E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley · Complete Fee Guide · No Fluff
Stock trades cost $0. But margin interest runs 9–13%, the ACAT exit fee hits $75, and OTC stocks cost up to $6.95 per trade. Here’s exactly where the free brokerage model makes its money — and what it actually costs you.
💡 The Plain-English Answer Up Front
E*TRADE charges $0 per trade for U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs — no asterisks, no minimums, no trade size limits. That’s the legitimate headline. But “free trading” isn’t the same as “free brokerage.” The platform earns revenue through margin interest (9–13% APR), options contract fees ($0.50–$0.65 each), payment for order flow, idle cash interest spreads, and service fees for account transfers, wire transfers, and broker-assisted trades. None of these are hidden — they’re all disclosed upfront. Understanding which ones apply to you is what separates informed investors from surprised ones.
📋 Quick Answers — Most-Searched Questions First
Nine direct answers to the questions people search most about E*TRADE’s actual cost structure.
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How much does E*TRADE charge per stock trade? $0 for all U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs · $0 annual fee · $0 account minimum · $25 surcharge for broker-assisted trades by phoneEvery U.S. exchange-listed stock and ETF trade placed online through the E*TRADE platform or the Power E*TRADE platform costs exactly zero in commission. This applies regardless of the dollar amount of the trade or the number of shares. The only exception: if you call a representative to place the trade for you, a $25 surcharge applies on top of any applicable commissions. For everything done online or through the app, the commission is $0 — and that has been the policy since E*TRADE eliminated commissions in October 2019, following Schwab and Fidelity.
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Does E*TRADE have a monthly fee? No — $0 monthly fee · $0 annual fee · $0 inactivity fee · No minimum balance to open or maintain a standard brokerage accountE*TRADE charges no monthly maintenance fee, no annual fee, and no inactivity fee on standard brokerage accounts. An account can sit completely dormant for years without generating any fee charge. This applies to both the standard web platform and the advanced Power E*TRADE platform — both are included at no cost for all account holders. The only “ongoing cost” that can arise without any action on your part: if you own margin positions that you carry overnight, interest accrues daily at the applicable margin rate.
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What percentage does E*TRADE take? Stock trades: 0% · Options: $0.65/contract (not a percentage) · Margin interest: 9.20%–13.45% APR on borrowed balance · Managed portfolios (Core Portfolios robo-advisor): 0.30%/year · Cash idle in account: pays 0.01%–0.15% (keeps the rest)E*TRADE doesn’t “take a percentage” of stock trades — there’s no commission slice on your gains or losses. The percentage-based cost is in their margin lending and managed portfolio services. If you use margin and carry a $25,000 balance overnight, that costs roughly $3,220–$3,363 per year at current rates — the most expensive margin structure of any major brokerage. The managed portfolio service charges 0.30% annually on the balance. For passive investors who never use margin and manage their own account, the total annual explicit cost is literally $0.
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What is the E*TRADE wire fee? Incoming wire: $0 · Outgoing wire: $25 per transfer · ACH transfer to your bank: $0 · Overnight mail: $25Wiring money out of E*TRADE to an external bank costs $25 per transfer. This matches what Schwab and Merrill Edge charge for the same service. The free alternative — ACH electronic transfer — takes 1–3 business days to land in your bank account but costs nothing. For the vast majority of withdrawals that aren’t time-sensitive, ACH is the right choice. Wires are worth the $25 only when you need same-day settlement of a large amount and timing genuinely matters.
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Does E*TRADE charge to transfer money to a bank account? ACH transfer to your bank: $0 · Wire transfer: $25 · Partial account transfer to another broker: $25 · Full account transfer (ACAT) out to another broker: $75 — the highest of any major brokerageMoving your money to your personal bank account via ACH is completely free. The cost structure that catches investors off guard: moving your entire portfolio to a different brokerage via ACAT (full account transfer) costs $75. That’s the steepest exit fee in the industry — Fidelity, Schwab, and Robinhood all charge $0. Partial transfers (moving some positions but not the whole account) cost $25. If there’s any chance you’ll want to move to a different brokerage within the next few years, this $75 fee is worth factoring into your decision before your first deposit clears.
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What is E*TRADE’s interest rate on cash in a brokerage account? 0.01%–0.15% on uninvested cash · Significantly lower than Fidelity (~3.97% in money market sweep) · E*TRADE earns the spread between what it pays you and what it earns on your idle cashThis is one of the most important costs most investors never see itemized on a statement. E*TRADE pays 0.01%–0.15% on uninvested cash sitting in brokerage accounts. Fidelity currently pays around 3.97% on uninvested cash through its SPAXX money market sweep. On $10,000 in idle cash, E*TRADE’s 0.15% ceiling earns you $15/year. Fidelity’s 3.97% earns you $397/year. That $382 annual difference is effectively how E*TRADE earns revenue from cash-heavy passive investors — the spread between what you receive and what they earn deploying that cash in money markets is kept by the firm.
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Can you day trade on E*TRADE with less than $25k — now? Yes — effective June 9, 2026 · The $25,000 PDT minimum is eliminated · New minimum for a margin account: $2,000 · Day trading frequency is no longer tracked or penalizedThis is the biggest news in retail trading in a generation. FINRA’s new rule, effective June 4, 2026 and implemented at E*TRADE on June 9, 2026, eliminates the Pattern Day Trader designation entirely. You can now make unlimited intraday trades in a margin account with as little as $2,000 in equity — no restrictions based on trading frequency. The new system uses real-time intraday margin monitoring instead of counting day trades. Important caveat from FINRA: frequent intraday margin trading remains a high-risk activity requiring careful position management even without the PDT designation. The rule change removes the regulatory cap — it doesn’t reduce the market risk.
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What are E*TRADE’s fees for selling stock? $0 commission for online stock sales · Regulatory fees apply on all sell orders (FINRA TAF: ~$0.000166/share, max $8.30) · $38 for mandatory corporate action (mergers, reverse splits) · These are pass-through regulatory fees, not E*TRADE’s own chargesSelling stocks online at E*TRADE costs $0 in E*TRADE commissions. But every sell order carries a small FINRA Trading Activity Fee (TAF) of approximately $0.000166 per share, capped at $8.30 per trade — this is a regulatory pass-through, not an E*TRADE profit center. On a 100-share sale, the TAF is about $0.017, effectively invisible. The $38 corporate action fee (the “service fee $38” people search for) appears on mandatory reorganization events like mergers, reverse stock splits, and tender offers — it’s a processing fee charged when a corporate action changes the structure of your holdings. It’s separate from any trade you initiate.
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What are E*TRADE’s OTC fees? $6.95 per trade for OTC (over-the-counter / penny) stocks · Drops to $4.95/trade with 30+ trades per quarter · Much higher than $0 for listed stocks — a meaningful cost difference for OTC tradersOver-the-counter stocks — penny stocks and securities not listed on NYSE, NASDAQ, or other major exchanges — are not covered by E*TRADE’s commission-free policy. OTC trades cost $6.95 each, dropping to $4.95 with volume. On an active OTC trader making 20 trades per month, that’s $139/month in commissions that a listed-stock trader pays $0 on. If OTC stocks are a regular part of your strategy, this cost difference is material and worth comparing against competitors’ OTC pricing before choosing a platform.
💰 Complete E*TRADE Fee Schedule — Every Number in One Place
All fees E*TRADE charges, organized by category. The left column is what you pay; the right column is the context that makes each number meaningful.
| Fee Type 💳 | Cost | Context / When It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. stocks & ETFs (online) Free | $0 | All listed exchanges, any size trade, both platforms |
| Broker-assisted trade surcharge | $25 | Added when a representative places the trade for you |
| Options (standard) | $0.65/contract | For accounts with under 30 trades per quarter |
| Options (active trader) Volume Discount | $0.50/contract | Requires 30+ trades per quarter — saves $0.15/contract |
| OTC stocks (standard) | $6.95/trade | Penny stocks and unlisted securities only |
| OTC stocks (active) | $4.95/trade | Requires 30+ trades per quarter |
| Mutual funds (NTF program) | $06,000+ funds | No-transaction-fee program funds |
| Mutual funds (non-NTF) | $19.99/trade | Funds outside the NTF program |
| NTF fund early redemption | $49.99 | If you sell an NTF fund within 90 days of purchase |
| Futures | $1.50/contract/side | Standard futures contracts |
| Crypto futures | $2.50/contract/side | Higher rate than standard futures |
| Annual / monthly fee | $0 | No maintenance fees on any account type |
| Margin interest | 9.20%–13.45% APR | Tiered by debit balance; highest of major brokers |
| Core Portfolios (robo-advisor) | 0.30%/year | On managed portfolio balance; $500 minimum |
| Outgoing wire transfer | $25 | ACH is free; wire needed only for same-day large amounts |
| Incoming wire | $0 | Free to receive wire transfers |
| Full account transfer out (ACAT) Highest in Industry | $75 | Moving entire account to another broker; Schwab/Fidelity charge $0 |
| Partial account transfer out | $25 | Moving some positions but not the full account |
| Corporate action fee | $38 | Mergers, reverse splits, tender offers — mandatory reorganizations |
| Paper statements | $2/statement | Free with electronic delivery (e-delivery) |
| Directed trade (E*TRADE Pro) | $0.005/share | ECN trades during market hours via Pro platform only |
📊 How E*TRADE’s Key Costs Compare to Competitors
💳 ACAT-Out Fee (Full Transfer)
E*TRADE: $75
Fidelity: $0 · Schwab: $0 · Robinhood: $0 · Vanguard: $0. E*TRADE’s $75 is the highest exit fee at any major U.S. brokerage. Lock-in effect by design.
💰 Margin Rate ($25K balance)
~$3,220/year
E*TRADE ~11.95% APR vs. Robinhood ~5% APR. Same $25K margin balance costs ~$1,300 at Robinhood — a $1,920 annual difference from the same position.
🏦 Idle Cash Interest Paid to You
0.01%–0.15%
E*TRADE keeps most of what your idle cash earns. Fidelity SPAXX: ~3.97%. On $10K idle: E*TRADE pays ~$15/yr; Fidelity pays ~$397/yr. A $382 annual difference.
📈 Options Per Contract
$0.50–$0.65
Standard: $0.65. Active trader (30+ trades/qtr): $0.50. Fidelity: $0.65. Schwab: $0.65. Robinhood: $0. For 100 contracts/month, E*TRADE costs $65 vs. Robinhood’s $0.
🔍 Your Specific Questions — Honest Answers
I’m a buy-and-hold investor — what does E*TRADE actually cost me annually?
BUY-AND-HOLD
For a passive investor who buys ETFs and holds them — the explicit annual cost is exactly $0. No commissions. No fees. No minimums. The implicit cost is in what you don’t earn on idle cash: if you typically keep $5,000 in cash in your brokerage while deciding on your next investment, E*TRADE pays you approximately $7.50/year on that balance. Fidelity would pay you around $199. That $191.50 annual opportunity cost is real but easy to address: you can move idle cash into a money market fund inside your E*TRADE account to capture better yields while you wait. The platform supports this, though it requires a manual step unlike Fidelity’s automatic sweep. Overall verdict for passive investors: E*TRADE is genuinely free for stock and ETF investing.
✅ Annual explicit cost: $0
💡 Move idle cash to money market manually
📊 No inactivity fee — account can sit dormant
⚠️ Cash sweep pays 0.01%–0.15% — park cash actively
I use margin — is E*TRADE’s margin rate a problem?
MARGIN TRADERS
Yes — E*TRADE’s margin rates are the highest of any major brokerage and the most important cost to compare before opening an account. The rate runs 9.20%–13.45% APR depending on your debit balance tier. At the lower balance range (under $10K), the rate sits around 13.45%. At $250,000+, it drops to around 9.20%. For context: Interactive Brokers charges approximately 6.14%, and Robinhood Gold charges 5%. On a $50,000 margin balance held for a full year, E*TRADE costs roughly $5,975 in interest. Interactive Brokers costs roughly $3,070 for the same balance. If margin is a core part of your trading strategy, E*TRADE’s rate structure alone may justify using a different platform for margin-heavy positions.
📊 E*TRADE margin: 9.20%–13.45% APR
💰 Interactive Brokers: ~6.14% (much lower)
💡 Day traders: close all positions by 4 PM to pay $0 margin interest
⚠️ $50K margin position: ~$5,975/yr in interest at E*TRADE
What is the $38 service fee that keeps coming up in searches?
CORPORATE ACTION FEE
The $38 fee is a corporate action processing fee — not a commission on your trades, and not a monthly service charge. It appears on your statement when a mandatory corporate event changes the structure of your holdings: a stock you own gets acquired in a merger, undergoes a reverse stock split, or is subject to a tender offer. E*TRADE charges $38 per event for mandatory reorganizations and $38 per event for voluntary reorganizations (like tender offers you can choose to participate in). This is an industry-standard fee that most brokerages charge in the $35–$50 range. It is not something you’ll encounter in normal buying and selling — only when a company you own undergoes a structural corporate change.
📋 Mandatory reorg (merger, reverse split): $38
📋 Voluntary reorg (tender offer): $38
✅ Not a monthly fee — only triggered by corporate events
💡 Industry-standard range: $35–$50 at most major brokerages
What changed with the PDT rule, and what does it mean for my E*TRADE account right now?
PDT RULE CHANGE · JUNE 2026
Effective June 9, 2026, E*TRADE completely eliminated the Pattern Day Trader designation. Under the old rule (in place since 2001), making 4 or more day trades in a 5-business-day period required maintaining at least $25,000 in your account at all times. Fall below $25,000 and E*TRADE would restrict your trading until you deposited enough to clear the threshold. Under the new FINRA framework: the PDT designation is gone entirely. The $25,000 floor is eliminated. The new minimum for any margin account is $2,000. Buying power updates dynamically throughout the day based on your actual intraday position exposure. FINRA explicitly notes that this change “provides more trading flexibility while maintaining investor protections” — the risk of intraday trading itself hasn’t changed, just the regulatory structure monitoring it.
🔥 PDT designation: eliminated June 9, 2026
💰 New minimum to day trade: $2,000 (down from $25,000)
✅ Unlimited day trades allowed in margin accounts
⚠️ Intraday margin risk is real — rule change doesn’t reduce market risk
Is there a better brokerage for my specific situation?
COMPETITOR COMPARISON
E*TRADE is the right platform for some investors and genuinely the wrong choice for others — depending on one or two key factors. E*TRADE is hard to beat for: options traders who want the Power E*TRADE platform and the $0.50 active trader rate, buy-and-hold investors who want a solid no-cost platform with deep research tools, and investors who want access to futures alongside equity trading. E*TRADE is a questionable choice for: margin-heavy traders (Interactive Brokers’ 6.14% rate beats E*TRADE’s 9–13% substantially), investors who might want to switch brokerages within a few years ($75 ACAT-out is a real financial anchor), and investors with large idle cash balances who want automatic money market sweeps (Fidelity’s SPAXX sweep pays ~3.97% with zero manual steps).
✅ Best for: options traders · Power platform users
✅ Best for: buy-and-hold · retirement accounts
🔄 Consider instead: Fidelity (cash sweep) · IBKR (margin rates)
⚠️ $75 exit fee: factor in before opening if unsure about staying
📍 Find Investing Help Near You
Use the buttons below to find E*TRADE branches, financial advisors, or investment education resources near you.
🔑 E*TRADE Quick Contacts & Key Resources
📞 Customer Service: 1-800-387-2331
📞 Margin / Account Questions: 1-800-387-2331
🌐 Rates & Fees: us.etrade.com/pricing
💻 Power E*TRADE: us.etrade.com/power-etrade
🔄 PDT Rule Change Info: us.etrade.com/knowledge/library/margin
📊 Core Portfolios (robo): us.etrade.com/managed-portfolios
📱 E*TRADE App: App Store / Google Play
🏛️ FINRA Investor Education: finra.org/investors
✅ 5 Things to Do Before Opening an E*TRADE Account
- Step 1 — Decide if you’ll use margin: If yes, compare E*TRADE’s 9–13% APR against Interactive Brokers’ ~6% before committing. The difference on a $50,000 margin balance is nearly $3,000 per year.
- Step 2 — Check how much idle cash you typically hold: If you regularly keep $5,000+ in cash between investments, note that E*TRADE’s 0.01%–0.15% cash sweep rate is far below Fidelity’s auto-sweep rate. You can manually invest idle cash in money market funds inside E*TRADE to close this gap.
- Step 3 — Factor in the $75 ACAT exit fee: If you’re not certain you’ll stay long-term, this fee applies when you move your full account to a different broker. It doesn’t affect you if you stay, but it’s an important factor if you’re still comparison shopping.
- Step 4 — Consider the PDT rule change: If you want to day trade with less than $25,000, E*TRADE now allows this as of June 9, 2026, with only a $2,000 minimum. Review FINRA’s intraday margin guidelines before using this flexibility aggressively.
- Step 5 — Use the free platform for what it’s actually good at: Power E*TRADE’s options tools, real-time screening, and paper trading simulator are genuinely strong at zero cost. These features alone make E*TRADE a competitive choice for options traders even with the higher contract fees.
E*TRADE fee information reflects publicly available data at the time this guide was prepared and is subject to change. Always verify current rates and fees directly at us.etrade.com/pricing before making account decisions. This guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice. This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC.