entry (you can with Fidelity), but both brokers let you select specific tax lots before placing orders. Fidelity's web platform and Active Trader Pro support a better variety of order types, including conditional orders such as one-cancels-the-other (OCO) and one-triggers-the-other (OTO).
Order Types Verdict: Fidelity
Fidelity has a wider range of order types and options than Fidelity, particularly when Active Trader Pro is taken into consideration.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Trading Technology
Vanguard does not use smart order routing technology, and customers can't route their own orders. Still, the broker reports an average net price improvement of $1.70 per 100-share lot for eligible marketable orders. We did not find any ready details about Vanguard's execution speed, which is not surprising considering the broker's target customer is playing the long game. Although its approach to routing is basic compared to many other brokers, it scores points for not accepting payment for order flow.
Meanwhile, Fidelity's smart order routing technology seeks the best price available and can access all types of market venues, including dark pools, exchanges, and market makers. The company reports a net price improvement of $12.97 per 1000-share equity order ($1.29 per 100) and an average execution speed of 0.05 seconds. Like Vanguard, it does not accept payment for order flow for stocks or ETFs.
Trading Technology Verdict: Fidelity
Overall, Fidelity wins in the trading technology department due to its smart order routing technology and transparent execution speed statistics. It is worth noting, however, that Vanguard outperformed Fidelity in price improvement in the period we looked at.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Costs
Vanguard and Fidelity charge $0 commissions for online equity, options, and ETF trades for U.S.-based customers. Fidelity has a $0.65 per contract option fee; it's $1 at Vanguard.
Fidelity will set you back more for broker-assisted stock trades ($32.95 versus Vanguard's $25. Fidelity charges $49.95 for mutual fund trades that fall outside the no-transaction-fee family. At Vanguard, you'll pay $0 to $20 per trade, depending on your account balance. The margin rates at both brokers are close, with Vanguard charging 13.75% for $10,000 and Fidelity charging 13.575% for the same.
Compare Costs
| Fidelity | Vanguard | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of No-Load Mutual Funds Without Transaction Fees | 3,396 | 3,458 |
| Recurring Investment Fees | No | Yes |
| Cost Per Stock Trade | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Cost Per Options Contract | $0.65 | $1.00 |
| Cost Per Futures Contract | NA | N/A |
| Broker-Assisted Trade Fee | $32.95 | $25.00 |
| Volume-Based Options Discounts (Upon Meeting a Threshold) | Negotiable | No |
| Options Price Cap (Upon Meeting a Threshold) | Yes | Yes |
| Inactivity Fees | No | No |
| Account Closure Fees | No | Yes |
Costs Verdict: Fidelity
Fidelity and Vanguard are neck and neck when it comes to keeping costs low. Overall, you might save money at Fidelity if you trade options, but Vanguard will be cheaper if mutual funds are your focus. The key difference is that Fidelity is low-cost for a wide range of investor types, while Vanguard is a great low-cost solution aimed primarily at buy-and-hold investors.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Account and Research Amenities
Vanguard offers basic screeners for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. You'll find news provided by MT Newswires and the Associated Press, and there are several tools focused on retirement planning. Charting is limited, and no technical analysis is available—again, not surprising for a buy-and-hold-centric broker.
Fidelity's research offerings on the website include flexible screeners for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and fixed income, as well as a good selection of tools, calculators, and news sources. Its web-based and Active Trader Pro platforms offer customizable charting with technical indicators, drawing tools, and historical data. Another plus: Fidelity offers portfolio margining.
Compare Account and Research Amenities
| Fidelity | Vanguard | |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio Margin Available | Yes | No |
| Ability to Choose and Offer Shares Held Long to a Loan Program | Yes | No |
| Uninvested Cash Automatically Swept into a Money Market Fund | Yes | Yes |
| Screeners Offered | Stocks, ETF's, Mutual Funds, Fixed Income, ESG/SRI | Stocks, Preferred stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Fixed Income (ETF and mutual fund screeners contain filters for ESG strategies) |
| Ability to Build Custom Screen | Yes | Yes |
| Ability to Screen Based on Technical Indicators | Yes | No |
| Ability to Save Custom Screens | Yes | Yes |
| Access to Proprietary Research | Yes - with no additional cost | Yes - with no additional cost |
| Access to Third Party Research | Yes - with no additional cost | Yes - with no additional cost |
| Ability to Turn Screen Results into a Watchlist | Yes | No |
| Trading Idea Generator Offered | Yes | N/A |
| Daily Market Research Reports Offered | Yes | Yes |
Account and Research Amenities Verdict: Fidelity
Here again, Fidelity takes the category because it appeals to more types of investors than Vanguard and has more offerings aimed at this broader group.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Portfolio Analysis
Vanguard and Fidelity both provide access to real-time buying power and margin information, internal rate of return, and unrealized and realized gains. Both offer tax reports, and you can combine holdings from outside your account to get an overall financial picture. Something missing from both brokers is the option to calculate the tax impact of future trades. Vanguard has additional analysis tools looking for over allocations that will sync other financial accounts to measure allocations across your holdings. Fidelity also has an excellent financial analysis tool that you can link external accounts called the Fidelity Full View tool which goes beyond portfolio analysis and provides other financial insights as well.
Portfolio Analysis Verdict: Tie
Both Vanguard and Fidelity have solid portfolio analysis tools that go above and beyond by considering outside accounts for analysis.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Education
The focus of Vanguard's educational content is to help you set and reach your financial goals. Much of the content is in the form of articles. Still, you'll also find commentary and research papers, videos, and webcasts on investment products, retirement, industry news, financial planning, and the economy.
Fidelity's online Learning Center has articles, videos, webinars, and infographics covering various investing topics. There are regular webinars and online coaching sessions for more advanced topics, and learning programs aimed at beginning investors on the app.
Education Verdict: Fidelity
Overall, Fidelity takes the lead here by offering content that appeals to a larger investor population.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Customer Service
Vanguard offers phone support from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Eastern) Monday through Friday. Live chat isn't supported, but you can send a secure message via the website. Fidelity has a 24/7 phone line, an online chat feature (limited hours), and a secure email portal.
Customer Service Verdict: Fidelity
Overall, Fidelity's customer service is more flexible, but you can count on reliable help from either broker.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Security
The security at Vanguard and Fidelity is up to industry standards. You can log into either broker's app with your fingerprint, both brokers allow you to activate voice recognition technology for calls, and both brokers protect against account losses due to unauthorized or fraudulent activity.
Funds in brokerage accounts at both brokers are covered by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance which provides up to $500,000 coverage for securities with a $250,000 limit on cash. Think of it as being like the FDIC for brokers. Both Fidelity and Vanguard carry insurance that protects clients beyond the limits of the SIPC coverage. Vanguard does not disclose the details of its coverage. Fidelity's excess SIPC insurance policy has a per-customer limit of $1.9 million on uninvested cash and a total aggregate limit of $1 billion.
Security Verdict: Tie
Overall, investors can be confident in the security standards of either broker.
Vanguard vs. Fidelity: Account Types
Fidelity and Vanguard both offer the full range of commonly used account types. This includes:
- Taxable brokerage accounts
- Traditional, Roth, inherited, SIMPLE, and simplified employee pension (SEP) individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
- Corporate accounts
- Custodial accounts
- 529 college savings accounts
- Trusts
Account Types Verdict: Fidelity
Although both brokers offer all the standard accounts and more, Fidelity has some additional options like health savings accounts (HSA) and a Fidelity Youth Account. This will, of course, only matter if you intend to make use of those particular account types.
The Bottom Line
In our 2024 Best Online Brokers reviews, Fidelity earned higher scores than Vanguard in almost every category we ranked. To be fair, it isn't easy to compare two brokers that have distinct business models and different target customers. Overall, however, Fidelity is a better fit for investors and traders who want a more high-tech experience, technical analysis tools, advanced charting, and access to a broader range of offerings. In fact, Fidelity is our overall pick for the best online broker in 2024, so it is very hard to beat.
Vanguard doesn't really challenge Fidelity in any category except when it comes to buy-and-hold investors looking for low-cost, diversified funds. Vanguard still offers some of the lowest-cost funds in the industry and will appeal to buy-and-hold investors, retirement savers, and investors who want access to professional advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for retirement: Fidelity or Vanguard?
While Fidelity wins out overall, Vanguard is the best option for retirement savers. Its platform offers tools and education focused specifically on retirement planning. There are also five types of IRAs offered: Traditional, Roth, inherited, SIMPLE, and simplified employee pension (SEP). Additionally, Vanguard has incredibly low-cost funds and can provide access to professional advice.
What brokerage do the wealthy use?
Wealthy individuals use many different brokerage firms, some opting for Fidelity or Vanguard, while others use Charles Schwab or TD Ameritrade. Their choice of firm can vary depending on their individual investment goals.
What are the cons of Vanguard?
Vanguard is less user-friendly than Fidelity. The company recently updated its website but its mobile app is still outdated and lacks the same features as Vanguard's online platform. Additionally, like Fidelity, Vanguard does not support cryptocurrency trading, futures, or options on futures.
How We Picked the Best Online Brokers and Trading Platforms
Providing readers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of online brokers and trading platforms is a top priority for Investopedia. We combined our industry research, subject matter expertise, and investor survey data to guide the research and weightings for our 2024 online broker awards. To collect the data, we sent a digital survey with 110 questions to each of the 26 companies we included in our rubric. Additionally, our team of researchers verified the survey responses and collected any missing data points through online research and conversations with each company directly. The data collection process spanned from Feb. 19 to March 19, 2024.
We then developed a proprietary model that scored each company to rate its performance across 11 major categories and 89 criteria to find the best online brokers and trading platforms. The score for each company’s overall star rating is a weighted average of the criteria in the following categories:
Additionally, during our 2024 research, many of the companies we reviewed gave us live demonstrations of their platforms and services via video conferencing methods and also granted our team of expert writers and editors access to live accounts so they could perform hands-on testing.
Through this all-encompassing data collection and review process, Investopedia has provided you with an unbiased and thorough review of the top online brokers and trading platforms.
Learn more about how we review online brokers.
Article Sources
Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy.
Fidelity. "We Are Fidelity."
Vanguard. "What Makes Us Different?" Page 5.
Fidelity. "Fidelity Investments Launches Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FTBC)."
Apple App Store. "Vanguard."
Apple App Store. "Fidelity Investments."
Vanguard. "Trade Execution Quality."
Fidelity. "Commitment to Execution Quality."
Fidelity. "Your Financial Picture Just Got a Whole Lot Sharper."
SIPC. "What SIPC Protects."
Fidelity. "Fidelity Youth Account."
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