Overview

If you are considering opening a new investment account, both Schwab and Webull are worth a close look. They overlap in some areas, but there are also major differences between them.

Comparison Table

Assets and Accounts

Schwab offers both self-directed accounts and investment-advisory accounts. The advisory side comes in automated, hybrid, and full-service formats. Self-directed and full-service accounts provide access to most of the tradable products. These include:

• Futures contracts
• Equities
• Options
• Closed-end funds
• ETFs
• Mutual funds
• Bonds and other fixed-income securities

Schwab’s stock offering includes OTC securities and direct foreign-stock access through Schwab Global Account.

Like Schwab, Webull provides both advisory and self-directed accounts. However, Webull does not offer traditional human-managed advisory accounts. Instead, it has an automated advisory service. The broker’s self-directed accounts do not include a broad mutual-fund marketplace, but they do offer money market funds, crypto through Webull Pay, futures, OTC securities, and fixed-income products. Webull offers individual, joint, IRA, futures, entity, crypto, advisor, and managed IRA account types. Schwab goes further with estate, charitable, business, Coverdell, 529, and custodial accounts.





Winner: Schwab

Banking

Schwab is more than a brokerage firm. It operates its own bank, Charles Schwab Bank, which has FDIC insurance. Many banking resources are available, including checking and savings accounts, plus mortgage access through Rocket Mortgage. One example is a Visa debit card with unlimited ATM fee rebates around the world.

Webull does not operate its own bank, although it does use an FDIC-sweep program for customer cash balances. Currently, there is up to $5 million in FDIC insurance coverage through this program across multiple partner banks. Webull pays 3.35% APY on uninvested cash. Schwab’s bank products, by comparison, pay 0.15% at best. But Webull does not have a spending debit card, checkwriting, or many of the banking features available at Schwab.

Winner: Debatable

Websites

For investment research, account management, and trading, both firms provide user-friendly websites. Webull’s site has a Market tab in the top menu that shows plenty of information on markets, indexes, and top movers. These sections include different types of charts and graphs. Stock profiles have option chains, press releases, analyst ratings, and price targets.





Webull’s browser-based trading experience runs through Webull WebTrade. There are many useful tools here, including several advanced order tickets, full-screen charting with many gadgets, a stock screener, time & sales data, simulated trading, alerts, and multiple watchlists.

Schwab’s website also has trading tools built into it. These include some of the same features available on Webull’s web platform. Examples include charts with many tools, a pop-out trade ticket with several order types, alerts, watchlists, and many options tools.





Like Webull, Schwab has a browser-based platform. Called thinkorswim, it offers better charting and order entry than the regular website. For example, a chart can fill the full height and width of the screen, and there are some very advanced order types, such as OTO (one triggers the other). Schwab’s thinkorswim platform also has paperMoney simulated trading.

Winner: Schwab

Incentives

Webull: Get 12 FREE STOCKS worth up to $3,600 and a 3.5% bonus on IRA deposits with Webull！

Charles Schwab: Satisfaction guarantee, ACAT reimbursement, and $0-fee trades at Charles Schwab.

Mobile Apps

Turning to mobile apps, we find another competitive comparison. Webull’s mobile platform has a community area called Feeds. It works like a digital message board where Webull traders can discuss the day’s market activity.





There are two order tickets on the app (one for fast trading and another for standard trading), integrated options spreads, and horizontal charting with several useful tools.

Schwab has two apps. One is built for advanced trading through thinkorswim, while the other has useful resources such as mobile check deposit and live streaming of video news. Together, they provide horizontal charting with tools and some advanced order tickets with integrated options spreads. thinkorswim has the following order types:

• Contingent on price
• Trailing stop
• OCO (one cancels the other)
• OTO
• Market on close
• Stop limit

Webull’s app combines OTO and OCO into an OTOCO order. It also has other advanced order types, including stop limit and trailing.

Winner: Schwab

Desktop Software

The most advanced trading experience at both firms is available through desktop programs. Schwab calls its platform thinkorswim. It gives advanced traders many tools, including profit-loss diagrams, live CNBC streaming, technical analysis from Recognia, multi-leg trading, advanced charting, direct-access routing, and integrated options spreads. In total, we counted 24 options strategies plus a custom feature for creating a trade with up to 4 legs.





Although thinkorswim is not extremely difficult to learn, there is a demo mode for practice, and a live-help widget sits at the top of the platform.

Webull’s desktop platform also has simulated trading and a messaging widget. There is a Learning Center if those resources are not enough. For live trading, Webull offers full-screen charting, several order tickets with many useful features, integrated options spreads, P/L diagrams, heat maps, and a stock screener. We counted 11 integrated options spreads.





Both platforms allow users to build custom layouts. Both also have pre-installed layouts for different uses, such as options trading or day trading.

Winner: Schwab

Margin

Brokerage customers at both firms can use either cash or margin trading. Interest rates at Webull are consistently lower (8.74% versus 11.825% at the lowest rung). Both firms show margin details on their software for entered ticker symbols. Webull’s software shows more data points, such as day-trading leverage and short maintenance requirement.

Winner: Webull

Incentives

Webull: Get 12 FREE STOCKS worth up to $3,600 and a 3.5% bonus on IRA deposits with Webull！

Charles Schwab: Satisfaction guarantee, ACAT reimbursement, and $0-fee trades at Charles Schwab.

Add-on Services

Automatic Mutual Fund Investing: Available at Schwab. Webull offers recurring investing, although not a broad automatic mutual-fund program.

Fractional Shares: Webull customers can buy and sell cryptocurrencies and securities in whole dollars. Schwab offers fractional-share trading for most stocks and ETFs.

IPO Service: It is possible at either firm to request access to primary stock offerings before they begin trading on the secondary market.

Fully-Paid Stock Lending: Both firms offer the ability to earn extra income by lending out shares of securities.

Extended-hours Trading: Schwab and Webull both offer pre-market and after-hours trading in select securities. Schwab also offers 24/5 trading in more than 1,100 stocks and ETFs on thinkorswim. Cryptocurrencies at Webull trade almost 24/7, while futures at both brokers have extended trading hours.

DRIP Service: Available at both brokers.

Individual Retirement Accounts: Although both firms have IRAs, Schwab has more IRA types. These include Custodial and Inherited IRAs.

Winner: Schwab

Recommendations

Small Accounts: Webull’s robo service requires $100 to start, while Schwab’s automated program has a much steeper $5,000 minimum. Neither brokerage firm has any minimums for self-directed accounts. Because Webull offers fractional-share trading for more securities, it would be the better choice for small self-directed accounts.

Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: Which broker has financial planning, annuities, lifecycle mutual funds, bond ladders, small business retirement plans, branch locations, and much more? Schwab has the stronger lineup.

ETF/Stock Trading: Charles Schwab’s thinkorswim platform is the better choice for active trading.

Beginners: For obvious reasons, an investment-advisory account is better for beginners. We lean toward Schwab because it has human investment advisors, which Webull lacks.

Mutual Fund Trading: Schwab has the much broader mutual-fund lineup. Webull offers a limited money-market-fund lineup.

Webull vs Schwab Verdict

Schwab has a moderate overall lead. Webull has the broader crypto lineup, while Schwab offers crypto exposure through products such as spot crypto ETPs, crypto-related stocks and funds, and crypto futures, with Schwab Crypto direct trading announced as coming soon. Schwab remains the better choice for active trading and financial planning.

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Open Webull Account

Open Webull Account

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