Wealthsimple vs Qtrade is no longer a choice between a free app and a broker that charges per trade. Qtrade’s pricing page now lists $0 for online stock and ETF trades, the same as Wealthsimple’s $0. What separates them in 2026 is options pricing, fractional shares, US-dollar accounts, research depth, cash interest and the size of each welcome offer. This page walks through each one, with worked dollar examples, so you can decide which account to open or whether to switch.
Wealthsimple vs Qtrade at a glance
YieldMaple checked Qtrade’s pricing, fees, interest-rate, accounts, transfer and OFFER2026 terms pages on September 24, 2026, and Wealthsimple’s plan and pricing page on September 23, 2026. Every figure in the table comes from those pages.
| Feature | Wealthsimple | Qtrade |
|---|---|---|
| Online stock and ETF commission | $0 (better on this row) | $0 (all ETFs on Canadian and US exchanges) (better on this row) |
| Options | US$0 per contract (better on this row) | $0 plus $0.75 per contract; a flat $30 per assignment |
| Fractional shares | yes — thousands of Canadian and US stocks and ETFs (better on this row) | Not listed on Qtrade's pricing or investment-choices pages |
| Mutual funds, bonds, GICs | Not on Wealthsimple's trading menu | Mutual funds and GICs $0; bonds $1 per $1,000 face value ($24.99 minimum, $250 maximum) (better on this row) |
| Holding US dollars | USD accounts: $10 a month for Core clients; free for Premium and Generation | Cash and margin: no listed fee; registered: US$15 a quarter per account for a US-dollar RRSP, RRIF or TFSA (no fee on FHSAs; waived for Investor Plus) |
| Converting CAD to USD | 1.5% in a CAD account; in a USD account, 1.5% under $10,000; 1.0% from $10,000; 0.5% from $25,000; 0% from $100,000 | not published on Qtrade's pricing page, which says only that currency conversion may apply and that Qtrade may earn revenue on foreign exchange transactions |
| Interest on cash | Chequing 1.25% (Core); Savings 2.5% (available to every client, no tiers) (better on this row) | 0.00% on cash balances up to $2,000,000 (Canadian and US dollars) |
| CAD margin rate | 4.95% (Core), 4.45% (Premium) (better on this row) | prime + 1.55% on debit balances under $100,000 and prime + 1.0% from $100,000; prime 4.45% |
| Account types | TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, LIRA, RRIF, non-registered (cash and margin), and corporate accounts | TFSA, FHSA, RRSP and spousal RRSP, RESP (individual or family), RRIF, LIRA, LRSP and LIF, plus cash and margin accounts |
| Transfer-fee reimbursement | reimbursed on transfers of $25,000 or more, up to $150 per account | up to $150 (plus applicable taxes) when you transfer $15,000 or more (better on this row) |
| Welcome offer | $25 bonus, plus a transfer match of 1% of the net amount transferred (transfers of $25,000+) | Promo code OFFER2026: up to $5,000 in cash back, new clients only |
| Research and tools | Real-time quotes, price alerts and recurring buys | Morningstar analyst recommendations, screeners, portfolio analytics and a free trial account (better on this row) |
| Crypto | 170+ cryptocurrencies, held directly (better on this row) | Crypto ETFs (no direct coin trading listed) |
| Investor protection | securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account | a division of Aviso Financial Inc., which is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) |
Sources: wealthsimple.com/en-ca/pricing (September 23, 2026); qtrade.ca pricing, fees, interest rates, accounts, investment choices, transfer and OFFER2026 terms pages, and aviso.ca/en/legal (September 24, 2026). Qtrade charges fees in the currency of the account.
Is Qtrade cheaper than Wealthsimple?
For online stock and ETF trades, neither is cheaper: Wealthsimple charges $0 commission and Qtrade charges $0.
Qtrade’s investment-choices page applies that commission-free price to all ETFs on Canadian and US exchanges, as well as to Canadian stocks on the TSX, TSXV, CSE and NEO and to US stocks on the NYSE and Nasdaq. Mutual funds and GICs are commission-free there as well. So a buy-and-hold investor who purchases XEQT or VFV every month pays no commission at either brokerage.
The costs that remain are specific to how you invest:
- Options. Wealthsimple’s pricing page lists US$0 per contract and notes that other options fees, such as for early exercise, are set out in its trade fee disclosure. Qtrade charges $0 plus $0.75 per contract, and a flat $30 when an option you wrote is assigned.
- Currency. Wealthsimple charges 1.5% per conversion in a CAD account. Qtrade’s conversion cost is not published on Qtrade's pricing page, which says only that currency conversion may apply and that Qtrade may earn revenue on foreign exchange transactions.
- Borrowing. Qtrade’s margin rate is prime + 1.55% on debit balances under $100,000 and prime + 1.0% from $100,000. With Qtrade’s Canadian prime at 4.45%, that’s 6.00% a year on the lower debit-balance tier. Wealthsimple Core clients pay 4.95% and Premium clients 4.45%.
- Idle cash. Qtrade pays 0.00% on cash balances up to $2,000,000 (Canadian and US dollars). Wealthsimple pays 1.25% in Chequing on Core and 2.5% (available to every client, no tiers) in Savings.
What fees does Qtrade still charge in 2026?
Beyond options contract fees, Qtrade’s remaining charges are account-level: US-dollar registered accounts, transfers out, registered-plan withdrawals and paper documents.
Per Qtrade’s fee schedule, checked September 24, 2026:
- US-dollar registered accounts: US$15 a quarter per account for a US-dollar RRSP, RRIF or TFSA (no fee on FHSAs; waived for Investor Plus).
- Transferring an account out: $150.
- Closing an account early: $100 if you close an account within its first year.
- Partial registered withdrawals: $50 per partial withdrawal from an RRSP or other registered plan, including Home Buyers' Plan withdrawals (RESPs, TFSAs and FHSAs excepted).
- Full withdrawal (collapsing a plan): $125, including emptying a TFSA (FHSAs excepted).
- Paper: statements cost $6 a quarter (waived for Investor Plus); mailed trade confirmations cost $2.50 per trade.
- Phone orders: stock and options trades placed through a representative carry a $45 minimum commission.
- Bonds and short-term fund sales: bonds cost $1 per $1,000 face value ($24.99 minimum, $250 maximum); mutual funds cost 1% (minimum $45) if you sell or switch a fund held less than 90 days (money market funds excepted).
Qtrade lists these as free for every account: eStatements and eConfirmations, electronic funds transfers, dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs), scheduled LIF/RIF/LRIF payments and customer support. No quarterly administration or inactivity fee appears on the current schedule, so reviews that count one against Qtrade are out of date.
The TFSA rule is the one to watch. Taking part of your money out of a Qtrade TFSA is free, but withdrawing everything is a full de-registration at $125. If you plan to leave, a transfer to another institution costs $150 instead, which the receiving broker may reimburse.
Wealthsimple vs Qtrade for US stocks: which costs less?
Qtrade usually costs less to hold US dollars in cash, margin or one registered account, while only Wealthsimple lists its conversion fee on its pricing page.
Wealthsimple. Buying a US stock from a CAD account costs 1.5% on each conversion. To hold US dollars instead, USD accounts cost $10 a month for Core clients; free for Premium and Generation, and conversions into them cost 1.5% under $10,000; 1.0% from $10,000; 0.5% from $25,000; 0% from $100,000. On Core that’s $120 a year; from Premium’s $100,000 threshold, nothing.
Qtrade. Its cash, margin, TFSA and RRSP accounts can each be opened in US dollars. No fee is listed for US-dollar cash or margin accounts. US-dollar registered accounts cost US$15 a quarter per account: US$60 a year for a single US-dollar TFSA, or US$120 a year for a US-dollar TFSA plus a US-dollar RRSP, which is more than the $120 a year in Canadian dollars that Wealthsimple Core charges for USD accounts. Investor Plus clients, who need $500,000 or more in total assets with Qtrade, or 150 or more trades in the previous calendar quarter, pay nothing for them. US-dollar FHSAs carry no fee at all.
The conversion itself is harder to compare. Qtrade’s pricing page says only that currency conversion may apply and that Qtrade may earn revenue on foreign exchange, with no percentage. Ask Qtrade for its current spread before a large conversion. For large amounts at either brokerage, Norbert’s gambit is worth understanding, and the Wealthsimple USD account guide covers when the monthly fee pays for itself.
Does Wealthsimple have an RESP and LIRA like Qtrade?
Yes: Wealthsimple’s RESP is available as a self-directed or managed RESP and its LIRA is available (self-directed and managed), so neither account forces you to Qtrade any more.
Wealthsimple’s self-directed lineup now covers TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, LIRA, RRIF, non-registered (cash and margin), and corporate accounts. Qtrade offers TFSA, FHSA, RRSP and spousal RRSP, RESP (individual or family), RRIF, LIRA, LRSP and LIF, plus cash and margin accounts, and its fee schedule also lists formal trust accounts.
The real account-type differences are narrower than older comparisons suggest:
- Moving an existing RESP. At Wealthsimple, individual RESPs transfer into a managed Wealthsimple RESP. At Qtrade, a transferred RESP stays self-directed, which matters if you want to keep picking the investments yourself.
- US dollars inside registered accounts. Qtrade offers US-dollar versions of its RRSP, RRIF, TFSA and FHSA as separate accounts.
- Managed portfolios. Wealthsimple runs managed accounts in the same app, at 0.50% a year on Core. Qtrade’s parent runs a separate service, Qtrade Guided Portfolios, which this comparison doesn’t cover.
The Wealthsimple RESP guide explains the grants and how the self-directed and managed versions differ.
Does Qtrade offer fractional shares?
Qtrade’s pricing and investment-choices pages don’t list fractional-share trading, while Wealthsimple sells fractional shares on thousands of Canadian and US stocks and ETFs.
That gap matters most for scheduled contributions. If you invest a fixed amount every payday, Wealthsimple puts every dollar to work, even when one share costs more than your contribution. At a whole-share broker, the remainder waits in cash until you’ve saved enough for another unit, and at Qtrade that cash earns 0.00% on cash balances up to $2,000,000 (Canadian and US dollars). Wealthsimple’s pricing page also lists recurring investments and automatic dividend reinvestment, which it says happens within 24 hours of a dividend. Qtrade lists dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) among its free services.
If you invest in larger lump sums a few times a year, whole shares are a minor inconvenience rather than a cost.
Which has better research and tools, Qtrade or Wealthsimple?
Qtrade does: it offers Morningstar analyst recommendations, stock, ETF and mutual fund screeners, and portfolio analytics, none of which appear on Wealthsimple’s pricing page.
Qtrade’s platform includes Portfolio Score, which assesses the risk in your portfolio across five financial dimensions; Portfolio Simulator, which tests changes before you trade; and Portfolio Creator, which builds an ETF portfolio from a questionnaire. It supports stop-loss, stop-limit and trailing-stop orders, and a free 30-day trial account with research, screeners and watchlists lets you try all of this before you open an account. Qtrade’s homepage says it has been ranked Canada's #1 online investing platform 28 times in the past 18 years and #1 online broker for client service 8 times in the past 6 years; those are Qtrade’s own claims about third-party rankings.
Wealthsimple is built for speed and simplicity: its pricing page lists real-time streaming quotes, price alerts, recurring buys, and 24/7 chat support on every plan, with priority phone service from Premium. Its trading menu covers stocks, ETFs, options, margin, IPO access, futures, gold and 170+ cryptocurrencies held directly; mutual funds, bonds and GICs aren’t on it. It also puts chequing, savings, tax filing and managed portfolios in the same app. Qtrade’s account pages list investment accounts only, and its investment-choices page offers crypto through crypto ETFs rather than coins held directly.
Which welcome offer is worth more, Qtrade’s or Wealthsimple’s?
Qtrade’s OFFER2026 cash back pays more on amounts up to about $77,500; above that, Wealthsimple’s transfer match is usually larger, but only on money transferred from another institution.
Qtrade’s offer is for new clients who apply with promo code OFFER2026. You must apply by January 5, 2027 and fund the account by February 5, 2027. The cash back is 5% of net new deposits from $1,000 to $10,000; then $550 up to $25,000, $600 up to $50,000, $700 up to $100,000, $1,000 up to $250,000, $2,500 up to $500,000 and $5,000 above that, and you get an extra $100 if you fund the new account with at least $25,000 within 30 days of opening it. The money has to stay in the account until February 5, 2028 (withdrawals or transfers out before then reduce the bonus), though Qtrade’s FAQ says market drops don’t count against you. Payment comes on or around March 5, 2028 (the $100 sign-up bonus on or around March 5, 2027). The offer also credits transfer-in fees, up to $150 per client when you transfer $15,000 or more.
Wealthsimple’s offer is a $25 bonus through a referral link, and a transfer match of 1% of the net amount transferred when you move at least $25,000 from another institution within 30 days of registering. The match is paid over 24 months, is capped at $20,000, and stacks with the welcome bonus. Wealthsimple’s transfer-bonus page says cash deposits and Interac e-Transfers don’t count toward the match, and the monthly payments continue only as long as you keep the transferred amount invested. Qtrade’s offer, by contrast, counts both deposits and transfers from any Canadian financial institution.
Here’s what each pays when you transfer the amount in from another institution within the first 30 days:
- $10,000: Qtrade $500; Wealthsimple $25.
- $25,000: Qtrade $650; Wealthsimple $275.
- $50,000: Qtrade $700; Wealthsimple $525.
- $100,000: Qtrade $800; Wealthsimple $1,025.
- $250,000: Qtrade $1,100; Wealthsimple $2,525.
- $500,000: Qtrade $2,600; Wealthsimple $5,025.
Because Qtrade pays flat amounts inside each tier, it edges ahead again for a short stretch just above each of its tier breaks, for example between $100,000 and $107,500. Timing differs too: Qtrade pays the cash back in one lump after a hold that runs until February 2028, while Wealthsimple spreads its match over two years, as long as the money stays invested. Promotions change often, so confirm both sets of terms on the day you apply.
How much would a year cost at each?
For a buy-and-hold ETF investor, nothing at either; the costs appear with options, margin, idle cash and account transfers.
- Monthly ETF purchases in a TFSA. No commission at either brokerage. Wealthsimple invests the whole contribution with fractional shares; at Qtrade, any leftover sits as cash earning 0.00% on cash balances up to $2,000,000 (Canadian and US dollars).
- An options trader using 20 contracts a month. Wealthsimple lists US$0 per contract. Qtrade: about $180 a year in contract fees, before any assignment fees.
- Borrowing $20,000 on margin for a year (CAD, rates unchanged). Wealthsimple Core: $990; Premium: $890. Qtrade: $1,200, or $1,140 with Investor Plus.
- Parking $20,000 of savings for a year. Wealthsimple Savings at 2.5% (available to every client, no tiers) pays about $500. Uninvested cash at Qtrade earns nothing, but you can buy a GIC or a high-interest savings ETF there commission-free; the Global X CASH ETF showed a distribution yield of 2.09% as at October 6, 2026, and ETFs are not eligible for CDIC deposit insurance (CDIC lists ETFs and mutual funds among the products it does not cover).
- Moving a $20,000 account from a bank brokerage that charges $150 to leave. Qtrade credits transfer-out fees up to $150 (plus applicable taxes) when you transfer $15,000 or more, so the move costs nothing net. Wealthsimple’s reimbursement starts at $25,000, so you’d pay the fee yourself. From that level up, both reimburse it, Wealthsimple up to $150 per account.
To model your own mix of trades and accounts, use the Canadian brokerage fee calculator.
Is Qtrade as safe as Wealthsimple?
Yes, for investment accounts: both brokerages are covered by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).
Qtrade Direct Investing is a division of Aviso Financial Inc., which is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). Wealthsimple’s investment accounts hold securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account. CIPF protects eligible client property, within limits, if a member firm becomes insolvent; it does not protect against falling markets at either brokerage. Qtrade is owned by Aviso Wealth, which is owned 50% by Desjardins and 50% by a partnership of the five provincial credit union centrals and The CUMIS Group; Qtrade describes itself as the preferred direct investing partner for credit unions across Canada.
Qtrade makes two-factor authentication mandatory on every account and offers an Internet Security Guarantee of 100% reimbursement of losses from unauthorized online activity that happened through no fault of your own. Wealthsimple Chequing balances (Qtrade’s account pages list no chequing account) are covered up to $100,000 per beneficiary, per CDIC member institution, and up to $1 million, because funds are spread across up to 10 CDIC member institutions (Wealthsimple itself is not a CDIC member).
Which Wealthsimple vs Qtrade claims are out of date?
Four claims from older reviews, including earlier versions of this comparison, no longer hold:
- “Qtrade charges a commission on every stock trade.” Qtrade’s pricing page lists $0 for equities and ETFs.
- “Only a list of about 100 ETFs is free at Qtrade.” Commission-free pricing now covers all ETFs on Canadian and US exchanges, and Qtrade’s old free-ETF page now shows the general pricing table.
- “Wealthsimple has no RESP or LIRA.” Both are available at Wealthsimple, self-directed or managed.
- “Qtrade charges a quarterly account fee.” No administration or inactivity fee appears on Qtrade’s current fee schedule.
Decision framework: Wealthsimple or Qtrade?
Pick Wealthsimple if:
- You invest a set amount on a schedule and want every dollar invested through fractional shares
- You trade options regularly
- You want interest on cash, lower margin rates and banking in the same app as your investments
- You’re moving a large account, where the transfer match outgrows Qtrade’s flat cash-back tiers
- You want crypto directly, or managed portfolios alongside a self-directed account
Pick Qtrade if:
- You want Morningstar research, screeners and portfolio analytics
- You buy mutual funds, bonds or GICs as well as stocks and ETFs
- You hold US dollars in cash or margin accounts, or in a single registered account, and don’t qualify for Wealthsimple Premium
- You’re moving between $15,000 and $25,000 from a broker that charges a transfer-out fee
- You’re bringing in moderate new money and can leave it untouched until February 2028 for the larger cash back
- You want to keep a transferred RESP self-directed, or you’d rather call a licensed agent than use chat
Use both if:
- You like Qtrade’s research for picking investments but want Wealthsimple’s fractional shares, cash interest or options pricing for day-to-day buying
The verdict
With commissions now equal, Wealthsimple is the better fit for most beginners, regular savers and options traders: $0 trades, fractional shares, options at US$0 per contract and interest on cash, all in one app. Qtrade is the better fit for hands-on investors who value research, want mutual funds, bonds and GICs, hold US dollars in cash, margin or a single registered account, or can use its bigger cash-back offer on a moderate deposit. If you already have a Qtrade account and use its tools, there’s little cost reason to leave unless you trade options often or hold a lot of idle cash.
This page is general education, not financial advice. Fees and promotions change, so check both providers’ pricing pages before you move money.
For other matchups, see Wealthsimple vs Questrade, Wealthsimple vs Interactive Brokers and Wealthsimple vs RBC Direct Investing. Qtrade vs Questrade sets those two brokers side by side. If you decide to switch, the step-by-step Wealthsimple transfer guide shows each screen, and everything else about the platform is in our complete Wealthsimple guide.