This contrast overview aids users that battle to pick between Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers to discover the most effective online broker for their trading and investment demands. It analyzes the highlights of the two brokers side by side to help individuals contrast their solution and make an informed decision.
To help users choose the appropriate broker between Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers to find the best-suited platform, below is a listing of broker’s benefits and drawbacks, followed by a comparison of their major trading attributes, consisting of trading platforms & devices, charges, mobile trading, down payment & withdrawal, properties, guideline, and client support.
Charles Schwab vs. Interactive Brokers: Summary

Charles Schwab is a US based brokerage company founded in 1971. It is regulated by two tier-one financial regulators (the FINRA and SEC) and is considered safe.Users can trade on multiple assets including stocks, ETFs, funds, options, futures and cryptos.
Charles Schwab has a proprietary web and desktop trading platform. Both have a clean design and offer various customisation options and intuitive fee reports.
Charles Schwab’s trading fees are average compared to other similar brokers. They charge 0$ commission on stocks, ETFs and certain mutual funds and bonds. Their non-trading fees are low.
Charles Schwab’s customer support is available by phone, email and live chat 24/7.
Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted global broker with a well-rounded offer of tradable markets, great educational content and sophisticated order type configuration. It is a high trusted and well capitalize company with an industry leading trading platform, a competitive fee structure and great global market access. Their low entry level and the Global Trader platform, which is intuitive and easy to use trading station, make this broker s great choice for beginners and advanced forex traders.
Professional and seasoned traders will appreciate the great selection of advanced trading tools and order type configurations available on their proprietary Trader Workstation desktop platform (TWS).
Pros
- Low minimum deposit ($0)
- $0 commission stock, ETF and mutual funds
- Excellent research tools and education materials
- Responsive customer support with 24/7 access
- Fast & reliable trade execution
Cons
- Limited beginner features
- Expensive managed accounts and financial advice
Pros
- Low minimum deposit ($0)
- Industry lowest overall fees
- Professional trading platform suitable for different types of traders
- Intuitive and easy to use mobile trading app
- Compatible features for casual and professional traders
- Responsive customer support
Cons
- Few deposit and withdrawal options
- Research and education materials missing
Key features
- $0 commission stock and ETF trading
- Access to over 3,000 US stocks
- Multiple advanced order types
- In-house reports from Morningstar and Credit Suisse
- Google Assistant Integration
- Robo-advisor and financial advisors available
Key features
- Margin loan rates on stocks of 1.3%
- Access to 135+ global markets
- Advanced order types, tools and features
- Access to frictional shares
- Lowest commissions in the industry
Charles Schwab vs. Interactive Brokers Comparison
Select up to 3 Brokers

Charles Schwab
Interactive Brokers
All trading involves risk. More than 80% of investors lose in spread bet and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
BROKER COMPARISON

Trading Platform & Tools
Automated Trading | ||
Charting Tools | ||
Conditional Orders | ||
cTrader | ||
Demo Account | ||
Desktop Platform | ||
Max Leverage | 2:1 | 1:20 |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | ||
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | ||
Mobile Version | ||
Mutual Fund Management | ||
Proprietary Platform | ||
Social/Copy Trading | ||
Trading Alerts | ||
Trading signals | ||
Watchlist | ||
Web Version |
Fees
Withdrawal Fee | 0 | 0 |
Deposit Fee | 0 | 1% |
Inactivity Fee | 0 | 0 |
Cost Per Trade | 0 | 0 |
Cost Per Month | 0 | 0 |
Forex (EUR/USD) | 0 | 0.2 pips + 0.08 to 0.20 bps times trade size comission |
Stocks & ETF | 0 | $ 0.005 per share |
CFD (Gold) | 0 | 0.02% |
Crypto | 0 | 0.12% to 0.18% of trade value |
Options | US$0.65 per options contract | |
Conversion Fees | 0 | |
Misc. Fees | 0 | |
Overnight Fees | Yes on CFD’s |
Deposit & Withdrawal
Minimum deposit (in UAE) | $25.000 | $0 |
Bank Wire | ||
Credit/Debit Card | ||
Cash | ||
Check | YES from US bank account | |
Islamic Account Transfer | ||
E-payments | ||
Paypal | ||
Skrill | ||
Neteller |
Assets
Shares | 11.438 | 16.500 |
ETF & Funds | 2.600 | 35.000 |
Crypto | 0 | 4 |
Commodities | 0 | 1 |
Indices | 0 | 3052 |
Options | 8 exchanges | 50.000 |
Futures | 8 exchanges | 245 |
Bonds | 36.000 | 1.000.000 |
Forex Instruments | 0 | 115 |
CFD Indices & Funds | 0 | 13 |
CFD Stocks | 0 | 8.000 |
CFD Commodities | 0 | 2 |
CFD Crypto | 0 | 0 |
CFD Bonds | 0 | 0 |
Binary Options | 0 | 0 |
SWAPS | 0 | 0 |
Saving Plans | 0 | 0 |
Research & Education
Webinars | ||
Educational Resources | ||
Daily News Updates | ||
Market Indepth Analysis | ||
Pers. Training & Room | ||
Market Research |
Customer Support
Phone | ||
Live Chat | ||
24/7 support | ||
Multilingual | ||
Personal Account Manager |
Winner
Charles Schwab vs. Interactive Brokers Comparison Conclusion
The outcomes of our contrast of Charles Schwab vs. Interactive Brokers are involved the table below.
Broker: | Best For: |
Charles Schwab | Stocks and ETFs |
Interactive Brokers | Stocks and ETFs |
Picking the appropriate choice between Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers can be tough. Both on the internet brokers have resemblances yet vary relating to trading instruments, platforms & applications, regulation, deposit & withdrawals, and research and education. Choosing the best broker depends on users’ trading & investment objectives, individual choices, and experience level.
To make a better-informed decision, users can read our detailed broker reviews, comparison or use our broker selector to help them find the ideal broker.