E*TRADE vs Vanguard compared

E*TRADE
Vanguard
Key differences
We took 8 criteria of our comparison (fee, account opening, customer service, markets&product, research, trading platform, deposit&withdrawal) and listed the angles with the greatest difference here below.
  • Customer service score
    1.7
    /5
  • Research score
    4.8
    /5
  • Trading platform combined score
    4.5
    /5
  • Customer service score
    4.5
    /5
  • Research score
    3.0
    /5
  • Trading platform combined score
    4.1
    /5
Recommended for
  • Beginners
    3.7
    /5
  • Equity
    4.3
    /5
  • Beginners
    4
    /5
  • Equity
    4.3
    /5
You can open an account in United States
You can open an account in United States

*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

Basic data of broker

Overall Score
4.7

Recommended for Investors and traders looking for solid research and a great mobile trading platform

Best IRA broker

Overall Score
4.5

Recommended for Long-term investors looking for great ETF and mutual fund selection

Country of origin
Broker's country of establishment

USA

Country of origin
Broker's country of establishment

USA

Fees

Fees score
4.1
Fees score
4.3
Fees summary
BrokerChooser's qualitative summary on the broker's prices

Low trading and non-trading fees, high fund fees

Fees summary
BrokerChooser's qualitative summary on the broker's prices

Average trading fees, low non-trading fees, free stock and ETF trading

Stock and ETF fees

Forex fees

Fund fees

Bond fees

Options fees

Futures fees

Crypto fees

CFD fees

Non-trading fees

Deposit and withdrawal

Deposit and withdrawal score
2.2
Deposit and withdrawal score
2.4
Number of base currencies
How many account currencies you can choose from

1

Number of base currencies
How many account currencies you can choose from

1

Deposit type

Withdrawal type

Account opening

Account opening score
4.2
Account opening score
4.2
Account opening fully online
Account opening fully online
Minimum deposit
The minimum amount you have to deposit for using the account
No minimum deposit for non-margin brokerage account, while $2,000 for margin accounts and $500 for Core Portfolios
*

$0

*
Minimum deposit
The minimum amount you have to deposit for using the account
No minimum deposit; however, for funds and ETFs there is an investment minimum (starting with $1,000).
*

$0

*
Time to open account
BrokerChooser estimation on time needed to access account after all documents are provided by customer

1-3 days

Time to open account
BrokerChooser estimation on time needed to access account after all documents are provided by customer

1-3 days

Required documents
Documents required for opening an account

Proof of identity: SSN and national ID / passport / driver's license

Required documents
Documents required for opening an account

Proof of identity: SSN / passport / national ID card / driver's license

Trading platform

Web platform score
4.5
Web platform score
3.4
Mobile platform score
4.5
Mobile platform score
4.4
Desktop platform score
-
Desktop platform score
-

Markets and products

Markets and products score
2.9
Markets and products score
2.7
Stocks
Stocks are available
Stocks
Stocks are available
Fractional shares
Fractional shares are available
Fractional shares
Fractional shares are available
ETFs
ETFs are available
ETFs
ETFs are available
Forex
Forex is available
Forex
Forex is available
Funds
Funds are available
Funds
Funds are available
Bonds
Bonds are available
Bonds
Bonds are available
Options
Options are available
Options
Options are available
Futures
Futures are available
Futures
Futures are available
Crypto
Crypto is available in any form (e.g. as a CFD or ETF)
Futures
*
*
Crypto
Crypto is available in any form (e.g. as a CFD or ETF)
CFDs
Any CFD is available, e.g. stock CFD or commodity CFD
CFDs
Any CFD is available, e.g. stock CFD or commodity CFD

Research, education

Research score
4.8
Research score
3.0
Charting quality

Great

Charting quality

Poor

Education score
2.4
Education score
3.5
Demo account
Demo account

Customer service

Customer service score
1.7
Customer service score
4.5
Phone
You can reach the broker by phone
Phone
You can reach the broker by phone
Live chat
Live chat is available
Live chat
Live chat is available
Email
Email support is available
Email
Email support is available
24/7 availability
At least one customer support channel, i.e. live chat, phone or email, is available even on the weekend
24/7 availability
At least one customer support channel, i.e. live chat, phone or email, is available even on the weekend

Security

Investor protection amount
The protection amount depends on the country where you opened your account. In the US, forex trading and commodity-related contract (e.g. futures or options) are generally not covered.

$500,000 (securities up to $500,000, cash up to $250,000)

Investor protection amount
The protection amount depends on the country where you opened your account. In the US, forex trading and commodity-related contract (e.g. futures or options) are generally not covered.

$500,000 (securities up to $500,000, cash up to $250,000)

Banking background
Whether the broker has a banking background
Banking background
Whether the broker has a banking background
Listed on stock exchange
The broker is listed on a stock exchange
Listed on stock exchange
The broker is listed on a stock exchange
Foundation date

1982

Foundation date

1975

Country of regulation
Which countries' regulators oversee the broker

USA

Country of regulation
Which countries' regulators oversee the broker

USA

E*TRADE

For detailed information and hands-on experience, read our review of this broker.

Vanguard

For detailed information and hands-on experience, read our review of this broker.

*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

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.

E*TRADE's service is on par with Vanguard's and a comparison of their fees shows that E*TRADE's fees are similar to Vanguard's.

Account opening takes about the same effort at E*TRADE compared to Vanguard, deposit and withdrawal processes are about the same quality at E*TRADE, while customer service quality is considerably lower than Vanguard's.

Our experts rated the trading platform of E*TRADE as somewhat better than the platform of Vanguard, found that clients have access to about the same number of markets and products with E*TRADE, while Vanguard provides less useful research and education.

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