September 25, 2020

Webull Review

By Anna G

Pros and Cons

No trade fees
Advanced research tools
Extended trading hours

No fractional shares
Not beginner friendly

Bottom Line

Good free trading app for more experienced investors

A relative newcomer coming onto the scene in 2017, Webull is already one of the most popular online brokerages. It is the biggest competitor to Robinhood for Millennial investors.

A major difference is the more advanced tools and analytics that Webull offers. However, it does have some downsides that may not make it ideal for certain types of investors.

Is it the best choice for you? And how does Webull compare to other free investing apps? Read on in the full review.

What Is Webull?

Webull is a self-directed discount brokerage. Its mission is to combine finance with technology to provide a better investing experience.

Webull is the broker-dealer arm of a leading Chinese fintech company called Fumi Technology, which provides real-time market data and analysis tools. Therefore, it has a strong emphasis on providing data and analytics to help users make smart decisions.

You can trade stocks, ETFs, options, and cyprocurrencies on Webull for no trade fees.

4 Free Stocks Promotion

New users can get two free stocks, each valued $2.50-$250, for opening an account and two free stocks, each valued $8-$1,600, for making an initial deposit of $100.

Click Here to Get 4 Free Stocks

Who Webull Is Good For

Webull is designed for more experienced stock traders. The amount of analytics may be overwhelming for beginners. Webull is ideal for:

Active traders: The zero trade commissions mean you won't be losing any profits to trading fees.
Swing traders: Webull offers enough research to help you make decisions.
Short sellers and margin traders.

Is Webull good for beginners?
Webull has no minimum requirement and offers a practice trading account, which beginners may like. However, the trading platform is more advanced, so new investors may find it hard to use. And it doesn't support fractional shares, so it's not good for those with just a little bit of money to invest.

PROS & CONS

PROS:

Completely commission-free trades
Free stock bonus offer
No account minimums
Free extended trading accounts
Free margin account with $2,000 minimum
Free paper trading account (trading simulator)
Advanced research tools and charting

CONS:

No fractional shares
No dividend reinvestment
No mutual funds

Account Minimums & Fees

Webull has no minimum investment to get started. And there is no account balance requirement to maintain a regular trading account.

It charges:

No trade commission fees
No account maintenance fees
No inactivity fee
No bank transfer fees (incoming or outgoing)
No account transfer fee (incoming)

Some account fees you may encounter are:

$75 per outgoing stock transfer fee
$8 deposit via wire transfer (domestic)
$25 withdrawal via wire transfer (domestic)
$5 paper statements

All users are also allowed to open a margin trading account for free. The margin account requires a $2,000 minimum.

How does Webull make money without commissions?
Webull makes money through their margin trading loan service, which charges interest up to 6.99%. It also has a paid subscription service for advanced real-time market quotes. In addition, Webull earns interest on uninvested cash in your account.

Investments & Account Options

Webull allows you to trade stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies (new as of November 2020) with no trading fees. It does not offer mutual funds, bonds, futures, or forex.

It also allows you to get in early on IPOs. It has a financial calendar to show upcoming IPOs.

You are able to open these account types:

Individual taxable
Traditional IRA
Roth IRA
Rollover IRA

Webull does not offer joint, custodial, trust, or 529 college savings accounts.

Is Webull Safe?

Webull is safe. Your investments are covered by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). The SIPC insures the stocks and options investments in your account for up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash) if Webull fails.

In addition, its clearing firm Apex Clearing has additional insurance protection, up to $37.5 million for securities and $900,000 for cash for each customer.^[1]

Note that the SIPC does not protect against investment losses due to market conditions.

Even though Webull is a subsidiary of a Chinese company, it is headquartered in New York City. Webull is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Webull Account Features

Extended Trading Hours
Webull offer free extended trading hours from 4:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Paper Trading
You get a virtual trading account with $1,000,000 in fake money. You get access to all the full features of the platform, so you can practice trading strategies before committing real money.

Margin Trading
Margin trading is when you borrow funds from the broker to purchase stocks. Webull offers up to 4x buying power.

Webull offers everyone access to a margin account at no extra cost. You need a $2,000 minimum to qualify. Webull's margin rates start at 6.99% for up to a $25,000 loan, and decrease with higher margin loans.^[2]

Day Trading
Webull allows you to perform up to 3 day trades in a five-trading day period. For investors with a $25,000 account balance or more, you can make unlimited day trades.

Options Strategies
Webull supports Level 1 and Level 2 options trading. Level 1 supports covered calls and cash-secured puts. You must have a margin account. Level 2 supports long calls and long puts in all accounts.

Webull Crypto (new)
All users can also open a crypto portfolio and trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Etherium, and Litecoin. You can buy and sell fractions of cryptos starting from $1. Crypto trading has instant settlement, so you get your funds back right away.

Short Selling
Webull supports short selling in its margin accounts. This is a trading strategy where an investor borrows shares and sells it to the market, with the bet that the stock price will drop. Then they buy it back at the lower price and return it to the lender, thus making a profit.

Short selling is definitely for advanced stock traders. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this approach, but if this is something you may be interested in, Webull supports it.

Research and Tools (Webull)

Despite being a discount brokerage, Webull has a strong trading platform with advanced research offerings and technical analysis that experienced users will appreciate. There will be a learning curve for new investors.

Features include:

Real-time market quotes (Nasdaq Last Sale)
Price alerts for stocks in your watchlists
Stock screeners
Market data from 5 categories and 100+ exchanges
45 technical indicators and 12 charting tools
Analyst ratings for buying or selling an asset
Video replay for historical stock price action

Advanced Quotes Paid Subscriptions

Webull also offers a paid subscription service for users who want to access more advanced real-time market data. Users can subscribe to the advanced quote they want.

Subscription options include:

Nasdaq Basic Level 1
National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO)
Nasdaq Total View Level 2
OPRA Real-Time Data
Toronto Stock Exchange Last Sale
Hong Kong Stock Exchange Level 2
London Stock Exchange Level 1

Quote subscriptions start from $2.99 per month. But some markets could be quite pricey. You have a 7-day free trial after subscribing.

Market Orders

Webull allow you to execute the following orders:

Market orders
Limit orders
Stop orders (stop loss order)
Stop limit orders
Stop-loss/take-profit orders (bracket orders)
OCO (one cancels the other)
OTO (one triggers the other)
OTOCO (one triggers one cancels the other)

Webull allows you to execute more advanced orders, so it's better for the more experienced trader looking to limit their losses when trading stocks.

Customer Support

Webull's customer support team is available 24/7 via email, phone, and its in-app message center. However, there are reports of slow response times and being really hard to reach someone on the phone. Generally, Webull customer service does not have good reviews.

It also offers a large help center on the website, so you may be able to find the answer to your questions on your own.

How It Compares

Webull vs Robinhood
Webull and Robinhood both offer free investing with zero commissions. Both offer stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptos. However, Robinhood's trading platform is very barebones. More advanced investors will need to get their research elsewhere.

One advantage Robinhood has over Webull is that it supports fractional shares. This makes Robinhood a better choice for beginners without a lot of money to invest. On the other hand, Webull has a paper account for beginners to practice.

For more advanced traders, Webull offers more options. It has a free margin account and supports short selling and more advanced market orders.

	Webull	Robinhood


	SPECIAL OFFER 4 Free Stocks Promotion - Learn More	OFFER Get a Free Stock (worth between $2.50 and $200) - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Stock Trading	$0	$0
Options Trading		$0
Annual Fee	All trades are commission-free. No platform fees.	All trades are commission-free. No platform fees.
Minimum Deposit	$0	$0
Mutual Fund Trading		No
Commission Free ETFs	All U.S. listed ETFs	All U.S. listed ETFs
Phone Support	24/7	No
Good For	Experienced investors; Active traders	Beginners; Active traders
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Maintenance Fee	$0	$0
Banking	No	No service fees for Robinhood Cash Management account. Free debit card with no in-network ATM fees or foreign transaction fees
Mobile App	Yes
Virtual Trading	Yes. Free paper trading account with $1,000,000 in fake money	No
Fractional Shares	No	Yes
Taxable Accounts	Yes	Yes
IRA Accounts	Yes	No

	4 Free Stocks Promotion Free Stock for An Initial Deposit of $100 or More Get Started	Get a Free Stock (worth between $2.50 and $200) Commission-Free Trades Free Cryptocurrency Investing
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. Robinhood: Pricing information from published websites as of 04/18/2020.

Webull vs E*Trade
E*Trade is one of the most popular full-service brokerages. It offers a wide variety of account types and investment products, including mutual funds, bonds, and futures.

It offers comprehensive research tools, including real-time market streaming and interactive charts. It's a great choice for investors of all experience levels who want everything in one place.

	Webull	E*TRADE


	SPECIAL OFFER 4 Free Stocks Promotion - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Learn more about ETRADE - Learn More*
	Benefits and Features
Stock Trading	$0	$0 per trade
Options Trading		$0 per trade + $0.65 per contract $0 per trade + $0.50 per contract if you make 30+ trades a quarter
Minimum Deposit	$0	$500 for brokerage accounts No account minimum for retirement accounts
Mutual Fund Trading		$0 for no-load, no-transaction-fee funds $19.99 for transaction-fee funds
Commission Free ETFs	All U.S. listed ETFs	250+
Customer Service	24/7 via phone and email	800-387-2331
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Maintenance Fee	$0	$0
Banking	No	Checking account offers no minimum balance requirements, free online bill pay, and unlimited debit card and check transactions.
Mobile App	Yes
Desktop App	Yes	E*TRADE Pro (requires you execute at least 30 trades during a calendar quarter or maintain brokerage account balance of at least $250,000)
Futures Trading		$1.50 per contract, per side + fees (excluding bitcoin futures)
	4 Free Stocks Promotion Free Stock for An Initial Deposit of $100 or More Get Started	Learn more about E*TRADE
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. E*TRADE: Pricing information from published website as of 12/05//2020.

Webull vs M1 Finance
M1 Finance is a hybrid DIY brokerage and robo-advisor. You build your own portfolio, and M1 will automatically make trades and manage it for you. It only offers stocks and ETFs. There are no trading commissions and no management fees.

Beginners may also want to consider M1 because you don't have to worry about managing it yourself. The minimum to start is just $100 and the platform supports fractional shares. And if you're not sure what to invest in, there are 80+ pre-built portfolios created by their experts.

	Webull	M1 Finance


	SPECIAL OFFER 4 Free Stocks Promotion - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER New Customers: Deposit $1,000 and Get $30 - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Stock Trading	$0	$0
Annual Fee	All trades are commission-free. No platform fees.	None
Minimum Deposit	$0	$100
Mutual Fund Trading		No
Commission Free ETFs	All U.S. listed ETFs	All U.S. listed ETFs
Phone Support	24/7	Monday - Friday 9:30 am to 4 pm EST
Good For	Experienced investors; Active traders	DIY investing with passive portfolio management
Inactivity Fee	$0	$20 (for accounts with less than $20 and no activity for 90+ days)
Maintenance Fee	$0	$0
Banking	No	All users can open a M1 Spend account with free debit card. No monthly service fees and no balance requirements.
Mobile App	Yes
Virtual Trading	Yes. Free paper trading account with $1,000,000 in fake money	No
Fractional Shares	No	Yes
Taxable Accounts	Yes	Yes
IRA Accounts	Yes	Yes

	4 Free Stocks Promotion Free Stock for An Initial Deposit of $100 or More Get Started	New Customers: Deposit $1,000 and Get $30 Transfer Your Account and Earn Up to $2,500 Commission Free Stock Trading
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. M1 Finance: Pricing information from published website as of 02/28/2020

Bottom Line

Webull is worth considering for experienced, active traders who are comfortable investing on their own. The robust trading platform offers enough research and tools to satisfy most serious investors. It also offers some great features for more advanced investors, such as margin trading and short selling.

References

^ Webull - Is my brokerage account insured and protected?, Retrieved 12/10/2020
^ Webull Financial Fee Schedule, Retrieved 12/10/2020

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