Best-Of Awards 2025 Methodologies
Best Online Broker for Advanced Traders
How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed 19 online brokerages that offer self-directed accounts. These brokerages constitute the majority of that market based on their assets under management. Some of the providers are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:
NerdWallet evaluated each provider across the weighted criteria below to determine the winner for advanced traders:

• Trading platform: ease of use, availability and included tools (30%).
• Investor access to research and data (e.g., third-party analyst reports, company financial data) (30%).
• Margin rates as of August 2024 (20%).
• Mobile app ratings in the Apple and Google app stores (10%).
• Tradable securities available (10%).
How we verified our data:
NerdWallet writers sent detailed questions to all reviewed companies. NerdWallet writers and editors also confirmed fees, rates, policies and other key features on each company's website.