Fidelity Review (2026)

Facts checked October 19, 2026 against Fidelity's own fee schedules, rate pages, disclosures and regulator records (16 sources, listed below). We re-check prices about once a month. We do not earn a commission from Fidelity.

Fidelity at a glance

How Fidelity works

A Fidelity brokerage account holds stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, CDs and mutual funds from Fidelity and other fund companies. Uninvested cash sits in a core position. In a taxable account Fidelity lists three choices: the Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX), the Fidelity Treasury Fund (FZFXX) and the Taxable Interest Bearing Cash Option (FCASH). Fidelity says these are the options available when you open the account but does not name one as the default, so check which one your account shows. IRAs can use SPAXX or an FDIC-insured deposit sweep. The cost block below shows what $10,000 in SPAXX earned at its September 30, 2026 yield, what margin costs and what an options trader pays.

Most trading costs nothing in commissions online. Options carry $0.65 a contract, with exercises and assignments free and buy-to-close orders at $0.65 or less free. Treasuries trade online for $0; secondary bonds and CDs cost $1.00 per bond. A small group of ETFs carries a $100 service fee per transaction, and foreign shares that are not DTC eligible add $50. Crypto lives in a separate Fidelity Crypto account at Fidelity Digital Assets, N.A., with a trading fee of up to 1% of the order. Fidelity also runs a robo-adviser, Fidelity Go, free under $25,000 and 0.35% a year above that; see our robo-advisor comparison.

The fee to watch is on outside mutual funds. A hypothetical investor who adds $500 a month to a non-Fidelity transaction-fee fund pays $49.95 on each purchase: 12 x $49.95 = $599.40 a year, about 10% of the $6,000 invested. The same $6,000 put into a Fidelity fund or an ETF, or a no-transaction-fee fund held more than 60 days, pays $0 in commissions. Selling a no-transaction-fee fund within 60 days costs $49.95. Our mutual funds vs ETFs guide covers the trade-off.

Leaving costs nothing. Fidelity lists $0 for a transfer of assets and $0 for an IRA closeout, so moving the account to another broker later costs no transfer fee. That also makes it a low-cost place to park a 401(k) rollover. The one maintenance charge is a Residual Balance Maintenance Fee of up to $5 a quarter, and only when a household balance is under $100, uninvested and inactive for 12 months.

Who Fidelity fits, and who should skip it

Limitations to know

• Transaction-fee funds from other companies cost $49.95 per purchase online (some up to $100), and no-transaction-fee funds sold within 60 days cost $49.95. [1]
• Fidelity does not state on its fee pages how many of the 10,000+ FundsNetwork funds are no-transaction-fee. [2]
• International trading is not available in retirement accounts, and foreign shares not eligible at the Depository Trust Company add $50 a trade. [2]
• Fractional orders are market or limit day orders only and execute during regular hours. [4]
• Margin rates above $500,000 are not published; Fidelity asks you to call. [1]
• Crypto is held in a separate Fidelity Crypto account at Fidelity Digital Assets, N.A., not in the brokerage account, with a trading fee of up to 1% of the order. [7]
• Accounts designated as Professional Options Traders pay an extra $0.50 per contract. [2]
• Fidelity says price improvement saved its investors over $3.2 billion on trades in 2025. That is Fidelity's own figure; it also receives payment for order flow, at $0.30 to $0.40 a contract on marketable single-leg options orders in Q2 2026. [11]

Fidelity compared with alternatives

• Pick Charles Schwab if you want futures at $2.25 a contract and 24/5 trading in over 1,300 stocks and ETFs.
• Pick Vanguard if you want a broker that reports no payment for order flow and a money market settlement fund by default.
• Pick Interactive Brokers if you borrow on margin and want 5.380% up to $100,000 on IBKR Pro.

Security and privacy

• Fidelity's Customer Protection Guarantee reimburses losses from unauthorized activity in covered accounts that occur through no fault of your own. You are expected to review statements within 30 days and report problems promptly. [9]
• Fidelity Brokerage Services is a SIPC member (up to $500,000, including $250,000 cash). Its excess of SIPC policy has a $1 billion aggregate, no per-customer limit on securities and a $1.9 million per-customer limit on cash awaiting investment. Fidelity's page does not name the insurer. [8]
• Cash in the FDIC deposit sweep for Cash Management and IRA accounts can be covered up to $4 million across program banks, if bank capacity allows. [8]
• In April 2026 the Massachusetts Securities Division censured Fidelity and fined it $1,250,000 for failing to enforce cybersecurity controls, which let some customers see other customers' document images. [15]
• In January 2025 FINRA fined Fidelity $600,000 for inadequate supervision of employee access to Stock Plan Services data, after an employee converted about $750,000 from plan participants. [14]
• In October 2023 FINRA fined Fidelity $900,000 over a system for reviewing options applications, and Massachusetts settled its complaint over options and margin application reviews for $750,000. [16]
• We could not read Fidelity's security-features page, so the two-factor options are not listed here. [9]

Recent changes

Fidelity FAQ

Is Fidelity safe?

Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC is a FINRA-registered broker-dealer (CRD 7784) and SIPC member. On top of SIPC it carries excess of SIPC coverage with a $1 billion aggregate and a $1.9 million per-customer cash limit, and its Customer Protection Guarantee covers losses from unauthorized activity that is not your fault. It has paid regulators fines, including $1,250,000 to Massachusetts in April 2026 over a document-image exposure.

Does Fidelity charge for options?

Yes, $0.65 a contract online with no base commission. Exercises and assignments are free, buy-to-close orders at $0.65 or less are free, and some index options add a fee, such as $0.50 a contract on SPX.

What does Fidelity pay on cash?

It depends on the core position you hold. On September 30, 2026 SPAXX had a 3.48% 7-day yield and FZFXX 3.52%; FCASH paid 1.94% on September 18, 2026. Fidelity does not name a default for taxable accounts, so check which one your account uses. See our <a href="/money-market-funds/">money market fund comparison</a>.

Is Fidelity good for beginners?

It has no account minimum, $0 stock and ETF trades, fractional shares from $1 and recurring investments, and phone help that Fidelity says runs 24/7. Fidelity Go manages money for free under $25,000. Our guide on <a href="/micro-investing-on-small-budget/">investing with little money</a> covers the first steps.

Fidelity vs Schwab?

Both charge $0 for stocks and ETFs and $0.65 an options contract, and their margin rates match at every published tier. Fidelity charges $0 to transfer out and holds cash in a money market core position you choose; <a href="/brokers/schwab/">Schwab</a> charges $50 for a full transfer out, pays 0.01% APY on uninvested cash, and offers futures and thinkorswim.

How do I transfer out of Fidelity, and what does it cost?

Start the transfer at the receiving broker, which pulls the assets through ACATS. Fidelity charges $0 for a transfer of assets and $0 to close an IRA.

How we researched this review

We did not get paid or receive a free account for this page. We read Fidelity's own pricing page, help center, security and privacy pages and app-store listing on October 19, 2026, quoted each fact from those pages, and link every one below. We did not run a long-term hands-on test, so we do not score the app; where a point rests on what the company says rather than something we can check, we attribute it to Fidelity. Cost figures are our own arithmetic. We re-check prices and plans about once a month and log changes in the table above.

Sources

1. Fidelity, Commissions, margin rates and fees, checked October 19, 2026.
2. Fidelity, Brokerage Commission and Fee Schedule (PDF), checked October 19, 2026.
3. Fidelity, Pricing and fees, checked October 19, 2026.
4. Fidelity, Fractional shares, checked October 19, 2026.
5. Fidelity, FAQs about your account (core position), checked October 19, 2026.
6. Fidelity, Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) summary, checked October 19, 2026.
7. Fidelity Crypto, Buying crypto (trading fee), checked October 19, 2026.
8. Fidelity, Safeguarding your accounts (SIPC, excess of SIPC, FDIC), checked October 19, 2026.
9. Fidelity, Customer Protection Guarantee, checked October 19, 2026.
10. Fidelity Brokerage Services, SEC Rule 606 report, second quarter 2026 (FINRA copy), checked October 19, 2026.
11. Fidelity, Execution quality overview, checked October 19, 2026.
12. Fidelity Investments, About us, checked October 19, 2026.
13. FINRA BrokerCheck, Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (CRD 7784), checked October 19, 2026.
14. FINRA BrokerCheck, Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC detailed report (PDF), checked October 19, 2026.
15. Massachusetts Securities Division, consent order, docket E-2024-0373 (April 27, 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
16. Massachusetts Securities Division, complaint E-2021-0030 against Fidelity, checked October 19, 2026.

Head-to-head comparisons

• Fidelity vs Charles Schwab
• Fidelity vs Vanguard
• Fidelity vs Robinhood
• Fidelity vs E*TRADE
• Fidelity vs Interactive Brokers
• Fidelity vs Merrill Edge
• Fidelity vs SoFi Active Invest
• Fidelity vs Webull

This review is for general information, not investment advice. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal; margin and options can lose more than you put in. Fees and rates change; check the broker's own pages before you open or move an account.