8 Best Online Brokers for Bonds of February 2025
The best brokers for bonds offer a range of different types of bond products – including individual bonds and ETFs — as well as low trading fees and high cash sweep rates.
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Our deep, independent analysis of brokers sorts through key account details to find and evaluate the information investors want when choosing a brokerage firm. To see our full methodology and learn more about our process, read our criteria for evaluating brokers and for evaluating robo-advisors.
Over 60 investment account providers reviewed and rated by our expert Nerds.
More than 50 years of combined experience writing about finance and investing.
Hands-on testing of the account funding process, broker websites and stock-trading platforms.
Dozens of objective ratings rubrics, and strict guidelines to maintain editorial integrity.
Bonds are often an important part of a balanced investment portfolio. They can be used as a source of fixed income, or as a way to potentially pad the losses of other portfolio assets, like stocks. Brokers range in the types of bonds they offer, from simple products like bond ETFs to extensive offerings of government, corporate and international bonds and bond funds.
The following brokers score highest among all brokers we review for the types of bonds on offer, the fees charged for trading bonds, the level of customer support they provide and their interest rate on uninvested cash.
We've also included two offerings that differ from the rest:
Public's Treasury account, which invests in Treasury bills, holds them to maturity and then reinvests the proceeds.
Wealthfront's two automated bond products: The Automated Bond Ladder, a portfolio of U.S. Treasurys that mature at different times, and the Automated Bond Portfolio, which invests in bond ETFs, including corporates.
Note: All of the brokers on this list allow you to purchase U.S. Treasurys with no commission or trade fee except for Interactive Brokers, which charges a small percentage of face value. Other types of bonds at these brokers may carry a different fee — often, brokers require a minimum commission of $10 and limit commissions to $250 per trade.
Best Online Brokers for Bonds
| Broker | NerdWallet rating | Fees | Account minimum | Promotion | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.8/5 | $0 per online equity trade | $0 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon partner's site on Charles Schwab's website | |
4.5/5 | $0 per trade | $0 | Get up to $700 when you open and fund a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account with qualifying new money. | Learn moreon partner's site on J.P. Morgan's website | |
5.0/5 | 0.002% | $0 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon partner's site on Interactive Brokers' website | |
 Wealthfront Automated Bond Portfolio Learn moreon partner's site on Wealthfront's website AD Paid non-client promotion | 5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. 2024 - Oct. 2024 | 0.25% management fee | $500 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon partner's site on Wealthfront's website AD Paid non-client promotion |
4.6/5 | $0 | $0 | Earn up to $10,000 when you transfer your investment portfolio to Public. | Learn moreon partner's site on Public's website |
Fees
$0
per online equity trade
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Fees
$0
per trade
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
Get up to $700
when you open and fund a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account with qualifying new money.
Fees
0.002%
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Fees
$0
per trade
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Fees
$0
per trade
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Fees
$0
per trade
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
Get up to $600
when you invest in a new Merrill account
Our pick for
automated bond accounts
Both Wealthfront and Public offer hands-off, approachable ways to invest in bonds, by automatically buying U.S. Treasurys for you and reinvesting in them as needed.
Fees
0.25%
management fee
Account minimum
$500
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Fees
$0
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
Earn up to $10,000
when you transfer your investment portfolio to Public.
Last updated on January 31, 2025
Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokerage firms by assets under management, along with emerging industry players. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).
For more details about the categories considered when rating brokers and our process, read our full methodology.
NerdWallet's Best Online Brokers for Bonds of February 2025
- Charles Schwab
- J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing
- Interactive Brokers IBKR
- Wealthfront Automated Bond Portfolio: Best for automated bond accounts
- Public: Best for automated bond accounts
- Vanguard
- Fidelity
- Merrill Edge® Self-Directed