Free to open, free to hold, free to leave, and $0 on online trades — the published schedule is the reason fees score 9.4, second only to support.
Fidelity's published schedule is the reason its fees dimension scores 9.4, second only to its own support score. Online US stock and ETF trades are $0. Opening an account requires nothing, holding it costs nothing, and — unusually — moving it to another broker costs nothing either. Charles Schwab charges $50 for the same full account transfer out.
Options follow the industry pattern with one genuine advantage. There is no base commission online and 65 cents per contract, the same rate Schwab charges. The difference is the waiver: Fidelity charges nothing on buy-to-close orders placed online for contracts priced at 65 cents or less, where Schwab's equivalent online waiver stops at 5 cents. For anyone who routinely closes cheap short options, that is a thirteenfold wider exemption on an identical headline rate.
Where Fidelity is expensive is the assisted channels, and there it is dearer than Schwab in both tiers.
| Channel | Fidelity | Charles Schwab |
|---|
| Online stock/ETF | $0 | $0 |
| Automated phone | $12.95 | $5 |
| Representative-assisted | $32.95 | $25 |
| Options, per contract | $0.65 | $0.65 |
| Buy-to-close waiver | at 65¢ or less | at 5¢ or less |
| Full account transfer out | $0 | $50 |
Options orders are capped at 5% of principal, subject to a minimum of $12.95 on automated-phone trades and $32.95 representative-assisted. Certain proprietary exchange products carry an additional per-contract fee: 50 cents on the S&P 500, 45 on the Nasdaq 100, 30 on the VIX, 15 on the Russell 2000 and 14 on the Dow. Designated professional options traders pay a further 50 cents per contract.
Two pass-through charges sit underneath the headline rates and are disclosed rather than hidden. The Additional Assessment covers fees the SEC and self-regulatory bodies impose on Fidelity for sell transactions, typically $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal. On options, an Options Regulatory Fee has ranged between $0.02 and $0.04 per contract and can change at any time. Fidelity is explicit that it determines these amounts at its own discretion and that they may differ from or exceed what it actually pays — the same discretionary structure Schwab discloses for its Industry Fee, and worth the same scepticism.
Currency is where the largest percentages live. A foreign currency wire costs up to 3% of principal when converting dollars to send funds abroad, and a dividend or reorganisation payment on a foreign asset held in a dollar account carries 1% of principal. Both dwarf any commission on the underlying trade.
Funds are where the cost advantage compounds. Fidelity's own funds carry no transaction fee through any channel. Its FundsNetwork no-transaction-fee range is likewise free to buy, but selling or exchanging one within 60 days triggers a $49.95 short-term trading fee online. Transaction-fee funds cost $49.95 or $100 per purchase online, nothing on redemption for shares bought with no load, and rise to 0.75% of principal representative-assisted with a $100 minimum and $250 maximum.
Stocks, options, bonds, funds and foreign shares in 25 countries, but no futures or forex in the schedule, which is what holds features to 8.6.
This is the section that explains Fidelity's ranking, because it is the one dimension where the field leader does not lead. Features scores 8.6 of 10 — the lowest of Fidelity's four dimensions, and nearly a point behind Schwab's 9.4.
The schedule covers stocks and ETFs, options, bonds and CDs, mutual funds, foreign shares, unit investment trusts and precious metals. Futures and spot forex are not among them, and not because the document is silent — Fidelity does not offer retail futures at all, and its foreign-exchange activity is currency conversion for settlement rather than a tradable product. A trader who wants either in the same account is looking at a different broker, and that absence does more to hold the features score down than anything Fidelity does badly. Absence from a fee schedule proves nothing on its own, incidentally: the same document never mentions crypto or fractional shares either, and Fidelity offers both.
Fixed income is priced well. Certain new issue products carry no separate transaction fee. US Treasuries and TIPS are free online in both the auction and secondary markets, and $19.95 representative-assisted. All other bonds are $1 per bond online with a $250 maximum, reduced to a $50 maximum for bonds maturing within a year — a cap that matters on large short-dated ladders. Buying a foreign currency-denominated bond for settlement in US dollars adds 0.30% of principal below $1 million, 0.20% up to $5 million, and a negotiated rate above that — the charge is triggered by settling in dollars, not by avoiding them.
International equity access is genuinely broad, and broader than Schwab's. Fidelity's International Trading covers 25 countries and 16 currencies, against the twelve exchanges Schwab lists for its Global Account. Online commissions are charged in local currency: 9 GBP in the United Kingdom, 19 EUR across Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands, 19 CAD in Canada, 3,000 JPY in Japan, 32 AUD in Australia. Representative-assisted rates run several times higher — 30 GBP, 50 EUR, 70 CAD, 8,000 JPY.
Two costs ride alongside and are easy to overlook. Currency conversion runs 1% of principal below $100,000, tapering through 0.75%, 0.50% and 0.30% to between zero and 0.20% above $1 million. Country levies are passed through separately: a 0.40% financial transaction tax in France, 0.10% in Italy, 0.20% in Spain, a 1.00% stamp tax in Ireland and 0.50% UK stamp duty on purchases. None of these are Fidelity's, but they land on your confirmation.
New issues deserve a note because their cost is real but invisible. Fidelity charges no separate transaction fee to participate in an offering; it is compensated out of the deal instead, as a selling group member or underwriter. The schedule publishes those ranges: on an IPO, 3% to 4.2% of the investment amount from participation in the selling group and 5% to 7% from underwriting; on a follow-on, 1.8% to 2.4% and 3% to 4%. Corporate notes run 0.01% to 2.5% and 0.01% to 3%, corporate bonds 0.01% to 2.5% and 0.05% to 3%, municipals 0.1% to 2% and 0.1% to 2.5%. None of this appears as a line on your confirmation, which is precisely why it is worth reading once.
Foreign shares can be reached three different ways, and the choice determines what you pay. International Trading places the order on the local exchange in local currency at the rates above. Dollarized International Trading settles in US dollars but is representative-assisted only, adding a $50 non-DTC fee outside Canada for securities that are not Depository Trust Company eligible. Foreign Ordinary Share Trading buys the over-the-counter listing instead, at the domestic stock commission plus $50 per transaction on any foreign ordinary not DTC-eligible. Same company, three prices.
Beyond listed securities, the schedule reaches two asset classes most brokers price awkwardly. Unit investment trusts cost nothing to purchase, with a $35 minimum per redemption. Physical precious metals are charged on a sliding scale of the gross amount: 2.90% to buy under $10,000, falling through 2.50% and 1.98% to 0.99% above $100,000, and 2.00% to sell under $50,000, falling to 0.75% above $250,000. Storage runs a quarterly 0.125% of total value or $3.75, whichever is greater, and Fidelity applies a $2,500 minimum purchase — $1,000 inside an IRA. Precious metals cannot be held in a Fidelity Retirement Plan (Keogh), and each transaction carries a $44 minimum fee.
One eligibility rule is worth reading carefully, because the schedule states it two ways. Its general limits say retirement and BrokerageLink accounts cannot trade foreign securities or sell short and are not eligible for margin. Its service descriptions are narrower: International Trading excludes retirement registrations, but Dollarized International Trading is explicitly offered in retirement accounts, and Foreign Ordinary Share Trading states that retirement and non-retirement accounts are both eligible. An IRA holder is therefore restricted to the dollar-settled routes rather than shut out — confirm your own account before assuming either reading.
Platform experience is audited at 9.2, third among Fidelity's four dimensions and comfortably above the average for this field.
Platform experience is audited at 9.2 of 10, third among Fidelity's four dimensions — behind support and fees, ahead of features.
The fee schedule establishes the channel structure rather than the feature set: online is the cheapest route at $0, the automated telephone service sits in the middle at $12.95, and a representative costs $32.95. Fidelity names Active Trader Pro and Fidelity Mobile alongside the website as online channels qualifying for the $0 rate, so the trading platform carries no separate charge of its own.
Margin is priced on a published sliding scale rather than a single rate. Fidelity sets a base rate and then adds or subtracts by average debit balance: 1.250 percentage points above base below $25,000, 0.750 above between $25,000 and $50,000, then discounts that deepen from 0.200 through 2.825 to 3.075 percentage points below base for balances over $1 million. Rates change without notice when the base rate moves or your balance shifts; an increase for any other reason requires at least 30 days' written notice. Interest is computed daily on the average debit balance over a 360-day year.
Two paid extras exist and are easy to miss. Fidelity Basket Portfolios costs $4.99 a month for unlimited basket trading, and health savings accounts opened through an employer intermediary may carry an administrative fee of up to $12 a quarter — $48 a year — unless the employer pays it or the household meets certain asset minimums.
Running the other way, the Fidelity debit card carries no annual fee, and accounts coded Premium, Private Client Group or Wealth Management, or households trading 120 or more times a year, have ATM fees from other institutions automatically reimbursed on the day they are debited.
As with every review here, this section does not rate the platform from our own trading sessions. The audited number comes from scoring published product data across all nine platforms in the field. For a feature-by-feature account, Fidelity's own product pages are the authority.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC is an SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA member and SIPC member, listed on BrokerCheck under CRD 7784.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC is registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer under number 8-23292 and is a FINRA member, listed on BrokerCheck under CRD 7784 with its registration active. Fidelity states its NYSE and SIPC membership on its own pricing pages.
SIPC protection is capped at $500,000 per customer, including $250,000 for cash. That limit is set by SIPC, not by the broker. What it covers is narrow and worth being precise about: it steps in when a member firm fails and customer assets are missing. It does not cover a decline in the value of your holdings, bad advice, or unsuitable recommendations, and it does not extend to commodity futures, forex or unregistered crypto assets. If a fund you hold at Fidelity falls, SIPC is not the relevant protection — and it is not FDIC insurance, which covers bank deposits rather than securities.
BrokerCheck is worth opening yourself rather than accepting any firm's summary of its own standing. Check that registrations are current, read the disclosure history, and confirm which legal entity holds your account — at a group this size the brokerage, the advisory business and the trust company are separate registrants.
Support is Fidelity's strongest dimension at 9.6 and the best in this field, though reaching a representative to trade still costs $32.95.
Support is Fidelity's strongest audited dimension at 9.6 of 10 — the best support score in this field by a full point, and tied with Interactive Brokers' features score for the highest mark any platform earns on any dimension we track.
The cost of using it runs the other way. A representative-assisted trade is $32.95 against Schwab's $25, and the automated telephone service is $12.95 against Schwab's $5. Fidelity is the cheaper broker if you stay online and the dearer one the moment you pick up the phone. Representative-assisted pricing is also the only route for some business — foreign ordinary share trading, for instance, adds a $50 fee per transaction on any foreign ordinary stock not eligible for the Depository Trust Company.
Some charges are waived for larger relationships. Certificate transfer and shipping costs $100 per certificate but is waived for households holding $1 million or more in assets, or $25,000 or more with at least 120 trades a year. Fidelity groups eligible accounts across a household to determine this and reviews it periodically, so a waiver can appear or disappear without any action on your part.
- $0 online stock and ETF trades; $12.95 automated phone; $32.95 representative-assisted (Fidelity Brokerage Commission and Fee Schedule, March 2026)
- Options $0 base plus $0.65 per contract; buy-to-close free at 65 cents or less
- Zero account minimums, zero account fees, $0 account transfer out (Fidelity pricing page)
- SEC-registered broker-dealer 8-23292, FINRA member, CRD 7784 (FINRA BrokerCheck)
Fidelity wins this field on the two things a long-term investor meets every year — cost and service — and loses ground only on instruments most of them never trade. If you need futures or forex in the same account, that absence is decisive; if you do not, it costs you nothing.