2026 Latest US Stock Broker Review: Which is Better in Features and Fees - IB, Futu, or Tiger Securities

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Choosing the right broker for your US stock investment journey is crucial. You can directly refer to the following conclusions based on your own positioning:

• Interactive Brokers (IB): Designed for professional investors pursuing low fees and powerful features.
• Futu Securities (Futu): Attracts a large number of young investors with its extremely user-friendly interface, making it an ideal choice for beginners.
• Tiger Securities (Tiger): Serves beginners and active traders, providing one-stop global investment services.

The right platform can help you more efficiently utilize real-time US stock data to make wise investment decisions.

Key Points

• Interactive Brokers (IB) is suitable for professional investors, with the lowest fees and powerful features.
• Futu Securities (Futu) and Tiger Securities (Tiger) are suitable for beginners, with friendly interfaces and simple fees.
• Interactive Brokers provides global investment products, while Futu and Tiger mainly focus on US stocks and Hong Kong stocks.
• When choosing a broker, consider trading fees, software experience, and account security.
• There is no best broker, only the one most suitable for your investment needs.

Broker Fee Comparison

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Trading costs are a key factor affecting your investment return rate. Choosing the wrong broker may cause you to lose a lot of profits unknowingly. Next, we will deeply analyze the fee structures of these three brokers to help you make the most economical choice.

Commission and Platform Fee Structure

Commissions and platform fees are the most common trading costs you encounter. Their charging methods directly determine your fixed expenses per trade.

Interactive Brokers (IB) offers highly competitive commission plans. It is willing to attract high-frequency traders by lowering per-trade commissions, thereby profiting from huge trading volumes. You can choose “fixed” or “tiered” pricing based on your trading style.

Futu Securities and Tiger Securities mainly adopt package forms, combining commissions and platform fees. This model is simpler and clearer for beginners who trade infrequently.

To make it easier for you to compare intuitively, we have organized the following overview of US stock trading fees:

Special Notes:

• Tiger Securities offers 0 platform fee discounts for over 1500 funds on its platform and lifetime zero-commission activities for specific users, which is very attractive for beginners and fund investors.
• Although Interactive Brokers has a minimum commission, its tiered rate is extremely advantageous for professional investors with huge trading volumes, with commissions as low as $0.0005 per share.

Margin Rates

If you plan to trade with leverage, margin rates will be an important cost you must consider. Lower rates mean lower costs for borrowing funds, effectively amplifying your potential returns.

In this aspect, Interactive Brokers demonstrates its huge advantage as a professional broker. Its margin rates are the lowest among the three brokers.

• IBKR Pro: Rates start from benchmark rate plus 1.5%, with lower rates for higher loan amounts.
• IBKR Lite: Rates are benchmark rate plus 2.5%.

Interactive Brokers uses tiered hybrid rate calculation. For example, when you borrow over $1,000,000, the first $100,000 is charged at the first tier rate, and subsequent funds at a lower second tier rate. This structure is very friendly for large-fund users.

In comparison, Futu and Tiger’s margin rates are usually higher. If you are a trader who frequently uses leverage, choosing Interactive Brokers can save you a considerable amount of interest expenses annually.

Currency Conversion and Deposit/Withdrawal Costs

For investors outside the US, the cross-border flow costs of funds are also not to be ignored. This mainly includes currency conversion and bank transfer links.

1. Currency Conversion

When you need to convert local currency (such as HKD, RMB) to USD for trading, the broker will charge a certain fee or add a spread to the exchange rate.

From the data, it can be seen that Interactive Brokers has an absolute advantage in currency conversion, with costs almost negligible. If you need frequent large-amount currency conversions, IB is your best choice.

2. Deposit/Withdrawal Costs

Deposit and withdrawal refer to depositing funds into the broker account or withdrawing funds from the broker account. Traditional methods like wire transfer usually have high fees and long processing times.

Interactive Brokers allows you one free withdrawal per calendar month. Subsequent withdrawals after the first will be charged based on currency and method. Note that these fees do not include additional fees that your bank or intermediary bank may charge.

Futu and Tiger Securities usually process funds through cooperation with licensed banks in Hong Kong. Deposits are usually free, but withdrawals incur certain handling fees from the bank, generally between $15 and $50.

Cost Optimization Tips: Traditional wire transfer methods are not only expensive but also relatively cumbersome. You can explore using multi-currency electronic wallets or fintech services for transfers, which usually significantly reduce your deposit/withdrawal costs and shorten waiting times.

Comprehensive Trading Cost Calculation

To help you more clearly understand the cost differences in real trading scenarios, we simulated two different types of investors and calculated their annual total trading costs.

Scenario One: Low-Frequency Value Investor

• Trading Frequency: 1 trade per month, buying 100 shares each time, stock price $50/share.
• Annual Total Trades: 12 trades.

Scenario Two: High-Frequency Active Trader

• Trading Frequency: 10 trades per week, buying 100 shares each time, stock price $50/share.
• Annual Total Trades: 520 trades.

Conclusion Interpretation:

• For low-frequency traders, the annual costs of the three brokers are very close. Futu and Tiger have a slight advantage due to their simple charging models.
• For high-frequency traders, although Futu and Tiger seem superior under basic rates, don’t forget IB’s tiered commissions. When your monthly trading commissions exceed $10, IB’s account management fee will be fully offset. For users with extremely large trading volumes, IB’s tiered rates will make its total cost far lower than Futu and Tiger.

Features and Software Experience Comparison

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Choosing a broker is not just about comparing fees; software features and user experience also determine your trading efficiency and decision quality. A poor interface may cause you to miss opportunities, while powerful tools can help you gain market insights first.

Trading Product Variety

Your investment strategy determines which products you need to trade. A broker supporting a rich variety of products can easily help you achieve global asset allocation.

In this aspect, Interactive Brokers (IB) offers unparalleled breadth. It covers almost all mainstream global financial products, allowing you to trade the world in one account.

In comparison, Futu Securities and Tiger Securities focus more on meeting the core needs of most retail investors, with slightly fewer product choices but sufficient to cover mainstream markets.

Core Insight: If you are a professional investor hoping to invest globally and allocate diverse assets, Interactive Brokers is your best choice. If you mainly focus on popular categories like US stocks, Hong Kong stocks, and options, Futu and Tiger’s features are fully sufficient.

Real-Time US Stock Quotes and Data Depth

Obtaining fast and accurate real-time US stock quotes is the lifeline for day traders and short-term swing players. Level 2 data can reveal the depth of the market order book, helping you judge the real strength of buy and sell orders.

Futu and Tiger usually provide users with free basic real-time US stock quotes, which is very attractive for beginners and investors who do not rely on high-frequency operations.

However, for professional traders pursuing ultimate data depth, Interactive Brokers offers paid professional-level data services. You can subscribe to data packages from different exchanges as needed.

Selection Advice: If you are not sensitive to delays in real-time US stock quotes or are satisfied with basic quotes, Futu and Tiger’s free plans are very suitable for you. If you need professional Level 2 data to formulate precise trading strategies, paying for IB’s professional data is a worthwhile investment.

Trading Software and App Review

Trading software is the window for your interaction with the market. Its stability, response speed, and interface design directly affect your trading experience.

Interactive Brokers (IB): Dual Choice of Professional and Complex

IB provides differentiated software experiences for different users.

• Trader Workstation (TWS): This is the flagship desktop end designed for IBKR Pro users, with extremely powerful features. It provides advanced charts, algorithmic trading, risk analysis, and highly customizable layouts, serving as the “cockpit” for professional traders. However, for beginners, its interface may seem overly complex.
• IBKR Mobile and Client: IBKR Lite users and Pro users who do not want to use TWS can choose the simpler mobile App and web end. They retain core trading functions with a more friendly interface.

Futu and Tiger: Representatives of Ultimate User Experience

Futu and Tiger prioritize user experience, with their Apps and PC clients known for being intuitive, smooth, and localized features, very suitable for beginner entry.

• Tiger Securities (Tiger Brokers): Its mobile application Tiger Trade has won the “Best Mobile Application” award. Its interface design is clean, and the account opening process is rapid. You can easily monitor the market with a few clicks, use rich graphics and indicators for analysis. It also provides customizable dashboards, allowing you to adjust information flow based on investment goals, and integrates news and real-time US stock data for an excellent information acquisition experience.
• Futu Securities (Futu): Futu’s software is also famous for ease of use. Its intelligent charting features are powerful, providing over 50 free technical indicators, sufficient to meet the needs of most technical analysis enthusiasts. In comparison, more professional charting software like TradingView provides over 100 indicators, but this is enough to show Futu’s sincerity in charting features.

Featured Features and Community Ecosystem

In addition to core trading functions, each broker attracts and retains users through featured services.

Futu Securities: Large and Active Investment Community

One of Futu’s biggest competitive advantages is its built-in “Moo Community” investment community. As of the end of 2024, Futu has served approximately 25.10 million users, with the huge user base giving birth to extremely high community activity.

• Learning and Sharing: You can exchange insights with other investors in the community, share views on real-time US stock trends, and even follow operations of investment experts.
• Official Activities: Futu hosts global paper trading challenge competitions and other activities to help users improve investment skills in practice. This educational and entertaining approach is deeply loved by young investors.

Tiger Securities: Best Choice for US Stock IPOs

If you are keen on participating in US stock IPOs (initial public offerings), Tiger Securities has significant advantages. It provides users with convenient one-click IPO subscription functions and has very impressive historical performance.

• Considerable Historical Returns: Since 2021, Tiger Securities has provided 19 US stock IPO subscriptions, with average first-day return rate up to 41.15%.
• Low Threshold Participation: You can participate in US stock IPOs without huge funds, opening the door to a new world for ordinary investors.

Interactive Brokers: Ultimate in Globalization and Professionalization

IB’s feature lies in its unparalleled global market access capability and professional-level tools.

• Paper Trading: IB provides fully featured paper trading accounts, allowing you to test strategies in a platform almost identical to the real market environment, crucial for quantitative trading and options strategy developers.
• API Interface: Provides powerful API interfaces for programmatic traders, allowing you to build your own trading robots and automated strategies.

Feature Summary:

• Choosing Futu gives you a powerful learning and exchange platform.
• Choosing Tiger allows you more opportunities in the US stock IPO market.
• Choosing Interactive Brokers gives you the key to global markets and the most professional trading arsenal.

Security and Compliance Assurance

When you invest funds in a broker, platform security is the most important factor for you to consider. Strong regulation, client asset insurance, and advanced technical protection together form your fund safety net.

Regulatory Licenses and Company Qualifications

When choosing a broker, you must pay attention to its security. Regulatory licenses are the first line of defense for safety. A broker under strict regulation means its operations must comply with local laws and regulations, and client funds are protected accordingly.

Interactive Brokers, Futu Securities, and Tiger Securities are all registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and are members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This means their business activities in the US are strictly supervised. Taking Tiger Securities as an example, its business spans the globe and holds licenses in multiple major financial markets.

In addition, the company’s background and strength are also worth attention. For example, Tiger Securities (UP Fintech Holding Limited) was listed on Nasdaq in 2019, with early investors including Interactive Brokers and Xiaomi, providing strong support for its stable operations.

SIPC Client Asset Protection

In addition to institutional regulation, your account assets also enjoy additional insurance. SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) provides you with a key layer of protection.

What is SIPC Protection? If your broker unfortunately goes bankrupt, SIPC will intervene to protect your assets. It provides up to $500,000 compensation protection per client, including up to $250,000 for cash portion.

Since the US entities of Interactive Brokers, Futu, and Tiger are all SIPC members, the US stocks you hold through them and cash in the account enjoy this standard protection. This allows you to be more at ease facing extreme market risks.

Account Security Technical Measures

In daily use, powerful technical measures can effectively prevent your account from being stolen. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is one of the most effective security methods currently.

• Tiger Securities provides multiple 2FA methods, including Google Authenticator, SMS verification, and biometric recognition such as fingerprint or facial recognition.
• Interactive Brokers provides IB Key authentication based on its official App, while also supporting general authenticator apps and physical security cards, providing choices for users at different security levels.

At the same time, these brokers all use data encryption technology to protect the security of your personal information and trading data during transmission, ensuring your privacy is not leaked.

After a comprehensive comparison, we have organized the final summary and recommendations for you. Hope this table can help you quickly review the core features of the three brokers.

To help you make the final decision, please choose the most suitable platform based on your investment profile:

• US Stock Beginners: You need comprehensive educational resources and paper trading functions. Futu’s powerful community and Tiger’s friendly interface are both excellent starting points.
• High-Frequency Traders/Options Players: Your decisions rely on microsecond-level speed. IB’s low-latency Level 2 data and professional TWS system are your best choice.
• Long-Term Value Investors: You focus on long-term holding costs and platform stability. All three brokers can meet this, and you can choose based on software preferences and asset size.

In summary, there is no absolute “best” broker, only the one most “suitable” for you. Clarify your core needs to find the best investment partner that can grow with you.

FAQ

Can non-US residents open an account?

Yes. All three brokers accept account opening applications from residents in many non-US regions. You usually need to submit identity proof (such as passport) and address proof documents online. The entire process is quick and convenient, and you can complete all operations at home.

Is there a minimum deposit required to open an account?

Usually not. Futu Securities and Tiger Securities have no minimum deposit requirements, and you can deposit any amount according to your situation. Interactive Brokers may have specific requirements for certain account types, but for most ordinary investors, the threshold is very low.

Can I transfer my stocks between these brokers?

Yes. You can transfer stocks held at one broker to another through the ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) system. You only need to initiate a transfer request to your new broker, and they will guide you through the subsequent steps.

Friendly Reminder: Before transferring accounts, please confirm whether the transferring and receiving brokers will charge related fees.

Do I need to pay taxes on my US stock trading profits?

Yes, you usually need to be responsible for paying taxes on your investment gains. The specific tax liability depends on the tax laws of your location and the tax treaty with the US. We strongly recommend consulting a professional tax advisor for accurate information.