Acorns vs Stash vs Robinhood vs Betterment Investing Review

With the rise of robo-advisors and investment apps, you have more options for growing your money today than a few years ago.

Looking for a hands-off approach to investing? Betterment and Wealthfront, pioneers and leaders in the robo-advisor industry, may be a good fit. (If you’re unsure what these services offer, see our primer on robo-advisors.)

Prefer to have your investments accessible at your fingertips? Acorns and Stash, two popular apps, help you navigate the world of investing from your phone and offer unique approaches to investing that you won’t find at most stockbrokers.

Which is best? That all depends on what you want in an advisor, how actively you’ll manage your investments and how much, or how little, you have to invest. Betterment, Acorns and Stash each offer a unique spin on managing your investments, with some relative strengths and weaknesses, depending on your goals. Robinhood offers commission free trading for individual stocks.

Betterment, Robinhood, Acorns and Stash all have something important in common: They’ll help you grow and manage your investments. Another notable similarity? They’re all designed for investing in exchange-traded funds.


These three services vary in the amount required for investment, the types of accounts supported, tax implications and all-important fees. Here’s a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each.

- Betterment - 

Betterment revamped its pricing and added access to financial advisors this year, two changes that help distinguish it from its peers. Among its other unique features: The company uses behavioral finance techniques to help encourage goal-setting and discourage fear-driven decisions that could hurt portfolio performance. It also lets investors buy fractional shares, so you can start investing even if you can’t afford a full share of a particular asset. Finally, Betterment offers a socially responsible investing portfolio, allowing you to align your investments with particular social causes.

BETTERMENT QUICK FACTS
Management fee: 0.25% to 0.40%, depending on plan
Account minimum: $0
Promotion: Up to one year of free management with a qualifying deposit. Free month try it out

Betterment is the largest robo-advisor, but it falls short on a few key attributes. The platform doesn’t have a direct indexing tool, which is important for taxable accounts. Direct indexing lets investors buy the individual securities within an index, rather than the ETF that tracks it, and that can provide a tax advantage. Betterment also doesn’t support 529 college savings plans.

- Acorns-
 Here's $5. Try this out: 

Like squirrels gathering up nuts for winter, investors can make small investments that will add up over time with Acorns. Part robo-advisor, part automated savings tool, Acorns rounds up your purchases on linked credit and debit cards to the nearest dollar, then funnels that change into a computer-managed investment portfolio.

Acorns targets beginner investors; there are no management fees for four years for college students with a valid .edu email address. Its automated approach will help jump start an investment strategy even if you don’t have much money. Acorns also has a program called Found Money, where you’ll get cash back on qualifying purchases with a list of partners.

The idea of starting small is admirable, but there’s a reason Acorns targets young, beginner investors. The platform doesn’t manage any retirement accounts, only individual taxable accounts — and that means you’ll be liable to pay capital gains taxes on these investments, especially because Acorns doesn’t offer tax-loss harvesting assistance.

Finally, the fees appear to be low at first glance, but depending on the amount you have invested, it could add up to a high percentage of your assets. Those fees may not be justified by the relatively limited portfolio options.

ACORN QUICK FACTS
Management fee: $1/month for accounts under $5,000; 0.25% for accounts of $5,000 or more
Account minimum: $0
Promotion: College students get up to four years free /
$5 free to open an acoount
Here's $5. Try this out:

- Stash -

Selecting investments can be overwhelming, especially for beginner investors. Stash tries to make the process more approachable, offering theme-based strategies for investing in ETFs and a selection process that’s based on the account holder’s risk tolerance and goals. In other words, it’s not quite a robo-advisor, but it’s certainly not a full do-it-yourself broker, either.

STASH QUICK FACTS
Account fee: $1/month for accounts under $5,000; 0.25% for accounts of $5,000 or more
Account minimum: $5
Promotion: Free for the first month and $5
Join Stash Today!
Here's $5. Try this out:

Stash has you make your choices to invest.
Get started
All of Stash’s resources are easy to read and understand and are complemented by an array of educational content. Stash encourages engagement among its customers, via mission-based strategies that allow you to align your investments with your beliefs and share your investment choices via social media.

While it’s easy for beginners to navigate, Stash has some important limitations. The platform offers only individual taxable accounts, and the subscription fee for investors with low balances can be quite high as a percentage of assets. What’s more, the ETFs offered through Stash have higher average expense ratios (0.39%) compared with those offered by robo-advisors.

Join Stash Today!
Here's $5. Try this out:

- Robinhood -

Robinhood is a technology-based trading platform that makes low-cost stock buying and selling available to the masses. Instead of offering investment guidance based on risk tolerance and investment timeframe, Robinhood gives investors a way to trade stocks through a mobile app without charging trading fees or commissions. The company is able to provide this service to investors with no minimum account balance because of its low-cost, completely digital operations structure.

Join Robinhood and we'll both get a free share of stock $2-$200 in value free.

Investment Options
Investors with a Robinhood account are not directed toward one portfolio over another based on personal information provided at the time an account is established. Instead, Robinhood provides access to publicly traded stock of domestic and foreign companies, and investors are free to pick and choose the stocks they would like to purchase or sell. Fractional shares are available through the Robinhood app, making it easier for investors with smaller amounts to invest in the market.

Account Fees
Robinhood does not charge fees on accounts for investors, and no minimum account balance is required. The company is able to make money by offering a Robinhood Gold account which charges $10 per month for investors who want to leverage their stock buying capabilities through extended trading hours and enhanced features. The company also collects interest on account balances that are not invested, but the app remains free of charge as it relates to placing trades, maintenance, and transfers.

Join Robinhood and we'll both get a share of stock like Apple, Ford, or Sprint for free. Make sure you use this link. 

Deciding which of these advisors and apps is best for you will depend on, well, you. What works best for you may not make sense for a friend or family member, and vice versa. It’s important to be mindful of your investing goals, any tax implications you may incur from each of these services and how your various accounts will work together.