Is Zacks Trade really free?

Zacks Trade 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 Zacks Trade 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 Zacks Trade'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 Zacks Trade'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 Zacks Trade fees with its closest competitors, ChoiceTrade and TradeStation.

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Zacks Trade'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 Zacks Trade.

Trading fees

Zacks Trade's trading fees are low.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Zacks Trade has low stock trading fees.

Fund fees

Zacks Trade fund fees are high.

Bond fees

Zacks Trade has low bond fees.

Options fees

Zacks Trade's options fees are low.

Margin rates

Zacks Trade margin rates are average.

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

Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at Zacks Trade 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 Zacks Trade is no different.

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Zacks Trade generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.

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Zacks Trade 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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