Posted on February 27, 2010 by Carole Somer

When choosing an online broker, it is important to understand what your priorities are. Much like buying a car, or choosing a doctor, there is no one-size-fits-all criteria that can be written here that will guide you to the perfect broker for you. This article will highlight some of the difference between online brokers and which type of investor might benefit in each category. It is also important to not that many of these things are changing rapidly. Some of the cheapest online brokers are adding features that in the past were only found on the sites of the most expensive brokers, and conversely, many of the most expensive brokers are offering deep discounted commissions for users who only want the most basic features.

One of the most obvious and most important difference between online brokers is their commission rates. For investor´s that generally make smaller, frequent trades and want to do their own research, this is probably the most important criteria. Commission rates for online brokers can get down to less than $5 per trade for those who trade frequently. Even $7 to $9 commissions are easily found from some brokers and have no minimum requirements for the number of trades per month. Along with commission rates, it is also important to note any special fees and restrictions.