Webull vs. Fidelity: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Webull and Fidelity are two of the top online trading and investing platforms. While they both serve the market in similar ways, there are some key differences that will determine which is the best choice for you. So, here we’ll present a Webull vs Fidelity comparison to help you to make an informed decision.

Webull currently offers new users up to 12 free stocks for trying the platform. You’ll get two free stocks (each worth $3 – $3,000) for signing up. Deposit any amount to get up to 10 more free stocks. Sign up for Webull through this link to be eligible for the bonus.

The Webull Basics

Webull is a US-based company (Webull Financial LLC) that has been operating since 2017. It is regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Although it was primarily a mobile app initially, Webull has evolved into a flexible platform available as a desktop app or through an internet browser. Webull has experienced rapid growth to become one of the most popular online brokers, with a limited line of investment products and cryptocurrency trading.

Key Webull features include:

• Commission-free trades of stocks, options, and ETFs
• More than 20 technical indicators
• Free trade simulator
• Live news feed
• Real-time market data
• Extended trading hours
• Commission-free short selling
• Stock lending income program
• Support for fractional shares
• Access to popular cryptocurrencies
• Access to IPO investments before they go public

Read our Webull review for more details.

The Fidelity Basics

Fidelity has a much longer history, as it was established back in 1946. It began as a traditional brokerage with brick-and-mortar locations, but in recent years, it has developed a strong online presence. Today, Fidelity has 20 million+ investors with over $8 trillion in customer assets.

Fidelity is SEC and FINRA regulated and has a full-service variety of investment vehicles appealing to long-term investors. However, Fidelity does not support cryptocurrency trading and mostly focuses on its own financial products.

Key Fidelity features include:

• Large choice of investing research providers
• Index funds with zero expense ratio
• Extensive educational resources and learning materials
• Over 3,700 no-transaction-fee mutual funds
• 24/7 customer support via chat
• Active Trader Pro downloadable trading platform
• Trade on 25 different markets
• Brick-and-mortar locations throughout the U.S.

Webull vs Fidelity: How the Platforms Compared

After you create a brokerage account with Webull, you can expect account approval very quickly. In most cases, it takes less than an hour, but it may take longer if your application requires further verification. You’ll need to provide personal information including your full name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number. You’ll also need to verify your ID with a photo of your driver’s license, passport, or other government-issued ID.

Once your account is open, you can fund it with an ACH bank transfer. However, there are no minimums, so you can set up a direct deposit for any amount to get started trading. Funds transfers are performed securely via Plaid, which is an industry standard.  

Webull also has a free trading simulator (learn more about paper trading on Webull), so you can check how the platform works, experiment with different strategies, or get some trading experience without needing to deposit any real money. You’ll use virtual cash, so there are no risks and you can ensure that you feel completely comfortable before you start trading with your own money.

Webull has excellent charting features and tools with technical indicators including Money Flow Index, RSI, Bollinger Bands, and Exponential Moving Averages. This means that the platform is especially appealing for those who use technical analysis to make their trade decisions or short-term traders.

If you like shorting stocks, you need to have a minimum deposit of $2,000 and have margin account approval. Using Webull, you can trade ETFs, options, and stocks with no commission. There are also free retirement accounts, in addition to taxable brokerage accounts.

The signup process for Fidelity is very similar to Webull. You’ll still need to provide your personal details and have Fidelity verify your identity before your account can be formally opened.

Once your account is opened, you can set your account preferences, such as if you want to receive tax documents and statements by mail or electronically. After your account is created, you can fund it.

You can also download the Active Trader Pro, which is Fidelity’s downloadable trading platform. It’s a fully customizable platform, allowing you to set your workspace according to your preferences. You can get real-time insights, monitor relevant news streams, set up custom alerts, and trade directly from charts. Fidelity also has a mobile app, which allows you to trade the same asset classes (except for bonds) and use a limited selection of stock market research and charting tools.

Products

Webull and Fidelity typically appeal to different investors due to the different offerings of products and services. Webull has four types of investment vehicles:

1. Stocks
2. Exchange traded funds (ETFs)
3. Options
4. Cryptocurrencies

Webull also offers fractional share trading, which can make higher-profile stocks more accessible. For example, if you don’t have thousands of dollars to buy a full share of Amazon or Tesla, you can purchase a fractional share for as little as $5.

Webull offers cash and margin accounts, with IRAs available for those with a Webull individual account. They also support a variety of IRAs including traditional, Roth, and rollover IRAs.

Due to its product offerings, Webull typically appeals to frequent traders, speculators, and younger investors. However, it does not offer long-term investments such as bonds or other fixed-income securities.

Fidelity is a full-service broker with a wide investment product line. This includes a full equities line, fixed income securities, and approximately 10,000 mutual funds. While Fidelity does not offer futures, you can access Forex.

The more obvious difference between Webull and Fidelity is that Fidelity offers a full variety of its own investment products, and these are prioritized, as its own index funds and mutual funds have a 0% expense ratio. You can also access options, ETFs, international stocks, and over 25 global stock markets through Fidelity.

Fidelity also has a comprehensive variety of accounts including traditional, Roth, rollover, and SEP IRAs, 401ks, and 529 college plans. You can choose a personal, business, or managed account.

Platform and User Experience

Webull has a desktop, mobile, and web-based platform, which is intuitive and easy to use. The workstation is customizable and provides news, a stock screener, fundamental analysis, analyst ratings, and trading tools such as charting. There are also extended trading hours (4:00 AM – 8:00 PM), which are not offered with Fidelity.

Webull does not offer robo advisors and it does lack investment portfolio management tools, so you do need to be quite self-sufficient. Additionally, there’s no chat feature to access customer service if you run into problems.

Fidelity’s Active Trader Pro platform is a downloadable premier product, which is more than sufficient for long-term investors or active traders. However, there’s also a mobile app and web-based platform.

While the web-based platform should be sufficient for most traders, the Active Trader Pro does have more sophisticated analysis tools. Fidelity also offers robo advisors and easily accessible customer support.

Mobile Apps

Webull has a good mobile app that’s consistent with its desktop and web-based platforms, but there are some subtle design differences to accommodate smaller screens. You don’t need to set up any other Webull platform, so you can exclusively use the app. Research is available, and you can customize the trading ticket information.

The Fidelity app is easy to navigate. You can create watchlists on any of the platforms including the app. You can also facilitate most trade types except conditional orders. However, there’s one significant drawback with the Fidelity app — you can’t access the fundamental research or the technical trading tools if you’ve not used the other versions of the Fidelity platform

Fees

Webull offers commission-free trading with no minimum deposits or account balances. The only exceptions to this are a $1 deposit fee for crypto accounts and a $2,000 deposit for margin accounts. The Webull margin rates are from 6.99% and trading account fees (TAFs) are $0.00019 for sells only at a maximum of $5.95 per trade. Unlike with Fidelity, there are no options trading charges.

Webull customers can access one free wire transfer, but after this, there’s an $8.95 fee for domestic wires and $12.95 for international wires, if the transfers are less than $25,000. There are no inactivity fees or charges for other services such as deposits or withdrawals. This makes Webull one of the lowest-cost online brokers.

Fidelity also has commission-free trading and no minimum deposit accounts. Margin accounts require a minimum deposit of $2,500 and the rate is currently 9.325%, which is far higher than Webull. TAF fees are $0.00019, which are comparable to Webull, but there’s a $0.002 TAF fee for options contracts, with a $0.65 fee per options contract charge.

As with Webull, you cannot access futures trading with Fidelity but Fidelity does not offer direct cryptocurrency market access. There are no charges for trading a Fidelity mutual fund, but for mutual funds not in the Fidelity family, there’s a $49.95 charge per trade.

Education and Research

While it’s lower cost, this is reflected in the educational materials available on Webull. There’s a learning center with investor educational material, but it does not compare with the vast library of materials offered by Fidelity.

The Webull research presence is reasonably strong, with a specialization in technical analysis. There are also some tools for fundamental analysis. The dashboard has alerts and watch lists along with analyst reviews and real-time streaming quotes. However, some technical indicators require a paid upgrade, and the portfolio management tools are a little lacking.

On the other hand, Fidelity has an excellent stock and fund research center. It provides everything investors could need with stock and fund analysis, real-time analysis, technical trading tools, and fundamental analysis information.

Webull vs Fidelity: Summing Up

To sum up, both Webull and Fidelity are solid platforms with great reputations. However, there are some similarities and differences which will influence the types of investors they are best suited to.

• Both platforms offer trading of stocks, ETFs, options, and fractional shares with no commission.
• Both have $0 account minimums
• Free extensive research and data are available on both platforms
• Fidelity offers assets such as mutual funds and index funds with many having a zero expense ratio.
• Webull has 24/7 crypto trading
• Fidelity has 3,700+ mutual funds with no load fees
• Webull has a free trading simulator
• Fidelity has a demo account
• Fidelity is a full-service brokerage with an extensive variety of investing and research tools.
• Webull offers cryptocurrency trading

Conclusion

Webull and Fidelity appeal to different investor types. Webull offers investment products for frequent traders. It’s a relatively new platform dealing predominantly with liquid assets. This is a relatively inexpensive platform that’s well suited to speculators and active traders (including day trading).

Fidelity is a full-service brokerage with a history dating back over 70 years. It offers a complete investment product line and an array of market research and educational materials. This is more likely to appeal to long-term investors or traders who like to buy and hold.

Both platforms have no minimum account balance requirements, except for margin accounts. Both have commission-free trading and a usable app. So, in the Webull vs Fidelity comparison, you’ll need to think about what you’re looking for in a trading platform.

Webull may have a smaller line of investment products, but it’s better suited to active traders. There’s a paper trading area where you can practice trade strategies and gain trading experience using virtual money. Additionally, you can access cryptocurrencies, which are not available through Fidelity.

Unlike Webull, Fidelity does offer international trading and has a number of Fidelity family funds, which may be more attractive for those looking for a long-term investment.