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by caymanjim 1819 days ago
I know better, and I still use Robinhood. I also use Fidelity, but their mobile and web apps suck beyond description, and used to use Scottrade, who also suck. Robinhood doesn't just look better (although that's important); it's easier to use and faster; bank transfers are WAY easier; you don't have to jump through hoops to enable options trading (which means a lot of people who shouldn't trade options now do, but it's still better for those who want to); you can trade on deposits instantly instead of waiting a week for the deposit to clear; margin is easy to use. There are plenty of foot-guns in everything I said, but there's also plenty of convenience and utility for people who are trading carefully.
3 comments

I also know better and still use Robinhood. I don't day trade (actually can't since I work in finance) and I haven't even considered options or buying on margin. So none of those were what drew me to using Robinhood. Instead it was that the experience of trading via their app was excellent.

Maybe others have gotten better now, but I really don't see a dire need to switch.

I feel like the only person who actually likes the Fidelity app. Sure, it's not visually attractive like Robinhood but the amount of information you get is far greater. Also the iOS app works on both my iPhone and iPad whereas Robinhood only renders the phone view on iPad. The app even has proper support for the Magic Keyboard so cursor interactions work the way they should on iPadOS. Fidelity definitely has a "boomer UX" quality about it but once you get used to it, it's really not that bad.
I like fidelity's app and website. Making complex trades on a phone doesn't make sense I think anyway. It's like programming on a phone, if you want to do anything serious use a computer.
The line between the two are blurring further every day, though. Might not be that far off in the future when they're actually interchangeable.
Hmm I'm not sure, the problem with phones is the screen size. Just getting enough information on a screen is difficult then intuitively managing it. Even a tablet might struggle.
Have you tried TD Ameritrade's Think or Swim?
Think or Swim is awesome if you're technical or putting a lot of time & geeking out into this world.

Robinhood is awesome if you're new or want something much simpler.

If I was daring, I might compare it to Linux/MS vs Apple on here but I don't dare because people would take that the wrong way.

ToS is pretty good. Takes some getting used to though and is sometimes confusing.
The ToS people's follow up venture, Tastyworks, is now better IMHO.