30 Second TL;DR Analysis
Public.com is an investing mobile platform primarily designed for investors and traders looking for a simple platform while connecting to the public (social) community. With this broker and mobile app, you can build your portfolio of stocks, ETF’s and now crypto with one of the simplest platforms.
Unlike Robinhood, Public doesn’t make money via PFOF (payment for order flow) which (in our opinion) is a conflict of interest. This means Public is not selling your trades to HFT firms that have been known to front-run your orders and give you worse pricing on your orders.
In other words, Public puts you first and isn’t selling out to HFT firms or ‘supposed’ market makers like Robinhood does. And this gives them a larger trust factor vs RH.
Public Is Best For…
- Newer traders and investors looking for a simple platform to use
- Long term investors wanting a simple platform to manage their portfolio
- Connecting with a large community to help build a portfolio of stocks, ETF’s and crypto.
Pros for Public
- Can trade fractional shares
- Not monetizing you as the product via PFOF (payment for order flow)
- Great beginner educational community for trading and investing
Cons for Public
- Cannot trade options or with margin
- Mobile only app
- Not recommended for day-trading
Full Review of Public.com
Easy to use: Public.com is one of the easiest to use platforms out there for trading and investing. Currently only available on mobile, I like the Public app compared to Robinhood because:
a) they haven’t gamified it like RH has to potentially increase addiction to the platform, and
b) they’re not getting paid via PFOF (Payment For Order Flow) like RH is
It basically means with RH, you are the product because your usage gives them PFOF income, which incentivizes RH to increase your usage and trading on their app.
Contrast that to Public which (in some ways) discourages excessive trading.
The mobile platform is the most intuitive stock trading app to use within the discount brokerage space.
You can literally download and setup your account in minutes and are able to follow other users like you do in twitter (via ‘following’ them).
You can see what other traders and investors are buying and have access to the entire community all within a few taps of your finger.
The social community: I think one of the more unique features of Public (besides their non PFOF model) is how much they focus on the community. This makes it easier for newer traders and investors to benefit from the education and free knowledge posted by the community.
Get interest: While most brokers pay some form of interest on their invested monies, Public gives 2.5% interest while there is no commissions. Public offers 2.5% interest on all invested deposits up to $10,000 which far exceeds what most other brokers out there offer.
No account minimums + fractional share trading: two other fantastic benefits of using Public is that you don’t have to have a minimum account size to open an account with them. This means they are looking to work with anyone regardless of their account funding size.
On top of this, they offer fractional share trading, so if you don’t have $3500 available for your one share of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), you can simply invest a ‘fraction’ of the single share price, as much as you want to own a piece of company that has an expensive share price.
We really like this for our Sky High Stock members as we can pick stocks with small and large share prices, yet our members can buy ‘fractional’ amounts of those stocks, thus adding a wide base of stocks to their portfolio.
Offers Phone Support (& Chat): Again, unlike Robinhood, Public offers phone support between the hours of 9am-5pm EST Mon-Fri. You can find their contact info below:
Email: [email protected]@public.com
Phone: 212-401-6946
They also offer chat support as well. Thus, since they offer phone support (of which RH offers none), we find them to be a superior offering when it comes to support and help with your money.
Solid Array of Offerings: While Public doesn’t offer access to options or mutual funds, you can find access to a large swatch of stocks, ETF’s and crypto (11 cryptocurrencies available).
Overall Analysis & Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
If you’re looking for a simple to use mobile platform that prioritizes you, and not your order flow (like Robinhood does), along with a great community, then Public is for you.
They have a strong ‘trust’ factor other PFOF brokers don’t.
While their platform may not be for sophisticated traders or investors, their flexibility, no commissions, and fractional shares make them one of our top investing platforms for the new or early on investor.
Public values trust, simplicity and the community, which makes them a great platform for most.
Get Started and open your public account now in just a matter of minutes.
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