Service review

Public.com Review: Costs, Access and Key Trade-offs

Read Public.com's documented US availability, costs and service limitations with dated sources and practical next steps.

By the CoinReckon editorial desk · Published

Evidence snapshot: · Evidence updated 2026-09-26 · Methodology 1.3.

Documentary review. No deposit, trade, withdrawal or support test was performed for this page. Read the methodology.

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Editorial illustration

Choose your location to see its recorded access and ratings. GLOBAL covers the documented international route; it does not mean access in every country.

United States · Documentary assessment

Public.com: recorded position

86.4/100

Very good beginners self custody

Method coverage
70%
Evidence completeness
100%

A score reflects the recorded criteria and evidence limits. Preliminary ratings have incomplete evidence. How service ratings work.

Access and exclusions

Available in the recorded evidence · evidence dated .

Public.com is a US investing app that offers stocks, bonds, options and a separate crypto service. This review reads a documented evidence snapshot dated 2026-09-26, imported 2026-10-20, rather than a hands-on test. The aim is a practical, conditional read of what the record supports for US and New York readers.

Who this crypto broker suits

Public runs under the brand of Open to the Public Investing, Inc., a US broker-dealer headquartered in New York, NY 2. Its securities business and its crypto service are legally separate, which matters the moment you compare what each part covers. The crypto side is built on a licensing arrangement with an outside provider, not on Public's own broker-dealer.

If you want crypto sitting next to stocks and ETFs in one US app, with recurring buys and a crypto IRA on the menu, Public fits that use. It suits a buy-and-hold US investor more than someone who needs to move coins freely to a personal wallet, because wallet transfers carry conditions and, for New York residents, a hard block. Weigh it against that limit before you fund an account.

US access, operator and custody

The documented record shows crypto available to US customers with no excluded states listed (checked 2026-09-26) 4. That is platform-level access, not a promise that every product or route works in every state.

Distinct entities sit behind the service. Open to the Public Investing, Inc. is the US-registered broker-dealer for stocks, ETFs, options and bonds 92. Public Platform LLC holds the software licensing agreement for crypto. Zero Hash LLC provides the actual crypto trading and custody under that agreement, and it is not a broker-dealer or a FINRA/SIPC member 4. Your coins technically sit in Zero Hash custody, kept apart from the Public Investing brokerage account.

New York is its own scope, not an inheritance of US access. Zero Hash holds a NYDFS BitLicense, so trading and holding inside Public are documented for NY residents 4. Public's own support material states that members residing in New York cannot transfer crypto in or out at this time 7. Read the New York position this way: trade and hold, yes; external wallet movement, no.

Crypto costs and transfer limits

Public's crypto commission is not a flat rate. Per the published fee schedule (updated 2026-09-17), standard orders run on a stepped scale from $0.49 for the smallest orders up to $6.29 in the $250.01-$500 band, then 1.25% of the order amount for orders above $500 1. Investment Plans, the recurring-buy route, charge a fixed 1.25% of each order regardless of size 1. The same dollar amount can cost you differently depending on whether you place a one-off order or a recurring plan.

A separate spread sits on top of any commission. The imported snapshot carries no measured spread figure, since no spread test was run for this record. Treat the commission as the documented cost and the spread as an open variable you price at the point of trade.

External wallet transfers are available for some coins only, limited to networks Zero Hash supports. From Ethereum-based assets, for example, only the main Ethereum network is covered 7. New York residents cannot move crypto to or from an external wallet at all 7.

Documented item Dated value / scope Practical implication
US availability Y, no excluded states (checked 2026-09-26) 4 Platform access, not per-product eligibility
US crypto assets 60+ assets (checked 2026-09-26) 4 US scope; do not read it as a New York count
Standard order commission $0.49 up to 1.25% over $500 (fee schedule 2026-09-17) 1 Cost scales with order size and route
Recurring buy Fixed 1.25% per order 1 Plan pricing differs from one-off orders
External wallet transfer Some coins; blocked for NY residents 7 Custody and geography limit withdrawals

What account protections cover

Protection depends on which part of Public you are using. Open to the Public Investing, Inc. is SEC-registered and a FINRA member, and it is state-licensed as well (checked 2026-09-26) 9. That registration covers the securities business. It is not an endorsement of the crypto product and it is not insurance on your coins.

Public discloses plainly that crypto is not FDIC or SIPC insured (checked 2026-09-26) 94. Cash and securities protections that apply to a brokerage account do not extend to crypto held through Zero Hash. The crypto provider is not a FINRA/SIPC member, so SIPC coverage has nothing to attach to on that side.

On enforcement: FINRA issued an AWC against Open to the Public Investing, Inc. recording a censure and a $350,000 fine (checked 2026-09-26) 20. The settled action concerned inadequate supervision of paid financial influencer communications between January 2020 and March 2023. More than 100 influencers were paid to promote Public on social media; some posts did not disclose their advertising nature, carried misleading commission-free claims without noting other charges, and incompletely disclosed fractional-share limits. Those posts drew over 23,000 new accounts. The matter sits at the corporate level and does not target the crypto product directly, but it is the same legal entity you would contract with.

Products and practical limitations

Beyond spot trading, the record documents a few crypto-adjacent products. Recurring buys are supported through Investment Plans, which cover most stocks, ETFs and crypto (checked 2026-09-26) 2. A Crypto IRA is available in Traditional and Roth form, with Alto Trust Co, a New Mexico trust company, as custodian (checked 2026-09-26) 5.

A company-level product flag is not proof that every state or account type can use it. The IRA runs through a separate custodian, so its availability and rules are its own, not an automatic extension of the standard crypto account. The staking the record mentions is access to staking-focused ETFs that pass through yield, not native on-chain staking, so do not expect to stake a coin directly from your balance. No order was placed for this review, so I am describing documented features, not a workflow run end to end.

How to choose for your intended use

Match your intended use against the record before funding anything. Run through these points:

  • Identity and geography: Confirm you are a US resident, and if you are in New York, accept that external wallet transfers are blocked while trading and holding are documented 47.
  • Intended operation: Decide whether you need to self-custody. If moving coins to your own wallet is central, Public's some-coins, NY-blocked transfer rule is a real constraint 7.
  • Documented cost limit: Price your typical order against the stepped commission and the fixed 1.25% recurring-buy rate, not a single headline figure 1.
  • Custody and provider boundary: Your coins sit with Zero Hash, outside FDIC/SIPC cover and separate from the broker-dealer 4.
  • Next step: If the fit holds, read the fee schedule and the transfer FAQ in full before you deposit; if wallet freedom matters more, compare a related service profile or browse all crypto service reviews.

Quick questions

Is Public.com available in New York? Yes for trading and holding crypto, based on Zero Hash's NYDFS BitLicense 4. New York residents cannot transfer crypto to or from an external wallet, so plan around that limit 7.

Do the stated charges cover every transaction? No. There is no single all-in total; each cost stays tied to its route, so a one-off order and a 1.25% recurring buy price differently, and a separate spread applies 1.

Was a trade or withdrawal tested for this review? No. This is an editorial review of supplied documentation dated 2026-09-26, not a hands-on test of execution or withdrawals.

If this matches your use, start with the fee schedule and transfer rules, then see how CoinReckon assesses services and browse the category hub for alternatives. When you are ready to keep records for filing season, our Public.com tax forms and records page covers that separately. Spotted something off in this evidence record? Send an editorial correction.

Sources

Evidence snapshot: 2026-09-26 (imported 2026-10-20). No new source collection was performed for this review.

This article is general educational information, not personal investment, legal or tax advice. Crypto can lose value, and documentary analysis is not a guarantee of safety, access or recovery. CoinReckon uses no affiliate links or purchase incentives, and nothing here reflects a tested deposit, trade or withdrawal.