Public.com Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

What Is Public.com?

Public is an app-based stock brokerage company that doesn’t charge commissions on trades. It was founded in 2017. There are four founders: Jannick Malling, Matt Kennedy, Peter Quinn, and Sean Hendelman. 

The company’s legal name is Public Holdings, Inc. doing business as Open to the Public Investing, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Public used to be called Matador but later changed the front-facing name of the company to Public.

On February 17, 2021, Public announced that it had raised $220 million in a Series D round at a $1.2 billion valuation. Investors included Accel, Greycroft, and Lakestar, Will Smith (via his Dreamers VC), Intuition Capital, Tiger Global, The Chainsmokers’ Mantis VC, and more.

Public was named one of the best investing apps in our annual reader survey!

What Does It Offer?

Public.com is an investment platform where you can invest in numerous assets, including stocks, ETFs, crypto, bonds, and fractional share trades. 

Public is also the first major investing platform to roll out Treasury Bills with on-demand liquidity. This means you can take advantage of their high yield rate of 3.3% (as of this writing) while being able to sell your T-bills anytime you want.

Beyond investing, Public gives you information about your portfolio through data, insights, and analytics to help you be a more informed investor.

Desktop And App-Based Experience

Public is available on both mobile and desktop (desktop support was recently added), and while many can say they prefer investing from desktop devices, their mobile app is available for iOS and Android. 

The iOS app has a rating of 4.7/5.0 out of over 18,300 ratings. The Android app has a rating of 4.5/5.0 out of more than 13,200 ratings. Both apps seem to push out updates consistently.

Public Premium

Public offers a Premium subscription that provides advanced data, portfolio management tools, and analyst insights to help investors make more informed decisions.

Public Premium costs $8 per month (it's free if you have an account balance over $50,000) and provides the following perks:

• As a Public Premium member, you get unique data on all the companies you care about. Think of things like how many Teslas of a specific model have been delivered this quarter or Apple’s sales per continent, etc.
• You also get institutional-grade research from Morningstar, providing the bull and bear cases for many popular stocks, along with downloadable  reporting on competitive pressures, business strategy, and more.
• Access to extended-hours trading—which adds an additional 5 hours trading time in the day for some stocks available for trading during extended trading hours. 
• You can organize the assets in your portfolio into custom groups. Then, compare each group's performance side by side.
• When there’s a breaking story making the rounds, Public Premium’s expert analysts will give you the additional context you need with exclusive audio programming for Public Premium members only.

Dollar-Cost Averaging And Fractional Shares

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) can take the emotion out of investing. Instead of trying to time the market, it's all about building wealth over a longer term, and reducing the impact of market volatility. This way, you’re able to invest equal amounts of money on a regular basis—regardless of the market's ups and downs.

An example of this in practice is recurring crypto investments, which are especially helpful for investors who want to manage market risk with a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy.

Public also supports crypto recurring investments. That means you’ll be able to automate the purchase of your favorite coins and tokens. 

They are also one of a growing number of companies that allow you to invest in fractional shares, which means that you can get started investing in pricier stocks with less capital up front.

Public lets you buy fractional shares in stocks, ETFs, and crypto, all in one place. 

No Payment For Order Flow (PFOF)

As commission-free trading has quickly become an industry-wide standard, brokers have had to find other ways to make money. Some platforms have chosen to generate income by routing their trades to specific clearing firms. This revenue model is known as Payment for Order Flow (PFOF).

PFOF has been much maligned in the investing industry, as many have said it creates a conflict of interest for brokerages. Despite this, it remains the primary revenue source for several firms. However, Public isn't one of them. It announced on February 16, 2021, that it was officially a PFOF-free brokerage.

Options Trading

You can now execute options trading on Public. You'll have access to a strategy builder which allows you to plan your trades and predict potential outcomes. 

Public has advanced charts that let you perform technical analysis, visualize your trades, and an options screener to help you find attractive options contracts. 

The cost to execute an option is where things get really interesting. Public lets you earn rebates on your stock & ETF options. You'll earn a rebate of $0.06-$0.18 per stock & ETF options contract. 

You can also invest in index options on Public with some of the most popular market indices, including SPX, XSP, VIX, MBTX, and CBTX

Day Trading

For day traders, Public may not be the best option. It allows periodic day trading, but if it's done too often, the trader’s account will be restricted. Accounts that have four or more good-faith violations will be restricted for 90 days by the Public’s clearing firm, Apex Clearing. They also don't offer margin accounts.

If you are looking to trade, look for an app that specializes in trading like WeBull.

Cryptocurrency Investing

Public allows its users to invest in over 40 different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin, and more. 

However, Public does not offer a crypto wallet, which means you don't actually have control over your crypto and can't use it to transact outside the Public platform. As such, if you're really interested in investing in crypto, you should use a real cryptocurrency exchange.

Treasury And Corporate Bonds

Public is now offering Treasury Bonds. Their bond screener allows you to search over 10,000 Treasury and corporate bonds. You can sort by yield, maturity date, coupon, credit rating, and more. 

There are no minimum hold periods or settlement days on U.S. Treasuries. And each corporate bond page has key financial information about the company, such as, debt-to-equity ratio and free cash flow so you can make informed decisions quickly and easily. 

There is a flat 0.05% per month fee based on the average daily balance of your Treasury Account.

High-Yield Cash Account

Their high-yield cash account is a great place to store your uninvested funds. As of this writing, this account earns a 3.30% APY and has no fees. There is a $20 minimum deposit required to open the account, but after that, there are no minimum balance requirements. 

Transfers from the high-yield cash account to your brokerage account happen instantly as long as you do the transfer between 7 am and 8 pm Eastern time. 

The account is also FDIC-insured up to $5 million by spreading funds across partner banks, and while funds are being transferred, they are covered by SIPC insurance. 

Direct Indexing

Public.com now offers Direct Indexing, which allows you to own the individual stocks that make up a market index, like the S&P 500, rather than buying an index fund or ETF. Most investment platforms offer this only to wealthy investors with six-figure portfolios, but Public makes it available with a minimum initial investment of $1,000. Direct indexing benefits include tax-loss harvesting, portfolio customization, and the ability to own each asset directly. 

Generated Assets

Public's Generated Assets tool allows you to build an investable index using AI. All you need to do is type in a prompt and its AI will proceed to create an index that matches your objectives. Public will also backtest it against the S&P 500. Once its set up, you can invest in the Generated Asset you built, directly on Public.

Public API

Tech-savvy traders will appreciate Public's trading API, which lets computers talk to your Public investing account, so you can automate tasks, get data, and place trades without using the Public app manually. The API offers powerful read and write access, making it easy to pull essential data and execute complex strategies with no commissions.

Are There Any Fees?

Public is commission-free, but there may be small exchange fees incurred for trades. Additionally, there are fees for various services:

• All broker-assisted phone trades: $30
• Domestic wire transfer: $30
• Domestic overnight check: $35
• Returned check, ACH, wire and recall/stop payments: $30
• ACAT outgoing: $75
• Paper statements: $35
• Mark-up on crypto: 1-2%

How Do I Open An Account?

An account can be opened through the mobile app. You can download the mobile app for iOS or Android from https://public.com. Part of the application process includes an investor profile. This is standard across brokerages.

The requirements for opening an account are:

• Being 18 years of age
• Having a valid Social Security number
• Having a legal U.S. residential address
• Being a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, or having a valid visa

You can also transfer funds from another brokerage to Public, which Public does not charge a fee for. If the transferring firm does charge a fee, let Public know because for balances above $150, Public will cover the transfer fees from your former brokerage.

You can also fund the account with an ACH transfer from your bank. There is no minimum investment required. Note that Public charges $75 to transfer money out of Public to another brokerage.

You may not be able to withdraw money if funds have not yet settled from recent trades.

How Does Public Compare?

Public is not the only commission-free investing app, but it is one of the few options that allow fractional-share investing. However, it has fewer investment options than other brokers as it does not support mutual fund trades. Check out how Public compares to some of the other popular apps here:

Public Bonus Offer

Public is currently offering a 1% Match bonus that gives you an uncapped cash reward when you transfer your eligible IRA or 401(k) rollover to a Public investing account.

You'll get 1% of the total value you transfer credited as cash once the transfer settles. The bonus is typically applied within a few weeks and must stay in your Public account for a number of years to avoid forfeiture under the terms.

Public will also cover up to $100 in outgoing transfer fees from your old broker if your transfer is over $5,000. It’s an easy way to earn extra cash on assets you’re already planning to move. 

Is It Safe And Secure?

Yes — Public is a member of SIPC, which protects up to $500,000 in securities for each customer account. Public also uses AES 128-bit encryption and TLS 1.2 to secure data in transit.

Contact

Public does not offer customer service by phone. However, it does provide live chat support from within the app. You can also email their team at [email protected]. Their customer service hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM and 5 PM (ET). Note that if you have a simple question, you may be able to find the answer on Public's FAQ page.

Is It Worth It?

At one time, Public was considered a beginner-friendly investment app, complete with a social investing component. But it's ditched community investing, recently launched a suite of new products and tools, and repositioned its offering to more serious, advanced investors. 

If that's you and you're looking for a commission-free trading platform with access to a wide range of investments, including fractional shares, Public is worth considering. Just know that you won't have the option of live telephone support, as it's still not available on the Public platform. 

The account-opening process is quick and easy, and Public's user interface is intuitive. Is Public worth trying out? In our view, yes — it could turn out to be the one commission-free brokerage service that you enjoy the most.

Check out Public here >>

Common Questions

Let's answer a few popular questions about Public.

Does Public have a web platform?

Yes, Public recently launched a web platform which makes accessing statements and tax forms much easier.

Can you trade mutual funds on the Public app?

No, Public does not offer mutual funds. However, you can invest in many other investment types, like stocks, ETFs, bonds, crypto, and more. 

How does Public make money?

A few of the ways that Public is able to generate income include securities lending, optional tipping, and earning interest on uninvested cash balances.

DISCLOSURE

Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered adviser. Crypto trading provided by Zero Hash LLC, licensed by the NYSDFS. Review objectives, fees, and conflicts before investing. See Form CRS, Form ADV Part 2A, Fee Schedule, and other disclosures for more information. Investing involves risk.