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Vanguard review 2025

Updated January 1, 2025
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We want to know what you think about Vanguard

Do you have experience with Vanguard? Let us know your thoughts.

Overview of Vanguard

Broker logo

Overview

Vanguard remains a low-cost leader for buy-and-hold investors looking to build wealth over time rather than trading their way to riches.

Best for:
  • Fee-free fund investing
  • Passive investing
  • Long-term investing
3.5
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
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Cost
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
3.5 / 5
Accounts & Trading
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
3.5 / 5
Research & Education
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
3.5 / 5
Mobile
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
4.0 / 5
Customer Experience
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
3.5 / 5
4.6
Rating: 4.6 stars out of 5
Customer Score
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See all 20 customer reviews Arrow Right Icon
Minimum Balance
$0
Cost per stock trade
$0
Cost per options trade
$1 per contract for accounts below $1 million, 25 free trades for those with Vanguard funds > $1 million
Trading platform
Basic trade interface
Fractional shares
Available for purchases of Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds, and dividend reinvestment on stocks and funds.
No-transaction-fee mutual funds
3,100+ NTF mutual funds
Securities tradable
Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds
Customer service
Phone Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m. ET, email support
Account fees
$25 account fee for accounts with less than $5 million in qualifying Vanguard assets. Can waive fee if signed up for e-delivery of documents. $100 fee for transferring or closing an account, but waived if more than $5 million in assets.
Mobile app
The Vanguard mobile app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store

Community reviews

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Rating: 4 stars out of 5
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4.0
Anonymous account holder, Vanguard User

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
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5
Anonymous account holder, Vanguard User

Bankrate staff insights

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Bankrate Staff Member

Vanguard dashboard


Video Overview: Who Should Consider Vanguard

Thumbnail title card, "Bankrate staff User diary"

Review methodology

Bankrate evaluates brokers and robo-advisors on factors that matter to individual investors, including commissions, account fees, available securities, trading platforms, research and many more. After weighting these objective measures according to their importance, we then systematically score the brokers and robo-advisors and scale the data to ensure that you are seeing the top options among a field of high-quality companies. Read our full methodology.

Vanguard customer reviews

CTA Vanguard has 20 reviews

Vanguard has 20 reviews

Dive into community reviews below and see what others think about Vanguard.

4.6 Star Icon
20 ratings
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Score breakdown
5 stars
55%
4 stars
45%
3 stars
0%
2 stars
0%
1 star
0%
Score by category
Amount of fees 4.6 / 5
Diversity of options 4.4 / 5
Website or mobile app 4.4 / 5
Level of customer service 4.3 / 5
Overall Rating 4.6 / 5
Verified Badge Icon Bankrate methodology disclosure

In July 2024, Bankrate collaborated with a third-party vendor to survey 800 brokerage and robo-advisor account holders nationwide. Bankrate and our vendor collected and summarized account holder responses to five rating questions on a 5-point scale as well as open-ended reviews of the account experience. Responses are based on individual account holder product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by the associated brokerage or robo-advisor, nor do these responses reflect Bankrate's own expert review of these banking products.

Community Reviews

See what users like you are saying about Vanguard.
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Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
The company gives you a vast amount of information and one on one advisor if needed.
Score by category
Amount of fees 5 / 5
Level of customer service 5 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 5 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
I originally became a customer about 50 years ago. They provided a lot of investment options and the fees and expense ratios were lower than almost every other company.
Score by category
Amount of fees 4 / 5
Level of customer service 3 / 5
Diversity of options 5 / 5
Website or mobile app 3 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
Low fees. Greater for long term investment and trading
Score by category
Amount of fees 5 / 5
Level of customer service 3 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 4 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
Its reliable, and well organized
Score by category
Amount of fees 4 / 5
Level of customer service 4 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 4 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
All good though a bit slow
Score by category
Amount of fees 5 / 5
Level of customer service 3 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 3 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
Great app and customer service. I had one complicated task to perform and customer service helped me so quickly.
Score by category
Amount of fees 5 / 5
Level of customer service 5 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 5 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
Not the most user friendly esp for investing but I like Their low fees and diverse funds
Score by category
Amount of fees 5 / 5
Level of customer service 4 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 3 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
It has a very good reputation and experiences in different investment products.
Score by category
Amount of fees 4 / 5
Level of customer service 4 / 5
Diversity of options 5 / 5
Website or mobile app 5 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
My advisor is on top of things and always available when needed.
Score by category
Amount of fees 5 / 5
Level of customer service 5 / 5
Diversity of options 5 / 5
Website or mobile app 5 / 5
Anonymous account holder
September 12, 2024
The app was pretty easy to use! Ii could find all the controls easily and deposit funds to invest
Score by category
Amount of fees 3 / 5
Level of customer service 4 / 5
Diversity of options 4 / 5
Website or mobile app 5 / 5