Public.com Review

Public presents itself as a commission-free app, and on the headline numbers that holds. The harder question for a finance reader is what the other lines cost once the account does more than buy stocks.

This review works from Public's own fee schedule, last updated September 25, 2026, and from its Reserve, cash, options and margin pages, all checked on October 10, 2026.

It then sets the same first-party figures against four brokers: Robinhood, Webull, Interactive Brokers and Schwab.

Methodology: every Public figure comes from a page the company publishes, and every competitor figure from that firm's own site on the same date.

When a third-party review disagrees with those documents, we use the documents. Some reviews still quote a $2.99 extended-hours fee and a paid Premium tier. The current fee schedule lists no extended-hours charge and no subscription line, so it is the reference for this page.

Public is a self-directed investing app launched in 2019 and based in New York. Its brokerage arm, Open to the Public Investing, Inc., is a registered broker-dealer and a member of FINRA and SIPC, and Public says securities in an account are protected up to $500,000.

The product menu covers US stocks and ETFs, options, bonds, Treasuries, crypto, direct indexing, Generated Assets (AI-built indexes), prediction markets and a high-yield cash account. It does not list mutual funds.

The pitch is one account for many asset types, with yield products beside equity trading.

Public also offers a trading API for personal, non-commercial use and a Reserve membership that changes the cash rate and the matches.

For the wider field, the investing apps ranking places Public among five apps.

Toolradar data: Toolradar tracks 148 reviews of Public across the web, with an average rating of 3.9, on its Public profile.

The count says nothing about fees, which this page takes only from the company's own schedule.

Stock and ETF trades cost nothing in regular or extended hours, and OTC stocks cost nothing either. Routing is the one trading setting that costs money: wholesale routing is free, while Smart Order or lit-exchange routing costs $0.003 per share.

Regulatory fees apply on sales, including the SEC fee and the trading activity fee, which Public passes through.

Options are where Public is most aggressive. Stock and ETF options carry no commission, and enrolled customers earn a rebate of $0.06 to $0.18 per contract, set by trading volume in the current and prior month.

Every contract still pays regulatory and clearing charges: an options regulatory fee of $0.02, and an OCC clearing fee of $0.02 that is capped at $55. On orders under 10 equity option contracts, total regulatory trading fees are capped at $0.05 per contract.

Index options cost $0.35 per contract, plus exchange fees that Public passes through. Options traders can compare these terms with the options platforms ranking.

Cash and fixed income are where the fine print matters.

The high-yield cash account pays 3.30% APY with no fees, no minimum and unlimited withdrawals. Funds sit at partner banks, and Public says combined FDIC coverage reaches $5 million across 20 of them. Apex Clearing and Public Investing take administrative fees that reduce the interest paid on swept cash.

Bonds carry a transaction fee per $100 of par, set by type and maturity: $0.10 on Treasuries due within a year, and up to $0.50 on corporates.

The Bond Account's 6.53% is an average yield to worst before fees, and it can change before you buy.

Managed products add an annual fee on top: 0.49% for Generated Assets, 0.19% for Direct Index, and a tiered Treasury Account fee that starts at 0.29% on the first $25,000.

Margin debit balances start at a 5.15% base rate, which moves with the upper limit of the Federal Funds Target Range, shown as 4.00% on September 17, 2026. Crypto is priced on Zero Hash's sliding table: $1.69 on a $100 order and 1.25% of any order above $500.

Crypto IRAs add a custodial fee of 0.05% a month for customers outside Reserve. Money moves in cheaply, with free ACH and incoming wires, but an outgoing domestic wire costs $25, an ACAT transfer out costs $100, and an instant withdrawal costs up to 3.5% with a $1 minimum.

Public's prices were checked on its fee schedule, last updated September 25, 2026, and on its high-yield cash page, Reserve page and options rebate page, all checked October 10, 2026.

Worked costs at those rates. A $10,000 cash balance earns $330 a year in the standard account and $375 in Reserve.

Reserve costs $240 a year, so on cash alone it needs about $53,300 parked before it pays. A $5,000 IRA contribution earns a $50 match at the standard 1%, or $200 at Reserve's 4%. That extra $150 covers only part of the fee, so the IRA match alone pays for Reserve at about $8,000 of contributions a year.

Reserve's Generated Assets match covers the $240 fee at $24,000 of deposits a year, and its Direct Index and Treasury match does the same at $48,000.

Managed products cost a $10,000 balance $29 a year in a Treasury Account, $49 in Generated Assets and $19 in Direct Index, before any transaction fees.

A $10,000 corporate bond purchase with a three-to-ten-year maturity pays a $50 transaction fee, half a percent of par.

Competitor figures were checked the same day on the pages below: Robinhood Gold (Gold is a monthly subscription), Webull pricing, Interactive Brokers commissions and Schwab pricing.

Public fits a self-directed investor who wants one app for stocks, options, bonds, Treasuries and cash, and who will use the yield products rather than leave cash idle.

An active options trader who enrolls in the rebate program gets the most from the fee structure.

It is a weaker fit when your core holding is a mutual fund. The product menu lists ETFs but no mutual funds, and Schwab offers thousands of mutual funds with no transaction fee.

Small accounts need care too: an account under $70 with no activity for six months pays a $3.99 monthly inactivity fee.

Toolradar also profiles Robinhood and Webull.

Public Concierge is an exclusive service for accounts above $500,000, and Reserve members get priority support. Investors who want only a cash account should start with the standard 3.30% account, which needs no subscription.

For more context, see the robo-advisor ranking, the portfolio trackers ranking, the day trading platforms ranking and the Acorns review.