Fidelity vs. Robinhood: 2025 Comparison

Although Robinhood is typically thought of as a beginner-friendly investing app, Fidelity has repeatedly earned title of Best Broker for Beginning Investors and the Best App for Investing in NerdWallet's Best-Of Awards. Robinhood may have an easier, quicker sign-up process, and its user experience is definitely built for a mobile-first generation, but Fidelity has several offerings you won't find at Robinhood: expense-ratio-free index funds, strong customer service and a large selection of research providers.

One place where Robinhood stands out: The company's IRA accounts, which come with a lucrative 1% match on contributions. (That increases to 3% for Robinhood Gold members.) That makes it a contender for retirement investors, especially those who plan to leave their IRA with Robinhood for the long haul. (The fine print allows Robinhood to take some or all of the matching funds contributed back when distributions are made within five years.) However, Robinhood still doesn't have the broad retirement investment selection traditional online brokers like Fidelity offer — there are no index funds or mutual funds available through the platform (only exchange-traded funds).

» Read our full review of Fidelity

» Read our full review of Robinhood

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