Public is an investing platform that offers a solid trading experience and will likely appeal to investors who are new to financial markets. You’ll get access to lots of educational content that can help beginning investors get up to speed on various topics and with fractional shares, you can start trading with as little as $1.
You also won’t have to worry about commissions on stocks, ETFs or options, and it makes bond trading much more accessible, too. Public offers cryptocurrency trading, though there is a transaction fee charged by their crypto partner, as well as the opportunity to invest in non-traditional assets such as luxury goods and contemporary art. A social feed is available to connect with other investors about trade ideas and company executives are sometimes available for investor questions through its “town hall” meetings.
While Public offers much of what will interest a typical investor, you won’t find mutual funds on the app and individual taxable accounts are the only account type offered. Investors looking for a broader brokerage offering should consider traditional brokers such as Fidelity Investments or Charles Schwab.
Best for
- Beginning investors
- Buy-and-hold investors
- Fractional shares
Public at a glance
Category | Public |
---|---|
Minimum balance | $0 |
Securities tradable | Stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrency, bonds |
Cost per trade | $0 |
Customer service | Email, chat Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET |
Account fees | $75 for transfers out; $5 inactivity fee every 6 months for accounts with less than $20 |
Mobile app | The Public mobile app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. |
Pros: Where Public stands out
Low trade minimum and no commissions
Public makes it astoundingly easy to buy into the market. You’ll need just $1 to get into the game. And you’ll have access to literally thousands of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), so you’re likely to find that hot stock you want to buy. Public literally can’t lower the bar any further to stock ownership.
As part of its value proposition, Public doesn’t charge any commission. Zero-commission trading is not quite the hook that it was a few years ago when Robinhood started pulling this little trick. Still, it’s good to see that Public meets the standard industry commission structure.
Want to set your trading on autopilot? Public lets you set up an investment plan to buy stocks or funds regularly so you don’t need to worry about it. Premium members receive this feature at no extra cost, though non-paying members will pay $0.49, $0.99 or $1.99, depending on the number of stocks in their investment plan (1-3, 4-10 or 11-20, respectively).
Options pricing
Public has extended its value prop beyond just stocks and ETFs with the addition of options trading. Public offers revenue sharing on options trades, with clients receiving 50 percent of the broker’s revenue on trades, though you’ll need to sign up for the program. The net effect means that (incredibly) you may wind up being paid for your options trades.
For example, Public estimates that clients would receive about $0.18 per contract traded and a net $0.15 per contract, after factoring in regulatory fees, which are assessed at every broker. This pricing structure may well make Public the best options broker out there, among brokers offering free options trades.
Bond trading
Public began offering Treasury securities and corporate bonds in 2023, giving it a presence in the fixed-income world. Trading individual bonds is typically the province of more sophisticated investors, in part because it costs around $1,000 to buy a single bond, making it prohibitive for many individual investors. Public is changing that, and allowing investors to buy a much more manageable portion of a bond in the $100 range, opening up the market to more people.
Public charges a fee of $0.10 to $0.25 for every $100 face value in Treasury bonds, while corporate bonds run $0.35 to $0.50 for every $100 in face value. The bond market is less liquid than the stock market, resulting in wider bid-ask spreads that can cost investors real money.
Fractional shares
Public allows fractional shares on its platform, and that’s a great feature for beginners. With fractional shares, you can buy a slice of even the highest-priced stocks or ETFs. And with the low trade minimum of just $1, you can own a piece – albeit a tiny one – of anything. This feature gets every last dollar of your money working for you, regardless of the stock price.
Not only does Public support buying partial shares, but it allows you to reinvest in them, too. So when you receive a dividend, you can set the app to reinvest it into the stock that paid it.
Both features are good for beginners, and not many brokers offer both. In fact, Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Robinhood are some of the only major online brokers that offer both features.
Extensive education and research
Public does a good job of providing a plethora of educational content for beginning investors, including tons of “101” type information on the investing basics. So you’ll be able to read clear articles that explain the basics (“What is a short squeeze?” or “What causes market volatility?”).
You’ll also get an extensive news feed and research on any stock that you want to follow as well as vital financial information, upcoming earnings reports and message boards for each stock. Another great feature: You’ll be able to listen to each company’s earnings calls (live or pre-recorded) or read a transcript of them right from the app, going back four years. It’s a surprisingly detailed offering and compares well to other top trading apps.
Social feeds
One of the more unusual – and interesting – features of Public is the social feed that allows you to follow other investors, scan through featured profiles and engage in some stock chat with them on the platform. So it’s not only stocks you can follow, but people, too. You can see why another investor likes a certain stock and when they might want to buy or sell it.
You can also search through thematically linked stocks (“Home & Garden” or “Women in Charge,” for example) to pull ideas and then see what other investors think.
Public offers a variety of features to help investors make informed decisions and engage with the investing community. One standout feature is the ability to track the day’s big movers and pre-screened stocks. Additionally, Public provides “town halls” where users can submit questions to CEOs of publicly traded companies for live responses.
For those looking for more in-depth news and analysis, Public offers a Premium subscription service for $8 per month billed annually (or $10 per month billed monthly). This subscription includes additional financial metrics, analysis, customer support, and the option to set up automatic investment plans.
In addition to stocks and ETFs, Public also allows users to invest in cryptocurrency, including popular coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Users can invest as little as $1 and engage with others through the app’s social feeds.
While Public excels in certain areas, there are some limitations to consider. For instance, the app does not offer mutual funds, which may be a downside for investors seeking more traditional investment options. Additionally, Public only supports individual taxable accounts, so those looking for retirement savings options like traditional and Roth IRAs will need to look elsewhere.
Overall, Public’s focus on education and user-friendly interface make it a solid choice for beginner investors. However, investors seeking a wider range of account types or more advanced educational resources may want to explore other brokerage options.