Broker Reviews
A sourced look at Ally Invest's stock, ETF, and options commissions, its tiered margin rate structure, and its account minimums, pulled directly from Ally's own pricing page. Not a recommendation to open an account with Ally Invest.
Ally Invest is the self-directed brokerage arm of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY), operated through Ally Invest Securities LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC. As a subsidiary of a large, publicly traded financial holding company, it carries no operating-status concern of the kind that applies to newer or smaller firms. This page summarizes its published commission schedule, margin rate structure, and account minimums for the Ally Invest Self-Directed Trading account as of this run. It is not a recommendation to open an account with Ally Invest.
Ally Invest charges $0 commission on eligible U.S. stocks and ETFs priced $2 and higher, with no trade or balance minimum required to get that pricing. Stocks and ETFs priced below $2 (defined by Ally as "low-priced securities") carry a $4.95 base commission plus one cent per share on the entire order, capped so the total commission generally does not exceed 5% of the trade's value. Options carry no per-trade commission but do carry a $0.50 per-contract fee on every contract. Option exercise and assignment are both $0. Bonds and Treasuries are $1 per bond, with a $10 minimum and $250 maximum per transaction, and no-load mutual funds are $0 to buy or sell.
Source: ally.com/invest/commissions-and-fees (official Ally Invest pricing page, fetched directly in full, August 2026).
Ally Invest publishes a base margin lending rate of 5.50%, set at the firm's discretion with reference to commercially recognized interest rates such as the broker call loan rate, effective as of December 10, 2025 per independently tracked rate data. Ally applies tiered rates using this base rate plus a standard percentage that varies by balance tier, and both the base rate and tier structure are subject to change without notice. A margin account requires a $2,000 minimum deposit to open, separate from the $0-minimum cash account.
Sources: ally.com/invest/self-directed-trading/margin-account (official Ally Invest margin account page); ally.com/resources/pdf/invest/margin-agreement.pdf (official Margin Disclosure Statement, updated 2024-09-15); 5.50% base rate and its 12/10/2025 effective date cross-referenced via WebSearch citing the same ally.com margin-account page, since the full current balance-tier table was not fully captured in this run's direct page content.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Self-Directed cash account minimum | $0 |
| Self-Directed margin account minimum | $2,000 |
| Full account transfer (ACAT out) | $50 |
| Outgoing domestic wire transfer | $30 |
| IRA transfer fee | $50 |
| Robo Portfolio (Cash-Enhanced) advisory fee | 0% (roughly 30% held as cash buffer) |
| Robo Portfolio (Market-Focused) advisory fee | 0.30% annual |
| Personal Advice (managed) advisory fee | $100,000 minimum, 0.75%–0.85% blended annual |
Ally Invest Self-Directed Trading itself has no minimum deposit for a cash account and no monthly account fee. The $100,000 minimum and 0.75%–0.85% blended fee belong to Personal Advice, a separate managed-advisory product, not the self-directed trading account this review otherwise covers.
Source: ally.com/invest/commissions-and-fees (official Ally Invest pricing page, fetched directly in full, August 2026); margin account minimum cross-referenced via WebSearch citing ally.com/invest/self-directed-trading.