What to look for when opening a brokerage account for a beginner?

Brokers offer many features but each broker doesn't offer all of them. I think that a beginner would look for basic needs first:

• Low/no commissions
• No hidden account fees
• Good customer service including tech support
• A stable platform with few service outages
• Educational resources
• Good charting
• Prompt execution and prompt account updating

A more experienced investor/trader might be interested in:

• Fractional shares
• Low margin rates
• Portfolio margin
• Good option analytics
• Trading algorithms beyond basic stop orders
• Real time news
• Effective at borrowing shares for shorting
• Stock screeners
• Free dividend re-investment