Apps to trade fractional shares of stock for free

Now any child can own shares in Disney or their favorite toy or video game company rather than getting one more toy. You can request stocks as gifts in a wish list or give a share of stock or part of one to someone special. Flag as inappropriate.

Find the best places to buy partial shares of high-cost stocks

We are committed to researching, testing, and recommending the best products. We may receive commissions from purchases made after visiting links within our content. Learn more about our review process. Buying and selling stock investments used to require a phone call to a stockbroker who would charge you an arm and a leg to execute your stock trade. Follow along for reviews of the best stock trading apps and may the market forever be in your favor. The best overall stock trading app experience comes from TD Ameritradeone of the largest brokerage firms in the country. TD Ameritrade actually offers multiple mobile apps depending on your needs.

Find the best places to buy partial shares of high-cost stocks

Fractional shares have proven to be an important innovation for the finance industry, namely online investing. Each whole share, in turn, can be thought of as a slice of the company and its equity. Sometimes even one share is simply too large for an investor. Fractional shares become more important the more valuable the individual stock. For the lowest valued stocks, penny stocks, fractional shares might not make much sense. If a stock only costs a quarter, why divide it up further?

Access to financial markets has never been easier

We are committed to researching, testing, and recommending the best products. We may receive commissions from purchases made after visiting links within our content. Learn more about our review process. Buying and selling stock investments used to require a phone call to a stockbroker who would charge you an arm and a leg to execute your stock trade. Follow along for reviews of the best stock trading apps and may the market forever be in your favor. The best overall stock trading app experience comes from TD Ameritradeone of the largest brokerage firms in the country.

TD Ameritrade actually offers multiple mobile apps depending on your needs. First is the basic TD Ameritrade Mobile app, which gives you much of the power you have on your desktop stock trading app in a mobile experience for iOS, Android, and Windows phones.

For beginning and passive investors, the TD Ameritrade Mobile app offers plenty of power for your needs. You can customize your dashboards and screens, access research and advice, transfer funds, get market alerts, and even watch videos teaching how different types of trades and investments work.

TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader is better for advanced and active investors, as it is loaded with charts, technical indicators and analysis to help you make trade decisions and enter on the go. Robinhood launched its mobile app before its website, making this a best stock trading app in its own right. But adding in its free stock trades, this app is one of the very best stock trading apps available today.

While Robinhood does not give you access to a full range of investments like mutual funds, it works great for stocks and ETFs, and recently added support for Bitcoin. The core features of the app are focused on tracking stocks you own and on your watchlist.

To trade, tap on or search for any stock. Enter your trade into the app and presto, you own the stock without any commissions or trade fees. Upgrading to a premium Robinhood Gold account gives you access to margin trading and extended hours trading in addition to all other features. If you want to invest and have no idea what to do, Acorns is the best stock trading app for beginners.

You can also transfer funds to your account manually. Once your dollars land in your account, Acorns will automatically build a portfolio of stock and bond investments based on a brief questionnaire you complete when signing up for a new account. The robo-advisor style app invests exclusively in ETFs to build you a diverse, broad portfolio in line with your investment goals. If you want to make your own investment decisions but are coming from a beginner knowledge level, Stash is a great choice for your needs.

Not only is Stash a trading and investment appit is an app filled with articles and tips to help you level up your investment knowledge each time you access your account. Stockpile lets you buy and sell stocks like most other stock trading apps, but it also allows you to gift single shares of stock or buy fractional shares with a very low cent trade fee.

You can invest in a portion of a share instead with a much lower minimum investment. For families, Stockpile is great because it lets you buy and gift shares of stock. This is great for kids, teens and family portfolios where you can make investing a family activity. Turn off the TV and teach your kids about money and the stock market, and let them buy shares or give them a stock gift card to engage them in a portfolio with a growing value. Interested in reading more reviews?

Take a look at our selection of the best board games for teaching kids about money. E-Trade was once a pioneer in online investing. With roots in Silicon Valley, this brokerage began offering online trades using the Internet via America Online and Compuserve. Once logged into the app for iOS or Android, you can view your investments or enter trades for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and options including, some more complex option trades. E-Trade is also the owner of OptionsHouse, which has its own powerful app for active traders of stock and options.

Many stockbrokers expand to open their own bank. This is true of multiple brokers on this list. But the best-integrated banking and stock apps to trade fractional shares of stock for free app in one is the Schwab mobile app. Schwab Mobile lets you manage all of your Schwab investment and bank accounts with one mobile app. Deposit checks, transfer funds and manage your investments in one place.

International travelers love that you can use your Schwab Investor Checking ATM card anywhere in the world with no fees. You can also log in to Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire devices to manage your investments, watch a live stream of CNBC, research, enter trades, and follow your portfolio performance.

After all, while stocks and other investments can go up, they can also go. This is a great way to learn about stock trading without any risk.

TradeHero LIVE does not buy real stocks or bonds, they use a derivative contract that follows real investment prices, so you may be better off sticking with the core virtual trading features. Stocks Trading Basics. By Eric Rosenberg. Best Free: Robinhood. Best for Beginners: Acorns. Best for Learning: Stash. Best for Your Kids: Stockpile. Best for Banking: Charles Schwab.

Best with Fake Money: TradeHero.

Access to financial markets has never been easier

Ffor of the biggest challenges for new investors in the markets is diversification. This is a great way to learn about stock trading without any risk. You can customize your dashboards and screens, access research and advice, transfer funds, get market alerts, and even watch videos teaching how different types of trades and investments work. For both brand new investors and those looking to gift stocks, Stockpile is the best overall investment brokerage. Betterment is the aps of the major robo-advisors. Certain content provided for informational and educational purposes. You can also transfer funds to your account manually. Best for Automated Investing: Betterment. In both cases, you can buy into a portfolio called a Folio. Best Free: Robinhood.