About US Stock Brokers

There are many platforms you can use to trade US stocks. On one side are established brokers such as Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade; on the other are newer internet-first platforms such as Cash App, SoFi, Robinhood, and Moomoo. Frankly, if you have not opened an account yet or are just getting started, we recommend looking directly at the latter group, because the user experience of this new generation of products is noticeably better than the previous generation and is more in line with how people use apps today. With that perspective in mind, this article compares the trading experience on Cash App, SoFi, Robinhood, and Moomoo across the three most popular investment categories right now: stocks, options, and cryptocurrency. We are not trying to overwhelm you with information; the goal is simply to help you make an easy decision. We will go in order from more basic platforms to more advanced ones.

Moomoo

Overall Review

  • Commission-free and the most well-rounded, suitable for everyone from beginners to professional investors ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Moomoo covers most of the features you would want for US stock investing. It supports US and Hong Kong stocks, options, and cryptocurrency, covering nearly all major asset types while still maintaining excellent ease of use. It is currently the most balanced brokerage overall, and if we could recommend only one, we would choose Moomoo without hesitation. On pricing, stock trades, ETF trades, IPO subscriptions, and options contracts are currently all 0 commission. Canadian users also get 0 FX conversion fees and real-time deposits. It works well both for complete beginners and for traders who want to invest or trade long term. For Chinese-speaking users, its Chinese-language market information and customer service support are especially strong.

In addition, its account opening bonus has consistently been very competitive, easily beating traditional brokers. Even among internet brokers, it stands out as one of the highest.

Stock Trading

Moomoo is quite comprehensive when it comes to stock trading.

  1. It offers most research and investing tools for free: Level 2 real-time quotes, Morningstar data, institutional ratings, and more do not require extra payment. It also automatically organizes changes in institutional and insider holdings, as well as holdings from figures like Pelosi and Buffett, making it easier to track the movement of important capital.
  2. There is no commission or subscription fee for IPO investing, and there is no lock-up period. This year, popular listings such as Bullish, Gemini, and Figure all reportedly saw allocations for every participating user.
  3. It supports 24-hour order placement, including pre-market and after-hours trading. There are as many as 13 order types, including trailing stop and OCO orders, far more than other internet brokers including Robinhood, most of which support only basic order types. This makes monitoring and trading more automated.
  4. It has broad AI support: by integrating real-time financial data, it tends to produce fewer hallucinations than general-purpose AI, and it can pull together hot news events, whale holdings, candlestick charts, and other multi-dimensional signals to help you extract useful information quickly.
  5. You can invest in US stocks, Hong Kong stocks, options, and cryptocurrency all in one place. For US stocks, it also supports low-threshold fractional shares, meaning less than 1 share.

Options Trading

Moomoo’s options features are arguably among the most comprehensive offered by internet brokers.
Moomoo

  1. It offers the classic T-shaped options chain, fully synced across desktop and mobile. Core data such as the Greeks and implied volatility (IV) are all included, along with options chart analysis and an options pricing calculator. Compared with beginner-focused platforms like Robinhood, this is one of its clearest advantages.
  2. One standout feature is the ability to capture unusual activity in real time. Large options trades often hint at where “smart money” is positioning itself.
  3. Options trading supports advanced orders, including common conditional orders such as trailing and touch orders, as well as automatic take-profit and stop-loss tools, making more precise risk management easier.
  4. Moomoo options trading is commission-free, on par with other no-commission platforms such as Robinhood.

Cryptocurrency Trading

Moomoo now supports trading in nearly all major cryptocurrencies, with more than 50 coins currently available. These include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETF), SOL, Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), and more, and Binance’s token BNB has also been added. Reportedly, deposit and withdrawal functionality is being rolled out gradually. Once fully available, regular investors will be able to move crypto across platforms much more easily, putting Moomoo ahead of most internet brokers in this area.

Account Opening Bonus

Right now, if you open an account through our exclusive US Credit Card 101 referral link, you can get a $100 US stock cash coupon just by funding your account, plus up to $1,000 in NVIDIA (NVDA) and 8.1% APY. The promotion expires on December 31, and you must complete your deposit before then. If you previously registered through our link but had not yet funded your account, you can still qualify by funding it before that date.

For more details, see our Moomoo review article:

Robinhood

Overall Review

  • Gamified investing aimed at younger users⭐⭐⭐ ⭐

Robinhood originally built its reputation as a mobile-first internet broker for US stocks and took off during the meme-stock era. Although it does have a web version, its core experience and feature design are still centered on mobile. Robinhood was one of the first US brokers to launch zero-commission trading, with both stock and options trades at 0 commission and 0 trading fees. But many competitors have since caught up. Today, its main appeal remains a simple interface plus zero commissions. For beginners in US stocks, it is still a good choice, though it lacks more advanced features.

In terms of account opening bonuses, its offers have historically been on the low side, usually just a randomly awarded share of stock. That is still fairly suitable for beginners.

Stock Trading

  1. It supports zero-commission trading in stocks, ETFs, options, and ADRs.
  2. It offers basic research and some data, but much of it is behind a paywall. Professional reports from Morningstar and deeper quote data require upgrading to a Robinhood Gold account ($5 per month), and only Gold users get better margin rates.
  3. It supports IPO subscriptions, which is enough for most customers who want to participate in IPO investing. However, the new-issue pool is limited, and allocations are not guaranteed.
  4. It supports fractional-share purchases, so you can buy only part of a stock, such as 1/10 of a share, which is better for smaller investors.

Options Trading

  1. It supports US single-stock options and index options, also with zero commissions. The interface is simple and easy to learn.
  2. It supports 5 basic multi-leg order types, but strategy support is limited. You also cannot build custom multi-leg orders, and naked short selling is not allowed.
  3. It supports stop-loss orders, but not trailing conditional orders or more advanced conditional orders.
  4. It supports rolling a single leg, but not rolling an entire options position as one combined order. For traders who use multi-leg strategies, this can be inefficient and may extend risk exposure time.

Cryptocurrency Trading

It currently supports 30+ major cryptocurrencies. You can trade crypto through a separate Robinhood Crypto account, but you cannot transfer crypto into or out of your own Robinhood Crypto account. That account is part of Robinhood’s omnibus account structure, and users do not control the private keys.

Account Opening Bonus

Robinhood’s current account opening bonus is issued as a fractional share worth $5-$200. Users can choose from well-known stocks such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and Tesla. It is actually a pretty decent offer, and at least much better than the old system of randomly giving out obscure stocks. For details, see:

SoFi

Overall

  • Combines lending and investing in one ecosystem, but trading features are fairly basic ⭐⭐⭐

SoFi originally focused on student loans, then gradually expanded its product lineup. It now offers checking accounts, credit cards (2% cash back, no foreign transaction fee, no annual fee), investment accounts, and lending products. It supports only the most basic options trading and remains relatively simple overall. It is a good fit for users who want to consolidate U.S. loans and investment accounts, but its investing features are really best for beginners and long-term holders, with quite a few limitations for frequent traders.

Stock Trading

  1. You can buy whole shares or fractional shares.
  2. It supports stock transfers from other brokerages.
  3. It offers an Automated Investing account, which is suitable for beginner investors looking for passive investing or low-fee portfolio management.
  4. It supports pre-market and after-hours trading, but only with limit orders.
  5. Its charting tools are fairly basic, with only candlestick charts and a few simple technical indicators.

Options Trading

It has only recently added low-risk, simple strategies such as covered calls and cash-secured puts, with other features still being rolled out.

Crypto Trading

Supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and others. Compared with Cash App mentioned below, it supports quite a few more coins, though it still clearly falls short of Moomoo and Robinhood. It also supports only market orders, so you cannot place limit orders.

Sign-Up Bonus

Right now, if you open a SoFi Invest account, you get one spin of a sweepstakes with a maximum prize of $1,000. You must deposit at least $50 within 30 days to activate the drawing. The top prize is $1,000, though in most cases you will probably get $5-$10.

Cash App

Summary

  • An extension of a budgeting/payment app and debit card ⭐⭐

Cash App is a Square product. Rather than thinking of it as a stock app, it makes more sense to view it as a financial app centered around payments and cash management. Its core function is really more like a deposit account, though it is much easier to use than a traditional bank app. Its investing features are somewhat bare-bones, and in many ways even weaker than SoFi, making it better suited for people whose need to save money is greater than their need to invest.

Stock Trading

  1. Its currently supported features are very limited, making it suitable for complete first-time investors.
  2. The brokerage account opening process is user-friendly and almost seamless.
  3. It supports only about 1,800+ major stocks and ETFs; many stocks, especially small- and mid-cap names, are unavailable for trading.
  4. You can buy only through market orders, and you can set only the dollar amount to purchase, not the number of shares. The execution price is entirely determined by the app.
  5. It completely lacks candlestick charts, technical indicators, professional research reports, and similar tools, so it is not suitable for any kind of technical analysis or in-depth fundamental research.
  6. It does not support inbound asset transfers from external brokerages.

Options Trading

Cash App does not support options trading.

Crypto Trading

At the moment, it supports only Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. It allows only market orders, and both buying and selling incur a fee. The exact amount is unclear and variable, but it is roughly around 2%. Cash App makes investing in Bitcoin extremely accessible, but because of the trading fees, it is better suited for long-term investing.

Summary

Here is how the U.S. stock trading platforms compared in this article stack up:

  • Cash App: Best if you want an ultra-simple experience with integrated payments. It is suitable for complete beginners who have never traded before, only want to simply “buy and hold”, and have no need at all for professional data.
  • SoFi: Good for users who see investing as part of a broader financial life, such as loans, deposits, and credit cards. Its trading features are a bit richer than Cash App’s, but data and in-depth analysis are still clearly lacking.
  • Robinhood: Best for beginner traders who want a minimalist interface and commission-free trading. It has long focused on zero commissions and ease of use, but professional data and special perks require payment through a Gold account. Once a trader needs advanced order types, deeper data, or more complex options strategies, its limitations show up quickly.
  • Moomoo: Best for investors and traders who want strong value, professional tools, and room to grow. While offering Robinhood-style zero-commission trading, it also provides much greater depth and breadth. From beginners hoping to grow quickly with free institutional-grade data, to advanced traders needing sophisticated options tools, complex order types, and global asset allocation, there is a path for each type of user. For Chinese-speaking users, its Chinese-language support is also better.

In addition, we have previously compared some other U.S. stock broker platforms as well, though those articles may be somewhat dated and the feature descriptions may not be fully up to date. You can also refer to:

If you are more interested in account opening bonuses, check out:

Limited-Time Bonus!

Right now, if you open a Moomoo account through our exclusive US Credit Card 101 link and simply fund the account, you will get a 100-dollar U.S. stock cash coupon. You can also stack this with up to $1,000 in Nvidia (NVDA) and 8.1% APY. The promotion expires on December 31, and you must complete the deposit before then. If you previously registered through our link but had not yet funded your account, you can still participate by funding it before that deadline.