E*Trade 2025 Review: Pros & Cons
E-Trade is one of the oldest and largest online brokerages. Its low fee structure and best-in-class trading apps attract a wide audience of casual investors and active traders alike.
E-Trade has evolved far from its roots as a discount brokerage to become everything an investor could wish for in a full-service brokerage. In addition to a wide range of trading tools and research, E-Trade also offers financial planning tools and robust cash management services through Morgan Stanley Private Bank.
About E-Trade:
E-Trade’s origins go back to the early 1980s when William A. Porter and Barnard A. Newsome joined forces to bring online trading to individual investors. The E-Trade name was officially launched in 1992 as one of the world’s first completely electronic brokerages.
After decades of success, E-Trade Securities was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2020 and is now known as E-Trade by Morgan Stanley.
E-Trade has evolved far from its roots as a discount brokerage to become everything an investor could wish for in a full-service brokerage. In addition to a wide range of trading tools and research, E-Trade also offers financial planning tools and robust cash management services through Morgan Stanley Private Bank.
| FAST FACTS |
|---|
| $0 account minimum and $0 inactivity/maintenance fee |
| ETF/stock commissions: $0 |
| Options: $0.50 to $0.65 per contract |
| Futures: $1.50 per contract |
| Mutual funds: $0 (6,000 no-transaction-fee funds) |
| Bonds: $1 per bond (online secondary trades) |
| NewTrading’s rating: 85% |
Our take
E-Trade is truly a something-for-everyone brokerage. Active traders can access powerful charting tools including over 100 technical indicators and nearly 40 drawing tools with the Power E-Trade platform. Those newer to the market get one of the most beginner-friendly, intuitive trading apps we’ve reviewed with E-Trade Mobile. There’s also a wealth of easy-to-understand educational content and pre-built commission-free ETF and mutual fund portfolios to help you get started.
While Power E-Trade lacks some of the features of a professional-grade platform like Interactive Broker’s TWS, it does come with some standout capabilities. The company acquired Options House in 2016; its options tools are robust and among the best we’ve reviewed. The Power E-Trade platform includes Recognia, a third-party technical analysis tool that quickly identifies chart patterns and trading opportunities. The Power platform is an all-around workhorse for all but the most active and professional traders.
That said, E-Trade has some noticeable drawbacks. If you’re looking to trade crypto or forex, you’re out of luck. The same goes for international markets. And margin rates run quite high compared to other online brokerages: As of July 2024, rates ranged from 12.20% to 14.20% depending on account balance.
E-Trade, a quick overview
| Minimum deposit: | $0 No minimum funding requirement and no account minimum to keep an account open |
| Type of accounts | Wide array of taxable brokerage accounts and retirement accounts, including small business and educational IRAs (Coverdell) |
| Investment options, markets, and tradable securities | Robust offerings, especially no-load, no transaction fee mutual funds. Of note is that there is no direct access to forex, crypto, or international markets. |
| Commissions & Fees | Commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, and most mutual funds. Low flat fees for options, futures, and bonds. |
| Trading Platform | A comprehensive array of tools, screeners, and research options to suit most investment and trading strategies. E-Trade is continually upgrading its offerings in this area, which gives it a leg up on some of its closest competitors |
| Mobile App | Two intuitive, well-designed versions with easy-to-use tools and innovative features. Works with Android and iOS, including Apple Watch |
| Trading Tools & Resources | A comprehensive array of tools, screeners, and research options to suit most investment and trading strategies. E-Trade continually upgrades its offerings in this area, which gives it a leg up on some of its closest competitors. |
| Demo account | No Paper trading is available with a brokerage account |
| Advisor services | Yes Advisor services are available through parent company Morgan Stanley |
| Customer Reviews 1.2/5 on Trustpilot | A large number of negative reviews related primarily to customer service and glitches in the platform |
E*Trade Investment options
E-Trade has the usual range of offerings available at any full-service brokerage plus a few extras including OTC, IPOs, and pre-built portfolios. They have 6,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds to choose from, as well.
| Investment options | US stocks, ETFs, and mutual fundsOTC stocksIPOs and new issueBonds and CDsOptionsFuturesPre-built portfoliosNote: Crypto is only available via Bitcoin futures or crypto ETFs |
The pre-built portfolios are built around ETFs and mutual funds and are designed to meet a wide range of investing styles from conservative to aggressive. It’s a simple way for new investors and those who want to set it and forget it to kickstart a portfolio. Note that there is a $500 account minimum for mutual funds and a $2,500 minimum for ETFs.
While the offerings will be more than enough for most investors, there are some conspicuous absences: You cannot trade forex or crypto (except indirectly), and there are no fractional shares unless you’re investing in a robo portfolio.
E-Trade trading tools & resources
E-Trade offers the usual range of offerings available at any full-service brokerage plus a few extras, including OTC, IPOs, and pre-built portfolios. They also have 6,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds to choose from.
The pre-built portfolios are built around ETFs and mutual funds and are designed to meet a wide range of investing styles from conservative to aggressive. It’s a simple way for new investors and those who want to set it and forget it to kickstart a portfolio. Note that there is a $500 account minimum for mutual funds and a $2,500 minimum for ETFs.
While the offerings will be more than enough for most investors, there are some conspicuous absences: You cannot trade forex or crypto (except indirectly) and there are no fractional shares unless you’re investing in a robo portfolio.
| Screeners | The stock screener is easy to use and has multiple selection criteria. We appreciated the integration with research and opinions as a filtering option. On the results page, you can hover over a symbol to get additional information about a stock and even place an order. The predefined strategies selectors were a nice touch, as well, with options such as Analysts Picks, Dogs of the Dow, and Top Tech Stocks. These predefined searches can be easily modified with just a few clicks to customize your screen. In addition to stock screeners, there are also ETF and mutual fund screeners, with options such as Analysts Picks, Dogs of the Dow, and Top Tech Stocks, were also a nice touch Learn more > |
| Charting | E-Trade makes charting almost fun with its regular rollout of new charts, indicators, and even colors. Customization features make it easy to spot trading opportunities that suit your trading style. To create charts, just enter a symbol and click on charts. There are more than 120 different studies with built-in definitions to choose from. It’s easy to go a little crazy with the customizable color palettes > Learn more |
| Analysis & Technology | E-Trade balances technical analysis tools with fundamental analysis tools so investors and traders both have the information they need to take action. We found the options strategy and analysis tools particularly robust. For example, the Earnings Move Analyzer Tool is one of the newer enhancements to the Power E-Trade platform. It helps visualize and assess historical earnings moves to identify options opportunities and quickly build a trade. We also liked the Social Sentiment Tool, which assesses chatter on social media to uncover trade ideas and quickly execute them. This tool is part of the LiveAction suite. and Learn more > |
| Order types | E-Trade offers a wide variety of order types including the more sophisticated one-triggers-the-other (OTO), one-cancels-the-other (OCO), and one-triggers-a-one-cancels-the-other (OTOCO). However, these are only available on the web platform, not the mobile apps. The apps support all the standard order types such as market, limit, stop limit, and trailing stops. Order types also support Level 1 through Level 4 options strategies with orders including butterflies and condors and naked calls and puts. Learn more > |
| Newsfeeds & Third-Party Research | E-Trade has outstanding research resources for both traders and investors; access to proprietary research from Morgan Stanley is a nice perk. In addition, E-Trade offers research from Argus, Refinitiv, Morningstar, Moody’s, TipRanks,Thomson Reuters, and Market Edge, among others. Futures traders get specialized resources at the E-Trade Futures Research Center, powered by the CME Group, one of the largest futures exchanges in the world. Bloomberg TV is also included with your E-Trade account. |
| Education | E-Trade really shines in the education department. The site boasts a huge library of articles and videos covering everything from investing for retirement and platform how-tos to complex options strategies and thematic investing. There is also a wide array of in-depth on-demand webinars by top Morgan Stanley experts. E-Trade’s educational offerings stand out because of their breadth of topics. They not only cover the market and how to improve your investing and trading skills but also financial planning and wealth management. The E-Trade by Morgan Stanley YouTube channel is another good source of educational content, particularly the Tech Tuesdays feature which introduces platform enhancements and other interesting updates. |
E*Trade commissions and fees
E-Trade has an easy-to-understand commission and fee structure with some of the lowest fees among online brokerages.
| Stocks and ETFs | $0 |
| Options | $0.65 or $0.50 with 30+ trades per quarter |
| Futures | $1.50 |
| Mutual funds funds | $0 |
As mentioned earlier, margin fees are quite high compared to competitors. Rates hovered between 12% and 14% depending on the account balance at the time of this review, which was 2.5% above the benchmark for balances less than $10,000.
Interest on uninvested cash is also extremely low among the worst brokers we reviewed. At the time of this review, it was 0.01% for balances up to $250,000, with a max of 0.15% for balances of $1 million and above.
Cash management
E-Trade also offers seamless cash management services through Morgan Stanley. You can get a free debit card, cash transfers, and online bill pay with your brokerage and bank account. Mobile check deposit is also available.
E-Trade trading platforms
E-Trade has two web and desktop trading platforms, the flagship E-Trade platform and Power E-Trade, a souped up version with a full suite of trading tools to support any trading strategy.
Both platforms get high marks for usability and intuitiveness. If you are brand new to the market, you’ll be able to easily open an account, screen and research stocks, funds, and ETFs, set a watch list, and execute trades on the E-Trade platform. The portfolio building tools and educational content are extremely helpful for casual investors. There’s even a portfolio analysis tool to keep you on track.
Things get much more exciting—fun, even—with Power E-Trade. Charting is especially user-friendly with automatic technical analysis and pattern recognition. There are nearly 150 chart and drawing tools; save your favorite setups and trade directly from your chart.
Options traders get extra tools like Snapshot Analysis, which provides prospective trades risk-reward probabilities.
We also liked the exit plan tool and the ability to paper trade to test out new tactics and strategies. There’s also an Options Income backtesting feature to see how your trades performed in the past.
The Live Action tab, featured in both the Power E-Trade platform and mobile app, is helpful for spotting new trading opportunities using predefined screens.
What we like:
- Wide array of highly customizable chart and drawing tools
- Robust options trading tools and analysis
- Automated technical analysis and pattern recognition
E-Trade mobile apps
The E-Trade mobile experience is equally as powerful, feature-packed, and user-friendly as the web platform, with the exception that you can’t trade from the chart on the mobile app. There are about 10 charts on the flagship E-Trade app, while the Power E-Trade app has over 100.
The Power E-Trade app is designed around the needs of more advanced traders with tools like Market Depth View which provides Level II quotes for stocks, options, and ETFs. You can also configure push notifications to alert you to price movements, earnings announcements, and market activity on the stocks you select.
As with the desktop version, the Power E-Trade app has especially robust options tools, allowing over 20 different criteria for options chains which can be executed right from the app. Paper trading is also available on the Power E-Trade app.
In using these apps, what consistently comes to mind is how well-designed and intuitive they are—it’s easy to find the tools you need and explore the innovative features and enhancements. You don’t spend a lot of time second-guessing your actions or trying to figure out how to accomplish a task. It’s no wonder they are generally ranked among the most user-friendly with casual investors and more active traders alike.
What we like:
- Clean, easy-to-use user interface
- Powerful and innovative features and tools
- Robust options tools with no loss of functionality between the desktop and mobile app
E-Trade customer reviews
We were somewhat surprised by the poor Trustpilot score (1.2 out of 5 stars) and the high number of recent very negative reviews. Most complaints revolved around poor customer service and support. Given the company’s excellent reputation in the industry, these reviews seem quite discrepant.
Here’s what users are saying about E-Trade on Trustpilot:
“Terrible customer service….on hold for 45 minutes before a representative answered the phone. The fees are high and they don’t care about your account privacy or data security. I would suggest using a different broker for your trading activities. Closed Account.”
“So far E*Trade has provided me with 2 amended 2023 tax forms; the latest dated 5/7/2024. If you don’t mind paying hundreds of dollars (needlessly) each year to file amended tax returns, E*Trade is the broker for you!
As an institutional investor, I have never had this experience with any other brokerage firm over the past 30 years. During that time I have worked with many brokers including, Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, CIBC, Smith Barney, Salomon, Lehman Brothers, TD Ameritrade, and DLJ. Unfortunately, I am now looking at moving my account to a firm with a more competent back-office. This poor level of service is just not worth the cost!”
“Trying to reach them out for a transfer request. Horrible experience, never responding to emails, they make it difficult to find the information and if you want to talk to someone, you’ll need to pay an extra fee…”
“Buggy site, high commissions (for executing my own trades), and a complete absence of customer service. Wait times for live chat are so long that the session times out, requiring the customer to log back in to the account, open new chat session, go through multiple layers of the automated chat bot interrogation just to get in the queue for a live rep.”
Final Word
E-Trade gets high marks for its ability to excel for both absolute novice investors and active traders alike. While the two different platforms are clearly designed with the needs of different types of users in mind, a thread of intuitiveness and usability runs through both. It’s obvious the company paid close attention to the features and tools different types of investors and traders want most and made sure their trading platforms delivered. The regular rollout of innovative features and enhancements shows that they remain committed to that core mission. The mobile apps especially make trading seem almost, well, fun.
E-Trade is an excellent choice for most traders and investors, but there are some distinct drawbacks. If you want to trade crypto or forex, for example, you’ll have to look elsewhere. The same goes for international markets. There’s also no demo account, so you’ll need to go through a complete account opening process to test drive the platform and app.
Fees are low and easy to understand, but if you’re a very active trader, you can get better rates elsewhere. Same goes for margin rates and interest on uninvested cash.
On the other hand, there’s something comforting about E-Trade. It has the backing of Morgan Stanley and all the global power, prestige, and insight that name implies. There are also great options for wealth-building through pre-built portfolios and hands-on advisory services. If those things are important to you, E-Trade is a great choice.
Maxime holds two master’s degrees from the SKEMA Business School and FFBC. As founder and editor-in-chief of NewTrading.fr, he writes daily about financial trading.
