Fidelity vs. Vanguard: Compare Features
Vanguard and Fidelity excels for long-term, cost-conscious investors with their low fees, a broad range of low-cost funds, and strong retirement planning tools.
Their platform suits hands-off investors focused on gradual wealth building.
Vanguard | Fidelity | |
|---|---|---|
Investing Options | Full Access To Almost Any Asset | Full Access To Almost Any Asset |
Investing Types | Stocks, Options, ETFs, Bonds & CDs, Mutual Funds, Money Market Funds | Stocks, Options, Margin, ETFs, Bonds & CDs, Precious metals, Crypto, Mutual Funds |
Automated Investing | Yes | Yes |
Paper Trading | No | No |
IPO Access | No | Yes |
Dedicated Advisor | Yes | Yes |
Tax Loss Harvesting | Yes | No |
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Self Investing And Fundamental Analysis Options
Fidelity is our winner in self-investing, but the difference is insignificant.
Fidelity excels in providing a broad array of investment options, along with sophisticated research tools and analytics. It also offers access to IPOs, which is not available with Vanguard.
Investors can access in-depth financial statements, analyst ratings, earnings reports, and valuation metrics for individual companies.
Vanguard is ideal for long-term investors who want access to a wide variety of assets, such as ETFs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and CDs.
They offer great tools for value investors like Portfolio Watch, Portfolio Tester, cost basis analysis and analyze hypothetical changes to holdings.
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Trading Options And Technical Analysis Tools
Fidelity trading platform os more robust compared to Vnaguard.
Fidelity offers more comprehensive charting capabilities than Vanguard through its Active Trader Pro software, allowing users to customize charts with a wide range of technical indicators, such as moving averages, Bollinger Bands, MACD, and RSI.
Fidelity also provides advanced drawing tools that allow users to add trendlines, Fibonacci retracements, and other visual aids to their charts, helping to identify key support and resistance levels
While Vanguard focuses on low-cost funds and simple trading options, its platform is pretty basic. You can buy, sell, and see advanced data for fundamental investors, but not for traders.
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Robo Advisor And Automated Investing
If you need a robo advisor, both Vanguard and Fidelity, offer great options.
For hands-off investors, Vanguard’s robo-advisor, Vanguard Digital Advisor, uses a mix of Vanguard’s index funds and ETFs, primarily targeting a balance between stocks and bonds based on a user’s risk tolerance. There is a fee of up to 0.15%, lower than Fidelity.
If you prefer a mix of automated technology and human advice, for a higher fee of 0.30% Vanguard’s Personal Advisor adds professional financial guidance to the robo-advising service.
Fidelity’s robo-advisor, Fidelity Go, is designed for investors seeking a hands-off approach with simplicity and low fees.
Fidelity Go offers a straightforward, tiered pricing structure with no advisory fees for accounts under $25,000 and a modest 0.35% fee for larger balances.
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Retirement Accounts
Fidelity also excels in providing access to professional advice, allowing investors to consult with dedicated advisors to tailor retirement plans that include strategies for tax efficiency, estate planning, and more.
Vanguard is also well-known for its retirement options, such as traditional and Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, and SIMPLE IRAs.
Their focus on low-cost index and target-date funds makes them a solid choice for long-term retirement planning, with tools to help set goals, estimate expenses, and track IRA contributions.
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Fees
When it comes to fees, Vanguard seems to be a bit more affordable.
Vanguard’s fees are up to 0.30% for account management, with $0 commissions on U.S. stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. Options trades cost $0.65 per contract.
Fidelity offers commission-free trading on most stocks and ETFs and low fees on other investment options.
Vanguard | Fidelity | |
|---|---|---|
Fees | Up to 0.30%
$0 online commission on U.S. listed stocks, mutual funds and ETFs, options: $0.65 per-contract, Vanguard Digital Advisor – 0.015%, Vanguard Personal Advisor: 0.03%, Vanguard Personal Advisor Select: up to 0.03%, Vanguard Wealth Management: up to 0.03% | 0% – 1.04%
Fidelity Go® Robo advisor: $0: under $25,000, 0.35%/yr: $25,000 and above
Fidelity® Wealth Management dedicated advisor: 0.50%–1.50%
Fidelity Private Wealth Management® advisor-led team: 0.20%–1.04%
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For those who need a robo advisor, Fidelity Is actually free for a small portfolio of up to $25,000 which is better than Vanguard that offer a flate rate of 0.15%.
However Fidelity is more expensive and for those who manage more than $25K, as it charges a fee of 0.35% (0% under $25,000).
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Cash Management And Savings Rates
Vanguard is our winner when it comes to cash management.
Vanguard | Fidelity Cash APY | |
|---|---|---|
Savings APY | 3.65% | 3.98% |
Fidelity’s Cash Management Account stands out for its flexibility and comprehensive features. For those looking for pure savings, Fidelity offers the FDIC Insured Deposit Sweep Program, but the rates are not so competitive.
Vanguard offers the Cash Plus Account, which earns interest on balances, and money market funds, though the latter require a $3,000 minimum.
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Wealth Management Options
Vanguard is our winner when it comes to wealth management. and high-net individuals.
Vanguard’s Wealth Management services are geared toward investors with at least $5 million in assets, focusing on long-term financial planning, managing investments, and estate planning.
They combine automated tools (robo-advisors) with advice from certified financial planners to create personalized strategies that help minimize taxes and plan for the future, including estate planning.
Fidelity offers two main tiers of wealth management services: Wealth Management and Private Wealth Management.
- Wealth Management, designed for clients with a minimum of $500,000 in investable assets, provides a dedicated advisor to develop a customized financial plan covering retirement, estate planning, tax strategies, and investment management.
- Private Wealth Management is for clients with at least $2 million in managed assets or $10 million in total assets with Fidelity.
Bottom Line
Both Vanguard and Fidelity are great for investors. The differences between them are minor in each category, but if we'd to choose a single winner, Fidelity is our choice due to its better retirement options and more extensive trading app.
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