Charles Schwab held $11.77 trillion in total client assets at the end of Q1 2026, roughly 38 times the $307 billion in Total Platform Assets Robinhood reported for the same quarter, according to Schwab and Robinhood. That scale gap frames almost every comparison between the two brokers, yet it hides the more interesting number underneath. According to Robinhood, its platform assets grew 39% year-over-year. Per Schwab, client assets rose 19%, so the smaller platform expanded at roughly twice the rate of the incumbent.
The data below maps both companies across accounts, assets, revenue, ARPU, trading volume, and the two opposite pricing engines. Every figure comes from Robinhood Investor Relations, the Charles Schwab pressroom, and SEC disclosures filed through early 2026. According to Schwab’s pressroom, the firm posted record quarterly net revenue of $6.5 billion, while Robinhood Investor Relations reported $1.07 billion.
Key Takeaways
- Schwab‘s $11.77 trillion in client assets dwarfs Robinhood’s $307 billion in platform assets, a gap of roughly 38x as of Q1 2026.
- Robinhood grew platform assets 39% year-over-year, more than double Schwab’s 19% client-asset growth over the same period.
- Schwab counted 39.1 million active brokerage accounts versus Robinhood’s 27.4 million Funded Customers, two metrics that use different counting conventions.
- Robinhood’s average revenue per user reached $157 in Q1 2026, the per-customer figure that anchors its transaction-driven model.
- Schwab posted record quarterly net revenue of $6.5 billion against Robinhood’s $1.07 billion, a 6x revenue gap.
- Robinhood collected about $974 million in payment for order flow, representing approximately half of its revenue, while Schwab charges $0 commissions on online stock and ETF trades.
Editor’s Choice
- Schwab total client assets: $11.77 trillion, up 19% year-over-year (Q1 2026).
- Robinhood Total Platform Assets: $307 billion, up 39% year-over-year (Q1 2026).
- Schwab active brokerage accounts: 39.1 million, with 1.3 million new brokerage accounts opened in the quarter.
- Robinhood Funded Customers: 27.4 million, up 6% year-over-year.
- Schwab full-year 2025 net revenue: a record $23.9 billion, up 22%.
- Robinhood full-year 2025 net revenue: $4.5 billion, up 52%.
- Robinhood Gold Subscribers: 4.3 million, up 36% year-over-year (Q1 2026).
Client Assets vs Total Platform Assets Compared
- Schwab reported total client assets of $11.77 trillion at the end of Q1 2026, up 19% year-over-year.
- Robinhood reported Total Platform Assets of $307 billion for Q1 2026, up 39% year-over-year.
- Schwab’s full-year 2025 client assets closed at a record $11.90 trillion, up 18% year-over-year.
- Robinhood’s full-year 2025 platform assets reached $324 billion, up 68% year-over-year.
- Schwab client assets reached $13.14 trillion, up 27% from May 2025 in the May 2026 monthly update.
- Robinhood platform assets reached $377 billion at the end of May 2026, up 48% year-over-year.
The two figures answer different questions, according to Schwab and Robinhood disclosures and the underlying SEC filings. Schwab’s “client assets” spans brokerage, banking, and managed-investing balances across a five-decade-old franchise, while Robinhood’s “Total Platform Assets” measures a younger, retail-led book that includes equities, options, crypto, and cash. The pattern across CoinLaw’s coverage of retail brokerages holds here too: adoption-side metrics like platform-asset growth often move faster than the headline scale suggests, because the smaller platform compounds from a lower base.
| Metric | Robinhood (Q1 2026) | Schwab (Q1 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Headline asset base | $307 billion (Total Platform Assets) | $11.77 trillion (total client assets) |
| Year-over-year growth | +39% | +19% |
| FY2025 asset base | $324 billion | $11.90 trillion |
| May 2026 asset base | $377 billion | $13.14 trillion |
| May 2026 YoY growth | +48% | +27% |
Source: Robinhood Markets Investor Relations 2026, Charles Schwab Pressroom 2026
By the numbers: Charles Schwab held $11.77 trillion in client assets in Q1 2026 against Robinhood’s $307 billion platform book, a roughly 38x gap. Robinhood’s asset growth outpaced Schwab’s, showing how differently the two sit on the brokerage maturity curve.
Funded Customers vs Active Brokerage Accounts
- Schwab counted 39.1 million active brokerage accounts at the end of Q1 2026.
- Robinhood reported 27.4 million Funded Customers in Q1 2026, up 6% year-over-year.
- Schwab also tracks a broader 47.2 million total client accounts, which includes banking and workplace relationships.
- Robinhood separately reported 29.1 million Investment Accounts, up 8% year-over-year.
- Schwab opened 1.3 million new brokerage accounts in the quarter.
- Across full-year 2025, Schwab opened 4.7 million new brokerage accounts.
These headline counts are not measuring the same thing. Robinhood’s “Funded Customers” counts unique customers with at least one funded account, while Schwab’s “active brokerage accounts” counts accounts, and a single household can hold several. Reading the two figures as a straight customer-to-customer comparison overstates the gap, which is why the per-user economics below matter more than the raw totals.
Recent Developments
- June 12, 2026: Schwab reported $13.14 trillion in client assets for May 2026, up 27% from May 2025, with 39.5 million active brokerage accounts.
- June 12, 2026: Schwab logged a record 11.8 million daily average trades in May 2026 and 461,000 new brokerage accounts, up 37% year-over-year.
- June 9, 2026: Robinhood reported 27.7 million funded customers and $377 billion in platform assets at the end of May 2026.
- June 9, 2026: Robinhood logged $315 billion in equity notional trading volume in May 2026, up 75% year-over-year.
- April 28, 2026: Robinhood posted Q1 2026 net revenue of $1.07 billion, up 15% year-over-year.
- April 16, 2026: Schwab reported record Q1 2026 net revenue of $6.5 billion, up 16% year-over-year.
Revenue and ARPU Compared
- Schwab posted record Q1 2026 net revenue of $6.5 billion, a 16% increase, detailed in filings as $6,482 million.
- Robinhood reported Q1 2026 total net revenue of $1.07 billion, up 15% year-over-year.
- Robinhood’s average revenue per user reached $157 in Q1 2026, up 8% year-over-year.
- Robinhood’s transaction-based revenue was $623 million, with options at $260 million and equities at $82 million.
- Robinhood’s net interest revenue rose 24% year-over-year to $359 million.
- Schwab’s net interest margin for the quarter was 2.88%, reflecting its sweep-cash and lending base.
- For full-year 2025, Schwab’s net revenue hit a record $23.9 billion, up 22% versus Robinhood’s $4.5 billion, up 52%.
Robinhood reported full-year 2025 ARPU of $191, up 16% year-over-year, the metric that captures how much revenue each customer generates. That per-user lens is where the two models diverge most.
Robinhood earns the bulk of its money from customer trading activity, so ARPU rises and falls with engagement. Schwab earns most of its revenue from net interest income on sweep cash and from asset-management fees, so its economics track balances and rate spreads rather than trade counts. Comparing the $1.07 billion Robinhood quarter against the $6.5 billion Schwab quarter without that context misreads two different revenue engines.
Why it matters: Robinhood’s $157 ARPU rises with customer trading activity, while Schwab’s revenue tracks $11.77 trillion in balances and a 2.88% net interest margin. Same “brokerage” label, two opposite monetization engines, which is why a straight revenue gap misreads the businesses.
Trading Volume and Engagement
- Schwab logged a record 9.9 million daily average trades in Q1 2026, up 34% year-over-year.
- Robinhood reported $315 billion in equity notional trading volume in May 2026, up 75% year-over-year.
- Robinhood’s average daily volume reached $15.8 billion in May 2026, up 84% year-over-year.
- Schwab’s daily average trades climbed further to a record 11.8 million in May 2026.
- Robinhood’s options revenue grew 8% year-over-year to $260 million in Q1 2026.
- Robinhood’s cryptocurrency revenue fell 47% year-over-year to $134 million.
Schwab measures engagement in trade counts because its revenue links loosely to trading, while Robinhood measures notional dollar volume because transaction flow drives its model directly. The divergence in crypto is notable: Robinhood’s crypto revenue dropped sharply even as equity volume surged, a swing visible across the Robinhood vs eToro trading comparison where crypto activity stays far more cyclical than equity trading.
| Engagement metric | Robinhood | Schwab |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 trading benchmark | Options revenue $260 million | 9.9 million daily average trades |
| May 2026 trading benchmark | $315 billion equity notional | 11.8 million daily average trades |
Source: Robinhood Markets Investor Relations 2026, Charles Schwab Pressroom 2026
Pricing Model Compared: PFOF vs Fee Structure
- Robinhood collected about $974 million in payment for order flow, representing approximately half of its revenue under its order-routing model.
- Schwab charges $0 commissions on online stock and ETF trades.
- Schwab charges $0.65 per options contract and $25 for broker-assisted trades.
- Robinhood routes orders to venues including Virtu Americas, Citadel Securities, Jane Street Capital, G1 Execution Services, and Two Sigma Securities.
- Robinhood Gold costs $5 per month or $50 per year.
- Robinhood charges $0 commission on stock and options trades with no per-contract fee on options.
Both brokers advertise commission-free stock trading, but the economics underneath differ sharply. Robinhood is paid by market makers for routing customer orders, so the model monetizes order flow rather than per-trade fees. Schwab forgoes equity commissions and instead earns from net interest income on cash, asset-management fees, and a modest per-contract options charge. The “free” headline is identical; the revenue mechanism is not.
| Pricing element | Robinhood | Schwab |
|---|---|---|
| Online stock/ETF commission | $0 | $0 |
| Options per contract | $0 | $0.65 |
| Broker-assisted trade | Not applicable (app-first) | $25 |
| Premium tier | Robinhood Gold $5/month | Not applicable |
| Primary revenue mechanism | Payment for order flow | Net interest income and asset-management fees |
Source: Congressional Research Service 2026, Charles Schwab Pricing Guide 2026, Robinhood 2026
Worth noting: Robinhood collected about $974 million in payment for order flow, representing approximately half of its revenue, while Schwab earns from a 2.88% net interest margin and asset-management fees. Both show “$0” stock commissions, so the trade-off lives in the revenue mechanism, not the sticker price.
Net Deposits and Asset Gathering
- Robinhood reported Q1 2026 Net Deposits of $17.7 billion.
- Schwab reported Q1 2026 core net new assets of $140.0 billion.
- Robinhood’s trailing-twelve-month net deposits totaled $68.1 billion, a 35% growth rate relative to platform assets at the end of Q4 2024.
- Schwab gathered $519 billion in core net new assets across full-year 2025, a 5.1% organic growth rate.
- In May 2026, Robinhood added $5.6 billion in net deposits.
- In May 2026, Schwab added $49.9 billion in core net new assets, up 43% year-over-year.
Asset gathering is where the scale gap and the growth-rate gap collide. Schwab pulls in far larger absolute inflows, yet Robinhood’s net deposits represent a much higher percentage of its existing base, which is how its retail-led platform compounds so quickly between quarters. For readers tracking how each platform fits a broader portfolio picture, our retail investing data shows the same account-growth pattern playing out across the trading-app category.
| Asset-gathering metric | Robinhood | Schwab |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 inflows | $17.7 billion net deposits | $140.0 billion core net new assets |
| May 2026 inflows | $5.6 billion net deposits | $49.9 billion core net new assets |
| FY2025 inflows | $68.1 billion net deposits | $519 billion core net new assets |
Source: Robinhood Markets Investor Relations 2026, Charles Schwab Pressroom 2026
Robinhood Key Metrics Snapshot
- Robinhood Total Platform Assets: $324 billion at year-end 2025, rising to $307 billion in Q1 2026 and $377 billion by May 2026.
- Funded Customers: 27.0 million at year-end 2025, 27.4 million in Q1 2026, and 27.7 million in May 2026.
- ARPU: $191 for full-year 2025 and $157 in Q1 2026.
- Robinhood Gold Subscribers: 4.3 million, up 36% year-over-year.
- Net income: $346 million in Q1 2026, up 3% year-over-year.
A side-by-side read against the Robinhood vs Coinbase comparison data shows how Robinhood’s diversification into equities and options has steadied a revenue base that crypto alone once dominated. The platform-asset trajectory across this stretch reflects the net-deposit momentum management has emphasized.
Charles Schwab Key Metrics Snapshot
- Schwab total client assets: $11.90 trillion at year-end 2025, $11.77 trillion in Q1 2026, and $13.14 trillion by May 2026.
- Active brokerage accounts: 38.5 million at year-end 2025, 39.1 million in Q1 2026, and 39.5 million in May 2026.
- Net revenue: a record $23.9 billion for full-year 2025 and $6.5 billion in Q1 2026.
- Margin loan balances: $126.7 billion at the end of Q1 2026.
- Schwab also reported 5.9 million workplace plan participant accounts and 2.3 million banking accounts as of May 2026.
Schwab’s data tells the incumbent’s story: enormous balances, steady single-digit-to-high-teens growth, and revenue anchored in net interest income rather than trading. The Charles Schwab statistics deep dive tracks how that diversified base has held up across rate cycles. Among trading-app peers, the SoFi vs Robinhood data shows similar account-led growth against a far larger incumbent.
Is Robinhood bigger than Charles Schwab?
Charles Schwab is far larger than Robinhood by every asset and account measure. Schwab held $11.77 trillion in total client assets in Q1 2026 against Robinhood’s $307 billion in platform assets, a gap of roughly 38x, and Schwab counted 39.1 million active brokerage accounts versus Robinhood’s 27.4 million Funded Customers. Robinhood grows faster in percentage terms, but Schwab remains the substantially bigger firm.
Is Robinhood or Schwab safer for holding assets?
Both Robinhood and Schwab route customer brokerage assets through broker-dealer subsidiaries that are members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers up to statutory limits if a member firm fails. Schwab explicitly notes that its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab and Co., Inc., is a member of SIPC. SIPC coverage does not protect against investment losses or market declines; it covers the custody of assets, not their value.
Conclusion
The headline numbers set the frame: Charles Schwab’s $11.77 trillion in client assets towers over Robinhood’s $307 billion platform book, and Schwab’s $6.5 billion quarterly revenue runs roughly 6x Robinhood’s $1.07 billion. The more useful story sits underneath, where Robinhood’s stronger asset-growth rate meets a far smaller base, and the two firms monetize through opposite engines: Robinhood through transaction flow and payment for order flow, Schwab through net interest income and asset-management fees on a much larger base.
For readers comparing the two, the data rewards a metric-by-metric read rather than a single winner. The scale, growth rate, per-user economics, and pricing mechanism each tell a different part of the picture, and CoinLaw will refresh these figures as both companies report through the rest of the year.
