Fractional Trading
Build a Balanced Portfolio with Fractional Shares
Invest any amount in thousands of US, Canadian, and European stocks and ETFs. With Interactive Brokers, no stock is out of reach.
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Trade Smarter with IBKR’s Broad Selection of Fractional Shares
Interactive Brokers makes fractional trading simple, flexible, and efficient. With access to over 10,500 US stocks and ETFs available in fractional sizes, you can build diversified portfolios and put idle cash to work. Trade fractions alongside full shares on the same professional-grade platforms trusted by investors and advisors worldwide, while benefiting from IBKR’s low costs and transparent pricing.
| Brokers | US Fractional Shares Available1 | |
|---|---|---|
| IBKR | 10,500 | + |
| Fidelity | 7,000 | + |
| Schwab | 500 | |
| E-Trade | 0 | |
[1] Fractional shares available for purchase as of January 1, 2025. Source: Bankrate
“IBKR offers access to an industry-leading selection of fractional investments.”
Investopedia.com
No Stock Is Out of Reach
Choose any eligible US, Canadian, or European stock or ETF and invest the amount that fits your strategy. If the total does not equal a whole share, IBKR automatically completes the order in fractional shares so you can own exactly what you want.
| STOCK | SHARE PRICE1 | AMOUNT INVESTED | FRACTIONAL SHARE % |
|---|---|---|---|
| META | $627.08 | $25 | 3.99% |
| GOOG | $291.74 | $25 | 8.57% |
| MSFT | $508.68 | $25 | 4.91% |
| NFLX | $1,136.44 | $25 | 2.20% |
Any trading symbols displayed are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to portray recommendations.
[1] Share prices as of November 11, 2025.
Get More for Your Money
Fractional shares help you build a diversified portfolio by spreading your investments across more companies. Put idle cash to work and make the most of every opportunity, all through IBKR’s low-cost, flexible trading platform.
What Are Fractional Shares?
Fractional shares represent portions of a whole share of a company’s stock or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Instead of purchasing an entire share, investors can buy a fraction, allowing them to invest amounts that align with their financial goals. For example, if a single share costs $100, an investor with $50 can acquire 0.5 shares. This approach makes higher-priced securities accessible to a broader audience.
What are the Benefits of Fractional Shares?
The benefits of fractional shares trading include:
Accessibility to Higher-Priced Stocks
Investors can own portions of expensive stocks or ETFs without needing substantial capital.
Portfolio Diversification
Fractional shares trading allows investors to diversify their portfolios more effectively, helping to diversify risks.
Efficient Use of Capital
Fractional shares trading enables the full utilization of available funds, minimizing idle cash and maximizing potential returns.
Facilitation of Dollar-Cost Averaging
Investors can consistently invest in set amounts over time, smoothing out the effects of market volatility.
Fractional Shares vs Whole Shares Comparison1
| Fractional Shares | Whole Shares | |
|---|---|---|
| Ability to transfer shares | Fractional shares cannot be transferred in or out of IBKR. Instead, you can close your fractional share positions and transfer out the proceeds. (Standard fractional share trading commissions will apply.) | Whole shares can be transferred in and out of IBKR (provided there are no restrictions on the shares in question). |
| Account availability | IE: Fractional shares are available for all account types. UK: Fractional shares are available for all account types except ISA and Junior ISA accounts. | Whole shares are available for all account types. |
| Capacity | An IBKR affiliate will generally act as the counterparty in fractional share trades and will execute the trade as principal or riskless principal. | Orders for whole shares may be handled in an agency capacity or may be executed by an IBKR affiliate acting as principal. |
| Commissions | Fractional share commissions may be different to the commissions that apply to whole shares. | Whole shares are subject to standard IBKR commissions. |
| Corporate actions | You cannot make voluntary elections on corporate actions regarding fractional shares. You will participate in any stock splits, mergers or other mandatory corporate actions. | You will be able to make voluntary elections on corporate actions with respect to whole shares and participate in any stock splits, mergers or other mandatory corporate actions. |
| Dividends | You will receive payments of dividends, or in the case of stock dividends, either dividend shares or value commensurate to the dividend shares. | You will receive dividends on whole shares. |
| Minimum investment | Orders submitted in share increments must be entered for at least 0.0001 shares. Orders submitted in monetary increments must be for a minimum of USD 1. | The minimum investment is dependent on the price of a single share of the stock/ETF in question. |
| Order types | Only certain types of orders are available for fractional share trading (e.g., market orders, limit orders, stop orders, stop limit orders, etc.). | A wider range of order types are available when trading whole shares. |
| Ownership | You will be the beneficial owner of any fractional and whole shares in your account and all fractional shares you own are segregated in IBKR's books and records. | |
| Platform availability | Fractional shares are available on all IBKR platforms except via IBKR API. | Whole shares are available on all IBKR platforms. |
| Product unavailability | IBKR can, at its discretion, remove any stock from the list of stocks eligible for fractional trading. If we stop offering fractional share trading in a product, we will liquidate fractional positions in the product and credit the proceeds to your account. | IBKR can, at its discretion, limit any security to closing only, meaning you can close existing positions but not open new ones. You may transfer these shares to another broker willing to accept them. |
| Effect of Trading Halts | Exchanges or regulators may also halt trading in a security. If this occurs, IBKR would likewise stop trading in the fractional and whole shares. | |
| Short selling | IBKR supports short selling of fractional and whole shares provided you have a Margin account. | |
| Treatment in case of Insolvency | In the unlikely event of our insolvency, clients will still hold their fractional interest. If the insolvency administrator/liquidator cannot transfer fractional entitlements to another broker or custodian they may need to liquidate the fractional interest and return the proceeds to you. | In the unlikely event of our insolvency, clients will still hold their whole share interest, which can be transferred to another broker or custodian or liquidated. |
| Voting rights | You will not have voting rights for the fractional shares held in your account. | You will have voting rights for the whole shares held in your account. |
Interactive Brokers’ Fractional Shares Education and Resources
Fractional shares allow IBKR clients to allocate a sum of money when investing stocks rather than buying a specific number of shares. Traders’ Academy by Interactive Brokers provides complimentary resources to educate you on fractional shares and their role in accessing higher-priced stocks, portfolio diversification, the efficient use of capital and facilitating dollar-cost averaging.
This lesson and short video reviews how to configure your account for fractional shares trading and the steps to follow when investing your preferred amounts in shares of stocks or ETFs.
Additional Resources on Fractional Trading
USER GUIDES
Get Started with Fractional Trading
For more information on Fractional Trading, select your trading platform.
Join Over 4 Million Investors Trading Smarter with IBKR
Build a diversified portfolio with fractional shares and access thousands of
global stocks and ETFs from a single account.
Fractional trading is available on all IBKR platforms.
Get Started in Minutes Try On Our Platforms
Already an IBKR client? Enable Fractional Trading
Disclosures
- Fractional shares available for purchase as of January 1, 2025. Source: Bankrate
- Interactive Brokers may close fractional share positions in stocks no longer eligible for fractional trading at any given time.