TD Ameritrade Reviews
by Ted,
2/16/2024
Pros: Everything
Cons: Not available
Review: I've been a TD Ameritrade customer since 2000. It made me a lot of money and I do surely miss it!
by Arthur,
2/1/2024
Pros: Platforms, funds, customer support
Cons: Expensive for options
Review: Loved that broker. Too bad it was bought.
by Natalie Santamore,
11/2/2022
Pros: I use TD Ameritrade for lower cost…
Cons:
Review: I use TD Ameritrade for lower cost stocks. I haven't had any problems depositing funds through bank transfers or mobile check deposits. I've had no problems buying or selling stocks. To be fair to the other reviewers here, I haven't attempted any withdrawls or had a need to contact constomer service but so far I'm happy with the site and will continue to use it.
by Noel Frenzel,
10/12/2022
Pros: Great customer service!
Cons:
Review: I've been an active client of TD Ameritrade (formerly Ameritrade) for over 25 years. I am experienced with many other institutions and trading platforms. They have the best customer service and I would recommend them to everyone.
I wish they were also IRA custodians for non-traditional investments such as crowd funding or real estate investments, but they're not. Altoira is currently my custodian for that, and the customer service is extremely poor.
by Jared Musil,
9/8/2022
Pros:
Cons:
Review: I prefer this app to ThinkOrSwim for almost everything because the layout and UI is just better designed, but it's missing some core features. 1) It does not have the ability to chart options. 2) It lacks the ability to chat with the trade desk to execute trades on restricted stocks. Please consider adding these features so users don't have to flip between two apps. Lastly, for some reason alerts created in TDA, notify in TOS for me. Not a big deal as they do work, but still it's a bit odd?
by Kenny Wolfe,
7/23/2022
Pros:
Cons:
Review: Pretty good app. Seems to be safe to use. Security measures are great. However, mobile app wouldn't load so I had to reinstall a couple of times. Balances and financial information aren't affected. Yet, my watch lists I had to redo each time a lot of time and effort put into it. That sucks. PC version has a lot more bells and whistles. Customer service is US based and awesome. Once they can tweak the mobile version a bit better, I'll change to a five star.
by Vash,
5/30/2022
Pros:
Cons:
Review: Amazing intro to stocks and investing. I never had any plans to start investing. Td ameritrade app made it so easy to setup and figure out, that I gave it a try. And I love it! I don't know much, but the app has definitions and explains everything, and I don't have to search for answers, they are right there for you, hidden behind the word you are trying to understand 😉. And if the ! Or ? Or definition explanation didn't do it, I send a message and chat with someone that'll help. Ezpz
by Chris Clementson,
4/22/2022
Pros: Solid, No-Frills Brokerage
Cons:
Review: I've been a loyal client since 1998 when they were just plain Ameritrade. They have been a solid, dependable, no-frills, no-nonsense brokerage with outstanding customer service. The reps are always very helpful and courteous.
Shortly after the acquisition by Schwab I started receiving unsolicited cold calls from their brokers. I made it clear that I'm a buy-and-hold man not interested in churning my account and they have left me alone ever since. I like that they don't bombard you with sales pitches for this and that.
I've found that during market hours, cash balances on the web interface are slow to catch up, but Think or Swim updates immediately.
If you need telephone support you'll get through much quicker if you call during off hours when the market is closed and the brokers aren't as busy.
At TD Ameritrade you get free Gainskeeper, a real boon at tax time. I hope Schwab doesn't take it away.
I understand that eventually we will get Schwab accounts and new account numbers. It remains to be seen if Schwab keeps the many benefits of TD Ameritrade in place or if things will change for the worse. Schwab has already made it clear that Think or Swim is "here to stay".
by Shelia,
11/27/2021
Pros:
Cons:
Review: I have been with TDAMERITRADE for over 25 years and I love it. The website is user friendly. The support is always immediate no matter how they are contacted. The agents are knowledgeable and friendly. The trades could not possibly go more smoothly. I have recommended them to many people over the years who also love it. My sister loves the educational materials they offer. She is excited to learn about options. It is exciting to share investment strategies with each other and our children. If there is a better company, I have not found it.
by Nat,
10/18/2021
Pros: Usually nice
Cons: Like robots.... Everything they say is going to nothing to help you make money
Review: Firstly, when trading options they show the mid point between bid and ask as your account value. Very deceptive cause when you're dealing with options that have a wide spread... that number is extremely off. Secondly, whenever you decide to sell an option, the bid number comes up automatically.... without realizing that happens and it always does, you end up losing tons of money. They have plenty of informative stuff but it's all and all a game out there cause the media is full of hype. One day, it tanks for some news they somehow blow up and the next day the news says how they shrugged it off..... The whole market is full of manipulators. Those with the big money, play with stocks by putting in money and taking it out....
by Noel,
10/1/2021
Pros: Great customer service!
Cons: none
Review: I've been an active client of TD Ameritrade (formerly Ameritrade) for over 25 years. I am experienced with many other institutions and trading platforms. They have the best customer service and I would recommend them to everyone.
I wish they were also IRA custodians for non-traditional investments such as crowd funding or real estate investments, but they're not. Altoira is currently my custodian for that, and the customer service is extremely poor.
by John,
8/26/2021
Pros:
Cons:
Review: Beware the hidden fees. It's difficult to know which transactions will have which fees. Some will have a $50.00 fee and some a $6.95 fee. I often just buy the same positions I understand BUT the worst thing is the sneaky fees. Some are small but the worst one I encountered was a $15.00 FOREIGN SECURITY FEE on a position that was only worth $100 and already had a commission fee. No warning, nothing up front, I only found out months later while reviewing transactions randomly. While small, that stock had been my biggest percentage gainer but after those fees, it became a net loss. I thought TD Ameritrade had an air of security and stability but I am going to at least look into E-trade, Schwab, and Robinhood now. Transparency is everything to me.
by Natalie,
7/18/2021
Pros: Low costs
Cons:
Review: I use TD Ameritrade for lower cost stocks. I haven't had any problems depositing funds through bank transfers or mobile check deposits. I've had no problems buying or selling stocks. To be fair to the other reviewers here, I haven't attempted any withdrawls or had a need to contact constomer service but so far I'm happy with the site and will continue to use it.
by amie of Whitehouse Station,
6/18/2021
Pros:
Cons:
Review: For online trading accounts TD Ameritrade surpasses Robin Hood and Wee bull in spades. It is the only brokerage account that you can actually speak to somebody in person right away. You cannot contact anybody by phone with the other two and that is huge for beginners.
by Curt,
4/2/2021
Pros:
Cons:
Review: Great app and online software. Never have any issues. Trading is quick. What more can I ask for.
by Michael Springfield,
3/1/2021
Pros: Ease of use and think or swim app has tons of data.
Cons: Stock ticker changed (TSNP to TSNPD) on a Friday. Ameritrade still has not changed
Review: My friends with other online trading accounts can trade TSNPD. Fidelity changed the same day almost to the minute and allowed trading of the new ticker. I am unable to sell any of the stock I own. The customer service is 1 hour plus wait. They informed me I could buy TSNPD but could not sell any of the stock I own. i really think this is criminal. I reported to SEC- have not heard anything yet.
by Sameh Mikhail,
2/12/2021
Pros: None Recently
Cons: Customer Service
Review: Wait time is between 50-60 minutes. In the past the wait time to reach a customer service was 5-15 minutes, usually customer service improves and not the other way around.
Recently with the huge volatility trading AMC stock. I was not able to sell in extended hours until the price dropped from $16.5 down to $11.5, then it went up and it reached $22 in the next morning.
by Sam,
2/10/2021
Pros: Easy to transfer account to
Cons: Poor customer support.
Review: Very difficult to speak to customer support, with wait time of 50 minutes for phone support.
Poor execution and slow response.
by Pete,
2/3/2021
Pros:
Cons:
Review: excellent platform for day trading. Easy to use and very understandable
by E. N. Nelson,
11/30/2020
Pros: None
Cons: Complicated, confusing fees.
Review: I had TD Waterhouse many years ago and left for Scottrade. Never a problem with Scottrade for 20 years. TD Ameritrade takes over Scottrade and changes platform to their complicated with hidden fee platform. I could not leave fast enough.
by Gerald Thrash,
8/3/2020
Pros: n/a
Cons: Unreachable customer care.
Review: I have had a brokerage account with Schwab for years. A few months ago I decided to open a TD Ameritrade account because I had read good reviews of their investment tools. I funded it at $2,500.00 and began trading from account ending in 3352. My trades included some OTC and penny stocks. Although their ads tout commission-free trading and make no mention of exceptions, my fees started appearing at $6.95 per buy or sell transaction. Customer service said "that is just the way it is". Last week I decided to close the account and transfer the $5k that was in to Schwab. TD Ameritrade hit me with a $75 closure fee going out the door and has cut all access to the account. I can't download past statements or transactions. Again customer service told me today that the closure fee was listed somewhere on there website under broker fees. I can't confirm that because I can no longer access the website. They will send me the statements but won't allow access to the closed account.
A totally unsatisfactory experience in my judgement.
BTW: Schwab charges no fees to trade the same stocks that TD hit me at $6.95 per transaction.
by givetoandy,
6/22/2020
Pros:
Cons:
Review: When the market started to dip after the pandemic began, I began to research how to get into stock trading. I knew next to nothing. With a recommendation from my father-in-law, who had used Scotttrade previously, I downloaded the app. He said that after Scotttrade changed to TD Ameritrade, the new app and features were better and easier to use. He recommended that it was good for a beginner like me. He was absolutely right. I really enjoyed the educational videos which I viewed prior to moving any funds into my account. I signed up and registered to trade in the Scwab app, BUT TD Ameritrade’s app was much more user-friendly for someone with my lack of experience and understanding. I highly recommend TD Ameritrade’s main app, but I am not as fond of their companion app, thinkorswim. Nevertheless, TD Ameritrade’s app was my right choice in learning to buy and sell shares. After I deposited funds, I was nervous for a few days how things worked and if it were all a scam. But I purchased my first 100 shares pain-free, and I felt really comfortable with the process. In a few weeks, I sold and purchased more stock, and now I feel quite competent. This app and company gets a high recommendation from me.
by Bdotjohn,
6/22/2020
Pros: I love the app
Cons: There are known issues
Review: Let me start off by saying I love the ui and feel of this app; adding funds, creating watchlists, catching up on market news, executing trades; all easy and accessible via the tap of an icon located at the bottom of my screen. Customer service is not hard to get a hold of if I need anything. TD Ameritrade has easily become my favorite app for trading and keeping track of market performance in general. It’s crazy to think that it’s almost made my desktop obsolete.
However, this app has a huge issue; I’ve experienced WAY too many instances of the app crashing on or right before market open. This is unforgivable. Imagine opening the app, being on a jump login screen with the inability to login on a big market opening day—this has actually cost me hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars. Highly disappointing and inexcusable. There are several blogs and websites dedicated to this experience, which I was mind blown to discover. I called customer service and there was literally nothing they offered to do to help. Very concerning and I hope TD works on having reliable servers to handle the traffic this app experiences during a very volatile market. Also, it would be great to see when my money will clear. Simple but very important information. Fingers crossed.
by Don Allen,
6/15/2020
Pros: Thinkorswim is well done, though they didn't do it; they bought it.
Cons: Horrible to deal with. I made an agreement with them, I followed it, they reneged.
Review: I had a situation last year with a credit spread that threatened to close with underlying between the two strikes. They liquidated it without calling me first. it cost me money. I spoke to them, discussed it, they explained some subtle risk factors, I understood. I asked how to avoid this situation in the future. They said to call them and let them know I was on top of the situation. I agreed.
Last Friday, the same situation came up, I tried to call them half an hour before the close and the wait time was 40 minutes!! I stayed on the line and 20 minutes before the close, they liquidated my position. The stock turned around (Google) and close 18 points above the strike price of the short put they were worried about. They cost me hundreds of dollars by closing it. I called them today (and waited an hour to speak with someone). I pointed out our agreement and that I had followed it, but because they weren't equipped to answer their phones, I could not get through. Under the circumstances, fairness says they should reverse their trade in my account. They refused. I am (was) a long-time customer. No more. I'm done with these people. I will never do business with them again. Ever. And I strongly suggest you do the same, because you will not get a fair shake from them because their word is worth nothing.
by Malcolm,
5/31/2019
Pros: CNBC live (about a 8 second delay) on the site.
Cons: Trade Architect is all I wanted and they changed it a few years ago, and the existing one they want to dump. I will not use Think Or Swim...I will walk.
Review: What is there to say? They can't service the average retail investor who wants to keep it quick and simple. I have spent hours with Think or Swim.. I don't need all the B.S.. I make money with quick and easy..not with ego driven crap. They have messaged me more than once that they are developing a new web based platform..it better be fast, easy and have CNBC...or I'll take my 300,000 bucks and go.
by vv,
4/2/2019
Pros: I found no pros compared to Scottrade.
Cons: Snobby Reps
Review: So I was a TD transplant from Scottrade. Being open minded I decided to give them a chance. My business with them lasted 5 months. Ended up paying more fees in 5 months than the prior 3 years at Scottrade combined.
I also ended up making more phone calls to customer service in those 5 months than I did at Scottrade in 14 years. Not only that but they took my local office away which was kind of wierd. They left two offices near each other only a few miles appart while closing the office in the fastest growing part of the area.
Rarely needed office but was nice just to drop by and speak with your assigned broker from time to time.
The final straw at TD was when there were changes out of my control and they charged fees that should have never happened. Managed to get reimbursed as a supposed one time fee forgiveness but still the fees should not have happened anyway.
Now at Schwab for nearly a year with not one issue. I even get representative's checking in from time to time to see if I need any help when they have platform updates.
There will probably never be another broker like Scottrade but of the ones I have tried Schwab is top choice and Fidelity is my secondary account.
by unknown investor,
3/5/2019
Pros:
Cons:
Review: td dropped a great platform (trade architect) for petty dispute with flash; so im drpping them!
by Megan,
3/4/2019
Pros:
Cons:
Review: For an average mutual funds investor Ameritrade is a good place to be. I never used Think or Swim - I don't need it. Everything I want can be done on the website with no pain. Whenever I call customer service they are always patient and helpful. I also have their debit card which is convenient.
by Alex,
2/27/2019
Pros: Thinkorswim, free ETFs and mutual funds
Cons: stocks could be cheaper
Review: I've been with TD Ameritrade for almost 20 years. They still have the best trading platform on the market, exactly like professional traders use. In fact, many day traders use Thinkorswim to make a living.
What I also like are no-commission index funds and popular ETFs with no trading fee. My IRA at tda has no fees that most retirement services charge.
I'm not really digging their latest website design - it used to be much more "together". Hopefully they will change it soon.
by Handy,
12/4/2018
Pros: Simple mobile platform
Cons: Scottrade was better
Review: Former scottrade customer. Scottrade had a better website and mobile platform. I preferred my local office with scottrade as well. There was a nice down to earth person there. Td ameritrades office is stuffy. It's about show. I don't care about that. Doesn't help with my bottom line. Lose the show and lower the trading fees. The local branch surely attracts the average millennial shitbag.....but they have no money. Some small business sense would go a long way.
by Andrew,
11/17/2018
Pros:
Cons:
Review: I recently switched from E-Trade to TDAmeritrade for ThinkOrSwim and zero-commission Vanguard ETFs, but it was extremely disappointing to see that it does not use extended validation SSL certs... (E-Trade does) I am pretty sure they can afford it. Funnily Scottrade does have it.
by Trader,
5/10/2018
Pros: Platforms, website, 296 FREE ETFs, 2000 FREE to trade mutual funds
Cons: none
Review: TD Ameritrade has over 10 million customers so there always will be few unhappy ones. But if the broker is so bad as the haters claim why there are only few complaints per year? It's because all the 10 mil. other customers are happy and don't have incentive to run around internet posting reviews.
As a long time Ameritrade customer I can honestly say that it's a great company. They offer hundreds of ETFs and couple of thousand of mutual funds that you could buy without paying any commission. You can invest with them for free!
by JR,
5/8/2018
Pros: cheap & easy for basic trades
Cons: ignorant staff, refuse to correct errors
Review: they gave wrong info and after I followed it, refused to correct the error they caused - they even listened to the phone call recordings and said - not going to fix it. Would really like to know if anyone can hold them accountable.
by sarah,
3/27/2018
Pros:
Cons: too many website issues, horrible platform
Review: I was with Scottrade for 10 years and never an issue. TD Ameritrade refuses to let clients use the much better Scottrade platform - which they did purchase.I am waiting to move my account as I keep hoping they will listen to their 4 million new customers complaints about their platform. Think or swim is just an overcomplicated mess-
As an investor, it’s extremely important to have the right trading tools available to receive information quickly and make informed decisions. With the continuous development
of smart phone technology, more and more brokerage firms are beginning to create mobile applications for use of their services on the go. Over the past couple of years, we
have been using the TD Ameritrade mobile application to assist with our investing needs and have been quite impressed with the dynamic capabilities of the program. The
functionality and access that clients have at their disposal truly make this application stand out as one of the best available in the marketplace.
TD Ameritrade mobile is available to anyone who downloads the application to their smart phone. However, in order to get full access to the program, you will need to
have an account already established with the firm. Since we are using the Android platform, installation was completed through the Google Play store simply by selecting
the application and completing the free download. Upon opening the program, you are given the opportunity to log in to your personal account. For those who haven’t
done this yet, there’s a link to open a new TD Ameritrade account on the configuration
page that when clicked, will take you right to the TD Ameritrade website to begin the process. In the meantime, non-account holders can still create an investment watch list and access delayed stock quotes when using the application. For existing account owners, this is where the fun begins.
Once logged in, there are a number of tabs at the top of the page where one can easily navigate the platform. This menu includes; Quotes, News, Account, Trade, and Configure.
The
page is shown as the default starting point. For investors looking to keep an eye on their favorite stocks, this is where users can create and edit their
own watch lists. These stocks, along with any watch lists previously created by the user on the desktop site can be integrated into the application and will be accessible
during future sessions. Stocks that appear on this page show real time streaming quotes, bid/ask information, and the price change for the day throughout normal market hours.
Selecting a specific ticker symbol from the watch list will give the user a subset of additional choices like trading, level II quotes, charting and options information,
as well as access to company news. This can be extremely useful to have in a pinch, most notably for the level II quotes, as this shows an in-depth look at the market maker’s
order book for a particular company. This is considered to be a more advanced feature that is not often found in other brokerage mobile applications.
tab at the top of the page is a nice way to get a quick summary of current financial events. The news feed source is also customizable to be set up through either Midnight Trader, Yahoo Finance, or Google Finance depending on the user’s preference. This helps make the experience more interactive and allows one to get a good sense of the market at moments notice.
tab lets the user get a quick snapshot of their account. This screen displays account values and buying power available along with a specific balance breakdown of applicable funds in cash, margin, and savings. You can also see a nice summary of both your current account positions and recent transaction history. Having this information readily available is certainly a benefit for its convenience and ease of use.
tab provides access to an extremely dynamic order entry screen that gives investors multiple choices with which to complete
their trades. Users can make stock or options transactions from this platform by simply entering order details and utilizing the designated
hot buttons and scroll down menu.
For novice investors looking for broker all the way to the most expert trader, we think that TD Ameritrade’s Mobile application has many beneficial features. Whether you are at home or on the beach, using this platform gives you instant access to the market right on your cell phone. Based on the success we’ve had using TD Ameritrade Mobile, we would certainly recommend this application for investors who are looking to stay connected.