If you are choosing between Webull vs. Robinhood as a crypto trading platform, the good thing is you cannot go wrong with either of the platforms. Both of these trading platforms offer a wide range of asset classes, commission-free trading on crypto, stocks, and ETFs, and full-featured mobile apps. However, there are some crucial differences when it comes to executing trades, the performance of the apps, and more.
Both the platforms are growing because young investors are actively participating in the investment landscape, especially crypto, which has grown exponentially in the past few years. For the growing crypto community, Webull offers an intuitive trading platform and a unique community experience. However, it lacks a certain level of sophistication that Robinhood provides.
On the contrary, Robinhood is popular for its impressive trading platform and offers several other features. But, the selection of cryptocurrencies is low. Nevertheless, we are only scratching the surface of these platforms. To cover these platforms in great detail, we have created an insightful Robinhood vs. Webull comparison guide. Let’s start with the overviews of both platforms.
Robinhood Overview
Founded in December 2013 by Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev, Robinhood has grown to more than 5 million users. This makes this platform the largest cryptocurrency, ETFs, and stock brokerage platform that charges zero commissions.
Crypto investors can track their investments at all times with its market tracking functionality. Furthermore, for seasoned investors, the platform offers advanced options such as market tracking and executing trades with a single click.
The Robinhood platform is available in most countries, with the exception of North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Iran, and the Crimea region of Ukraine. But what really makes Robinhood a global community is its social experience. Traders and investors can have a one-on-one chat and share investment strategies and market insights.
What’s more? The platform features headlines from CNBC and Business Insider on your news feed, so you don’t have to use multiple apps to keep up with upcoming events and market trends. Lastly, for beginners, the platform has a ton of education material.
Webull Overview
Webull is an app that allows its users to trade seamlessly on its mobile-friendly trading platform. Founded by Wang Anquan, an Alibaba Group Holding Alum in 2017, Webull’s trading platform offers commission-free trading on various asset classes. The easy-to-use and intuitive trading platform is ideal for the mobile-first generation of investors and retail traders.
Other than a slick mobile interface, Webull also offers advanced features for expert traders such as designated keyboard hotkeys to trade on the go. If the traders want to analyze the markets in detail, they can use over 50 chart indicators offered by the platform. Just like Robinhood, Webull has built-in tutorials for beginner crypto traders. For beginners, the platform also offers paper trading where beginners can learn how to trade in a safe environment without losing any money. They can develop strategies, which they can put into practice in real-world trading.
Beginner Friendliness Benefits Of Webull Vs. Robinhood
The first jab we will take in the Webull vs. Robinhood comparison is beginner friendliness. Here, Robinhood takes that lead since its interface is extremely user-friendly and offers loads of educational resources to help newbies get the hang of the process.
On the platform, users can learn how to trade, get crypto recommendations, and learn how to diversify their investment portfolio. It can also help you plan your retirement with its retirement calculator.
On the other hand, Webull is also great for beginners due to its easy-to-use mobile-friendly app. It also has a desktop version that allows traders to try paper trading with real market data. This way, traders can have some hands-on experience before they start.
Transaction Fees for Cryptocurrencies
When it comes to crypto transaction fees, both platforms do not charge any. Webull delivers extended hours of trading, which is where Robinhood lacks. Both Webull and Robinhood generate revenue from the spread, but it means that Bitcoin might get listed higher on these exchanges as compared to other exchanges such as Coinbase.
With that being said, Webulls extended hours trading gives more opportunities to traders to trade at their comfort. This also enables traders to benefit from the volatility of the crypto market via options trading and even sorting. On Webull, traders have no obligations of minimum deposit on any of the account types, but for margin accounts, they have to deposit a minimum of $2,000.
Even Robinhood has the same requirements regarding margin accounts, but its annual margin rate is fairly lower, at 2.5 percent. A margin rate is nothing but the interest the broker charges in case you borrow money to invest with margin trading.
Even though both platforms don’t charge any commission, they have to charge unavoidable regulatory fees. Robinhood takes $5.1 for every $1 million of principal sales. Whereas Webull charges $0.0000052 for the total amount of the trade. So, in this round of Webull vs. Robinhood, Webull takes the lead due to its extended trading hours and regulatory fees.
Trust and Security
Both Robinhood and Webull offer industry-grade security to their users. Each of the two is regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US. Additionally, Webull is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SPIC), which safeguards the customers up to $500,000 if the platform shuts down.
Moreover, Webull offers extra protection with its Apex Clearing, which safeguards losses up to $150 million. But, if investors lose money in the market, these coverages won’t protect them.
Robinhood is a member of SIPC and offers a coverage of $500,000 to its users as well, but crypto investments aren’t protected by the SIPC. Other security measures include encryption of sensitive information making sure that customer information is protected. The platform also offers standard two-factor authentication. With these points, we can see that Webull again takes the lead in the Webull vs. Robinhood comparison.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
Even though Robinhood and Webull both offer crypto trading, the supported cryptocurrencies on these platforms might disappoint most crypto traders/investors. Webull supports 20 crypto trading pairs including tokens such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar Lumens, Chainlink, Ethereum Classic, Ethereum, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and a few more. On the other hand, Robinhood only offers 11 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Compound, Solana, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin SV, Polygon, Shiba Inu, and Dogecoin. This round of Robinhood vs. Webull remains a tie.
Customer Support
Each platform provides customer support for its users in various ways. On the Webull app, users can leverage the in-app chat functionality to solve their queries instantly. Otherwise, they can email the company to get their account-related issues solved. Moreover, there’s a comprehensive FAQ section, which answers most of the common queries related to crypto investing and trading on Webull.
Robinhood also features in-app chat support to help its users troubleshoot problems as they arise. Additionally, there’s also a detailed FAQ section to help with general questions about the app and trading. With slightly better customer support, Webull takes the lead in Webull vs. Robinhood comparison.
Standout Features
It is quite evident that both the platforms have some existing features for traders as well as investors. But, let’s talk about some standout features of these exchanges.
Webull provides one-touch trading, which allows traders to set a trigger price for buying or selling an asset without waiting for the expiration time prior to executing the orders. With this, traders can automatically set an entry and an exit point for a trade without monitoring the asset constantly.
Robinhood offers free options trading for traders. It is a great feature because several crypto exchanges charge a fee for options trading, which can eat into your profits if you do it many times a day. Furthermore, Robinhood customers can spend their funds with a debit card offered by the exchange.
Final Verdict
In this Webull vs. Robinhood bout, Webull has emerged as a better option. Webull gets the edge in this comparison because of its extended trading hours, better crypto support, and better security. Granted, both platforms have zero commission and account minimums, but Webull offers paper trading. Even though Robinhood has a better design, Webull has better customer support options and has a community of traders across the world.
Overall, Webull offers more features, but traders and investors should do their own research and choose a platform based on their needs.