Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

This device is too small

If you're on a Galaxy Fold, consider unfolding your phone or viewing it in full screen to best optimize your experience.

Skip to main content
Advertiser Disclosure Many of the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which The Motley Fool receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear) and may influence which products we write about, but our product ratings are not influenced by compensation. We do not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace.
    |    Accessibility Options

Public App Review: Stock Trading Made Social

Review Updated
Charlie Pastor, CFP®
Author: Charlie Pastor, CFP®
Charlie Pastor, CFP®
Charlie Pastor, CFP®
Certified Financial Planner®, Founder of Damn Good Planning

Charlie Pastor, CFP® is a full-time financial planner dedicated to overserving the underserved. He has a degree in Finance, Accounting, and Personal Financial Planning from the University of Colorado Boulder. His professional experience includes founding a Registered Investment Advisor firm dedicated to serving young professionals. Outside of writing for Motley Fool Money, Charlie enjoys serving as political advocacy chair for the Financial Planning Association of Colorado.

See Full Bio

| 1 other [ + ]
Ashley Maready
Fact Checked: Ashley Maready
Ashley Maready
Ashley Maready
Writer and Editor

Ashley Maready is a former history museum professional who made the leap to digital content writing and editing in 2021. She has a BA in History and Philosophy from Hood College and an MA in Applied History from Shippensburg University. Ashley loves creating content for the public and learning new things so she can teach others, whether it's information about salt mining, canal mules, or personal finance.

See Full Bio

Many or all of the products here are from our partners that compensate us. It’s how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures that our product ratings are not influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.

The Public investing app might be for you if: You want a diversified portfolio with easy fractional investing in stocks and bonds. Public is a low-cost investing platform that offers multi-asset portfolios of stocks, bonds, ETFs, and options. In this Public app review, we'll dive into the details to help you see if Public is the right brokerage for you.

Public
Learn More for Public

On Public's Secure Website.

Ratings Methodology
Award Icon 2025 Award Winner
Public

Public

Learn More

Double arrow

Our Rating:

Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.
4.0/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Bottom Line

Public is an investing platform that simplifies trading stocks, bonds, ETFs, options, and crypto. With zero fees on many trades, Public stands out as a low-cost brokerage, while also providing yield-focused products to help you earn returns on your cash.

Fees:

$0 commissions, 1%-2% crypto markups

Account Minimum:

$1

Learn More for Public

On Public's Secure Website.

Alternatives to Consider

We recommend comparing brokerage options to ensure the account you're selecting is the best fit for you. To make your search easier, here's a short list of our best trading platforms of 2024.

Broker Best For Commissions Learn More
Logo for Public
Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.
4.0/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Easy fractional investing in stocks and bonds. $0 commissions, 1%-2% crypto markups
Learn More for Public

On Public's Secure Website.

Logo for J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing
Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.
4.0/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Low mutual fund fees. $0 per trade
Learn More for J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing

On J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing's Secure Website.

Logo for E*TRADE
Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Long-Term Investors, Stocks and Options Traders Commission-free; other fees apply
Learn More for E*TRADE

On E*TRADE's Secure Website.

Full Public app review

Author's note: I've been investing for about twenty years, and I'm not a Public app customer; I prefer passive investing in low-cost index funds. But one thing I like about the Public investing platform is its exceptionally low fees. And unlike some other zero-commission online brokerages, Public does not earn money based on payment for order flow (PFOF). This helps the Public app keep its fees low and improves transparency for investors.

Investment offerings

The Public app makes it easy to invest in a range of assets -- from fractional shares of stocks and bonds, to ETFs and options. Want to invest in bonds? Public makes it easier than most brokerages, with fractional bond investing -- you can buy corporate bonds or U.S. Treasury bonds with as little as $100.

Public also has automated Investment Plans for diversified portfolios of up to 20 stocks, ETFs, or crypto assets. Public does not offer mutual funds, and its account types are limited to taxable brokerage accounts -- no IRAs or 529 savings plans.

Investments

  • Bonds
  • Crypto
  • ETFs
  • Fractional bonds
  • Investment Plans
  • Options
  • OTC stocks
  • Stocks
  • Treasuries

Brokerage accounts

  • Brokerage account (cash)
  • Brokerage account (margin)
  • High-Yield Cash Account

TIP

Other financial services

The Public app offers a High-Yield Cash Account that earns an APY that's competitive with the best high-yield savings accounts. If you're looking for a good place to keep your extra cash while waiting to buy investments, or if you want to use Public as a savings account, this brokerage can deliver high interest on your money -- with the safety of FDIC insurance.

Commissions and fees

The Public app is one of the lowest-cost brokerages we've found. Instead of trading fees, commissions, or payment for order flow (PFOF), Public offers optional tipping -- if you want, you can add a tip to your trading order to "tip your brokerage."

Public Premium, a paid subscription tier, costs $10 per month or $96 per year. Public also charges a few other miscellaneous account service fees and regulatory fees; for example, it costs $75 to close your Public account and transfer money out.

Investment product Cost
Bonds $0.100-$0.500 per $100 of par value (based on type of bond and maturity date)
Crypto $0.49-$6.29 for orders up to $500.00; 1.25% of order amount for larger orders
ETFs $0 during regular market hours 
During extended market hours: $0 for Public Premium members; $2.99 for non-Premium members
Investment Plans $0 for Public Premium members; $0.49-$1.99 per recurring purchase for non-Premium members
Options $0; earn rebates up to $0.18 per contract traded
OTC stocks $0 for Public Premium members; $2.99 for non-Premium members
Stocks $0 during regular market hours 
During extended market hours: $0 for Public Premium members; $2.99 for non-Premium members
Data source: Public.

Margin rates

Public offers margin accounts, where you can borrow against the value of your investment portfolio and invest with borrowed money. But as of May 25, 2024, no margin rates were listed on the Public website. Contact Public for more details on margin rates.

Keep in mind that margin investing can be risky; you can lose more than the value of your initial investment, and you can be required to sell investments on short notice, or make additional cash deposits, to cover your market losses.

Research and education

Public intends to be a good investing platform for beginner investors, and it offers a wide range of educational content to help people learn more about investing and how markets work. A few recent topics include:

  • What are options and how do they work?
  • A complete guide to fixed income for 2024
  • Roth IRA vs. traditional IRA
  • Stocks or bonds: which is right for you?

Want a higher level of professional-grade investor research? No problem -- Public offers advanced research features if you sign up for Public Premium. A membership with Public Premium gives you access to Morningstar research, enhanced data analysis and insights to help you make better-informed investment decisions.

Interface

The Public investing platform has some unique features that make it more user-friendly and educational, especially for beginning investors.

Public Pulse

The Public app serves millions of investors, and the Public Pulse program is a "social media"-style community -- people can share their latest investment ideas, pose questions to the community, and more. Public Pulse also hosts announcements from publicly traded companies, Town Hall Q&A sessions with CEOs, expert commentary, and more.

Safety labels for stocks

Buying stocks can be risky, and Public makes a proactive effort to help investors understand the risks. The Public app offers "Safety Labels" as a special tool to show you which stocks might pose higher risk. You can still buy whatever stocks you choose, but Safety Labels help you see the additional context.

Alpha: AI investing tools

Public recently launched a new experimental feature called "Alpha," a generative AI investing "co-pilot" that can help people do research, analyze data, and get insights on how to invest. Alpha is free for all Public members. It can help you quickly uncover real-time and historical data and analysis about thousands of stocks, bonds, ETFs, and crypto assets.

App

The Public app is available for iOS and Android, and it gets generally favorable reviews on the App Store (4.7 stars) and Google Play (4.1 stars). The Public app gives you full access to the capabilities of the Public investing interface, including:

  • Investing in stocks, bonds, crypto, ETFs, and more
  • Opening and managing a High-Yield Cash Account
  • Using Alpha (AI investing co-pilot for research and analysis)
  • Investment analysis (including access to analyst ratings, earnings calls, reports, and more)
  • Portfolio management (including access to pre-market and after-hours trading sessions)

Whether you want to make changes to your automated Investment Plan, buy stocks, do research, or withdraw money from your High-Yield Cash Account, you can do it all from the Public app on your mobile device.

Customer service

Public gets an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. The Public app has a long track record on BBB.org of promptly reaching out and solving problems for customers who complain.

You can read Public's responses to complaints on BBB.org, seeing exactly how Public's representatives take action to apologize for mistakes, explain why delays or errors might have happened, and otherwise provide gentle-spirited, discreet, useful customer service. Most of the complaints are quickly resolved.

This is an impressive sign of just how serious Public is about providing excellent customer service. Many companies say that they care about customer service; the Public app seems to actually make it a priority.

Here are a few ways that people can contact customer service at the Public app:

Phone support is currently not available.

Security

The Public app offers several advanced security protocols and features to help keep your account safe, including:

  • AES 256-bit encryption
  • TLS 1.2 (or newer)
  • Two-factor authentication via SMS
  • SIPC protection up to $500,000 of securities ($250,000 for claims for cash)
  • Active review of outgoing withdrawals to comply with anti-money laundering regulations

About

Public was launched in 2019 with a mission to make investing work better for all people -- putting the "public" in "public markets." This investing platform offers unique new ways to build a diversified multi-asset portfolio, with a wide range of assets, from stocks and bonds to crypto.

Public made a principled stand in 2021 to stop making money from payment for order flow (PFOF). Some other no-commission brokers have been criticized for using PFOF as a kind of hidden "commission" that gives everyday investors an incentive to trade too frequently for their own good. Instead of PFOF, Public offers optional "tipping" to help keep fees low -- while giving investors a (hopefully) fairer, more transparent experience.

Learn more about Public app

Keep reading about the Public investing platform on these pages:

Our brokerage rating methodology

At Motley Fool Money, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and account types; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and highly rated mobile apps. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.

See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology