Our Verdict
Robinhood and Public.com are both popular online brokerage platforms that offer commission-free trading. Choosing between both platforms will depend on your investment style and goals. However, it’s advisable to choose Robinhood if you’re a beginner investor who wants to trade options or prioritize low fees and a user-friendly app. Although Robinhood offers a limited range of investment options, including stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies.
Public.com, on the other hand, is a better option for those who want access to unique investment options and enjoy the social aspects of investing that allow investors follow other investors and share ideas, or prioritize a platform focused on long-term investing education.
Why Choose Robinhood
Who Robinhood Is Best For?
Robinhood is best suited for investors who are:
- Beginners: Robinhood’s simple app and commission-free trades let you easily enter the investing scene without a lot of initial outlay. Beginners will find its simplicity and ease of use to be quite beneficial.
- Cryptocurrency traders: Robinhood backs trading in numerous well-known cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin.
- Margin traders: Robinhood provides margin accounts for qualified users, so they may borrow money to acquire assets with a minimum portfolio value requirement of $2,000 (excluding cryptocurrency).
- Active traders: Robinhood’s platform is designed for active traders, especially those interested in options trading, which Robinhood offers commission-free. It also offers real-time data and simple order execution.
- Low-fee seekers: Robinhood’s basic attractions are commission-free stock, ETFs, and option trading. For regular traders, especially, this can be quite a benefit.
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Who Robinhood Isn’t Best For?
Some investors that might not be a good fit for Robinhood include the following:
- Long-term investors: Robinhood’s platform is focused on short-term trading; hence, its lack of bonds and mutual funds makes building a well-diversified portfolio for long-term objectives challenging. It might not be the best option for those who intend to acquire and own stocks in the long run.
- Passive investors: Robinhood’s interactive interface and emphasis on active trading could inspire impulsive judgements straying from a long-term buy-and-hold approach.
- Those who value strong customer support: Robinhood offers less customer service when compared to other brokers.
Why Choose Public.com
Who Public.com Is Best For?
Public.com is best for investors who:
- Value social interaction: Public.com offers a social component allowing you to follow other investors, view their portfolios, and engage with them. This inspires ideas and strengthens the sense of community.
- Long-term investors with unique interests: Public offers a larger spectrum of assets than Robinhood, including collectibles and Treasury notes, which would appeal to long-term investors with unusual interests looking for diversification outside of regular equities and ETFs. Their focus on long-term investment instruction has great value as well.
- High-yield savings seekers: Public’s high-yield cash account can be an excellent choice to park your uninvested money and get a competitive interest rate above conventional savings accounts.
- Option traders: Public.com offers a commission-free structure and basic strategy support for new options traders, but may be limiting for experienced traders using complex strategies. It offers commission-free options trading, income sharing, and simple methods including long calls, long puts, covered calls, and cash-secured puts, making it cost-effective for beginners and frequent traders.
Who Public.com Isn’t Best For?
Public.com might not be the best fit for a few investor profiles:
- Retirement investors: Public currently does not offer tax-advantaged IRAs, making them unfit for retirement.
- Margin seekers: Public doesn’t offer margin accounts that allow borrowing money to buy investments, enhancing potential gains and losses. The margin trading strategy is not available.
- International investors: Public is currently only accessible to US residents. It isn’t an option for non-U.S. investors.
- Seasoned traders: Public’s platform lacks advanced features for active traders looking for more control over their investments, such as complex order types, in-depth charting tools, and advanced stock screeners.
- Those in need of frequent customer support: Public’s customer support is limited to weekday chat and emails sent during work hours. No phone support or weekend customer support is offered.
Main Differences
| Robinhood | Public.com | |
|---|---|---|
|
Investment Options |
Robinhood offers limited investment options like stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies. |
Public.com offers a wider range of investment options, like stocks and ETFs, and recently started offering fractional shares of crypto (but not full cryptocurrency trading). |
|
Account Types |
Robinhood offers individual taxable accounts and IRAs. |
Public.com currently only offers individual taxable accounts but doesn’t offer tax advantages like IRAs. |
|
Trading Features |
Robinhood offers commission-free stock, ETF, and options trading. It also offers margin trading (borrowing money to invest) for qualified users. |
Although Public doesn’t offer margin trading, it offers commission-free stock and ETF trading, with a 1-2% markup on cryptocurrency purchases. |
|
Social Features |
Robinhood emphasizes personal investment, but it has few social features. |
Public.com also has a social component that allows investors to connect with one another; you can see the holdings and trades of other investors you follow. |
|
Investment Minimums |
Robinhood requires no minimum deposit. |
Public.com also requires no minimum deposit. |
|
Fees |
Robinhood offers commission-free trading, and a premium account with monthly fees. |
Public.com also offers commission-free trading, but doesn’t offer any paid accounts. |
|
Customer Support |
Robinhood provides email and chat customer service, but not phone support. |
Public.com provides customer service during business hours via weekday chat and email; it does not offer weekend availability or phone assistance. |
Standout Features
Robinhood
- Cryptocurrency trading: Robinhood offers commission-free trading so that investors may join the crypto market without incurring additional fees.
- User-friendly app: Robinhood’s app is known for its user-friendly interface, making it an excellent choice for beginners.
- Commission-free trading: This is one of the platform’s primary selling points, the basic feature of commission-free trading is the lack of commissions for stocks, ETFs, and option trading. This is attractive to investors that trade frequently or are cost-conscious.
- Margin trading: Robinhood offers margin trading, which allows qualified users to borrow money for investing.
- IRAs: Robinhood provides both traditional and Roth IRAs, offering tax advantages for investors seeking retirement savings.
- Fractional shares: Robinhood is an excellent choice for beginners or limited capital investors because it allows them to make fractional share investments in ETFs and stocks.
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Public.com
- Revenue sharing on options: For options traders, Public.com offers traders a special revenue sharing tool that can help lower trading expenses.
- Commission-free trading: Public.com offers commission-free trading for stock and ETF trades, similar to Robinhood.
- Fractional shares: Public.com, like Robinhood, provides fractional shares of stocks and ETFs, making it ideal for beginners or people with limited funds looking to diversify their portfolio or buy expensive stocks.
- Socially-driven investing: Public.com offers socially-driven investing, by letting users follow and learn from other investors. This strengthens the sense of community and supporting wise investment choices.
Pros and Cons of Robinhood
- Pros
- User-friendly mobile app: Robinhood’s mobile app is user-friendly, making it easy for beginners to enter the investing scene.
- Crypto trading: Robinhood offers commission-free trading to anyone interested in the crypto market without additional fees.
- Commission-free stock: Since there are no fees for stocks, ETFs, or options trading, it is reasonably affordable choice for regular traders or those starting small.
- Margin accounts for borrowing to invest: For qualifying customers willing to take the risk, it can potentially boost gains while also possibly causing losses.
- Fractional shares for investing in any amount: With fractional shares of stocks and ETFs, Robinhood gives investors a practical approach to diversifying their portfolios or making investments in pricey stocks.
- Extended trading hours: For some stocks, Robinhood offers limited 24/7 trading, therefore enabling investors to make orders outside of standard market hours.
- Cons
- Margin account risks: Margin trading raises possible losses, so more money or a broker selling shares is needed to cover loans should stock values drop.
- Less emphasis on research and education: Although Robinhood provides basic market statistics and news, its research tools are less thorough than those of other brokers.
- Limited investment options (no mutual funds or bonds): Robinhood lacks certain investment options like mutual funds or bonds, which are offered at other financial institutions.
Pros and Cons of Public.com
- Pros
- Revenue sharing on options: Public.com reduces trading costs by sharing a portion of their option revenue.
- Commission-free social trading: Like Robinhood, Public.com provides commission-free stock and ETF trading.
- Fractional shares: com and Public.com offer fractional shares of stocks and ETFs, perfect for beginners or individuals with minimal funds looking for portfolio diversity.
- Social investing features: com offers socially-driven investing, enabling users to follow and learn from other investors.
- Educational resources: Public.com provides educational resources and webinars for new investors, enhancing their investment journey.
- Cons
- No IRAs or margin accounts: com offers neither margin accounts for leveraged investment nor IRAs for retirement savings.
- Not ideal for active traders: The easy-to-use interface of Public.com could lack the sophisticated tools and in-depth charting capability preferred by active traders.
- Limited investment options: Compared to Robinhood, Public.com has a limited selection of tradable assets, including fractional shares of crypto, mutual funds, bonds, and full Bitcoin trading.
Customer Reviews
Some customers have complained of the transfer fees and poor services of Robinhood; other than that, it’s been mostly praised for its user-friendly platform.
Public.com has mostly been frowned on for its lack of retirement account options.
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Competitors
eToro
eToro is an online brokerage platform that focuses on social investing and offers a user-friendly interface. It features social copy trading, commission-free stock and ETF trading, fractional shares, a broad spectrum of assets, and a user-friendly interface. However, it charges for non-stock/ETF trades, limited research tools, limited customer support, and Bitcoin trading limits. Social investors, beginners, fractional share investors, seasoned investors, those looking for a larger spectrum of assets, and those with modest total costs should all find eToro appropriate.
Coinbase
Coinbase is a popular cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers a user-friendly interface, a wide selection of supported cryptocurrencies, secure storage, and fiat support. Additionally, it offers Coinbase Earn, a tool allowing users to learn about digital assets and then earn incentives in cryptocurrencies. Recently opening a beta NFT marketplace, Coinbase lets consumers purchase, sell, and trade non-fungible tokens.
SoFi Invest
SoFi Invest is an online investment platform by SoFi focused on user-friendliness and commission-free trading. It offers thematic investing, fractional shares, automatic investing, commission-free trading, and limited Bitcoin trading.
Webull
Webull is an online brokerage platform that focuses on active traders and technical analysis. For qualifying customers, it provides paper trading, margin accounts, advanced order types, commission-free trading, and research resources. For beginners, however, it has a steeper learning curve, limited customer service, and does not provide fractional shares or IRAs for retirement savings.
For experienced investors who value technical research, sophisticated charting tools, and a range of order types, Webull is a great choice for aggressive traders, options traders, and experienced and aggressive traders; nevertheless, its complexity, limited customer assistance, lack of fractional shares, and absence of IRAs might make it a better choice.
Fidelity
Fidelity Investments is a financial services company that provides investment products and services to wealth management clients, institutions, and individual investors. The business provides research tools, commission-free trading, a broad array of investment choices, and instructional materials.
Pro Tips
Here are some pro-tips for choosing between Robinhood and Public.com:
- Consider your investment style: Robinhood could be a good fit for you if you’re a novice investor who appreciates simplicity and an easy interface. Public.com might be a better option if you want to engage with other investors or make fractional-share investments.
- Examine fees: Although both platforms provide commission-free trading, Robinhood provides a premium account with monthly fees. Before deciding, be sure you compare costs.
Recap
Robinhood and Public.com are both popular online brokerages with commission-free trading, with Robinhood being recommended for beginners that prefer low fees and user-friendly apps. Public.com is a better fit for many investment approaches because it offers special investment options, social features, and long-term investing education.
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