J.P. Morgan Chase vs. Robinhood Introduction
If your online savings account is paying only 1%, it may be time to open a brokerage account and
start investing. But which firm should you pick? Robinhood and J.P. Morgan Investing both want your business. Let’s see how these two broker-dealers stack up.
Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Robinhood
|
$0
|
na
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Chase
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
Services
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
|
Robinhood
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chase
|
|
|
|
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|
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Promotions
Robinhood: Free stock up to $200 and 3% match when you open an account.
J.P. Morgan:
Get $0 stock commissions at J.P. Morgan.
Who Is Better for Investment Styles?
J.P. Morgan Investing offers only self-directed accounts. These have no fees or minimums
of any kind, and they offer a solid list of investments. It includes:
- Options
- Mutual funds
- ETFs
- Closed-end funds
- Stocks
- Fixed-income securities
OTC stocks that trade above $5 can be bought and sold in a J.P. Morgan account.
Robinhood also does not offer managed accounts of any kind. In its self-directed accounts, customers can trade the following assets:
- Stocks
- Options
- ETFs
- Cryptocurrencies
There is only a small group of account types at both brokerage firms. J.P. Morgan Investing
has joint, individual, and retirement accounts. Robinhood has only individual taxable accounts,
Traditional/ROTH IRA, and Spending accounts.
Overall, we think the brokers are about the same here.
Which Broker Is Better for Security Research?
On the Robinhood platform, stock profiles show basic trade data like volume and 52-week high and low prices. There are trade ratings from stock analysts, and Morningstar reports are available for a $5 monthly fee. The main downside here is that Robinhood does not have a stock or ETF screener. Instead, it uses Trending Lists. These are groups of securities by category, such as Daily Movers, Cannabis, and Technology.
The J.P. Morgan Investing website has real screeners. In fact, it has three: one for mutual funds, one for stocks, and one for ETFs. Together, they offer many useful filters. Examples include:
- Sector
- EPS (earnings per share)
- 3-year beta
- Daily volume
- 10-year return vs. category (%)
During our testing, we found all three screeners easy to use. Clicking on a result opens the asset’s profile. Like Robinhood, J.P. Morgan Investing provides only a limited amount of data. There are news stories, press releases, and analyst trade ratings. For Boeing, we found 5 recommendations. By comparison, Robinhood’s site shows 23 analysts. But J.P. Morgan Investing also provides free pdf stock reports from CFRA.
For its screeners, we choose J.P. Morgan Investing in this category.
For Website Trading, Is It Robinhood or J.P. Morgan Investing?
Robinhood’s website is fairly simple, and that makes it easy to use. There is a menu in the top-right corner. A column on the right side holds several watchlists. Clicking on an item opens the asset’s profile with an order ticket in the upper-right corner. Trade choices include stop loss and trailing. In total, there are six trade types. There are only two time-in-force choices (day and GTC).
A chart on the site appears in a small area at the top of the asset’s profile. It can be expanded to full screen. But there are only two chart styles (candlestick and line), and we found just four technical indicators. There are no other tools.
J.P. Morgan Investing does include technical indicators. During our review, we found more than twenty of them. Examples include:
- Williams %R
- Ultimate Oscillator
- Ichimoku Cloud
J.P. Morgan Investing’s software also offers more chart styles. We counted seven of them (dot and HLC are examples). Drawing tools are also included. The main downside is that a chart cannot fill the full width of the screen.
J.P. Morgan Investing’s order form has four trade types (market, limit, stop, and stop limit). Limit orders have the most time-in-force choices. Examples include on-the-open and on-the-close.
The biggest difference between the two sites is that J.P. Morgan Investing uses the same site as Chase Bank, which makes the menus crowded. For this reason, we choose Robinhood in this category.
Who Wins for Other Software?
Neither broker in this review has a desktop program. Both do have mobile apps. Robinhood’s app is for phones only, while the J.P. Morgan Investing app works on both phones and tablets. But Robinhood also has an Apple Watch app, which J.P. Morgan Investing does not.
Overall, this category is very close.
Which Firm Is Our Pick for Margin Trading?
Robinhood charges 5% for balances under $50K.
The rate drops to 4.5% for balances over $100K.
Even though the rate is low, the main weakness here is that Robinhood does not allow short selling. It also does not show margin details for specific securities.
J.P. Morgan Investing also offers margin accounts. Margin rates range from
11.5% to 9.25%.
Robinhood wins.
And Do We Pick Robinhood or J.P. Morgan for Miscellaneous Services?
Banking Tools: J.P. Morgan Investing clients can link Chase Bank accounts. Robinhood has a cash
card that earns small pieces of stocks and cryptocurrencies with purchases. The broker pays a very high
3.25% APY
interest on cash balances, which is higher than most banks.
Extended Hours Trading: Robinhood users can trade before the market opens and after it closes. J.P. Morgan Investing users cannot.
Periodic Mutual Fund Investing: Available at J.P. Morgan.
Individual Retirement Accounts: IRAs are available at both J.P. Morgan and Robinhood.
Only Robinhood offers a free 1% contribution match.
DRIP Service: Available at both firms.
Fractional Shares: Trades at Robinhood can be placed in dollar amounts,
starting at $1.00 for stocks. J.P. Morgan offers only whole-share trading.
Initial Public Offerings: Robinhood users, but not J.P. Morgan Investing users, can trade IPOs.
Robinhood has a clear advantage in the final category.
Recommendation
Small Accounts: Because Robinhood offers fractional shares, the minimum trade size is
very small.
ETF/Stock Trading: J.P. Morgan Investing has better search tools, but only Robinhood offers
fractional shares. Choose based on what matters more to you.
Mutual Fund Trading: J.P. Morgan is the only option here.
Beginners: Both brokers are good places to start.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: Robinhood is the only broker with a free 1% IRA match.
JP Morgan vs Robinhood: Results
Overall, Robinhood has a small edge in this comparison. Robinhood is clearly the
better choice for crypto and options trading, while J.P. Morgan Investing has a solid mutual fund lineup.
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