Robinhood Paper Trading
Robinhood does not offer demo accounts (also known as virtual or paper trading).
For a 100% free demo account, we recommend
Charles Schwab practice account.
Get Charles Schwab For Free
$0 commissions + ACAT reimbursement + satisfaction guarantee at Charles Schwab.
Overview of thinkorswim vs Robinhood
Robinhood is built for cost-conscious traders with low commissions and an easy-to-use platform lineup. Charles Schwab, on the other hand, offers a broader set of investment services, including its advanced trading platform, thinkorswim. Let’s compare the trading tools and services available at both firms.
The Cost of Trading at Robinhood
Robinhood offers one of the lowest-cost pricing schedules in the brokerage industry. The broker
keeps many trading costs at the bottom of the scale by offering $0 online commissions. Yes, that’s right.
Online stock, ETF, and stock-option trades at Robinhood are commission-free. Crypto trading uses a separate pricing structure, and some routing choices, regulatory charges, or other fees may still apply.
This low-cost commission schedule comes with tradeoffs, however. Robinhood’s tools are easier to use than many competing platforms, but they are generally less advanced
than thinkorswim. Robinhood now offers Robinhood Legend, a desktop trading platform, but Schwab’s thinkorswim still provides a deeper set of professional-level tools.
Cost Comparison
Robinhood’s Trading Tools
So where do Robinhood traders submit orders? They can trade on the broker’s mobile app, which works with Apple and Android devices, and on Robinhood Legend. Charting on the app is no longer limited to a basic line graph,
for example. Robinhood now includes technical indicators such as moving averages and RSI.
The app also provides some security research, although it is still not as deep as the research available at many full-service brokers. Financial information, earnings details,
related news, and company information can be accessed. The app also offers other account and trading features through a simple interface.
Some features are still stronger at Charles Schwab. For example, Schwab provides more advanced trading platforms, broader research resources, and mobile check deposit, which can be a convenient way to move funds into an account.
Robinhood does have a mobile app for Apple Watch, and trades can be entered on it. The platform can be used to submit limit and market orders for any stock or ETF. The broker recently added stop limit, stop loss, and GTC orders to the platform’s capability. Robinhood released an app for Android watches.
What’s Missing at Robinhood
While Robinhood promotes its low-cost commission schedule, there are still several investment products
missing from the broker. Mutual funds are unavailable at the firm, an asset that many customers
may want for long-term portfolio building.
Bonds cannot be traded at Robinhood, because the broker doesn’t offer them. Forex is also unavailable. Robinhood now offers futures trading through Robinhood Derivatives, so futures are no longer completely missing from the broker. Customer service is available through in-app support, but phone support hours and eligibility can vary by issue.
Trading on thinkorswim at Charles Schwab
So how does Robinhood compare to Schwab and its advanced platform thinkorswim? Robinhood has improved its platform lineup, but thinkorswim remains the more powerful trading suite.
thinkorswim includes desktop, web, and mobile platforms, while Robinhood focuses on a simpler app and Robinhood Legend. On top of that, thinkorswim has many advanced features, including sophisticated charting tools. There are hundreds of technical indicators, studies, and drawing tools on thinkorswim, one of the stronger charting packages among online brokers. There are also many drawing tools and graph styles. Some of the more advanced tools include Fibonacci retracements and regression lines.
Besides stocks and ETF’s, thinkorswim offers trading in options, futures, and forex.
There are screeners on thinkorswim that can scan for options, ETF’s, and stocks. Robinhood has fewer screening tools. Charles Schwab’s stock search tool can look at many criteria, including market cap, bid size, dividend yield, book value per share, and many other variables.
The option screener looks at derivative characteristics, such as gamma, implied volume, and days to expiration. Like the stock screener, ranges can be set to return many or just a few results. The derivative screener can also search according to features of the underlying stock, such as return on assets.
Other Trading Tools
A mobile version of thinkorswim is available to use on Apple and Android devices. It can trade futures and forex, in addition to stocks, ETF’s, and options. Many of the desktop version’s advanced charting features are also included in the mobile software. Users can watch CNBC in standard definition; and European and Asian versions are also available.
Charles Schwab has launched something else that Robinhood doesn’t have: a connection with Amazon’s Alexa. Charles Schwab Skill works with the Amazon’s AI to return market information and stock quotes. It works with more than 75,000 ticker symbols. For example, you could say, “Alexa, ask Charles Schwab for the stock price of Amazon.”
Like Robinhood, Charles Schwab provides a platform for Apple Watch. Actually, the broker has two versions, one of which can create orders. The other is able to get detailed equity quotes, view watch lists, and track indices.
More Charles Schwab Services
Beyond technology, Charles Schwab delivers a wide range of other services. The broker offers
automated investing through Schwab Intelligent Portfolios with no advisory fee, although program expenses and cash-allocation considerations still apply. Human-advisor and managed-account services are also available, with pricing that varies by program. Charles Schwab provides 24/7 support and manages a nationwide network of
branch locations. With stock trades at $0, and option contracts at 65 cents, the broker offers
a lot at a very low cost.
Robinhood vs thinkorswim Recap
Robinhood and Charles Schwab offer different levels of service with different pricing schedules. While
Robinhood customers get very low commissions and a simple trading experience, Schwab customers get stronger tools, broader research, more tradable products, and access to thinkorswim paperMoney.
Written by Alex Bost
Updated on 4/22/2026.
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