Broker Reviews from
Accounts I Actually Use
I didn't read the marketing pages and summarize them. I opened these accounts, funded most with real money, paper-traded the rest, and put every platform through its paces. Here's what I found — including the parts the brokers would rather I left out.
Last updated July 12, 2026
Compare & Review
Broker Comparison
Ten brokers side by side — commissions, platforms, order routing, short locates, account types, and the 2026 PDT change. Start here to narrow the field before you read a full review.
Webull Review
The broker I actually trade on — $0 stock and options commissions, a real desktop platform, best-in-class free paper trading, and the $3.99/mo Premium plan I think pays for itself. My honest, first-hand review.
thinkorswim Review
The charting and analysis platform traders swear by — elite charts, ThinkScript, and the benchmark paperMoney simulator, all $0 on stocks. Paper-traded and honest about it: the data lag and PFOF routing keep it off my scalping desk. My hands-on review.
Interactive Brokers Review
The most capable broker I hold an account with — 170+ global markets, the deepest short inventory anywhere, real APIs, and per-share Pro routing. Also the least friendly: a steep learning curve and support that's a known weak spot. My honest review.
TradeZero Review
My secondary broker — a short-selling specialist with fast direct-access execution, genuine short locates, and intraday access to restricted tickers Webull blocks. Honest about the friction too: dated interface, no native Mac app.
Moomoo Review
A feature-packed platform I've funded and traded on — free Level 2 depth, deep charting, and a strong paper-trading simulator, all at $0 commissions. But the execution confused me firsthand and there are no IRAs, which keeps it off my day-trading shortlist. My honest, first-hand review.
Robinhood Review
The app that made zero-commission trading mainstream — and an account I actually hold and use. Genuinely good for beginners, fractional investing, and its rare IRA match, but web-only Legend and no paper trading keep it off my day-trading shortlist. My honest, first-hand review.
Public Review
Clean, modern, and genuinely multi-asset — stocks, Treasuries, bonds, crypto, and high-yield cash — with a low margin rate and the Autopilot copy-trading perk. But no desktop app and no chart indicators keep it off my day-trading shortlist. My honest, first-hand review.
Find Your Trading Style
Not sure which of these fits you? The right broker depends entirely on how you trade. Take the two-minute quiz to find your style first, then pick the account that matches.
How I review a broker
Most broker reviews online are a rewritten features table. Someone reads the pricing page, checks a few boxes, adds an affiliate link, and calls it a review. You can usually tell, because nothing in it could only be known by someone with money in the account.
My rule is simple: I don't review a broker I haven't personally used. Most of the seven above are funded accounts with real money in them; a couple — like thinkorswim — I've paper-traded and reviewed hands-on, and I say so plainly on the page. That's why these reviews contain things a features table can't tell you — like the fact that Moomoo's execution genuinely confused me the first time I used it, or that Webull's paper trading is good enough that I still use it to test ideas.
The best example is the one that shaped my whole setup. Webull clears through Apex, and Apex has been restricting more and more low-priced, high-risk tickers to liquidation-only — meaning you can close a position but not open one. TradeZero clears through Apex too, but negotiated the ability to day trade many of those same restricted names, as long as you're flat by the close. That single operational detail is the entire reason I keep both accounts open. It is not on any comparison chart, including mine. I found it by getting blocked mid-trade.
Ratings reflect the broker for my use case — small-cap momentum day trading, roughly 9:35 to 11:00 AM ET. A 3.4 here is not "bad." Robinhood is a genuinely good app that I use and keep funded; it just isn't where I place day trades. Read the verdict, not the number.
Not sure where to start?
If you haven't picked a broker yet, the honest answer is that the right one depends on what kind of trading you're actually planning to do — and most people haven't decided that yet, even if they think they have.
- Not sure what kind of trader you are? Start with types of trading — scalping, day, swing, and position trading need different tools, and picking a broker before you know the answer is backwards.
- Hitting words you don't know? The glossary covers 344 terms in plain English. No signup.
- Ready to compare specs? The broker comparison puts ten brokers in one filterable table.
- Know your broker, need to size a trade? The position size calculator is free and works in the browser.
And the disclosure, plainly: some links on this site are affiliate links. They don't change the ratings — three of the five brokers above have an affiliate program and still didn't crack my day-trading shortlist.