Fidelity Investments vs Public.com (2026) — Which Is Better?

Fidelity and Public.com sit on opposite sides of the US retail brokerage line. Fidelity is a 75-year-old full-service broker with 4.7/5 ratings across categories, $4+ trillion in customer assets, and best-in-class research. Public is a five-year-old mobile-first startup built around social investing and AI-driven research. Both offer $0 commissions on stocks and ETFs. Everything else is different.

Fidelity: full-service, deep research, Active Trader Pro

Fidelity Investments is the reference standard for US retail brokerage. Commission-free stocks and ETFs, $0.65/contract options, no minimum deposit, zero-fee index funds (FZROX, FZILX — literally 0% expense ratio), and customer service consistently rated #1 in industry surveys.

Active Trader Pro (free desktop platform) gives you Level 2 quotes, custom charting, options analysis, and hotkey order entry. Not as powerful as ThinkorSwim but genuinely competitive for active retail. Fidelity's research library is unmatched: Argus, Zacks, MSCI, Recognia, plus in-house Fidelity Learning Center content — all included free.

Product coverage: stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, futures (limited), international equity in some markets. No crypto. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans — the retirement/tax-advantaged infrastructure is comprehensive.

Public.com: social investing, Alpha AI, alternatives

Public.com is structured around discussion. Every stock has a comment thread; you can see what other members hold and why. The Alpha AI tool gives plain-language analysis of stocks — earnings summaries, key metrics, analyst consensus — designed for investors who don't want to read filings.

Free: commission-free stocks, ETFs, options ($0/contract), crypto, bonds, alternatives. Premium ($10/month): higher HYCA rate, full Alpha AI. Public dropped PFOF on equities in 2021 — this is a genuine differentiator for cost-conscious buyers.

Public covers alternatives (private-market investments) that Fidelity doesn't offer — collectibles, some private equity funds, art. This is genuinely different from the mainstream broker menu.

Research depth

Fidelity's research is professional-grade — Argus fundamental reports, Zacks earnings estimates, MSCI ESG ratings, plus custom Fidelity analysis on individual stocks. If you're doing fundamental analysis on 20-50 stocks, Fidelity is where you go.

Public's Alpha AI is more accessible but less deep — good for a plain-language summary of a company you're considering, not a substitute for reading a 10-K. It's built for the investor who wants "should I look at this stock" not "here's a full DCF."

Both approaches have merit. Different learning styles.

Order execution

Fidelity uses price improvement routing — trades often execute at prices better than the NBBO quote. Fidelity is one of the largest routers to non-PFOF venues, so execution quality is genuinely strong for retail.

Public dropped PFOF on equities. Instead of receiving payment from wholesalers, Public passes those rebates to the customer (as tips) or foregoes them entirely. This is aligned with the customer in a way most $0-commission brokers aren't.

Both are aligned with the customer on execution — just via different mechanisms.

Retirement infrastructure

Fidelity is the reference standard for retirement accounts. Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), 529 college savings, HSA — all with zero-fee options. The Fidelity Go and Wealth Management services extend into automated and managed investing.

Public offers IRAs (Traditional and Roth) but the retirement infrastructure is much thinner. No SEP-IRA, no Solo 401(k), no 529.

If retirement accounts are central to your investing life, Fidelity wins by a wide margin.

Cash management

Public HYCA offers competitive rates on uninvested cash (4-5% APY range, subject to change). Fidelity's Cash Management Account offers similar rates through the SPAXX sweep. Both FDIC-insured up to $2.5M via sweep networks.

Roughly equivalent on cash. Slight edge to Public for the mobile-first HYCA experience; slight edge to Fidelity for integration with the rest of your financial life.

Crypto

Public offers crypto trading directly in the app. Fidelity offers Bitcoin and Ethereum through Fidelity Crypto (separate app), plus the FBTC spot Bitcoin ETF for retirement accounts.

If you want to buy and hold BTC/ETH inside a taxable brokerage account, Public is more integrated. If you want spot BTC exposure inside an IRA, Fidelity's FBTC is the workaround.

Fees and hidden costs

Fidelity: $0 commissions, $0.65/contract options, no account minimums, no maintenance fees, no inactivity fees. Zero-fee index funds. Genuinely one of the cheapest full-service brokers.

Public: $0 commissions on stocks/ETFs, $0 options per contract, no account minimums. Premium tier is $10/month if you want the higher HYCA rate and full Alpha AI.

Both are effectively free at the basic tier. Public's Premium can add up over years; Fidelity's baseline is functionally comparable to Public Premium at $0.

Our take

Pick Fidelity if: you're building a long-term investment portfolio, using retirement accounts, want serious research tools, or want the safest and most established brokerage. This is the default answer for 80% of US retail investors.

Pick Public if: you want the social investing layer, the Alpha AI plain-language research, or you're specifically avoiding PFOF on equities. Best fit for engaged retail who like discussing positions.

Use both: Fidelity for retirement and long-term holdings; Public for a smaller taxable account where the social/AI layer changes how you research. Neither charges commissions, so multi-account setups have no cost overhead.