100 Insights on US Stock Trading Platforms

About This Study

This study is powered by Langston Landscapes, an always-on data ecosystem that’s continuously refreshed across thousands of consumer responses. While most category intelligence stays surface level, Landscapes goes further, connecting dozens of data points across awareness, behavior, attitudes, and motivation to build a complete, multidimensional picture of any brand or category. For the questions that need fast, confident answers, Landscapes delivers the depth and agility modern brand and research teams need.

The insights in this study were derived from data within the Landscapes US stock trading platform category, covering everything from how consumers discover and choose platforms to what they actually think and feel about the brands competing for their money.

18 brands studied

Get rich data for household names like Robinhood, Vanguard, and Charles Schwab, as well as newer challengers like Betterment and Moomoo.

2000+ respondents

Nationally representative of Americans ages 13–74 who actively use stock trading platforms, fielded in November 2025.

100 unique insights

Five insights per brand studied, plus a category-level overview of the biggest winners, weakest funnels, and most surprising findings in the space.

Brands featured in the study

A taste of what’s inside

Behind every Landscapes study is a team of in-house research experts who know how to turn data into an actionable story. If something in this report sparks a question, we would love to help you go deeper. Book some time to chat with us.

In the meantime, here is a selection of insights from the full report.

Trust and loyalty are not the same currency

More than half of people familiar with Schwab say it’s a brand they trust, the highest of any stock trading platform we studied. While users respect Schwab deeply, they don’t feel particularly rewarded or emotionally connected to the brand. Credibility is hard to build and worth protecting, but a brand that only earns respect and never earns affection will always be leaving something on the table.

Clarity compounds across the entire funnel

Most brands invest heavily in being seen. Far fewer invest in being understood. Fidelity has the smallest gap between “I’ve heard of it” and “I know what it is” of any platform in the study, and that clarity compounds across every stage of their funnel. When people consistently understand what you do and why it matters, awareness stops being a vanity metric and starts doing real work.

Usability without trust is a short game

Robinhood leads the category on ease of use by a wide margin, but its trust scores tell a different story. Simplicity is felt instantly and encourages users to keep using the product. Trust takes time, builds quietly, and compounds over many interactions, none of which would be possible without an engaged and active user. In a category where people are making real financial decisions, both are necessary for long-term success.

Scale without relevance is a slow fade

Nearly everyone has heard of Vanguard, but only one in four people associate it with being innovative — the widest gap between brand size and forward-thinking perception in the entire study. Recognition without relevance is a quiet risk. The brands that lose the next generation of investors won’t lose them loudly. They’ll just never earn them in the first place.

Inherited trust only gets you so far

Merrill Edge attracts the wealthiest and most risk-comfortable investors of any platform we studied, a reflection of the brand recognition and institutional credibility that comes with the Bank of America name. However, it also has the lowest retention rate in the study. A strong parent brand is a powerful acquisition engine, but it cannot do the job that product experience and emotional connection are supposed to do. At some point, brands have to earn it themselves.

Not every brand needs to talk to everyone

Tastytrade has the lowest brand awareness of any platform we studied, but everyone who seriously considered it ended up trying it. That kind of conversion raises an interesting question about what scale is actually supposed to look like. Reaching everyone is one strategy. Reaching exactly the right people, deeply and convincingly, is another. The data leaves room for both interpretations.

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In order to conduct unbiased and objective research, this study was privately funded by The Langston Co. We did not receive endorsement or financial support of any kind from any third party.

DISCLAIMER: We base our research, recommendations, and forecasts on techniques, information and sources we believe to be reliable. We cannot guarantee future accuracy and results. The Langston Co. will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader's reliance on our research.