Vanguard vs Edward Jones

Vanguard vs Edward Jones vs Webull - which is better in 2024? Compare investing accounts, online trading fees, stock broker cost, and differences.

Edward Jones vs Vanguard Introduction

Which brokerage firm has the trading tools you need, Webull, Edward Jones, or Vanguard? Webull has an excellent desktop program, while Vanguard is known for its investment-advisory services and its large selection of mutual funds. Edward Jones is the largest and best known wealth management company in the country.

Here’s a more exhaustive research study on these three brokers:

Cost

Broker Fees	Stock/ETF Commission	Mutual Fund Commission	Options Commission	Maintenance Fee	Annual IRA Fee
WeBull	$0	na	$0	$0	$0
Vanguard	$0	$20	$1.00 per contract	$20*	varies

Edward Jones is without a doubt the most expensive option of the 3 in this article, being its biggest downfall in the argument. Charging fees of $3.95 for trades, 2.5% for advisory services, and more fees elsewhere, EDJ makes sure they get paid as well. When signing an agreement for advisory services at Edward Jones, the client should be well aware of the fees that come with, as they could affect long term returns.

Management Fees
First $250,000: 1.35%
Next $250,000: 1.30%
Next $500,000: 1.25%
Next $1,500,000: 1.00%
Next $2,500,000: 0.80%
Next $5,000,000: 0.60%
Next $10,000,000: 0.50%

Portfolio Strategy Fees
First $250,000: 0.09%
Next $250,000: 0.09%
Next $500,000: 0.08%
Next $1,500,000: 0.07%
Next $2,500,000: 0.06%
Next $5,000,000: 0.05%
Next $10,000,000: 0.0%

Trade Commissions
Up to $5,999.99: 2.50% (max fee: $150)
$6,000 to $9,999.99: 2.00% + $30 (max fee: $230)
$10,000 to $24,999.99: 1.50% + $80 (max fee: $455)
$25,000 to $99,999.99: 1% + $205 (max fee: $1,205)
$100,000 and above: 0.50% + $705 (no max fee)

Services

Broker Review	Cost	Investment Products	Trading Tools	Customer Service	Research	Overall Rating
WeBull
Vanguard
Edward Jones

Promotions

First Category: Tradable Assets

If you open a brokerage account at Vanguard, you’ll be able to trade these securities:

- Bonds and CDs
- Equities (including the OTC marketplace)
- Option contracts
- Mutual, closed-end, and exchange-traded funds

Webull drops over-the-counter stocks, mutual funds, and fixed-income products but adds cryptocurrencies to the mix. Currently, the broker-dealer offers trading in these currencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Stella Lumens (XLM), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Cardano (ADA), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Chainlink (LINK), Uniswap Protocol Token (UNI), Algorand (ALGO), Polygon (MATIC), Sushi (SUSHI), Avalanche (AVAX), REN (REN), Solana (SOL), Cosmos (ATOM), Decentraland (MANA), Fantom (FTM), The Graph (GRT), CurveDAO Token (CRV), Loopring (LRC), Tezos(XTZ), USD Coin (USDC), Aave (AAVE), Crypto.com Coin (CRO), yearn.finance (YFI), Apecoin (APE), Chiliz (CHZ), Synthetix(SNX), Gala (GALA), BNTUSD (BNT), COMPUSD (COMP), ENJUSD (ENJ), Maker (MKR), FILUSD (FIL), and ICPUSD (ICP)

Edward Jones has wide product availability, including:

- Annuities. Variable. Fixed. Immediate
- Employer Retirement Plans. Defined Contribution. DefinedBenefit
- Education Savings. 529 Plans.
- Equity Investments. Common Stocks
- Exchange-traded Funds
- Fixed-income Investments. Bonds. Corporate Debt Securities.
- Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) Roth IRAs. Traditional IRAs.

Winner: Vanguard

Second Category: Websites

The Vanguard website can be difficult to navigate at times. If you open a Vanguard account, you will need to learn it as the broker doesn’t have a browser platform. A search field in the upper-right corner makes finding things easier.

Vanguard trading

Once you get on a security’s profile, you’ll find Vanguard’s charting software. There is no full-screen mode, but there are multiple graph styles and a few technical studies. Company events also make an appearance, but Vanguard has left out drawing tools. The broker’s order ticket has four order types: market, limit, stop, and stop limit.

Webull’s website is very minimal with just a few tools for account management, like transferring funds. But the broker has a browser platform that is launched from within the site, and we were very impressed with many of its features.

Webull’s order ticket has the same order types that Vanguard’s has plus trailing orders. Moreover, Webull has added bracket orders to its ticket, and these can be turned on or off quite easily.

Charting on Webull’s browser platform can be performed in full-screen mode, another advantage over Vanguard. There are more graph styles available (including Heikin Ashi and Base Line), and we really like right-click trading.

Edward Jones is lacking when it comes to tech tools, and If the user has an advisor there are little to no technical tools. Edward Jones provides minimal charting tools, outside of those for display. The mobile app comes with much of the same offerings of their website: a simple interface that is great for the hands-off style of an investor. This is attractive for a majority of investors, as more than 8 million of them have chosen EDJ.

Winner: Webull

Third Category: Desktop Platforms

Traders at Webull who don’t find the browser platform to their liking can download and install the broker’s desktop program. The software does have a lot of similarities to its browser cousin; the primary advantages it has are custom layouts and trade management outside of the web browser.

Webull platform

One of the downsides of the desktop platform is that cryptocurrencies can’t be traded on it. The browser platform, by contrast, does have crypto trading capability.

Vanguard has no desktop platform at all.

Winner: Webull

Fourth Category: Mobile Apps

Somewhat surprisingly, Webull’s mobile app has even better charting than its computer platforms. For example, the mobile app has a replay feature that replays the previous day’s price action with time & sales data displayed next to the graph. It’s possible to adjust the replay speed.

Webull app

Other great features on Webull’s app include a social networking forum and trading competitions in practice mode.

Advantages that Vanguard has over Webull in this category include:

Vanguard app

- Mobile check deposit
- Ability to trade Vanguard mutual funds

But Vanguard’s app surprisingly doesn’t offer any charting other than simple graphs for market indexes. And its order ticket is more difficult to use and has fewer order types.

Winner: Webull

Fifth Category: Investment Education

In case you need to brush up investment topics, Vanguard has many resources for you. Its YouTube channel boasts over 200 videos that cover a wide swath of financial topics. Examples include:

- Planning for health care costs in retirement
- How to plan the transition to Medicare

Vanguard’s website has many educational articles on investing and personal finance. Just click on News & Perspectives in the top menu to get started. Articles can be filtered by category, such as retirement or financial management. Besides articles, podcasts and videos are also here.

Webull doesn’t quite have the same level of educational resources. It delivers no videos of any kind, and its website has only a FAQ section; although this can be helpful for new traders.

Edward Jones puts a huge emphasis on educating the investor. There is a library of educational resources that are freely available on their website. With articles such as “Daily Market Snapshots” to tax or even mental wellbeing, Edward Jones provides everything an uneducated investor needs to make the next step in their journey.

Edward Jones wins here.

Sixth Category: Options Trading

If you want to trade derivatives, both Vanguard and Webull have tools for you. Webull’s mobile app and computer platforms have a really nice graphical interface where you can drag a contract to adjust its strike price and switch between buy and sell. Greek values are shown along with maximum gain and loss. The one downside is that only single-leg orders can be entered.

Vanguard also offers only calls and puts. Its software is much simpler than Webull’s without any Greek values.

Winner: Webull

Seventh Category: Margin Borrowing

Margin accounts are available at both brokerage firms in this rivalry. Vanguard customers pay between 10% and 13.75%.

In addition to lower rates, Webull also provides margin details on all its platforms for any entered ticker symbol. These figures include leverage and maintenance requirement. Webull's margin rates are between 6.74% and 9.74%.

Winner: Webull

Eighth Category: Miscellaneous Services

Dividend Reinvestment Program: Webull clients don’t get DRIP service, but Vanguard customers do.

IRAs: While all three brokerage houses offer Roth and Traditional IRAs, only Vanguard and EJ has SEP and SIMPLE plans.

Fractional-share Trading: Available at Webull but not in Vanguard or EJ.

IPO availability: Webull, but not Vanguard or EJ, offers access to Initial Public Offerings. To participate, just tap on the bull’s horns at the bottom of the mobile app, then tap on the More icon, and then select IPO Center.

Extended hours: Webull offers both pre-market and after-hours trading. Vanguard only has an after-hours period. EJ hase none.

Automatic Mutual Fund Investing: Vanguard customers can set up recurring deposits into Vanguard-branded mutual funds.

Winner: Webull

At Last, Our Recommendations

Beginners: Vanguard is our pick. Its robo service is a great place to start, and newbies can get some practice with self-directed trades as well. Plus, its educational materials are more thorough than Webull’s.

Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: With financial-planning services, target-date mutual funds, and an individual 401(k), Vanguard is the easy choice.

Stock/ETF Trading: With a desktop platform, decent charting, and a good order ticket, Webull gets our endorsement.

Small Accounts: Neither company has any on-going fees or balance requirements.

Promotions

Webull vs Vanguard vs Edward Jones Judgement

Overall, it looks really even between Webull and Vanguard. Active traders should definitely choose Webull, while long-term investors should stick with Vanguard.

Learn More