Best Brokers for Fractional Shares in 2026
A plain-English comparison of every major U.S. broker offering fractional shares — what they let you buy, what it costs, and which one fits which kind of investor.
A decade ago, if you wanted to own a piece of Berkshire Hathaway, you needed about half a million dollars. Today you need a dollar. Fractional share investing — the ability to buy a slice of a stock rather than a whole share — has quietly become one of the most useful innovations for retail investors since commission-free trading. Almost every major U.S. broker now offers it, but the offerings vary widely. Some let you fractional-buy thousands of stocks for a dollar. Others limit you to S&P 500 names with a $5 minimum. A few add quirks — clearing fees, restricted order types, no transferability — that matter once you're past the marketing copy.
This guide walks through who offers what, in 2026, and which broker fits which kind of investor.
What Fractional Shares Actually Are
A fractional share is exactly what it sounds like: a partial unit of a stock. If a stock trades at $400 and you have $50 to invest, fractional investing lets you buy 0.125 shares. You own that proportion of a share — you receive the same proportion of dividends, and your gains and losses scale with the same percentage moves as the full share.
The mechanics matter for one reason: fractional shares typically can't be transferred between brokers. If you decide to switch from Robinhood to Fidelity, you'll usually need to sell your fractional positions first and rebuy them at the new broker — potentially triggering a tax event. Whole shares transfer cleanly via ACATS; fractions don't.
The Largest Selection
Fidelity ("Stocks by the Slice")
Fidelity offers fractional shares on more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs starting at $1, commission-free, with dividend reinvestment into fractional shares. This is the broadest selection of any major broker and probably the default recommendation for most retail investors. Fidelity also offers strong research, no account minimums, and integrates fractionals with their existing platform — no separate workflow.
Caveats: only market and limit orders are supported on fractional trades, and fractional orders are marked "not held," meaning Fidelity has discretion on execution timing within a window.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers offers fractional shares on U.S. and many international stocks. It's free on the IBKR Lite tier; on the IBKR Pro tier, fractional trades cost the greater of 1% of trade value or $0.01 per share. The killer feature is global reach — IBKR provides fractional access to over 150 international markets, which no other broker on this list comes close to matching.
This is the broker for serious investors who want global diversification or who care about institutional-grade execution. The platform has a steeper learning curve than Robinhood-style apps, but the depth is real.
Firstrade
Firstrade offers fractional shares on more than 4,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs with a $5 minimum, commission-free, and includes fractional dividend reinvestment. A solid middle-ground option with a less crowded interface than Fidelity.
App-First, Beginner-Friendly
Robinhood
Fractional shares from $1, commission-free. Robinhood was instrumental in popularizing fractional investing for retail. The app is genuinely easy to use — too easy, some critics argue. The platform has matured significantly since its early controversies and now offers IRAs, recurring investments, and broader instrument coverage. Best for new investors who value interface simplicity above feature depth.
Webull
Fractional purchases from $5 (with positions as small as 0.00001 shares), commission-free. Webull's interface skews more toward active traders than Robinhood's — more charting, more order types — while keeping the fractional flexibility. Worth considering if you want one foot in active trading and one in long-term investing.
SoFi Invest
Fractional shares on more than 4,000 stocks and ETFs, $5 minimum, commission-free, with fractional dividend reinvestment. SoFi's value proposition is the integrated banking-plus-investing ecosystem. If you already use SoFi for checking or loans, the seamless transfer between accounts has practical value. Standalone, it's a perfectly competent fractional broker.
Public
Built around fractional and "social" investing — you can see what others are holding. Whether that's useful or distracting depends on your temperament. Public has carved out a niche but isn't usually the best pick on pure feature depth.
Stash and M1 Finance
Both designed primarily around fractional investing for automated, recurring buys. Stash uses subscription pricing ($1–$9/month) with educational features, "Stock-Back" rewards on debit purchases, and round-up investing. M1 Finance specializes in "pies" — pre-set portfolio allocations that automatically rebalance as you contribute. Best for set-and-forget investors who want to dollar-cost average without thinking about it.
Limited or Restricted Fractional Offerings
Charles Schwab ("Stock Slices")
Schwab's fractional offering is restricted to S&P 500 stocks only, with a $5 minimum, up to 30 slices per order. If you're a Schwab customer who wants to fractional-buy Apple, Microsoft, or Amazon, this works fine. If you want to buy a fraction of an S&P 500-excluded mid-cap or a specific ETF, you'll need to look elsewhere. Schwab remains a top broker overall — the fractional limitation is a known trade-off, not a flaw of the broader platform.
Vanguard
Vanguard allows fractional buys on its own ETFs and mutual funds, but not on individual stocks or non-Vanguard ETFs. For Bogleheads building portfolios out of Vanguard index funds, this is fine. For anyone wanting to buy fractional individual stocks, Vanguard is not the broker.
Wells Fargo (WellsTrade)
"Stock Fractions" launched in late 2023. Hundreds of stocks and ETFs, $10 minimum order. A reasonable option if you already bank with Wells Fargo and want fractional access without opening a separate brokerage account.
Tastytrade
$5 minimum, but charges a $0.10 clearing fee per fractional trade. The fee is small but adds friction for very small recurring buys — twenty $5 trades a month is $2 in clearing fees on $100 of investment, a 2% drag. Tastytrade's strength is options trading; fractional shares are a recent add-on.
E*TRADE and Merrill Edge
Neither allows direct fractional purchases. Both will reinvest dividends into fractional shares — useful for compounding existing positions but not for opening new ones in fractional form.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Broker | Min | Selection | Frac. DRIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | $1 | 7,000+ stocks/ETFs | Yes |
| Interactive Brokers | ~$1 | U.S. + 150 intl markets | Yes (Lite, free) |
| Firstrade | $5 | 4,000+ stocks/ETFs | Yes |
| Robinhood | $1 | Most U.S. stocks/ETFs | Yes |
| Webull | $5 | Most U.S. stocks/ETFs | Yes |
| SoFi Invest | $5 | 4,000+ stocks/ETFs | Yes |
| Schwab Slices | $5 | S&P 500 only | Yes |
| WellsTrade | $10 | Hundreds | Optional |
| Tastytrade | $5 | Most U.S. stocks/ETFs | Yes ($0.10 fee) |
| Vanguard | Varies | Vanguard ETFs/funds only | Yes |
| E*TRADE / Merrill | — | DRIP only, no buys | Yes |
Which Broker for Which Investor
If you want the broadest selection and lowest minimum
Fidelity. 7,000+ stocks, $1 minimum, full DRIP, no monthly fees. Almost no reason for most retail investors to look elsewhere unless you want a specific feature Fidelity doesn't offer.
If you want international exposure
Interactive Brokers. Nobody else comes close on global market access. The Lite tier is free; the Pro tier costs more but offers professional-grade execution.
If you're a beginner who wants simplicity
Robinhood or SoFi. Both have clean apps, $1–$5 minimums, and don't overwhelm. SoFi if you also want banking integration; Robinhood if you don't.
If you want automated, recurring investing
M1 Finance for portfolio "pies" and automatic rebalancing, or Stash for round-up investing and beginner-friendly automation.
If you already use a specific bank or platform
Use what you have unless there's a real reason not to. Fidelity, Schwab, Wells Fargo, and SoFi all integrate brokerage with banking. The convenience of one login often outweighs marginal feature differences.
Things to Know Before You Pick One
Fractional shares generally can't be transferred
If you switch brokers, you'll usually have to sell your fractional positions first. The whole-share portion transfers via ACATS; the fractional remainder gets liquidated. This can trigger short-term capital gains. Plan accordingly if broker-hopping is in your future.
Order types may be restricted
Most brokers only allow market and limit orders on fractional trades. Stop orders, trailing stops, and conditional orders are typically not supported on fractional positions. If your strategy depends on automated exits, fractional may not be the right tool.
Voting rights and corporate actions
Fractional share holders generally don't get voting rights on shareholder resolutions, and the handling of stock splits or spin-offs varies by broker. For long-term passive investors this rarely matters; for engaged shareholders it can.
Liquidity for low-volume names
Some brokers exclude very low-volume or low-market-cap stocks from fractional trading, since the broker has to internalize the fractional remainder. Fidelity and Robinhood handle this gracefully; smaller brokers may quietly restrict thinly-traded tickers.
Use the Calculators
Once you've picked a broker, the position-size and compound-return calculators on our home page work identically on fractional positions — the math doesn't care whether you own 1.5 shares or 150.
The Bottom Line
Fractional shares are one of the cleanest improvements to retail investing in the last decade. They eliminate the awkward problem of stocks that trade above your contribution amount, they enable real dollar-cost averaging on any name regardless of price, and they let small accounts diversify properly.
For most retail investors in 2026, the practical question isn't "should I use fractional shares" — it's "which broker has the best fractional offering for my specific situation." Fidelity is the safe default. Interactive Brokers is the global option. The app-style brokers fit beginners and casual investors. Schwab, Vanguard, and Wells Fargo work if you have an existing reason to use them. Pick one, fund it, and start compounding.
Frequently Asked
Are fractional shares safe?
Yes — they're held in your brokerage account the same way whole shares are, with the same SIPC protection (up to $500,000 per account at U.S. brokers). The mechanics behind the scenes are different — the broker holds the whole share and tracks your fractional ownership — but for the investor it functions like normal stock ownership.
Can I sell fractional shares whenever I want?
Yes, during market hours. Most brokers allow market or limit orders on fractional sales just like on purchases. Some restrict you to selling whole positions only (fractional + whole portion together) rather than selling just the fractional piece.
Do fractional shares pay dividends?
Yes — proportionally. If you own 0.5 shares of a stock that pays a $1.00 quarterly dividend, you receive $0.50. Most brokers offering fractional shares also offer fractional dividend reinvestment.
Why can't I transfer fractional shares between brokers?
The ACATS transfer system (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) was built for whole shares. Fractional shares are a relatively recent innovation and the underlying clearing infrastructure hasn't fully caught up. Workarounds exist (selling and rebuying), but no clean solution does.
Is there a tax difference for fractional shares?
No. Fractional shares are taxed identically to whole shares — short-term capital gains rates if held under a year, long-term rates if held longer. Dividends are taxed as either qualified or ordinary based on the same rules that apply to whole-share dividends.