Fidelity offers $0 commissions for online trades of US stocks, ETFs, and options, eliminating a direct cost that once deterred many retail investors from active trading.
The Boston-based brokerage charges no per-trade commission on equity and ETF orders placed online, nor does it charge account maintenance fees for retail brokerage accounts. This pricing applies to single shares and fractional shares alike.
Fidelity joined the zero-commission wave in October 2019, weeks after Charles Schwab announced it would cut commissions to zero effective October 7, 2019. TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, and Interactive Brokers quickly followed suit, marking a seismic shift in how the brokerage industry generates revenue from retail investors.
Despite charging nothing per trade, commission-free brokers remain profitable. According to financial research, brokers primarily earn money through payment for order flow (PFOF)—directing customer orders to market makers who pay for the privilege of executing those trades. Brokers also earn interest on uninvested cash held in customer accounts and collect fees from premium services like margin trading.
Fidelity Trader+, the company’s advanced trading platform launched in September 2025, is available free to all customers. The platform offers real-time analytics, customizable charting tools, and unified order management across desktop, web, and mobile devices. This positions Fidelity’s free trading offering alongside its research tools and educational resources as part of a broader strategy to attract and retain active traders without charging platform fees.
For long-term investors, zero-commission trading reduces the friction cost of dollar-cost averaging and periodic rebalancing. For active traders, it eliminates a significant barrier to frequent trading that previously made small positions economically inefficient.
Sources
- Fidelity — confirmed $0 commissions for online US stock, ETF, and option trades
- Fidelity Newsroom — Fidelity Trader+ launch announcement (September 25, 2025)
- Wall Street Journal — Fidelity’s October 2019 commission elimination announcement
- CNBC — industry context on zero-commission trading and broker revenue models
- DayTrading.com — explanation of payment for order flow as primary broker revenue source
- Investopedia — how commission-free brokers generate profit through fees, interest, and order flow
