We created this Ally Invest vs E*TRADE comparison review to help our readers decide with which broker to go. Both are good choices, so a head to head comparison between Alli Invest and E*TRADE is needed to make the final decision.
Ally Invest vs E*TRADE: Popularity
| Query | Ally Invest | E*TRADE |
| Number of users (approximate) | 388K | 7.1m |
| Website traffic (estimated) | 16m | 28.7m |
| # results on web | 50m | 2bn |
| Search volume Google | 70K | 673K |
| Twitter followers | 43K | 73.5K |
| FB followers | 342K | 158K |
| How popular on mainstream media? | Medium | High |
| Negative media? | Low | Medium |
| Notable awards | None, but Ally Bank has consistently received awards | Best Web Platform 2020, Best Online Brokers 2019 |
E*TRADE is the more established and bigger broker with a huge number of customers compared to Ally Invest. Also their media exposure is higher with a bunch of niche and news outlets awarding them for their platform.
Ally Invest vs E*TRADE: User Rating
| Query | Ally Invest | E*TRADE |
| # users rated on user platforms | 60 on TrustPilot, 1 on SiteJabber | 35 on TrustPilot, 107 on SiteJabber |
| Percentage of positive reviews out of user reviews | 7% | 20% |
| Common compliments | Helpful and secure. | Fantastic trading platform, fast and reliable. |
| Common complaints | Unreliable customer service. | Customer service is terrible sometimes. |
| Positive feedback on Twitter? | Great research and tools. | Good and easy to use platform |
| Negative feedback on Twitter? | The app is buggy | Long waiting times for support and recurring downtime. |
| App rating (summary) | Almost 100 reviews with an average rating of 2.35 / 5 | 130K reviews with an average rating of 4.15 / 5 |
The feedback online is another area where E*TRADE has the upper hand. Has a better positive percentage and a big difference in number of reviews
Ally Invest vs E*TRADE: Background Information
| Query | Ally Invest | E*TRADE |
| Company public/private | Public | Public |
| Revenue Data | – | $3.145B annual revenue for 2019 |
| CEO and bio | Jeffrey J. Brown – Prior to being named CEO, Brown was president and CEO of Ally’s Dealer Financial Services business where he oversaw the company’s auto finance, insurance and auto servicing operations. | Mike Pizzi – Over 12 years working in the company where he was also the CFO and Chief Risk Officer |
| Number of employees | 8700 | 4,000 |
| Notable investors (private companies) | None | E*TRADE was acquired by Morgan Stanley for $13B on Feb 20, 2020. |
Both companies are public but we only found revenue data for E*TRADE so we can’t compare them on this aspect. But we can see that Ally Invest is the employer for a bigger number of people.
Ally Invest vs E*TRADE: Security
| Query | Ally Invest | E*TRADE |
| HTTPS Certificate | Yes | Yes |
| 2FA ? | Yes | Yes |
| Device monitoring? | Yes | Yes |
| New device extra security? | Yes | Yes |
The standard features are available on both platforms so you can rest assure that your money are safe with them.
Ally Invest vs E*TRADE: Fees & Offering
| Query | Ally Invest | E*TRADE |
| Account minimum | None | None |
| Account fixed fees | None | None |
| Fractional shares? | Yes | No |
| Margin costs | Varies | Varies |
| ETF buying fees | None | None |
| Stock buying fees | None | None |
| Option buying fees | $0.50 | $0.50 |
| Short selling fees | None | None |
| Futures buying fees | None | $1.50 |
| Future options buying fees | – | $1.50 |
| Cryptocurrency fees | Not available | Not available |
| Fixed income fees | None | $1 per bond |
| Mutual funds fees | None | None |
Very similar in their fee structure, especially for the most commonly used tools. The only difference is the futures market where E*TRADE has fees and Ally Invest doesn’t.
Ally Invest vs E*TRADE: Trading App
| Query | Ally Invest | E*TRADE |
| Android app # installs | 5K+ | 1m+ |
| Android app # reviews | 18 | 14K |
| iPhone app # reviews | 78 | 113K |
| Android app rating | 2.3 / 5 | 3.7 / 5 |
| iPhone app rating | 2.4 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Common compliments on app | App is responsive and fast. | The app is user friendly, easy to navigate and make trades |
| Common complaints on app | App crashes a lot. | Several log-in attempts before logging in |
| Weighted average app rating | 2.35 / 5 | 4.15 / 5 |
Ally Invest seems to not be interested in their clients using the trading app if we guide our opinion from the app stores reviews and number of downloads. E*TRADE is the clear winner here. No debate needed.
Final conclusions:
Overall, seems like clear winner from this Ally Invest vs E*TRADE comparison is the latter. E*TRADE is more present in the market and has been for a long time, and that is clearly shown by its brand recognition in online.