Best Brokers for Buying Treasury Bills, Notes & Bonds
U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government, and you can buy them with zero fees directly from the U.S. Treasury itself — no brokerage required.
That fee-free option is real, but it isn't automatically the best fit for everyone. We compared TreasuryDirect.gov against the major brokerages that also let you buy Treasuries, weighing cost transparency, how easily you can sell before maturity, minimum investment, and how well each option fits alongside the rest of your portfolio.
How we ranked these treasury bonds
We ranked each option on five factors: fee and markup transparency (a visible commission versus a spread built into the price), minimum investment required to get started, secondary-market liquidity (how easily you can sell before maturity and at what cost), auto-roll and reinvestment options, and integration with existing brokerage and retirement accounts.
We did not rank any option on a specific promised yield, since Treasury yields are set at auction or by the secondary market and are identical for the same security regardless of where you buy it — the yield itself isn't a variable a broker controls. What differs is cost, convenience, and liquidity around that yield, which is what these rankings actually measure.
#1 TreasuryDirect.gov
Best for: Buy-and-hold savers who want zero fees and don't need to sell early
TreasuryDirect is the U.S. Department of the Treasury's own online platform for buying Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and savings bonds directly from the government at auction, with no brokerage, dealer, or middleman involved. Because there's no intermediary, there's no commission and no markup of any kind — you receive exactly the auction-determined price and yield.
The tradeoff is that TreasuryDirect is a standalone system separate from your brokerage or bank accounts. If you need to sell a security before maturity, you can't simply enter a sell order the way you would in a brokerage account — you must transfer the security to a bank or broker first, or use TreasuryDirect's own limited redemption process, which adds friction and delay. Treasuries held in TreasuryDirect also can't be pledged as margin collateral in a brokerage account, and the account doesn't integrate with an IRA.
Strengths
- Genuinely zero fees, zero markup — the auction price and yield are exactly what you receive
- Direct relationship with the Treasury itself, with no intermediary risk
- Supports auto-reinvestment (scheduled 'reinvest' at maturity) for bills, notes, and bonds
- No account minimum beyond the security's own minimum purchase ($100 for most Treasury marketable securities)
Limitations
- Selling before maturity requires transferring the security out to a bank or broker first — you cannot simply place a sell order in the account
- No margin, no IRA support, and no consolidated view alongside other investments
- Web interface is dated and less intuitive than a modern brokerage app
- Funds are locked inside a standalone government system, separate from your other accounts
Pricing: No fees, no commission, no markup of any kind on new-issue auction purchases. This is the only option on this list with literally nothing built into the price.
#2 Fidelity
Best for: Investors who want new-issue auction access and secondary-market liquidity in one account
Fidelity lets you buy new-issue Treasury bills, notes, and bonds directly at auction with no stated commission, the same way TreasuryDirect does, but inside your existing brokerage or IRA account. You can also buy and sell existing Treasuries on the secondary market at any time the market is open, with the cost built into the bid-ask spread rather than shown as a separate line-item commission.
Because the position lives in a standard brokerage account, it shows up alongside your other holdings, can typically be used as margin collateral, and supports scheduled auto-roll into a new Treasury at maturity if you want to keep the ladder going without manual reinvestment.
Strengths
- No stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction purchases
- Full secondary-market liquidity — sell before maturity at the prevailing market price during market hours
- Works inside a taxable brokerage account or an IRA
- Auto-roll option to automatically reinvest into a new Treasury at maturity
Limitations
- Secondary-market trades carry a built-in dealer spread rather than a fully transparent, separately itemized fee
- Slightly more setup than TreasuryDirect if all you want is a single buy-and-hold bill
Pricing: No stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction purchases; secondary-market Treasury trades are priced with a markup/markdown built into the quoted price rather than a visible per-trade commission.
#3 Charles Schwab
Best for: Investors who want Treasury laddering tools alongside a full-service brokerage
Charles Schwab offers the same core structure as Fidelity — no stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction orders, plus secondary-market buying and selling with the cost embedded in the price rather than billed separately. Schwab's bond ladder tools are built to help you stagger Treasury maturities (for example, a rung maturing every three months) so you have predictable liquidity events without guessing at when to reinvest.
Like Fidelity, Schwab Treasuries can sit inside a taxable account or an IRA, giving you one consolidated view of your fixed-income holdings next to your stocks and funds.
Strengths
- No stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction purchases
- Built-in laddering tools designed specifically for staggering Treasury maturities
- Secondary-market liquidity to sell before maturity during market hours
- Works inside a taxable account or an IRA
Limitations
- Secondary-market pricing includes a dealer spread rather than a fully separate, visible fee
- New-issue auction orders have cutoff deadlines ahead of the actual auction date, which requires planning slightly ahead
Pricing: No stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction purchases; secondary-market trades are priced with a spread built into the transaction rather than a separately itemized commission.
#4 Vanguard
Best for: Long-term investors already consolidating retirement assets at Vanguard
Vanguard also supports buying new-issue Treasuries at auction with no stated commission, along with secondary-market Treasury trading, inside a standard Vanguard Brokerage Account. It's a reasonable choice mainly for investors who already hold IRAs or other fixed-income positions at Vanguard and want everything under one roof rather than opening a new relationship elsewhere.
Vanguard's ordering and account-management experience for individual bonds is generally viewed as more utilitarian than Fidelity's or Schwab's, so investors who plan to actively trade or ladder many individual Treasuries may find the other two brokerages' tools better suited to that specific task.
Strengths
- No stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction purchases
- Consolidates Treasury holdings with existing Vanguard IRA or brokerage assets
- Secondary-market liquidity available during market hours
Limitations
- Individual-bond ordering and research tools are less developed than Fidelity's or Schwab's
- Best suited to investors who already bank with Vanguard rather than a standalone reason to open an account
Pricing: No stated commission on new-issue Treasury auction purchases; secondary-market trades are priced with a spread built into the transaction.
Comparison: 4 treasury bonds at a glance
| Option | Best For | New-Issue Auction Fee | Sell Before Maturity | Works in an IRA | Auto-Roll at Maturity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TreasuryDirect.gov | Zero-fee buy-and-hold savers | None | Must transfer out first — no direct sell order | No | Yes |
| Fidelity | All-around auction + secondary liquidity | No stated commission | Yes, anytime market is open | Yes | Yes |
| Charles Schwab | Laddering multiple maturities | No stated commission | Yes, anytime market is open | Yes | Yes |
| Vanguard | Consolidating with existing Vanguard assets | No stated commission | Yes, anytime market is open | Yes | Yes |
Our verdict: which should you choose?
If you're a small saver who wants to buy a Treasury bill or note, hold it to maturity, and never worry about fees of any kind, TreasuryDirect.gov is genuinely the best option — nothing is skimmed off your return, and the auto-reinvest feature keeps a simple ladder running with minimal effort. Just go in accepting that selling early is a deliberate, multi-step process, not a same-day option.
For almost everyone else — anyone who wants the flexibility to sell before maturity, wants Treasuries inside an existing IRA or taxable brokerage account, or wants to build a ladder alongside stocks and funds you already hold — a brokerage is the better fit. Fidelity and Charles Schwab are the strongest all-around picks: both offer fee-free new-issue auction access plus real secondary-market liquidity, with Schwab's dedicated laddering tools giving it a slight edge if staggered maturities are your main goal. Vanguard is a solid choice mainly if you're already consolidating retirement assets there and don't need best-in-class bond-trading tools.
Buying at auction vs. on the secondary market: why it matters
Buying a Treasury "at auction" means you're purchasing a brand-new security directly from the Treasury on its original issue date, at a price and yield set by that specific auction's results. Auction purchases are typically free of any added fee anywhere you buy them — TreasuryDirect and the major brokerages all pass through the auction price without a markup.
Buying on the "secondary market" means purchasing a Treasury that's already outstanding from another investor, through a broker-dealer, at whatever price the market is currently willing to pay. This is how you sell a Treasury before it matures, and it's also how you can buy a specific maturity date that isn't currently being auctioned. Secondary-market trades typically carry a dealer spread — a small difference between the buy and sell price — built into the quoted price rather than shown as a separate line-item commission. That spread is real cost, even when no commission is disclosed, so it's worth understanding it exists rather than assuming a trade is entirely free just because no fee is itemized.
What you give up by using TreasuryDirect
TreasuryDirect's zero-fee structure comes with structural tradeoffs that matter most if you might need your money before maturity. Because the account isn't a brokerage account, you can't place a same-day sell order — you first have to transfer the security to a bank or broker's custody, a process that takes time and requires you to have that outside relationship already set up in advance.
Treasuries held at TreasuryDirect also can't be used as collateral for a margin loan the way a brokerage-held Treasury often can, and the platform doesn't support IRAs, so you lose the option to hold Treasuries in a tax-advantaged retirement account through TreasuryDirect itself. None of this makes TreasuryDirect a bad choice — it makes it a better fit specifically for money you're confident you won't need until the security matures.
What a brokerage account adds
Holding Treasuries in a brokerage account like Fidelity, Charles Schwab, or Vanguard puts them in the same account as your stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, which makes it far simpler to see your full asset allocation, rebalance, or raise cash by selling a Treasury the same way you'd sell a share of a fund. Because these Treasuries trade on the secondary market, you can generally exit a position on any day the market is open, at that day's prevailing price, rather than waiting for maturity or navigating a multi-step transfer process.
A brokerage account also lets you hold Treasuries inside a traditional or Roth IRA, which TreasuryDirect does not support, and most major brokerages offer an auto-roll feature that automatically reinvests a maturing Treasury into a new one of the same term — useful for keeping a bond ladder running without manually re-entering an order every time a rung matures.
How to build a simple Treasury ladder
A Treasury ladder means buying several Treasuries with staggered maturity dates — for example, one maturing every three or six months — so that you have a predictable, recurring liquidity event instead of one large lump sum locked up until a single date. As each rung matures, you can reinvest it into a new long-dated rung (extending the ladder) or let it convert to cash if you need the money.
A ladder can be built at TreasuryDirect using its scheduled reinvestment feature, or at a brokerage using dedicated laddering tools like Schwab's. The brokerage route is generally easier to manage if you're laddering more than a handful of rungs, since you can see the whole schedule in one place alongside your other holdings, and you retain the option to sell a rung early on the secondary market if your plans change.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to buy Treasury bonds through TreasuryDirect or a broker?
It depends on whether you might need to sell before maturity. TreasuryDirect is the better choice for money you're confident you'll hold to maturity, since it's genuinely fee-free. A brokerage like Fidelity or Charles Schwab is the better choice if you want the flexibility to sell early, want the Treasury inside an IRA, or want everything consolidated with your other investments — both let you buy new-issue Treasuries at auction with no stated commission as well.
Do brokerages charge a fee to buy Treasury bonds?
Most major brokerages, including Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard, don't charge a stated commission on new-issue Treasury purchases made at auction — you get the same auction price and yield as buying directly through TreasuryDirect. Trading an existing Treasury on the secondary market instead involves a bid-ask spread built into the price, which functions as a cost even though it isn't itemized as a separate commission.
Can I sell a Treasury bond before it matures?
Yes, but how easily depends on where you hold it. In a brokerage account, you can typically sell a Treasury on the secondary market any day the market is open, at that day's prevailing price. In TreasuryDirect, you can't place a direct sell order — you first have to transfer the security out to a bank or brokerage account, which adds time and requires that outside relationship to already exist.
What's the minimum amount needed to buy a Treasury bill or note?
Most Treasury marketable securities, whether bought through TreasuryDirect or a brokerage, have a minimum purchase of $100, with additional purchases allowed in $100 increments. Confirm the current minimum on TreasuryDirect.gov or your brokerage's own Treasury order page before placing an order, since minimums are set by the Treasury and could change.
Can I hold Treasury bonds in an IRA?
Yes, but only through a brokerage account — TreasuryDirect does not support IRAs of any kind. If you want Treasuries inside a traditional or Roth IRA, you'll need to buy them through a brokerage like Fidelity, Charles Schwab, or Vanguard that offers Treasury purchases within its IRA accounts.
What does it mean to buy a Treasury 'at auction'?
Buying at auction means purchasing a brand-new Treasury bill, note, or bond on its original issue date, at the price and yield determined by that specific auction. Auction purchases are typically available fee-free both through TreasuryDirect and through the major brokerages, since there's no existing holder selling the security to you — you're receiving it directly from the Treasury's new issuance.
Should I ladder my Treasury purchases?
Laddering — buying several Treasuries with staggered maturity dates — is a common way to keep a predictable stream of cash becoming available without guessing on interest-rate timing or locking all your money up until one single date. It's a reasonable approach whether you build it manually at TreasuryDirect using scheduled reinvestment or through a brokerage's dedicated laddering tools, which tend to be easier to manage as the number of rungs grows.
Sources
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