Interactive Brokers vs TD Ameritrade compared

Interactive Brokers
TD Ameritrade

Interactive Brokers

Key score 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.
  • Markets and products score5.0/5.0
  • Trading platform combined score3.6/5.0
  • Account opening score3.2/5.0
Good to know
Recommended for
  • equity 4.89/5
  • forex 3.92/5
You can open an account at Interactive Brokers

TD Ameritrade

Key score 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.
  • Markets and products score3.9/5.0
  • Trading platform combined score4.6/5.0
  • Account opening score4.0/5.0
Good to know
Recommended for
  • beginners 4.22/5
  • equity 4.38/5
  • forex 4.01/5
You can open an account at TD Ameritrade
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*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

Basic data of broker

Overall Score
4.9

Recommended for Traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment

Best online broker

Overall Score
4.9

Recommended for Investors and traders looking for solid research and a well-equipped desktop trading platform

Best broker for bonds

Country of origin

USA

Country of origin

USA

Fees

Fees score
4.5
Fees score
4.1
Fees summary

Low trading and non-trading fees, free stock and ETF trading for US customers

Fees summary

Low trading and non-trading fees, high fund fees

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
3.0
Deposit and withdrawal score
2.2
Number of base currencies

23

Number of base currencies

1

Deposit type

Withdrawal type

Account opening

Account opening score
3.2
Account opening score
4.0
Account opening fully online
Account opening fully online
Minimum deposit
*

$0

*
Minimum deposit
*

$0

*
Time to open account

1-3 days

Time to open account

1-3 days

Required documents

Proof of identity: national ID / passport / driver's license Proof of residency: bank statement / utility bill / driver's license / credit card statement

Required documents

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

Trading platform

Web platform score
3.8
Web platform score
4.3
Mobile platform score
3.5
Mobile platform score
4.8
Desktop platform score
3.8
Desktop platform score
4.5

Markets and products

Markets and products score
5.0
Markets and products score
3.9
Stocks
Stocks
Fractional shares
*
*
Fractional shares
ETFs
ETFs
Forex
Forex
*
*
Funds
Funds
Bonds
Bonds
Options
Options
Futures
Futures
Crypto
*
*
Crypto
*
*
CFDs
CFDs
CFD disclaimer

Disclaimer: 60.0% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Research, education

Research score
4.3
Research score
5.0
Charting quality

Great

Charting quality

Great

Education score
4.5
Education score
5.0
Demo account
Demo account

Customer service

Customer service score
4.3
Customer service score
5.0
Phone
Phone
Live chat
Live chat
Email
Email
24/7 availability
24/7 availability

Security

Investor protection amount

£85,000 or $500,000 (but only $250,000 for cash) in the UK depending on the assets you hold; $500,000 ($250,000) in the US; €20,000 (IB Ireland & Luxembourg) or €100,000 (IB Central Europe) in the EU, CAD 1 million in Canada; HKD 500,000 in Hong Kong

Investor protection amount

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

Banking background
Banking background
Listed on stock exchange
Listed on stock exchange
Foundation date

1977

Foundation date

1975

Country of regulation

USA, Ireland, UK, Hungary, India, Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore

Country of regulation

USA, Hong Kong, Singapore

Interactive Brokers

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

TD Ameritrade

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.

Interactive Brokers's service is on par with TD Ameritrade's and a comparison of their fees shows that Interactive Brokers's fees are slightly lower than TD Ameritrade's.

Account opening takes somewhat more effort at Interactive Brokers compared to TD Ameritrade, deposit and withdrawal processes are somewhat easier at Interactive Brokers, while customer service quality is somewhat lower than TD Ameritrade's.

Our experts rated the trading platform of Interactive Brokers as somewhat worse than the platform of TD Ameritrade, found that clients have access to slightly more markets and products with Interactive Brokers, while TD Ameritrade provides somewhat better research and education.

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