TD Ameritrade vs. Charles Schwab (Now One and the Same) | The Motley Fool (2024)

When you're ready to become an investor, you can't just walk onto a Wall Street trading floor. But you can bring the stock market to your home computer or mobile device by opening a brokerage account with an online broker that will give you access to invest in everything from individual stocks to five-star funds.

Millions of people use TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, to place trades and make investments. That value wasn't lost on the brokerages themselves. In fact, in November 2019, Schwab agreed to purchase rival TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in stock.

You can still open a TD Ameritrade account, but it'll be moved over to Schwab in 2024.

Here are a few important details about Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade and what features you should look for going forward.

Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade: Trading costs and commissions

The cost to place a trade isn't everything, but it's an important point of differentiation among discount brokers. Let's compare Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade on trading fees. Both allow investors to buy and sell stocks, options, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds inexpensively. In fact, you can make an online stock trade with either broker for free. The brokers' standard commission fees are shown in the following table.

Note: Both still charge for automated phone trades and broker-assisted stock trades.

The important thing here is that the differences in prices between brokers is trivial for most types of trades. That's especially true now in the era of commission-free stock trading. TD Ameritrade pricing used to be among the highest in the industry, and Charles Schwab pricing was among the lowest. But the gap in pricing has since closed, and it doesn't look as if the merger itself will push trading costs up.

Keep in mind that both of these brokers came to the table with a large selection of mutual funds and ETFs that you can trade without paying a commission. The freebies can help you reduce your average trading costs overall.

Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade: Commission-free funds

Like funds? We have good news. Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade were already somewhat evenly matched. They both come to the partnership with long lists of no-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual funds and ETFs. Customers at both brokerages can buy and sell popular funds without paying a fee to do so. Whether you invest in a mutual fund or an ETF, the transaction fee is a big deal. The absence of a trading commission or trading fee can substantially reduce the cost of investing. It doesn't look as if traders will lose this benefit after the merger is complete.

Charles Schwab used to be the brokerage firm with the advantage in this category. Although it had fewer mutual funds compared to TD Ameritrade, that distinction goes away now. And Schwab's OneSource product lineup is great for mutual fund investors. You can invest in thousands of mutual funds with reduced minimums, often as low as $100 for an initial investment. Minimums as low as $1 for each subsequent add-on investment.

TD Ameritrade was a close second. Its commission-free ETF list includes funds from some of the market's most popular issuers, including iShares and SPDR.

Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade: Account minimums

TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab have no minimum account sizes. Investors can open accounts with as little as $1, and that isn't likely to change post-merger.

We'll caution that it would be advantageous to start with a larger initial deposit. You'll need enough money to buy at least one share of a stock, ETF, or mutual fund to actually make an investment. But as far as opening an account goes, a minimum deposit of a single dollar bill will do.

Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade: Trading platform

Infrequent traders and long-term investors might not care about trading platforms. Investors who take a more active role in the financial markets may want or need the functionality that comes from a true trading platform. Here's how Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade stack up.

TD Ameritrade is beloved for its desktop trading platform, thinkorswim. The thinkorswim trading platform is available to all TD Ameritrade clients, regardless of trading activity or account balances. And don't worry about losing access. Both brokerages say that thinkorswim will move over to Charles Schwab. The thinkorswim platform is extremely powerful, considering that it's completely free. This customizable platform offers hundreds of charting tools and robust screeners. It also features easy access to economic data for analysis. You can load up virtually any Federal Reserve data set with a single click. As far as free platforms go, the thinkorswim platform is easily one of the best, if not the very best.

Charles Schwab offered a desktop platform known as StreetSmart Edge, but it's being retired in 2024. Many of the popular features that were present at OptionsXpress, which was acquired by Schwab, were rolled into its platform. StreetSmart Edge was a robust trading tool, but Schwab has decided to focus its resources on continuing to build the thinkorswim platform. If you were already a Schwab customer, this means you'll have to get acclimated to a new user interface. Hopefully, that inconvenience will be offset by the platform's features and benefits.

Of course, TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab both offer other trading tools. With either, you can trade through a web browser. Each brokerage offers a mobile app, especially handy for that trader who wants to place trades on the go. Infrequent traders and long-term investors are likely to find everything they need in simplified mobile applications or in a desktop or mobile browser.

RELATED: How to Open a Brokerage Account

Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade: International stocks and ADRs

When it comes to international stocks and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), the Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade match-up differs in a big way. TD Ameritrade only offers access to ADRs, and doesn't offer a way to trade foreign stocks on foreign markets. TD Ameritrade customers will gain a big advantage in this respect when their accounts are moved over to Schwab.

Charles Schwab clients can use a Schwab Global Account to place online trades on 12 foreign markets in local currencies. Getting a Global Account is easy. There are no account minimums or fees associated with getting access. That said, note that almost all brokers charge a higher commission on international trades. The trading commission typically varies based on the country or specific market. For example, trades on Japanese stock markets may not cost the same as trades on German markets.

Both brokers offer research tools that help investors stay informed about their investments and find new stocks or funds to invest in. Looking at Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade, both offer plenty of screeners to help you quickly sort through the market for stocks or funds based on key criteria like price-to-earnings ratios or fund fees.

TD Ameritrade offers numerous daily updates on individual stocks and economic data. It also offers stock-specific research from several independent research companies.

Charles Schwab offers real depth in research. Clients get access to proprietary research and commentary from in-house analysts. They also get research from third-party providers.

The volume of material at either brokerage is simply far greater than anyone could ever read. There will probably be a merging of resources and elimination of duplication, but the merger could lead to an even greater menu of research tools at customers' disposal.

Together with Fidelity, TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab round out the list of discount brokers that are especially popular with investors who prioritize the availability of research. If research is a make-or-break point of differentiation, any one of these three would be an excellent choice.

Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade: Making a decision

Frankly, we are comparing these two massive brokers for a reason. Charles Schwab vs. TD Ameritrade was a toss-up that was sure to land you with a great stock broker no matter which one you chose. They both offer user-friendly platforms, high-quality research content, and no commissions on most trades.

Charles Schwab was the better choice for people who wanted to trade stocks listed on international stock exchanges. It was the only one of the two that offered direct market access overseas. Schwab also boasts a very attractive list of low-minimum mutual funds. That may win over investors who want to start small and build their account balances over time.

TD Ameritrade has one of the consistently highest-rated online trading platforms (thinkorswim). It's especially beneficial for high-activity investors and those who want to trade from anywhere with mobile apps. We have to give TD Ameritrade the edge when it comes to its trading platform, especially now that zero-commission trading has leveled the playing field.

The biggest differences between Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade are about to become nothingburgers as the two companies join, delivering their best tools to all of their clients.