Schwab vs Fidelity (October 2026): Fees, Cash Yield and Which Broker Fits



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By Lennit Herrera, founder and editor, Smart Money Picks  ·  Last updated October 27, 2026

The verdict: on the price of trading, Schwab and Fidelity are a tie. Both charge $0 commission on online US stock and ETF trades, $0.65 per options contract, and nothing to open or maintain an account. Their standard margin rates are identical down to the decimal at every balance tier below $500,000. The gap is in what happens around the trades. Fidelity is the cheaper broker for most long-term, buy-and-hold investors because its cash can sit in a money market fund yielding 3.53% (October 26) against 0.01% on Schwab’s uninvested cash, it offers index funds with a 0% expense ratio, and it charges nothing to move your account away. Schwab is the better fit if you want its banking products, its thinkorswim platform or its wealth-management tiers under one roof, and it holds its own on fractional shares and options.

Updated October 27, 2026. Fidelity’s commission, margin, cash, index fund, Fidelity Go, fractional-share and crypto pages were re-read on October 27, 2026. Schwab figures were last verified on Schwab’s own pages on October 4, 2026; every schwab.com page we tried was unreadable to us on October 27 (“unable to authorize your request”), so check Schwab’s figures there before you act. Yields and margin rates change without notice, so each figure below carries its date. We do not test brokerage accounts or trading platforms ourselves.

This article is general information, not financial advice. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

On this page

• Side-by-side table
• Trading costs: where they are identical
• Cash: the biggest real difference
• Index funds and mutual funds
• Margin rates
• The cost of leaving
• Robo-advisor and managed options
• Fractional shares and crypto
• How we compared
• Who each one is right for
• What this comparison does not cover
• Frequently asked questions

Side-by-side table

Sources: Schwab pricing, Schwab cash investments, Schwab margin rates, Schwab pricing guide, Fidelity commissions and margin rates, Fidelity cash page. All read October 4, 2026.

Trading costs: where they are identical

If your question is “which one charges less to buy a stock”, the answer is neither. Schwab’s pricing page lists $0 online commission on listed stocks and ETFs, and Fidelity’s lists $0 for online US equity trades, any number of shares or trades, and $0 for online ETF trades. Options cost $0.65 per contract at both, on top of a $0 base commission. Both also pass along regulatory charges: Schwab collects an “Industry Fee” on certain transactions, and Fidelity notes an Options Regulatory Fee on options buys and sells. Those are small, set by regulators and exchanges, and not a reason to pick one over the other.

A few specifics where the two differ at the edges:

• Broker-assisted trades. Schwab adds a $25 service charge if you place a stock or options trade through a representative instead of online, and says you do not pay it if you place the trade yourself and only call with a question. Fidelity’s page says other concessions or commissions may apply with a representative, and the amount is in its full commission schedule PDF, which would not open to us. If you phone in trades, read that schedule first.
• Over-the-counter stocks. Schwab charges $6.95 for an online OTC equity trade. We did not find a matching line on Fidelity’s page, so we make no comparison.
• Bonds. Schwab’s online secondary-market price for CDs, corporate, municipal and agency bonds is $1 per bond, $10 minimum, $250 maximum. Fidelity’s secondary issues are $1.00 per bond with a $250 maximum per trade (and a $50 maximum for bonds maturing within a year). Both note that a markup or markdown can be part of the price when the firm acts as principal. Online Treasury auctions and secondary trades are $0 at Fidelity.
• A small group of ETFs. Fidelity says a limited list of ETFs carries a transaction-based service fee of $100, and publishes the list. Schwab says unlisted ETFs are subject to a commission. For mainstream, exchange-listed ETFs neither applies.

Cash: the biggest real difference

Where the money sits between trades is the largest dollar gap in this comparison, and it is easy to miss because it never shows up as a fee.

Schwab. Its cash-investments page lists uninvested cash in a Schwab brokerage account at 0.01% APY. Schwab Bank Investor Checking is also 0.01% and Schwab Bank Investor Savings is 0.15% APY. Higher yields exist inside Schwab, but you have to move the money: its page lists Schwab Money Funds at 2.62% to 3.86% yields and CDs from its CD OneSource program at 4.16% to 5.05% APY. Money funds are not FDIC-insured and can lose value, and a CD ties your money up for its term.

Fidelity. Its cash management page shows uninvested cash earning a 3.53% 7-day yield in SPAXX, the Fidelity Government Money Market Fund, as of October 26, 2026 (3.46% on September 24), with no account fees. The same page notes that bank sweep products carry FDIC protection while money market funds do not, so SPAXX is not FDIC-insured. Fidelity’s page also points to bank sweep products as the FDIC-protected alternative. Check which core position your account actually uses, because the yield and the insurance differ.

Put numbers on it. On $10,000 of idle cash, 0.01% is about $1 a year. A 3.53% yield, if it held for twelve months (it will not; money fund yields move with short-term rates), is about $353 a year. For scale, the FDIC’s national average money market deposit rate is 0.63% and savings 0.38% (October 19, 2026). That is a hypothetical, not a forecast, but the direction is not in doubt: leaving cash in Schwab’s default sweep costs you far more than any commission difference between these brokers. The fix on Schwab is simple (buy a money fund), and many Schwab customers do. The point is that it is a step you must take, while Fidelity puts its money fund yield at the front of its cash page.

If you hold cash for the long term rather than between trades, neither brokerage is where we would park an emergency fund. A dedicated savings account usually pays more and is FDIC-insured outright; see our high-yield savings comparison and our guide to building an emergency fund.

Index funds and mutual funds

Fidelity’s house index funds. Fidelity’s index-funds page lists a 0% expense ratio and no minimums for FZROX (ZERO Total Market), FNILX (ZERO Large Cap), FZILX (ZERO International) and FZIPX (ZERO Extended Market). Its comparison table is dated February 1, 2026 and says the majority of its index fund expense ratios match or beat Vanguard’s. Fidelity says these four funds are available to individual retail investors who buy through a Fidelity brokerage account, so they are a reason to stay at Fidelity rather than something you can carry to another broker.

Schwab’s. Schwab’s index fund page lists its Total Stock Market Index Fund (SWTSX) at a 0.03% expense ratio. On $100,000 that is $30 a year, against $0 for FZROX. It is a small amount, and Schwab’s fund tracks a similar universe, but zero is zero.

Funds from other companies. Both brokers sell outside mutual funds, and the fee rules are worth reading:

• Schwab’s Mutual Fund OneSource funds are $0 online. All other mutual funds cost up to $74.95 per purchase online. A $49.95 short-term redemption fee applies to OneSource funds sold within 90 days, with some exemptions.
• Fidelity’s no-transaction-fee funds from other firms are $0 to buy, but $49.95 on redemption if held less than 60 days. Transaction-fee funds from other firms are $49.95 per purchase, and certain funds carry a fee up to $100.

The practical advice is the same at both: for index investing, buy ETFs or a house index fund and stay clear of transaction-fee funds. Our guide to investing in index funds explains how to choose, and Fidelity vs Vanguard covers the third name people usually compare these two against.

Margin rates

Borrowing against your portfolio is risky and not for everyone, but it is one of the few places a broker’s price list matters a great deal. Here the two firms have set effectively identical rates, even though they express them differently. Schwab prices as a base rate plus a spread, and Fidelity as a base rate plus or minus a spread, from different base rates, which land in the same place.

Schwab’s base rate is 10.25%, last changed September 18, 2026. Fidelity’s base margin rate is 10.825%, effective September 18, 2026. Both are subject to change without notice. Fidelity’s rates re-read October 27, 2026; Schwab’s last verified October 4, 2026 (page unreadable to us October 27).

Borrow $10,000 and either charges 12.075% a year, or $1,207.50 in interest if the rate and balance stayed fixed for twelve months. Neither is cheap. Fidelity’s one visible edge is that it publishes rates for balances above $500,000, where Schwab asks you to call. Other differences are in the rules: Schwab requires at least $2,000 in cash or marginable securities to start borrowing, says borrowing is typically limited to 50% of marginable securities, and says it charges no setup fee. Margin magnifies losses as well as gains, and a broker can sell your holdings to meet a margin call. Read each firm’s margin disclosure before using it.

The cost of leaving

This is the section most comparisons skip, and it is where the two pricing lists diverge cleanly.

• Transferring out. Schwab’s pricing guide lists a $50 fee for a full transfer out of an account and $0 for a partial transfer. Fidelity’s fee page lists a $0 transfer of assets. Schwab’s guide refers to special service fee waivers, so some households will not pay it.
• Wires. Outgoing domestic wires cost $25 at Schwab, or $15 if submitted online, and incoming wires are free. Fidelity lists a domestic bank wire at $0. Schwab’s guide also says clients with $100,000 or more in household balances get three free online domestic wires a quarter.
• IRA closeout. Fidelity lists an IRA closeout fee of $0 and a $0 early IRA withdrawal fee. We did not find a comparable line on Schwab’s pricing page, so we make no claim for it.
• Fractional shares do not travel. Schwab states that only whole shares can be transferred to another broker, and fractional shares are liquidated at market prices and the proceeds credited to your account. That can create a taxable sale in a taxable account. Fidelity works the same way: its fractional-shares page says fractional shares can’t be moved to another firm and must be sold before the rest of the position transfers.

A $50 fee is not large. It matters as a signal of how each firm thinks about customers who leave, and it is easy to avoid by checking the fee schedule before you commit a large taxable account. Schwab also runs a Satisfaction Guarantee: it will refund an eligible fee or commission if you ask within 90 days of the charge.

Robo-advisor and managed options

Both firms run a robo-advisor, and the two are priced very differently. We cover them in depth in our robo-advisor comparison, so here are the headline terms read from each firm’s own pages.

• Fidelity Go has no minimum to open an account, though your balance must be at least $10 to be invested. It charges no advisory fee below $25,000. From $25,000 the fee is 0.35% a year, which Fidelity says adds financial coaching sessions and, for taxable accounts, tax-loss harvesting.
• Schwab Intelligent Portfolios charges no advisory fee and no commissions, with a $5,000 minimum. Schwab is open that it is paid in other ways: a portion of every portfolio is held as cash in FDIC-insured deposit accounts at Charles Schwab Bank, which earns income on those deposits, and Schwab’s asset-management arm earns fees on the Schwab ETFs the portfolios hold. Tax-loss harvesting is available on taxable portfolios of $50,000 or more.

So “free” at Schwab includes a cash allocation that earns a low rate, while Fidelity’s fee-free tier stops at $25,000. For a small balance, Fidelity Go is the simpler deal. For a larger one, compare the 0.35% against the drag from Schwab’s cash allocation, using the figures in the robo comparison.

On the managed side, Schwab lists Schwab Wealth Advisory starting at 0.80% with a $500,000 minimum, Schwab Managed Portfolios starting at 0.90% with a $25,000 minimum, and Schwab Personalized Indexing starting at 0.40% with a $100,000 minimum, each with rates that fall at higher asset levels. We did not read Fidelity’s advisory fee schedule for this comparison, so we draw no conclusion on the human-advice tier.

Fractional shares and crypto

Fractional shares. Both let you invest from $1. Schwab says you can own fractional shares of most US-listed stocks and ETFs, commission-free online. Fidelity says you can trade fractions of NYSE- and Nasdaq-listed stocks and ETFs, and that a security not eligible returns an error. Older comparisons you find online may describe narrower programs, so check each firm’s current page.

Crypto. Schwab’s crypto page says that with a new account at Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, you will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum for a 0.75% fee of trade value with zero spread, and it is taking sign-ups for early access, so treat this as not generally available yet. Today Schwab clients can use crypto ETPs, Bitcoin futures and options on spot Bitcoin ETPs. Fidelity’s crypto page says you can buy, sell and transfer crypto like bitcoin, ethereum and solana, and we did not find its fee on the page we read, so we make no price comparison. Crypto is volatile and not covered by SIPC.

How we compared

We compared 2 brokers across 11 cost and feature areas (trading, options, cash, index funds, outside mutual funds, margin, transfers and wires, robo, managed accounts, fractional shares, crypto), reading each firm’s own commission page, pricing guide, margin page and cash page on October 4, 2026. For fund costs we used each firm’s own fund page. For account protection we used SIPC’s own description. We do not open or test accounts, and we do not rate trading platforms, customer service or research. Where one firm’s page did not show a number (Fidelity’s broker-assisted fee, for example), we said so instead of filling it in from memory or a third party.

Who each one is right for

Choose Fidelity if

• You buy and hold index funds and want a 0% expense ratio fund and no cost to leave later.
• You hold cash in the account between purchases and want it earning a money market yield without extra steps.
• You are starting small and want a robo-advisor with no advisory fee under $25,000.

Choose Schwab if

• You want your brokerage and banking linked: Schwab Bank Investor Checking and Savings sit alongside the brokerage account.
• You trade options or futures and want Schwab’s thinkorswim platform. We have not compared platform features, so check both firms’ pages and demos.
• You expect to want a managed-portfolio tier later, with Schwab’s published fee schedule.
• You will move idle cash into a money fund anyway, which removes the biggest cost gap.

It does not matter much if

You trade a few ETFs a year, keep little idle cash and have no plans to borrow. Then the two cost nearly the same, and the better choice is whichever app and website you will actually use. If the cash is really an emergency fund, see money market vs high-yield savings and the best money market accounts first. Our beginner investing apps and dividend investing apps comparisons cover alternatives if neither feels right.

What this comparison does not cover

• Platform quality and customer service. We do not test, so we do not rank the thinkorswim platform against Fidelity’s, branch networks or phone wait times. Surveys and review sites rate these, but each uses its own methods and we have not audited them.
• Research tools and market data. Both include research. We have not compared depth or quality.
• Tax treatment. Selling fractional shares to transfer, harvesting losses and margin interest deductibility all depend on your situation. Talk to a tax professional. If you file yourself and also have freelance or side income, Keeper scans your linked bank and card transactions for write-offs and files the return; start a 14-day Keeper free trial (affiliate link: we earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you).
• Which is “safer”. Both are SIPC members. SIPC protects up to $500,000 per customer, including a $250,000 limit for cash, if a member firm fails and assets are missing. It does not protect against market losses. Cash held in a bank sweep is insured by the FDIC under separate limits.
• Rates will move. Margin base rates changed at both firms on September 18, 2026, Fidelity’s SPAXX yield moved from 3.46% to 3.53% between September 24 and October 26, and the yield figures above are a snapshot. Re-check the linked pages before acting.

Frequently asked questions

Is Schwab or Fidelity cheaper?

Commissions are the same: $0 for online US stocks and ETFs and $0.65 per options contract at both. The cost differences are elsewhere. Fidelity lists a 3.53% 7-day yield on its cash fund (October 26) against 0.01% on Schwab’s uninvested cash (last verified October 4), a 0% expense-ratio index fund against Schwab’s 0.03%, and $0 to transfer out against Schwab’s $50 for a full transfer.

Do Schwab and Fidelity charge account fees?

Schwab says there are no fees to open and maintain an account and no minimum investment for a brokerage account. Fidelity says no minimums to open an account and no account fees for retail brokerage accounts, and its fee table lists $0 for electronic statements, early IRA withdrawals and IRA closeout. Other services carry fees, such as shipping a physical stock certificate ($100 per certificate at both firms, with waivers at each).

Which has better margin rates?

The same, up to $500,000 borrowed: for example 12.075% under $25,000 and 10.325% from $250,000 to $499,999 at both, Fidelity’s as of October 27, 2026 and Schwab’s as last verified on October 4. Above $500,000 neither publishes a rate: both ask you to call.

Can I buy fractional shares at both?

Yes, from $1 at each. Schwab covers most US-listed stocks and ETFs and Fidelity covers NYSE- and Nasdaq-listed ones. Neither lets fractional shares move to another broker: both sell them when you transfer out, which can be a taxable sale.

Which is better for a Roth IRA?

Both offer Roth IRAs with no commission on stocks and ETFs. In a Roth, tax-loss harvesting is irrelevant, so costs come down to fund expense ratios and cash yield. Fidelity’s 0% expense ratio funds and money-market cash yield give it a small edge on those inputs for a buy-and-hold saver. See our guide to starting to invest with $500.

Are my assets protected at both?

Both are SIPC members, and SIPC’s limit is $500,000 per customer including $250,000 for cash, covering missing assets if a member firm fails, not investment losses. A money market fund such as SPAXX is not FDIC-insured, and Schwab notes that brokerage accounts are not FDIC-insured deposits.

Bottom line

Do not choose between Schwab and Fidelity on commissions, because there is no difference. Choose on three numbers: the yield on the cash you hold, the expense ratio of the funds you will own, and what it would cost to leave. On all three, Fidelity’s published figures are lower-cost today. If you pick Schwab for its bank, its platform or its advice tiers, move idle cash into a money fund on day one. Either way, re-read the linked pages before you open or fund an account.

Related reads

• Fidelity vs Vanguard: which brokerage for long-term investing
• Best robo-advisors, compared on fees and minimums
• SoFi Invest review: fees, options and the robo
• How to invest in index funds
• Best investing apps for beginners
• Best high-yield savings accounts