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 cryptocurrency.
Robinhood is great for free trading, a slick mobile app, and fractional shares, but it has come under scrutiny in the past for its inability to keep the service up and running all the time. So for those looking for another broker, Webull competes favorably with Robinhood in a number of key areas, even beating its rival. Webull also has useful charts, retirement accounts, offers fractional shares and still does the trading job without commissions.
So which is better for you? That depends not only on what each broker offers, but also on what features you really need. Here’s how these apps compare with some of the most common features.
| Broker category | Robinhood | Webul |
|---|---|---|
| Stock and ETF commissions | $0 | $0 |
| Option committees | $0 per contract | $0 per contract, with modest monitoring fees |
| Minimum account | $0 | $0 |
| Marketable securities | Stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrency | Stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrency |
| Account fees | Transfer fee of $100 | Transfer costs 75,- |
| Investment funds without transaction costs | No | No |
| Account types | Individual taxable accounts, IRAs (traditional, Roth and rollover) | Individual taxable accounts, IRAs (traditional, Roth and rollover) |
| Mobile app | Mobile app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store | Mobile app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store |
| Fractional shares | For purchases and reinvestment of dividends | For purchases |
| Customer support | Email, chatbot and 24/7 call back | Phone 24/7, email and in-app chat |
Topics covered on this page
- Costs
- Account minimum
- Marketable securities
- Account types
- Fractional shares
- Customer support
- Other factors
- In short
Costs
Robinhood was the investing app that started the free trading frenzy for stocks, ETFs, and options, and then added cryptocurrency trading to the mix. But a capable competitor has emerged in Webull, which offers many of the same free trading features.
While most online brokers now also allow commission-free trading of stocks and ETFs, Robinhood and Webull offer that and fee-free options trading, a real differentiator. That compares to the industry standard of $0.65 per contract, although some brokers offer discounts for high-volume traders. Robinhood is a little bit cheaper here, because it absorbs the regulatory fees that Webull passes on to customers, totaling about five cents per contract.
Both brokers offer cryptocurrency trading with no out-of-pocket fees, although you implicitly pay a spread markup on all trades, so it’s more like the fees are hidden in the trading price. Of course, there is nothing unusual about this price structure as it is typical of forex markets.
Here Webull wins points for publicly disclosing the spread markup (100 basis points, or 1 percent of trading value). Robinhood doesn’t disclose how much you pay through the spread, just how much rebate it receives for every $100 of crypto you trade: $0.35. So trading prices on Robinhood may be more or less affected than on Webull. (Technically, Webull has moved its crypto business to a separate app called Webull Pay.)
Overall, both brokers are comparable in terms of account fees, with no activity fees or ongoing account fees. Both charge a transfer fee — $100 in the case of Robinhood and $75 for Webull, while at least one major broker, Fidelity Investments, charges nothing. So you won’t notice these fees until you’re ready to leave Robinhood or Webull and need to remove securities from your account.
Edge: Webull, for lower account fees plus the benefit of disclosure for crypto trading. If options are your thing, Robinhood might be the better choice.
Minimum account
Neither Robinhood nor Webull has an account minimum, so investors of all wealth levels can get started right away. No account minimum is a top feature of the best brokers for beginners.
Edge: Even.
Marketable securities
Robinhood and Webull focus on the most popular trading categories, which means they don’t offer other securities commonly offered at other brokers (forex, bonds, and mutual funds, for example). Instead, these investing apps stick to stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto.
That’s an obvious disadvantage for traders looking to get involved in some of these other sectors of the market, but the vast majority of investors won’t need these sectors to amass a comfortable nest egg. So this limited selection will still work well for most investors.
That said, a clear negative is that neither Robinhood nor Webull offer mutual fund trading, which may not be a dealbreaker if you only choose these brokers for short-term trading. But investors looking for mutual funds will want to turn to a top broker with an offering in that area.
Edge: Even.
Account types
Robinhood and Webull both have a limited number of account types. Robinhood has long offered an individual taxable account and recently also started opening IRAs (traditional, Roth, and rollover). An IRA is a welcome addition to the stable, as investors have been severely limited in this dimension of Robinhood’s service. The app even takes the offer to a new level with a 1 percent match on any money you move into the account.
Webull offers both individual accounts and IRAs, including a traditional IRA, Roth IRA or rollover IRA.
If your financial needs extend beyond these accounts, you will likely need one of the larger brokers that offer a more comprehensive range of accounts, such as Charles Schwab.
Edge: Robinhood. Now that Robinhood has an IRA, and one with a cash transfer bonus, it’s taking the lead here.
Fractional shares
Robinhood is a good choice if you need fractional shares. The broker allows you to reinvest dividends in shares and invest directly in shares with partial ownership. The combination is not something that many major brokers like E-Trade or Merrill Edge offer, although each of the latter brokers allows reinvestment of dividends.
Robinhood lets you invest with as little as $1, and it can divide shares into chunks as small as a millionth of a share. Robinhood allows fractional shares in all but the smallest stocks, and stocks trading below $1 per share. So Robinhood is among the best brokers for fractional shares.
Webull is no slouch here either, but not that good. The investing app allows investors to purchase fractional shares, although reinvesting in fractional shares is not offered. But that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker at all: you’ll just have to invest your cash dividend yourself.
Edge: Robinhood, with a fractional share.
Customer support
Webull and Robinhood are more closely aligned here than before, following Robinhood’s relatively recent upgrade to 24/7 callback support. At Robinhood you can also send an email to customer support or consult the sometimes useful chatbot or frequently asked questions.
Meanwhile, Webull customer support is available 24/7 by phone and can be reached via email and in-app chat. It also has an online help center for more routine questions.
Neither investment app has physical branches for customers who need personal support.
Edge: Even.
Other factors
Both Webull and Robinhood offer some of the easiest bonus promotions to snag, even though it’s a modest freebie. Each gives away one or two free shares, including some of the more expensive stocks on the market, even if you’re likely to receive a share trading for a few dollars. Still, you don’t have to put a lot of money into a promotion, like with the larger brokers, even though you are guaranteed a bigger payday there.
Robinhood and Webull both offer instant account funding, allowing you to get an initial credit of up to $1,000 while the broker waits for your wire transfer. If you subscribe to Robinhood Gold, the broker’s $5 per month premium program, you’ll receive higher instant transfer amounts, the ability to trade on margin (at some of the cheapest interest rates in the industry), Level II market data, and access to Morningstar shares. research.
Both apps generally offer some sort of cash management account. Webull offers an account with an attractive interest rate, no minimum balance and no fees. While Robinhood offers a cash management account with attractive interest rates for Gold members, it is now no longer accepting new accounts. Over time, it will move these accounts into what it calls its expense account, which does not offer interest on cash balances. However, Robinhood does offer interest on your uninvested broker balance if you sign up for the cash sweep program.
While Webull only offers limited research, it offers a nice range of charting tools and several dozen technical indicators. Even if you don’t use these tools much or at all, it’s an impressive visual experience. At Webull, you can hone your trading skills with a paper money account that gives you $1 million in virtual cash and lets you indulge in the trading platform. But Robinhood has taken its charts to the next level in the past year, with key technical indicators, and also offering screens to help you see which stocks are hitting certain benchmarks.
Comparing margin accounts, Robinhood’s margin fees for Gold customers are cheaper than Webull’s, but Robinhood’s margin fees are more expensive for its regular, non-Gold customers. So if you want to use margin and don’t want to pay for Robinhood Gold, margin is cheaper at Webull. Webull charges no fees for access to a margin account and offers a sliding scale on fees that go as low as 5.49 percent.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Robinhood is hit by service outages from time to time, especially during periods of intense market activity. This level of unreliability can be a turn-off for traders who need to enter the market to make a trade at a specific time. While this issue hasn’t been a problem lately, it may take some time for this legacy to fade from memory.
In short
Robinhood and Webull are hitting dead ends in so many categories that it can be difficult to name a winner. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use investing app, either will work fine. So your needs will probably be the deciding factor. If you need sleek charts and a paper trading account, then Webull may be your choice. If you need a lower cost margin or overall lower options costs, you can choose Robinhood. That said, opening multiple investment accounts can also have some important benefits.
