Public Review (2026): Free Stocks, Complicated Bonds

Public launched as the social investing app, the one where you could see what other people were buying and discuss it in the feed. It has since grown into something considerably more serious: a multi-asset brokerage covering stocks, options, bonds, Treasuries and a high-yield cash account. The equity side is genuinely competitive and simple. The fixed-income side, which is where Public has pushed hardest for differentiation, is where the fee structure stops being simple and needs reading carefully.

Fees and rates checked against Public’s published fee schedule in October 2026. These change; confirm before investing.

The Equity Side Is Clean

US-listed stocks and ETFs trade commission-free during regular market hours and during extended hours, which run from 4:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 8:00pm Eastern. That extended-hours window is wider than several competitors offer, which matters if you react to earnings releases.

OTC stocks also trade at zero commission, which is less common than it sounds and useful if you hold anything off the main exchanges.

Options on stocks and ETFs are commission-free. Index options are charged at 0.35 dollars per contract, plus the usual regulatory fees on options trades.

That index option pricing is worth comparing. tastytrade charges 0.50 dollars per contract on index options, so Public is marginally cheaper there, though tastytrade is free to close positions while Public’s structure differs. If you trade SPX or VIX in volume, price both against your own pattern rather than taking either headline at face value.

The High-Yield Cash Account

Public offers a High-Yield Cash Account at 3.30 percent APY with zero fees, no minimum balance requirement, and FDIC insurance up to 5,000,000 dollars through a partner bank network.

Three point three percent is competitive without leading the market, and the 5 million dollar insurance figure is achieved the same way every such product achieves it, by sweeping deposits across multiple partner banks so each slice sits inside its own standard limit. That is legitimate and common, and worth understanding rather than reading as Public itself insuring 5 million.

The genuine advantage is the same as Betterment’s: cash sitting alongside investments in one place, so moving between them is frictionless.

Where the Fees Get Complicated

This is the section to read before committing, because the bond products are priced quite differently from the equities.

Individual bonds. Public charges a markup or markdown on each bond trade. A markup is not a visible commission; it is built into the price you pay, which makes it harder to see than a flat fee.

Treasury Accounts. Management fees are tiered, starting at 0.29 percent and decreasing to 0.09 percent based on account size. On top of that, transaction markups run 0.10 to 0.25 percent of par value depending on duration.

Think about what that means for short-dated Treasuries. If you are buying a three-month bill, a 0.25 percent transaction markup plus a 0.29 percent annual management fee is a meaningful bite out of the yield, because the fee is annualized but your holding period is a quarter. Short-duration Treasury ladders are precisely where percentage fees hurt most, and buying directly from TreasuryDirect costs nothing.

Bond Account. Purchases and sales carry a markup of 50 basis points, which Public itself expresses as 5 dollars per 1,000 dollars invested, plus a 3.99 dollar monthly fee. That monthly fee was waived during an introductory period which has now passed, so budget for it. At 48 dollars a year it is the same flat-fee problem Acorns has: on a 2,000 dollar bond position it is 2.4 percent annually, which will comfortably exceed the yield advantage you were chasing.

None of this makes the bond products bad. It makes them products for larger balances, where the tiered management fee falls toward 0.09 percent and a 48 dollar annual fee becomes immaterial.

What Public Does Well

Breadth in one account is the real draw. Holding equities, options, individual bonds, Treasuries and cash in a single app, with one statement and one tax document, is genuinely convenient and few competitors at this price point cover all five.

The interface is clean and the extended-hours access is better than most. Fractional shares let you hold expensive stocks with small amounts.

And the social feed, whatever you think of it in principle, is optional rather than imposed.

Where It Falls Short

The fee complexity is the main criticism. Commission-free equities sitting next to tiered management fees, bond markups and a monthly subscription on one product makes it hard to know what you are paying without reading a schedule.

Fractional shares are not transferable, so consolidating to another broker later means selling those positions rather than moving them.

And for a pure buy-and-hold index investor, none of the multi-asset breadth is useful; a mainstream broker does that job with less to read.

Who It Suits

Public fits someone who genuinely wants several asset classes in one place, trades equities and equity options commission-free, keeps a cash balance they want earning something, and has enough in fixed income that the tiered fees land at the cheaper end.

It does not fit someone building a short-dated Treasury ladder on a small balance, where the fees meaningfully erode the yield and TreasuryDirect is free, nor a simple index investor who will never touch bonds or options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Public commission-free?

For US-listed stocks and ETFs, OTC stocks and equity and ETF options, yes. Index options cost 0.35 dollars per contract, and bond products carry their own fees.

What is the cash account rate?

3.30 percent APY with no fees and no minimums, FDIC insured up to 5,000,000 dollars via a partner bank network.

What does the Bond Account cost?

A 50 basis point markup on purchases and sales, which is 5 dollars per 1,000 dollars invested, plus a 3.99 dollar monthly fee now that the introductory waiver has ended.

Are Treasuries cheap to buy here?

Not especially. Tiered management fees run 0.29 percent down to 0.09 percent, plus transaction markups of 0.10 to 0.25 percent of par. TreasuryDirect charges nothing.

Can I trade in extended hours?

Yes, from 4:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 8:00pm Eastern, commission-free.

Is there a sign-up bonus?

Yes, 100 dollars to each side in a stock or ETF, requiring a 1,000 dollar initial deposit. See our Public referral guide.

The Bottom Line

Public is a genuinely good commission-free equity and options broker with an unusually broad product range and a competitive cash account, wrapped in a fee schedule that rewards reading. The equities are simple and cheap. The bond and Treasury products are priced for larger balances, and on a small fixed-income position the 3.99 dollar monthly Bond Account fee and the Treasury markups will outrun the yield advantage. Use it for what it does cheaply, and price the fixed-income side against buying Treasuries directly before assuming the convenience is free.