Best Online Brokers for Bonds in 2026
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.The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.
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.
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Bonds are often an important part of a balanced investment portfolio — they add an element of stability when the stock market gets volatile. They can also be used as a source of fixed income. 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.
Company | NerdWallet rating | Fees | Account minimum | Promotion | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.3/5 | $0 per online trade | $0 | Up to $1,000 cash bonus when you open and fund a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account. | Learn moreon J.P. Morgan's website | |
Learn moreon J.P. Morgan's website | |||||
Learn moreon J.P. Morgan's website | |||||
4.4/5 | $0 | $0 | Earn a 1% uncapped match when you transfer your investment portfolio to Public. | Learn moreon Public's website | |
Learn moreon Public's website | |||||
Learn moreon Public's website | |||||
4.8/5 | $0 per online equity trade | $0 | Up to $500 when you make a qualifying net deposit | Learn moreon Charles Schwab's website | |
Learn moreon Charles Schwab's website | |||||
Learn moreon Charles Schwab's website | |||||
5.0/5 | $0 per trade | $0 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon Interactive Brokers' website | |
Learn moreon Interactive Brokers' website | |||||
Learn moreon Interactive Brokers' website | |||||
 Wealthfront Automated Bond PortfolioReviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered:Aug. 2024 - Oct. 2024 | 5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered:Aug. 2024 - Oct. 2024 | 0.25% management fee | $500 | None no promotion available at this time | |
How do we review brokers?
All NerdWallet reviews and lists of the best investing products are created by our editorial team of full-time writers and editors, independent of any business relationships. In this case, our investing team's comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers by assets under management, along with emerging industry players. Our aim is to provide an independent, balanced assessment of brokerages to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgments on which ones will best meet your needs. Our highest priority is maintaining editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from brokerages through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the brokerages and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each broker'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.