Who in the world does not want to save on commissions? Finding a reliable broker is a not the easiest thing to do.
As if that was not difficult enough, choosing the cheapest among them is another momentous task.
During the next five minutes, you are going to learn about how to pick up a cheap online stock broker.
Let us start with the basics.
What is a Stock Broker? A stock broker is a regulated professional firm, which buys/sells shares and other securities for its clients.
In lieu of their services, it charges fees.
What is a Cheap Stock Broker? According to SmartMoney's 2012 survey, the average commission of stockbrokers is little under $8.
A cheap stock broker is the one, which charges significantly lower commissions than the others, without compromising the overall quality, such as that of the trading platform and customer service.
Who are the Top 5 Online Stock Brokers? First, I am going to explain the criteria on which I have ranked these five brokers.

1. Trading Fees: It is probably the most important criterion and for that, carries the highest weightage (40%).
   
2. Trading Platform: Just because you came across a broker that has low fees does not mean you have hit a jackpot.
   There are a number of extremely-low-fee-brokers, but with crappy trading platforms.
   A sound trading platform is an essential necessity for every broker.
   In my study, it carries 30% weightage.
   
3. Customer Service: Even though you succeed in finding a broker that satisfies the above-mentioned two points, it is not an indication that you are with the best.
   What happens when you have a problem? Obviously, you will call the support.
   Imagine a situation where your questions remain unanswered or there are huge waiting times.
   You are bound to be angry.
   A good customer service is an important criterion for a good cheap broker, and carries 30% weightage.
   

I started out with fifteen brokers in my list.
I then read the reviews of these brokers and then prepared a ranking table on which I have the rankings.
Based on the above-mentioned criteria, here is the list of top five cheap stockbrokers: #1 TradeKing With $4.
95 in stock trading fees, Tradeking does not seem to be the cheapest out there..
The commissions remain the same regardless of the size of your account, your trading frequency or the number of shares you trade.
The same rate applies to limit, stop and stop limit orders.
However, what impressed me is their easy-to-use trading platform and tools Tradeking scores an impressive 30% and 20% in the trading fees and trading platforms respectively.
Tradeking's customer service is #1 in the SmartMoney 2012 survey.
"Trader Network" is one place you should definitely check out.
You can share experiences, ideas and strategies, see what others are trading and how they are performing.
#2 Optionshouse Active Traders looking to trade with cheapest commissions in the industry without compromising on customer service, market research and quality of trading tools should opt for Optionshouse.
With $3.
95 in commissions, the commissions are one of the lowest in the industry.
With customizable layouts, flexible views that enable you to view multiple channels, and fully customizable windows and widgets - the OptionsHouse platform is impressive.
The customer service is up to the industry standards.
Apart from all of that, Optionshouse offers a demo-trading platform, where you can learn trading or improve your skills without losing real money.
#3 Interactive Brokers IB ranks #1 in the Barron's 2013 survey, which lists the brokers according to the perspective of a "Wealthy, active traders".
International and experienced traders would prefer IB as their first choice.
With a $0.
005 per - share commission, no other broker can beat these rates.
However, a minimum deposit of $10,000 is a serious downside.
This makes IB #3 in my list as the deposit is huge and not everybody can afford it.
Being said that, IB scored pretty well on the trading platform, 25%.
IB's customer service is not up to the mark, the web is awash with comments that support my case.
Nevertheless, IB offers a free extensive program for trader such as webinars, flash-based courses and interactive tours let you learn more about trading products and the trading platform and tools.
#4 Lightspeed Trading With $0.
0045 per-share commissions, Lightspeed is primarily suited for highly active traders who need cheap executions and trade frequently.
Lightspeed focuses on professional players rather than the beginners, occasional traders, or buy-and-hold investors.
The trading platform is aptly suited for the active traders.
Lightspeed like IB, the minimum deposit is on the higher side, $5000.
Lightspeed's customer service is average.
Lightspeed Spotlight is a social community especially for all Lightspeed customers, and includes access to chart pattern recognition and trade setup software, news and videos updated every market day, blogs related to active trading and much more - all bundled together in a community/discussion setting.
# 5 Scottrade Scottrade's commissions, $7 per trade may be a little high, but it ranks #1 in customer service.
Compared to its peers, it lacks behind in third party research.
Technologically speaking, they are not the best when it comes to the trading platforms either.
Its flagship-trading platform "Scottrade Elite" is available only to premium customers.