Robinhood and E*TRADE are both great investment brokers but they seem to cater to different types of investors. Read the Robinhood vs E*TRADE comparison review below and understand which broker is better for you.
Robinhood vs E*TRADE: Popularity
| Query | Robinhood | E*TRADE |
| Number of users (approximate) | 13m | 7.1m |
| Website traffic (estimated) | 42.6m | 28.7m |
| # results on web | 29.7m | 2bn |
| Search volume Google | 40k | 673K |
| Twitter followers | 196k | 73.5K |
| FB followers | 163k | 158K |
| How popular on mainstream media? | High | High |
| Negative media? | High | Medium |
| Notable awards | Most innovative company by Fast Company (2015), Top 50 by Fast Company (2016) | Best Web Platform 2020, Best Online Brokers 2019 |
Even though Robinhood is the younger company, it grew so much so quickly that it has more users than E*TRADE, a broker with longevity in the market. Both are award winning brokers but because of the numbers presented above, we will need to choose Robinhood the winner in the popularity category.
Robinhood vs E*TRADE: User Rating
| Query | Robinhood | E*TRADE |
| # users rated on user platforms | 77 on TrustPilot, 46 on SiteJabber | 35 on TrustPilot, 107 on SiteJabber |
| Percentage of positive reviews out of user reviews | 20% | 20% |
| Common compliments | Great design and user interface, good app | Fantastic trading platform, fast and reliable. |
| Common complaints | Poor customer service, difficult to communicate with, not trustworthy | Customer service is terrible sometimes. |
| Positive feedback on Twitter? | Constant inflow of positive comments | Good and easy to use platform |
| Negative feedback on Twitter? | No complaints over the past 14 days | Long waiting times for support and recurring downtime. |
| App rating (summary) | 4.6 / 5 | 130K reviews with an average rating of 4.15 / 5 |
Very similar number of feedback entries online with the exact same percentage of positive reviews. Even the common complaints are mostly related to the customer support for both of them. This is too close to call.
Robinhood vs E*TRADE: Background Information
| Query | Robinhood | E*TRADE |
| Company public/private | Private | Public |
| Revenue Data | 180m on Q2 of 2020 | $3.145B annual revenue for 2019 |
| CEO and bio | Vladimir Tenev, Standford graduate, left his PhD in maths for Robinhood. Prior to Robinhood, he created a high frequency trading company. | Mike Pizzi – Over 12 years working in the company where he was also the CFO and Chief Risk Officer |
| Number of employees | 1,281 | 4,000 |
| Notable investors (private companies) | SEQUOIA, Index Ventures, CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital | E*TRADE was acquired by Morgan Stanley for $13B on Feb 20, 2020. |
One is private, one is public. One has great investors, one has been acquired by a financial giant. E*TRADE is the public company acquired by Morgan Stanley for a whooping $13 billions and considering the revenue data from the table above, we can easily understand the selling price.
Robinhood vs E*TRADE: Security
| Query | Robinhood | E*TRADE |
| HTTPS Certificate | Yes | Yes |
| 2FA ? | Yes | Yes |
| Device monitoring? | Yes | Yes |
| New device extra security? | Yes | Yes |
Robinhood vs E*TRADE: Fees & Offering
| Query | Robinhood | E*TRADE |
| Account minimum | None | None |
| Account fixed fees | None | None |
| Fractional shares? | Yes | No |
| Margin costs | 5% per day | Varies |
| ETF buying fees | None | None |
| Stock buying fees | None | None |
| Option buying fees | None | $0.50 |
| Short selling fees | Not available | None |
| Futures buying fees | Not available | $1.50 |
| Future options buying fees | Not available | $1.50 |
| Cryptocurrency fees | 1% on buying, 5% on selling | Not available |
| Fixed income fees | Not available | $1 per bond |
| Mutual funds fees | Not available | None |
Both companies allow zero fee stock buying and no account fixed fees, but the similarities stop here. Robinhood is allowing fractional buying and cryptocurrency trading, which has brought a lot of new, young, customers to its app. E*TRADE doesn’t have those two instruments but it’s providing a wider range of trading opportunities for the more traditional type of investor.
Robinhood vs E*TRADE: Trading App
| Query | Robinhood | E*TRADE |
| Android app # installs | 10m+ | 1m+ |
| Android app # reviews | 155k | 14K |
| iPhone app # reviews | 2m | 113K |
| Android app rating | 4.3 / 5 | 3.7 / 5 |
| iPhone app rating | 4.8 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Common compliments on app | Smooth app, easy for beginners, free stock promotion, low fees | The app is user friendly, easy to navigate and make trades |
| Common complaints on app | Slow, laggy, freezing upon high activity | Several log-in attempts before logging in |
| Weighted average app rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.15 / 5 |
Both brokers have good ratings for its mobile trading apps but we can only put Robinhood as the winner in this category. They are literally just an app, without a desktop or browser platform, so they NEED to be great since they only focus on only one dimension.
Final conclusions:
Robinhood and E*TRADE are both good investment brokers but there is a different type of customer for each. Robinhood is the better choice for beginner investors who are just starting and their limited budgets need the option of fractional buying. E*TRADE is the better option for traders that need access to different types of investment tools, for those that need a customizable trading platform.