Not all brokerages are alike when it comes to IPO investing. When it comes to the best online brokers for IPO investing, which ones give you the most access?
The best brokerages give IPO access to all U.S.-based investors who have an account… regardless of the amount of assets in the account.
The worst require high account balances for existing wealthy customers or have no access to IPOs at all.
Shares of high-demand IPOs are hard to acquire, no matter what broker you use.
But some brokers in our list below have a leg up, helping underwriters price and distribute shares. In return, they receive shares to allocate to their retail customers.
This page aims to sort through various brokerages to determine which ones can give you access to IPOs and explain eligibility.
In recent years, these brokers have demonstrated their ability to acquire IPO shares from underwriters and deliver them to individual investors.
Investors must be patient, understand eligibility requirements and instructions, and fund their accounts more than a week before an offering. Brokers require settled cash to place IPO orders. Cash settlement can take up to seven business days.
Below is a quick comparison table with each broker’s known or published IPO investing policy.
Table of Contents
Best Online Brokers for IPO Investing
Here’s our list of favorites:
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Please note: The author is an affiliate partner with multiple companies on this list. Our partnerships do not influence inclusion or the order in which these brokers appear.
The information in the table above was acquired through broker websites, FAQs, and conversations with customer service representatives. The information may not be 100% accurate at a given time and is subject to change.
If you have information you’d like to add, including your experience investing in IPOs at certain brokers, or have an opinion on the best online brokers for investing in IPOs, please contact me.
I’ll briefly touch on each in our list.
Keep in mind the list and specific rules are subject to change. Please reference the websites linked above for definitive information.
SoFi Invest
One of the top platforms on our list is SoFi Invest. Though we recommend this broker with a big caveat regarding their excessive flipping policy.
SoFi started as a student loan consolidator but evolved to become a banking services provider and online broker.
The company announced its IPO platform and launched its first IPO in 2021. The Rivian IPO was among the highest-demand IPOs we’ve seen as retail investors. SoFi offered shares to customers for extraordinary short-term gains.
SoFi has since offered shares of Instacart, ARM, and the Oddity IPO. We expect more is in the pipeline because of its connection with Silicon Valley venture capital and issuers.
Unfortunately, SoFi has the worst flipping policy of all platforms. Investors who sell shares received in the IPO within 30 days will be restricted from future access to IPOs (180 days for the first infraction, 365 days for the second, permanently for the third).
Furthermore, SoFi “may” charge a $50 fee when an investors sells shares received in the IPO before the 120th trading day. This is excessive, and clearly a deterrent for investors. I suspect they’ve done this to make themselves look more attractive to underwriters.
SoFi’s retail investors will hold longer, but also suffer more if shares fall after the IPO (they often do).
I’ve asked SoFi for a clarification on the word “may” in this policy and will update this page when I hear back.
Therefore, we must state the following: Only invest in IPOs on SoFi’s platform if you intend to hold the stock for 120 trading days or more.
TradeStation
TradeStation has a multiyear partnership with a company called ClickIPO that maintains a smartphone app through which TradeStation investors can access IPOs.
Customers at TradeStation have had access to more than 360 IPOs and secondaries since the partnership launch. Though volume for lesser-known IPOs has been strong over the years, TradeStation has not gotten allocations of the highest-demand IPOs over the past few years.
We believe the partnership is strong, and they strive to provide top IPO access to customers.
Robinhood
Robinhood famously launched its IPO Access platform in coordination with its own IPO. The company IPO’d itself, offering IPO shares to its 22 million customers (only about 300,000 requested shares).
The platform went on to host about 20 IPOs after its own, but many of the stocks declined severely during the 2022 tech stock declines. Robinhood received some negative press for the stock performances after the IPOs.
Journalists questioned whether Robinhood should be offering IPO shares to customers due to the high-risk nature of IPO investing.
Undeterred, Robinhood started offering access to new deals in 2023, including the ARM and Instacart IPOs. How those perform may dictate Robinhood’s further commitment to offering allocations of IPO stocks in the future.
Webull
Webull also offers IPO access through a partnership with ClickIPO (similar to TradeStation). However, instead of providing access through the ClickIPO app, IPO access is fully integrated into the Webull app.
The online brokers may derive additional IPO volume through other relationships. Webull usually has multiple IPOs available via the app at any given time. But many are unknown to most investors.
Webull is a Chinese company that receives IPO shares for many Chinese companies conducting public offerings in the U.S.
I’ve seen multiple high-profile IPOs on the Webull platform, including Airbnb and Cava. Read this Webull IPO review to learn more.
Fidelity
Fidelity gets access to numerous IPOs and secondary offerings. However, since its wealthy client base is so large, retail investors with less than $1 million rarely get an allocation despite many requests.
I have requested shares for at least ten IPOs at Fidelity but only received one allocation. My relationship with LendingClub is what secured access to that one IPO. All other requests have been denied.
Yet I’ve invested with lots of success on several other platforms.
Charles Schwab
Similar to Fidelity, Schwab claims to offer IPO shares to customers with more than $100,000 in invested assets, but I’ve yet to hear from a reader who has received IPO shares from Schwab.
ETRADE
ETRADE claims there are no minimums required to invest in an IPO. But every reader I’ve ever communicated with regarding ETRADE has stated they have never received an allocation.
The only broker is now owned by Morgan Stanley, which is known to run a very tight IPO book, reserving most of the shares to its institutional clients.
We must presume that if ETRADE customers receive any IPO shares, the allocations go to its wealthiest customers.
IPO Investing FAQs
Which broker is best for getting in on IPOs?
SoFi and Robinhood typically get access to the high-demand deals.
TradeStation and Webull tend to get a higher volume of IPO deals of lower quality.
Where can I trade IPOs?
All of the brokers allow investors to trade post-IPO stocks.
IPO access varies in eligibility and availability, depending on the broker.
How do I find a good IPO to invest in?
Analyze our comprehensive list of upcoming IPOs to find good IPO candidates.
Then thoroughly read the regulatory filings for each deal when it becomes available.
Find recent S-1 and F-1 regulatory filings here.
How do you buy an IPO before it goes public?
Access IPOs subscribers receive my free eBook called How to Invest in IPOs upon confirming your subscription.
That’s an excellent place to start.
Here are a few quick pointers:
- You must have a brokerage account with those who offer IPO investing. The above brokers qualify, but most others do not.
- Open and fund your account more than a week before an IPO. Investing often requires settled funds, which can take seven days to clear your bank transfer.
- Follow your brokers’ instructions. You will have limited time to make decisions. Read the S-1 carefully as early as possible. Be ready to act on opportunities.
- Have patience and reasonable expectations. Investors may not receive IPO shares. High-demand deals are difficult to access. But if you request shares from multiple deals through brokers with a good history of allocations to non-wealthy investors, you’ll eventually find success.
Conclusion – Best Online Brokers for IPO Investing
As online brokers modify their policies and add services to their platforms, I’ll update this page to reflect the marketplace. Please verify all eligibility and flipping policies before opening an account and investing in IPOs on these platforms.
I’ve built and maintained this list of best brokers for IPO investing for more than eight years. It is backed by personal experience and feedback from a large community of IPO investors who subscribe to our newsletter, follow Access IPOs on social media, and email me their successes and failures.
Thank you for reading.
This article is an advertisement on behalf Social Finance, Inc., or SoFi Lending Corp. 234 1st Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. California Finance Lender #6054612. NMLS #1121636.