Is Questrade free?

Personally tested

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Independent

Is Questrade free as of December 2024?

Questrade does charge a commission for real stock trading on US markets, so in this sense it is not a free-to-trade broker. However, it might still be a reasonable choice for some of you, as there are many other aspects other than commissions that are important when you choose a broker. If you wish to stick with Questrade though, then you will find the fees they charge below. Alternatively, you could check our article detailing the best zero commission brokers and how their apps scored in our test.

We should note that the payment-for-order-flow model, which is used by some zero-commission brokers to generate income (rather than relying on commissions), could potentially create a conflict of interest between you and your broker. This could result in trade execution (like routing your orders to specific market makers) that might be unfavorable for you under certain market conditions, especially when using market orders (as opposed to limit orders, which seem to be less affected).

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Questrade

4.3/5

Minimum deposit

$1,000

Stock fee

Low

FX fee

Average

Inactivity fee

Account opening

1 day

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Overview of Questrade fees and charges

When it comes to brokerage fees, Questrade is a mixed bag. To see how they may affect you, first you need to figure out your approach to trading - i.e. whether you are more of a buy-and-hold investor or if you want to trade frequently; or what type of assets and in what volumes you'll want to trade. Alternatively, use our questionnaire to help you tell whether Questrade fees are beneficial for you. Continue reading about Questrade fees and charges to see if this is the right broker for you, or if a similar broker like Qtrade Direct Investing or RBC Direct Investing might suit you better.

Here's a high-level overview of Questrade's fees

Questrade Fees snapshot
Assets	Fee level	Fee terms
US stock fee	Low	$0.01 per share, min $4.95, max $9.95; buying ETFs is free, selling costs $0.01 per share
EURUSD fee	Average	The fees are built into the spread, 1.9 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
US mutual fund fees	Average	$9.95 per trade
Inactivity fee	Low	No inactivity fee

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Questrade fees explained

Online brokerages in general charge much lower brokerage fees than traditional brokerages do - this is largely because online brokerages' businesses can be much better scaled: from a purely technical standpoint, it doesn't make that much of a difference for them if they have 100 or 5,000 clients.

This is not to say, however, that they don't charge any fees at all. They make money by charging you various rates for various actions or events. Usually you need to keep an eye on the following three types of fees:

Trading fees - these are brokerage fees that you pay when you actually carry out a trade, like buying an Apple share or an ETF. What you pay is either a commission, a spread or a financing rate. Some brokers apply all of these.

A commission is either fixed or based on the traded volume.
A spread is the difference between the buy price and the sell price.
A financing rate or overnight rate is charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than one day.

Non-trading fees. These are usually related to some operations you carry out in your account, such as depositing money, withdrawing money, or not trading for an extended period.

We compare Questrade fees with its closest competitors, Qtrade Direct Investing and RBC Direct Investing.

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Questrade trading fees

Questrade's trading fees are mixed, which means that some asset classes come with high trading fees - be sure to check these carefully.

Let's break down trading fees according to the different asset classes available at Questrade.

Trading fees

Questrade's trading fees are average.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Questrade has low stock trading fees.

Stock fees of a $2,000 trade
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$5.0 $0.01 per share, min $4.95, max $9.95; buying ETFs is free, selling costs $0.01 per share	$8.8 CAD 8.75 per trade (CAD 6.95 if you make 150+ trades per quarter or have a CAD 500k+ account balance)	$7.1 CAD 9.95 per trade; CAD 6.95 if you make more than 150 trades per quarter
UK stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available
German stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Forex fees

Questrade's forex fees are average.

Forex fees of a $20,000 30:1 position (open, 1-week-hold and close)
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
EURUSD benchmark fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $20,000 30:1 position open, 1-week-hold, and close	$14.4	- EURUSD is not available	- EURUSD is not available
EURGBP benchmark fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $20,000 30:1 position open, 1-week-hold, and close	$16.0	- EURGBP is not available	- EURGBP is not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Fund fees

Questrade fund fees are average.

Fees of a $2,000 fund purchase
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$10.0 $9.95 per trade	$6.2 CAD 8.75 per trade (CAD 6.95 if you make 150+ trades per quarter or have a CAD 500k+ account balance)	$0.0 No fee
EU mutual fund Subscription fee of a $2,000 face value European stock fund	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Bond fees

Questrade has low bond fees.

Fees of a $10,000 bond trade
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$0.0 No fees, but minimum $5,000 purchase	$25.0 $1 per $1,000 face value, $24.99 min and $250 max	$17.8 Commission is included in the quoted price. Minimum commission: CAD 25 per transaction. Maximum commission: CAD 250 per transaction.
EU/UK government bond Estimated commission of a $10k EU or UK government bond trade	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Options fees

Questrade's options fees are high.

Options fees for 10 contracts
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
US stock options Estimated commission for opening 10 contracts	$20.0 $9.95 + $1 per contract	$21.3 $8.75 flat fee and $1.25 per contract, but the flat fee is $6.95 if you trade 150+ per quarter or have at least $500k account balance	$15.9 CAD 9.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract; if you have more than 150 trades per quarter then CAD 6.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$20.0 $9.95 + $1 per contract	$21.3 $8.75 flat fee and $1.25 per contract, but the flat fee is $6.95 if you trade 150+ per quarter or have at least $500k account balance	$15.9 CAD 9.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract, if you have more than 150 trades per quarter then CAD 6.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract
UK stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available
German stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

CFD fees

Questrade has high CFD trading fees.

CFD fees and commissions on a $2,000 trade
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
Apple CFD Commission for a $2,000 stock CFD trade	$10.0 $0.01 per share with min. $9.95	- Not available	- Not available
Vodafone CFD Commission for a $2,000 stock CFD trade	$15.6 0.10% of trade value with min £11.95	- Not available	- Not available
Germany Commission for a $2,000 stock CFD trade	$14.1 The total transaction cost of a CFD trade consists of the trading spread you pay, which may vary from the target spread.	- Not available	- Not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Currency conversion fee

Questrade will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account. The fee is charged as the following: 1.99% mark-up.

Margin rates

Questrade margin rates are high.

Questrade margin rates
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
USD margin rate	12.3% Non-registered accounts: base rate + markup. Markup is 4.5% for debit balance below $100,000 and 3.5% for debit balance above	9.0% Base rate plus up to 1.25% markup, depending on your debit balance	9.5% Investment account: 8% annual financing rate for CAD accounts, while 9.5% for USD accounts
EUR margin rate	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Data updated on December 10, 2024

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Questrade non-trading fees

When it comes to non-trading fees, Questrade is a rather cheap broker.

Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at Questrade that are not related to buying or selling assets. This can be a withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee or account fee.

A high-level overview of how Questrade stacks up in terms of non-trading fees
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
Withdrawal fee Fee for withdrawing money from the broker account. It is zero if you can withdraw money for free via any method, e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer.	$0 No withdrawal fee for electronic fund transfers, but $20-$40 for wire transfers depending on your residency	$0 Free withdrawal	$0 Free withdrawal for margin, cash, RESP, and TFSA accounts if you have RBC bank account, but high withdrawal fee for RRSP withdrawals and non-RBC bank clients
Deposit fee	$0 Free deposit	$0 Free Deposit	$0 Free deposit
Inactivity fee Fee applied if a customer does not trade for a certain length of time	No No inactivity fee	Yes $25 per quarter, charged as account fee if you fail to make a minimum number of trades or deposits during a quarter	No No inactivity fee
Account fee Monthly account fee	No No account fee	Yes CAD 25 per quarter unless you hold CAD 25,000 / make a minimum number of trades / set a recurring deposit of at least $100 per month	Yes CAD 25 per quarter if you have account balance less than CAD 15,000

Data updated on December 10, 2024

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Questrade

4.3/5

Minimum deposit

$1,000

Stock fee

Low

FX fee

Average

Inactivity fee

Account opening

1 day

Visit Questrade

Want to unlock your perfect broker match?

Questrade deposit fee

Usually, brokers don't charge anything for deposits, and Questrade is no different.

Questrade deposit methods
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
Bank transfer Bank transfer is available for deposit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit/debit card Credit/debit cards are available for deposit	Yes	No	No
Electronic wallets Electronic wallets are available for deposit	Yes	No	No
Deposit fee	$0 Free deposit	$0 Free Deposit	$0 Free deposit

Data updated on December 10, 2024

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Questrade withdrawal fee

Questrade generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.

Questrade withdrawal fees and options compared
	Questrade Questrade	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
Bank transfer Bank transfer is available for deposit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit/debit card Credit/debit cards are available for deposit	Yes	No	No
Electronic wallets Electronic wallets are available for deposit	Yes	No	No
Withdrawal fee for bank transfer Fee for withdrawing money from the broker account. It is zero if you can withdraw money for free via any method, e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer.	$0 No withdrawal fee for electronic fund transfers, but $20-$40 for wire transfers depending on your residency	$0 Free withdrawal	$0 Free withdrawal for margin, cash, RESP, and TFSA accounts if you have RBC bank account, but high withdrawal fee for RRSP withdrawals and non-RBC bank clients

Data updated on December 10, 2024

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Questrade inactivity fee

Questrade does not apply an inactivity fee, which is great because your account won't be charged even if you do not trade for an extended period (like several months or years).

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Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.