Is Questrade really free?

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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It's safe to say that Questrade's fees are low in general. They either don't charge a brokerage fee for things that other brokers do, or they only charge a small amount.

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

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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 and RBC Direct Investing.

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Questrade's trading fees are low, which makes it suitable for you even if you trade often (i.e. several times a week).

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

Trading fees

Questrade's trading fees are low.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Questrade has low stock trading fees.

Forex fees

Questrade's forex fees are low.

Fund fees

Questrade fund fees are low.

Bond fees

Questrade has low bond fees.

Options fees

Questrade's options fees are average.

CFD fees

Questrade has average CFD trading fees.

Margin rates

Questrade margin rates are high.

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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.

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

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Questrade generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.

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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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