Public review

Pros and cons

Who it suits

• You are saving for retirement in the US and want commission-free stock trades in one account
• You want to hold spare cash at a stated rate while you decide what to buy
• You are starting with small amounts and want fractional shares rather than whole shares

Who should look elsewhere

• You need forex, CFDs or futures, which CFI and eToro both list in stocks, etfs and forex and stocks, etfs and forex
• You want a UK ISA or SIPP wrapper, neither of which appears in ira and roth ira
• You want to talk to a broker on the phone, since support covers email and help centre

How it compares on our data

Public sits at the top of our table for both measures that matter most to a new investor. On the minimum deposit it ranks 1 among 213 brands, because the account starts at $0 and there is no threshold to clear. On the stock trade fee it also ranks 1 of 161, since a stock trade costs $0. Two rankings on the same table tell you what kind of broker this is. A low entry point plus a low trade charge means the cost of getting started is almost entirely in the amount you choose to invest, not in a platform charge. For context, the median minimum deposit across our data is €4.64, and the upper quartile reaches €87.70, so plenty of the brands on our data ask for real money before the first trade. The same pattern holds for commissions. The median stock trade fee across our data is €0, but the top quartile reaches €0.95 and the highest figure we see is €17.54. A brand at the top of that column charges nothing per trade, which is what makes a small monthly contribution workable.

Trading costs beyond commission

Commission-free does not mean cost-free once you move past plain share dealing. The costs that show up here are borrowing and derivatives. Margin borrowing is charged at 4.2%. That rate applies for as long as the position stays open, so the interest bill is driven by how long you hold as well as how much you borrow. A margin trade also puts the size of any move well beyond the amount you put in. Listed options carry a separate charge of $0.06 to $0.18 per contract. That fee sits on top of the price you pay for the option itself and applies whether the trade works or not. Anyone trading options repeatedly should treat the contract fee as part of the cost of the strategy, not an extra. The other side of the ledger is the interest paid on idle cash. The high-yield account pays 3.3%, which applies to money sitting between purchases rather than being invested. Readers who keep a standing balance in cash will see that rate do the work until they choose to deploy it.

Account opening and funding

Getting started is deliberately narrow. The account list is ira and roth ira, so the choice is between a tax-advantaged account and a tax-free one, and nothing else is offered. There is no taxable account, no joint account and no UK wrapper in the range. Funding is easy in the sense that there is little to decide. The minimum deposit is $0, so an account can be opened and funded from a small amount, and money can also sit in the high-yield cash account until you want it invested. That combination suits a regular saving habit, because the same balance can wait at 3.3% and then move into the market without a sales conversation. The account type you pick shapes everything else about the running costs, since an IRA and a Roth IRA are taxed differently. Read both wrappers before funding rather than after.

Who regulates it

Public is registered in the US and supervised on both sides of the Atlantic-style split you would expect from a US brokerage: the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission are the two named regulators, and they appear as the pair in the register rather than a single umbrella. The money side is covered by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which is the scheme named for this brand. Protection runs to SIPC up to USD 500,000, so that is the ceiling on what the scheme would return if the firm failed and client cash or securities could not be handed back. The legal entity behind the accounts is Open to the Public Investing, Inc., which is the name to check against a regulator's register before you transfer money in. Both regulators are US bodies, so the arrangement and the tax treatment are built for US residents.

Fees and costs

Here is the full list of what you can be charged, and where each item applies. Stocks and ETFs: a stock trade costs $0. Margin: borrowing is charged at 4.2% for as long as the position is open, and the charge accrues daily on the amount borrowed. Options: each contract carries a fee of $0.06 to $0.18, on top of the option premium itself. Funding: the minimum deposit is $0, so there is no threshold to meet before you can start. Cash: money held in the high-yield account earns 3.3% rather than costing anything, which offsets the borrowing charge for anyone whose balance sits idle between trades. Put together, the cost of a simple monthly share purchase is $0, and the costs that appear later in the life of the account are the margin rate of 4.2% and the options contract fee of $0.06 to $0.18. A buy-and-hold retirement account never touches either of those.

How Public compares

• 

  Nexo

  Public vs Nexo9.4 vs 9.0
• 

  MC Prime

  9.4 vs 9.4
• 

  Simply Wall St

  9.4 vs 8.7
• 

  MarketScreener

• 

  ActivTrades

  9.4 vs 9.4
• 

  CORUM Vastgoedfondsen

  9.4 vs 8.7
• 

  DKB (Deutsche Kreditbank)

  9.4 vs 9.0
• 

  XTB

  9.4 vs 9.3
• 

  NAGA

  9.4 vs 8.7
• 

  UNest

  9.4 vs 8.6
• 

  eToro

  eToro lists stocks, etfs and forex, so it covers forex, CFDs and futures alongside shares, which suits readers who want to trade beyond a retirement account.

  9.4 vs 9.2
• 

  Linxea

  9.4 vs 8.7
• 

  Kitco

• 

  Mintos

  9.4 vs 9.1
• 

  The Best Prop

• 

  EBC Financial Group

  9.4 vs 9.0
• 

  Instant Funding

  9.4 vs 9.0
• P

  Pepperstone

• 

  Vaulted

• 

  wikifolio.com

• I

  Intellectia

• W

  Winvest

• LI

  Libertex International

• XV

  XM VN

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• brokercheck.finra.org checked September 26, 2026

  Backs: Investor protection, Regulators, Licences

• public.com checked September 26, 2026

  Backs: Account types, Features, Markets, Pricing model, Stock trade fee, Support channels

  “Traditional & Roth IRAs”

• public.com/high-yield-cash-account checked September 26, 2026

  Backs: Interest on cash, Minimum deposit

  “Earn 3.30% APY on your cash with no fees - High-Yield Cash Account”

• public.com/invest/margin checked September 26, 2026

  Backs: Legal entity, Margin rate, Options contract fee

  “brokerage services are provided by Open to the Public Investing, Inc.”