moomoo review 2024

• Low commissions
• Individual traders
• Chinese stocks

Moomoo is a newer player in the U.S. brokerage market, and it’s playing hard and fast to gain customers with some tremendously attractive features that have been recently introduced. As is standard, the broker offers no-commission stock and ETF trades, but it now offers no-commission options trades, too, putting it among a handful of brokers to do so. The broker also offers access to Hong Kong stocks and China A-shares, truly rare features for American brokers and showcasing the broker’s Chinese parentage. Moomoo also offers among the best margin rates and it’s paying relatively attractive rates on cash balances, too. But buy-and-hold investors may not appreciate the lack of account types and the absence of mutual funds as significant drawbacks.

If you’re looking for a brokerage that’s more targeted to investors than traders, be sure to check out Charles Schwab, E-Trade and Merrill Edge. In contrast, if you want more of that trader feel, then review Interactive Brokers and TradeStation, too.

Pros: Where moomoo stands out

Low commissions

The brokerage world was rocked a few years ago when the standard price for stock and ETF trades plummeted to zero. Now, that pricing structure is table stakes for American brokerages. But the newer entrant moomoo was not cowed by the stiff competition, and offers no-fee trading on U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds. That puts the brokerage in good company, along with industry stalwarts such as Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab. 

The brokerage also upped its game in 2023, by reducing its per-contract fee on options from a competitive $0.65 to a market-leading $0 – putting its pricing in line with SoFi Active Investing, Robinhood and Firstrade. It’s a bold move for the newcomer, and options-trading clients should like the pricing and the potential to save serious money.

Quick screens and Level II data

Moomoo provides traders quick views of the most active stocks or the biggest movers, and allows you to quickly shift between winners and losers across several markets, including the U.S., China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia. If you want to break things down even further, you can quickly search for high-performing stocks by exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq in the U.S. 

You can screen for stocks meeting certain financial or technical criteria, and then store them on a watchlist for later. You’ll be able to screen U.S., Hong Kong and Chinese stocks here. 

When it’s time to trade, moomoo offers free real-time Level II data from Nasdaq, helping traders make smarter decisions about the depth of the markets for individual stocks. It’s a nice add-on feature for clients looking to trade actively, and it’s available to all moomoo clients with an approved account.    

Access to China A-shares and Hong Kong markets

Besides access to U.S. markets, moomoo also lets you trade in the Hong Kong stock market as well as buy and sell China A-shares — one of the most unusual benefits of an account with moomoo. China A-shares are a share class of stocks of mainland Chinese companies that trade on either the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and are quoted in renminbi. They’ve typically been difficult to access for non-Chinese investors. 

For A-share commissions, moomoo charges 0.03 percent of the trade value or three renminbi (about $0.40), whichever is higher, as well as 15 renminbi (about $2.10) per order as a platform fee. However, other regulatory fees may also be levied, as appropriate. Traders won’t be able to short-sell A-shares nor will they be able to participate in IPOs on A-shares, however. 

The fee structure for Hong Kong stocks is similar: a commission of 0.03 percent of the trade value, with a minimum of 3 Hong Kong dollars (about $0.40), as well as 15 Hong Kong dollars (about $1.90) per order as a platform fee. 

Access to A-shares is an atypical feature at major U.S. online brokerage firms, though you’ll want to know what you’re doing before trading stock in foreign companies without the same disclosure requirements as American companies.

Better-than-average margin rates 

Moomoo offers margin rates – the cost of borrowing the brokerage’s money against the equity in your account – that are on the more attractive side, at least relatively. As of December 2023, the broker charges 6.8 percent, a figure that’s competitive with the best in the industry, such as Interactive Brokers or M1 Finance. With higher interest rates, many brokerages have boosted their margin rates well above 10 percent, so moomoo is solidly below major rivals.

Its lowest margin rates apply to Hong Kong stocks and U.S. stocks, while China A-shares are margined at 8.8 percent, as of December 2023. Those rates will likely shift as interest rates rise and fall, however, so traders need to keep an eye on them if they’re using margin extensively.

Competitive interest rates on cash

Moomoo has certainly gone after new customers aggressively, and its headline rate on cash held in your account (as of December 2023) is a stunning 5.1 percent. Plus, clients have only the most minimal of hoops to jump through to get it. This high rate is available to all new users, while existing users must deposit at least $500 or refer a friend who deposits at least $100 to be eligible. Otherwise, existing clients will receive a token 0.03 percent rate. Your cash is available for trading at any time.

The cash in the account is also subject to FDIC insurance, which in this broker’s case protects you up to $1 million. So you’re getting a lot of protection on your money here.

The rate on your cash balance is likely to decline as interest rates fall, so if this cash sweep is a major feature for you, you’ll want to keep an eye on what you’re being offered here.

Cons: Where moomoo could improve

Limited account types

If you’re hoping to open almost any account type here, you’re out of luck. Moomoo offers only an individual taxable account, so no joint accounts, no IRAs, no 529s or anything else. It’s all individual accounts all the time here. So if you need any other type, this lack is a deal-breaker. 

Contrast this against top brokerages offering seven or more account types. Even Robinhood, which for years offered just individual taxable accounts, has recently upped its game to include IRAs.  

Limited tradable securities

The selection of tradable securities is also limited at moomoo, though the brokerage does cover some of the most popular types, including stocks, ETFs and options. That will give most traders plenty of room to operate, though long-term buy-and-hold investors may regret the lack of mutual funds or even bonds in moomoo’s stable. Of course, without any mutual funds, moomoo doesn’t offer any no-transaction-fee mutual funds, a popular choice at many brokerages. 

If mutual funds or other more exotic securities (futures or forex, for example) are a requirement, you’ll need to look elsewhere, such as Interactive Brokers, which can bring even more unusual securities to the table as well as extensive access to foreign markets.

That said, moomoo does offer access to China A-shares as noted above, a rare feature in the retail brokerage market. 

No fractional shares

Since moomoo is geared much more toward trading than investing, it may not be so surprising that it doesn’t offer the ability to invest in fractional shares, either via purchases or dividend reinvestment. Fractional shares allow you to get all your money invested in your stocks or ETFs, while fractional reinvestment lets you put your whole dividend in shares of the company. It’s a popular choice for newer investors who want to get their money compounding even faster. 

The best brokers for fractional shares offer both types of fractional shares, but surprisingly few brokers actually offer fractional shares on both kinds of transactions.

Transfer-out fees

Moomoo charges a transfer-out fee that’s more or less standard in the industry: $75 to move out stock positions. While that’s the standard price, it’s not all that difficult to avoid this fee if you work with other providers, since several of the best brokerages actually will transfer your account for no transfer fee.