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Best Brokers for Mutual Funds of 2026

9 Best Brokers for Mutual Funds of 2026

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Alana Benson is an investing writer who joined NerdWallet in 2019. She covers a wide variety of investing topics including stocks, socially responsible investing, cryptocurrency, mutual funds, HSAs and financial advice. She is also a frequent contributor to NerdWallet's "Smart Money" podcast. Alana has appeared on FOX Houston and the "PennyWise" podcast and has been quoted in MarketWatch and The Sun. Before joining NerdWallet, she wrote two books on identity theft and several young adult nonfiction titles. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, MSN, Yahoo Finance and MarketWatch. She is based in Wyoming.

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Arielle O’Shea leads the investing and taxes team at NerdWallet. She has covered personal finance and investing for nearly 20 years, and was a senior writer and spokesperson at NerdWallet before becoming an editor. Previously, she was a researcher and reporter for leading personal finance journalist and author Jean Chatzky, a role that included developing financial education programs, interviewing subject matter experts and helping to produce television and radio segments. Arielle has appeared on the "Today" show, NBC News and ABC's "World News Tonight," and has been quoted in national publications including The New York Times, MarketWatch and Bloomberg News. She is based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Arielle O’Shea leads the investing and taxes team at NerdWallet. She has covered personal finance and investing for nearly 20 years, and was a senior writer and spokesperson at NerdWallet before becoming an editor. Previously, she was a researcher and reporter for leading personal finance journalist and author Jean Chatzky, a role that included developing financial education programs, interviewing subject matter experts and helping to produce television and radio segments. Arielle has appeared on the "Today" show, NBC News and ABC's "World News Tonight," and has been quoted in national publications including The New York Times, MarketWatch and Bloomberg News. She is based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Pamela de la Fuente is a managing editor of NerdWallet's personal finance content. She leads budgeting, money-making, consumer credit and and debt coverage.

Ask her and her talented team about why credit scores matter, how to save money on your grocery bill, finding the right side hustle, how to protect your identity for free and more.

Previously, she led taxes and retirement coverage at NerdWallet.

Pamela joined NerdWallet after working at companies including Hallmark Cards, Sprint Corp. and The Kansas City Star. She has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years.

Pamela is a thought leader in content diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and finds ways to make every piece of content conversational and accessible to all.

She is a graduate of the Maynard Institute's Maynard 200 program, and the National Association of Black Journalists Executive Leadership Academy. She is a two-time winner of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists' President's Award. She was also founding co-chair of NerdWallet's Nerds of Color employee resource group.

Many or all of the products on this page are from partners who compensate us when you click to or take an action on their website, but this does not influence our evaluations or ratings. Our opinions are our own.

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 online brokers sorts through key account details to find and evaluate the information investors want when choosing an account. To see our full methodology and learn more about our process, read our criteria for evaluating brokers.

Over 60 investment account providers reviewed and rated by our expert Nerds.

More than 50 years of combined experience writing about finance and investing.

Hands-on testing of the account funding process, broker websites and stock-trading platforms.

Dozens of objective ratings rubrics, and strict guidelines to maintain editorial integrity.

The best broker for mutual funds when it comes to breadth of available options is Interactive Brokers IBKR Lite. This broker offers more than 21,000 funds that carry no transaction fees.

But there are several other great contenders that earn top marks, so it may be worth comparing to see which broker offers the best features for you. Here’s NerdWallet’s roundup of the best brokers for mutual fund investors. All of the brokers here offer a range of low-cost mutual funds and resources to effectively manage your portfolio.

Best Brokers for Mutual Funds

J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing

Fidelity

E*TRADE

Vanguard

Charles Schwab

Fees

$0

per online trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Up to $1,000

cash bonus when you open and fund a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account.

Commission-free stock, options and ETF trades.

Easy-to-use platform.

App connects all Chase accounts.

In-person customer support at Chase branches.

Low interest rate on uninvested cash

J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is a clear-cut investment platform that is great for beginners looking to learn how to buy and sell investments. More advanced investors, however, may find it lacking in terms of available assets, tools and research. J.P. Morgan offers 3,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds, fractional shares in ETFs and fee-free bond ETFs.

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE

Fees

$0

per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

None

no promotion available at this time

Commission-free stock, options and ETF online US trades.

Large selection of research providers.

Strong customer service.

Expense-ratio-free index funds.

Highly rated mobile app.

High interest rate on uninvested cash.

Great for investors who already have a 401(k) through Fidelity.

Relatively high broker-assisted trade fee.

2026 Best-of Award winner: Fidelity is NerdWallet's pick for the best online broker for beginning investors and the best app for investing. Fidelity is one of the largest and most well-established brokerages, and it shows. Fidelity charges no trading commissions, offers an extensive set of no-fee, no-minimum index funds. It also stands out for its top-notch research tools, a renowned trading platform and very strong customer service.

Fees

$0

per trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

None

no promotion available at this time

Commission-free stock, options and ETF trades.

Leader in low-cost mutual, index and exchange-traded funds.

High interest rate on uninvested cash.

High order execution quality.

Basic trading platform only.

Limited research and data.

No fractional shares for stocks.

There's a reason passive mutual fund investing is so strongly associated with Vanguard. The company pioneered low-cost fund investing and offers thousands of proprietary funds for a variety of different goals and value systems (including many ESG funds). Many of its funds have multi-thousand-dollar minimums, however.

Fees

$0

per online equity trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Up to $500

when you make a qualifying net deposit

Commission-free stock, options and ETF trades.

Five trading platforms with no minimums or fees.

Access to thinkorswim platforms.

Extensive research offerings.

Large fund selection.

Low interest rate on uninvested cash.

2026 Best-of Award winner: Charles Schwab is NerdWallet's pick for the best online broker for IRA investors. Charles Schwab has earned its strong reputation: The broker offers high-quality customer service, four free trading platforms, a wide selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds and $0 commissions for stocks, ETFs and options.

Fees

$0

per trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

None

no promotion available at this time

Commission-free stock, options and ETF trades.

Large investment selection.

Strong research and tools.

Huge selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds.

High order execution quality.

High minimum to earn interest on uninvested cash.

Website can be difficult to navigate for beginner investors.

2026 Best-of Award winner: Interactive Brokers is NerdWallet's pick for the best online broker for advanced traders. Don't let the name fool you: IBKR Lite offers commission-free stock trading (including international trade capabilities), more than 21,000 mutual funds, and a well-featured platform.

Fees

$0

per trade

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Get up to $1,000

in stock when you open & fund a new Active Invest account. Limited time offer. Terms & Conditions Apply.

No commissions on stock, options and ETF trades.

IPO access.

1% IRA match for members.

Low interest rate on uninvested cash.

SoFi Active Investing's $0 trading commission, fractional shares and $0 account minimum are attractive to new investors. More advanced investors will appreciate the company's wide mutual fund selection and IPO access.

Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:

ON THIS PAGE

Last updated on April 1, 2026

Methodology

NerdWallet’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 assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.

We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’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.

NerdWallet's Best Brokers for Mutual Funds of 2026

Frequently asked questions

Mutual funds pull together two things — money from multiple investors, and stocks, bonds or other assets. Investors buy shares in the fund, and their money is then pooled to purchase investments that align with the fund’s goal.

For investors, mutual funds are a convenient way to instantly diversify even small amounts of money. You might not be able to afford to purchase a share of each individual investment in a mutual fund — these funds often hold 100 investments or more. Even if you could afford it, buying would take time and incur multiple transaction fees.

That depends on the type of mutual fund you choose. Actively managed mutual funds employ a professional to invest and manage the fund’s assets. That costs more than a passively managed fund, such an index fund, which skips the fund manager and instead selects its investments by copying a benchmark, such as the S&P 500. An S&P 500 index fund aims to mirror the performance of the benchmark index.

In either case, keeping wealth-eroding fees at bay requires guarding against both high brokerage account fees and the costs that come with mutual funds themselves. There are three common expenses associated with mutual funds:

1. Transaction fees: Charged on the purchase or sale of the fund — and in some cases, on both. Select a broker with a long list of no-transaction-fee mutual funds — like many of the ones we’ve recommended above — to avoid this cost.

2. Early redemption fees: Charged by a broker for selling out of a fund in the first 60 to 90 days. Aim to hold your mutual funds as a long-term investment.

3. Expense ratios: This charge comes from the fund itself. It’s an annual fee that is often higher on actively managed funds than passively managed funds. Expense ratios are expressed as a percentage of your investment: A fund with a 1% expense ratio will cost $10 a year for every $1,000 you invest. You can’t avoid expense ratios, but you can steer your money toward low-cost funds. Familiarizing yourself with the average mutual fund expense ratios will help you recognize if you’re paying too much.

You can buy mutual funds at any online broker or directly through a fund company. We have some specific instructions about investing in mutual funds to help guide you. In general, online brokers will offer a larger and more diverse fund selection than direct purchase through a fund company.

If you don’t have an individual retirement account or brokerage account, you’ll need to open one. You can do that through any of the brokers mentioned above (here's a step-by-step for how to open a brokerage account). If you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k), it likely offers access to a small selection of mutual funds as well.

You’ll generally face two minimums: A brokerage account minimum, which typically falls between $0 and $2,500, and the mutual fund minimum, which may be $1,000 or more. These minimums are combined — if the broker allows you to fund an account with $1,000, you can then invest that money in a mutual fund with a minimum of $1,000. As referenced above, many brokers now offer mutual funds with no or low minimums.

If your broker doesn't, you might consider exchange-traded funds, which are a type of passive mutual fund you can buy for a share price, much like an individual stock. That often means a lower barrier to entry. (Compare mutual funds vs. ETFs.)

As with any investment, the hope here is that the money you put in will earn a return. Mutual funds earn that return through dividends or interest on the securities in their portfolios or by selling a security that has gone up in value. In both cases, the fund typically passes those returns through to investors.

You also earn a return if the value of the mutual fund itself increases and you sell that fund for more than its purchase price.

About the author

Alana Benson is an investing writer who joined NerdWallet in 2019. She covers a wide variety of investing topics including stocks, socially responsible investing, cryptocurrency, mutual funds, HSAs and financial advice. She is also a frequent contributor to NerdWallet's "Smart Money" podcast. Alana has appeared on FOX Houston and the "PennyWise" podcast and has been quoted in MarketWatch and The Sun. Before joining NerdWallet, she wrote two books on identity theft and several young adult nonfiction titles. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, MSN, Yahoo Finance and MarketWatch. She is based in Wyoming.

Published in:

About the reviewer

Arielle O’Shea leads the investing and taxes team at NerdWallet. She has covered personal finance and investing for nearly 20 years, and was a senior writer and spokesperson at NerdWallet before becoming an editor. Previously, she was a researcher and reporter for leading personal finance journalist and author Jean Chatzky, a role that included developing financial education programs, interviewing subject matter experts and helping to produce television and radio segments. Arielle has appeared on the "Today" show, NBC News and ABC's "World News Tonight," and has been quoted in national publications including The New York Times, MarketWatch and Bloomberg News. She is based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Published in:

About the editor

Pamela de la Fuente is a managing editor of NerdWallet's personal finance content. She leads budgeting, money-making, consumer credit and and debt coverage.

Ask her and her talented team about why credit scores matter, how to save money on your grocery bill, finding the right side hustle, how to protect your identity for free and more.

Previously, she led taxes and retirement coverage at NerdWallet.

Pamela joined NerdWallet after working at companies including Hallmark Cards, Sprint Corp. and The Kansas City Star. She has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years.

Pamela is a thought leader in content diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and finds ways to make every piece of content conversational and accessible to all.

She is a graduate of the Maynard Institute's Maynard 200 program, and the National Association of Black Journalists Executive Leadership Academy. She is a two-time winner of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists' President's Award. She was also founding co-chair of NerdWallet's Nerds of Color employee resource group.