10+ Best Investment Apps for 2022
Not all investing apps are worth it. Learn how investment apps like Acorns and Robinhood compare to others.
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| © CreditDonkey |
A good investment app lets you make trades and manage your portfolio on-the-go.
With just a few taps of the screen, you can trade stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, and even cryptocurrency. You never need to miss an important trade.
Whether you're a total beginner or an advanced trader, here are the best investment apps to fit your needs.
| App | Best For |
|---|---|
| Robinhood | Stocks and Cryptocurrency |
| Stash | Stocks for Beginners |
| Coinbase | Cryptos for Beginners |
| Webull | Free Investing |
| Acorns | Investing Small Amounts of Money |
| Public | Social Investing |
| Betterment | Automatic Investing |
| Crypto.com | Earning Interest on Crypto |
| Greenlight | Investing for Kids & Teens |
| M1 Finance | Hybrid Robo and DIY App |
| Fidelity | Mutual and Index Funds |
| SoFi Invest | Access to Financial Planners |
Best Investing Apps
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| Annual Fee | Minimum Deposit | ||
|---|---|---|---|
   | None | $0 | See Offers |
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| $0 | See Offers |
 | None | $0 | See Offers |
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| $0 | See Offers |
  | None | $0 | See Offers |
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| $0 | See Offers |
 | None | $1 | See Offers |
 | See Offers | ||
 | None | $100 | See Offers |
 | None | $0 | See Offers |
🏆 1. Robinhood: Best for Stocks and Cryptocurrency
Robinhood offers stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrency trades completely 100% commission-free. There is no minimum investment.
The Robinhood mobile app has very high ratings, but it's a totally no-frills app. You won't get stock market research or guidance. It also doesn't offer any retirement account options. It's best for investors who are already comfortable trading on their own.
Top Features:
- Free extended trading hours from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm ET.
- Perform up to 3 day trades in a five-trading day period.
- Get real-time news and updates on stocks in your watch list.
Cost:
The Robinhood app is completely free and requires no minimum balance to get started.
An optional Robinhood Gold account is available for $5 per month for investors with a $2,000 account minimum.[1] This premium account gives traders increased buying power when trading on margin, larger instant deposits, and Morningstar research.
Dary Merckens, CTO, Gunner Technology
2. Stash: Best Investing App for Beginners
Stash was made for beginners with no investing experience. You can invest, learn, and save all with one app.
After you answer some questions about your goals, risk tolerance, and interests, the app will give you investment recommendations. Stash will help you build a personalized, diversified portfolio based on your financial goals. This provides guidance, while offering more control than straight up robo-advisors.
There's no investing minimums in order to start investing with Stash.
Top Features:
- Users can invest in individual stocks and ETFs and/or choose from themes based on your interests.
- 3 ways to auto-invest: scheduled transfers, invest spare change from linked bank cards, or Stash will analyze your financial patterns to automatically transfer funds for you.
- Helpful educational articles and videos for beginners.
Cost:[2]
Stash has a $1 monthly charge. A retirement account costs $3 per month. There are no trade fees.
Other platforms typically charge a percentage of an account's total balance per year. For example, if a robo-advisor charges a 0.25% annual fee, you'll only pay $2.5 per year per $1,000 balance.
Sign Up and Get $5
- Sign up, add at least $5 to your account and get a $5 bonus.
- Invest with fractional shares
- Get portfolio recommendations
3. Coinbase: Best Crypto Trading for Beginners
Coinbase is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. It's available in over 100 countries and supports over 150 coins.
The trading fees are not the cheapest. But the very easy-to-use platform makes up for it. It's an ideal place for beginners to start trading crypto.
Top features:
- Buy and sell with a minimum of $2.
- Trade between two cryptocurrencies directly.
- Learning program that lets you earn pieces of cryptos when you complete mini-lessons.
- Anyone can access Coinbase Pro for free, which has lower trading fees and more advanced features.
Cost:
- Spread: 0.50%
- Transactions: $0.99 - $2.99 (for $200 or less)
- Payment with U.S. bank account: 1.49%
- Purchase with Coinbase USD Wallet: 1.49%
- Purchase with debit cards: 3.99%
- Conversions: up to 2%
4. Webull: Best for Free Investing
On Webull, you can trade stocks, options and ETFs for free. In addition, they offer no-fee trades on cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin 24/7. There is no minimum.
You'll also get full extended-hours trading. This broker lets you set up an IRA account (traditional, Roth or rollover). However, you cannot trade bonds or mutual funds off of Webull.
Overall, the platform is best for investors with some trading experience. The app can be overwhelming for beginners.
Top features:
- Buy fractional shares of stocks and ETFs from $5.
- Free paper trading account for practice.
- Extended trading hours include full pre-market (4:00 am - 9:30 am ET) and after hours (4:00 pm - 8:00 pm ET).
- In-depth tools analysis.
Cost:[3]
- No commission-fees for stock, ETF, options or crypto trades
- $8 to $45 fees for wire transfers
Get Two Free Stocks, Each Valued Between $3 - $300
Open a Webull brokerage account and get two free stocks, each valued between $3-$300
5. Acorns: Best for Investing Spare Change
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| Screenshot of Acorns |
Acorns is a "spare change" robo-advisor. You link your credit and debit cards and Acorns will automatically round up the change from your purchases and invest them. There is no minimum to start. The app automatically invests when your balance reaches $5.
The Acorns app is an easy way for young investors to get started. It allows you to save money without thinking while investing your savings at the same time (instead of it just sitting in a bank).
Top Features:
- Customize your own round up rules.
- Save for later in life with an optional IRA account.
- Get "stock-back" when you shop with partner retailers.
Cost:[4]
- $3/mo for Acorns Personal (includes personal taxable account, IRA, and checking account)
- $5/mo for Acorns Family (includes everything in Personal plus investment accounts for kids)
6. Public: Best for Social Investing
Public is one of the more unique modern investing apps. It makes investing interactive by combining it with a social community.
You can trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptos. There is no minimum investment to get started.
Top features:
- Search for stocks you care about by theme, like Women in Charge, Green Power, Cannabiz, and tons more.
- Social forum where you can follow other users, see their portfolios, and join chats and ask questions.
- Over 25 cryptos, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and more.
- Buy fractional shares of stocks and cryptos with any amount of money.
Cost:
No trading commissions for stocks or ETFs. 1% - 2% markup when buying or selling cryptocurrency.[5]
Get a Free Slice of Stock
- Invest in Stocks and ETFs, Commission-Free and No Account Minimums
- Follow other investors, share insights, and build your financial literacy within a transparent community
- Offer valid for U.S. residents 18+ and subject to account approval. There may be other fees associated with trading. See Public.com/disclosures/
7. Betterment: Best Auto Investing App
Betterment is one of the first robo-advisors. It automatically invests your money into diversified portfolios of ETFs based on your financial goals and risk tolerance. You cannot choose your own stocks or ETFs.
You can set up multiple portfolios, such as for an emergency fund, large purchases, and IRA accounts. Different goals will have different investment strategies.
Betterment has no minimum to start.
Top Features:
- Tax loss harvesting and automatic portfolio rebalancing.
- "Smart deposit" feature automatically invests extra money from linked bank accounts.
- Retirement calculators tell you if you're on track to your retirement goals.
Cost:[6]
Betterment costs 0.25% of your assets under management. For every $100 in your account, the fee is only 25 cents per year. There are no additional trade fees.
For investors with at least $100,000, you have the option to upgrade to the Premium plan at a 0.40% annual fee. This includes access to finance professionals for personal advice.
Get up to 1 Year Managed Free
New Betterment customers only. Accounts must be funded within 45 days of signup. Terms apply.
8. Crypto.com: Earn Interest on Crypto
Crypto.com is a good all-around crypto platform that offers relatively low fees, staking, margin trading, NTFs, prepaid crypto-back card and more. It supports over 250 cryptocurrencies.
Top features:
- Earn up to 14% interest when you stake your cryptos. You can choose terms up to 3 months.
- Access up to 10x leverage with margin trading. Supports over 50 leveraged pairs.
- Benefits for users who stake CRO (Cronos), including discount trading fees and higher staking rewards.
Cost:
- Spread: 0.25% - 0.5%
- Trading: 0.04%-0.4% maker fees; 0.1%-0.4% taker fees[7]
- Purchase with debit cards: 2.99% in the U.S. and most countries, 3.99% in a select few[8]
- No crypto conversion fee
USD $10 Sign Up Bonus
You will need to stake in $1000 CRO to earn USD $10 worth of CRO. Only the first amount of CRO you stake is used to calculate the sign-up bonus.
9. Greenlight: Best for Kids & Teens
Greenlight specializes in financial services for kids. The most popular product is the debit card for kids. But they also have a great investing platform that lets kids get a head start on building wealth.
The Greenlight app lets kids spend, save, and invest all from one app. There is no minimum (or maximum) age for users.
Top features:
- Kids get their own investing platform. Kids can make trade requests, but parents need to approve every trade.
- Parents get a separate log-in and can invest for kids as well. You can withdraw your investments and use them for anything.
- Buy fractional shares of stocks and ETFs starting with just $1.
- Educational videos and stock research for kids.
Cost:
$7.98 per month for the Greenlight + Investing account. This also includes debit card, savings account, and financial tools. This cover up to 5 kids.
All Ages - Banking and Invest in One App
- Flexible controls, spending notifications, in-app chore list
- Age: No minimum age
- Fees: Starts at $4.99/month, per family (up to 5 kids). $7.98/month for Greenlight + Invest
10. M1 Finance: Best Hybrid Robo and DIY
A hybrid robo-advisor and DIY broker, M1 Finance bridges the gap for investors who want to choose their own investments, but don't want to manage their portfolio.
You can select your own investments and M1 Finance will take care of the trading and portfolio management for you (such as automatic portfolio rebalancing). Alternatively, you can choose one of many pre-made portfolios and make adjustments.
The minimum to start investing is $100.
Top Features:
- Allows you to pick individual stocks and ETFs for fully customized portfolios (called "Pies"). Create and modify your Pies as often as you want.
- Set up one-time or scheduled automated deposits. M1 will purchase stocks for you according to your Pies.
- Supports fractional shares.
Cost:
The standard M1 Finance app is completely free after a $100 account minimum ($500 for an IRA). There are no trading fees.
M1 Plus - the premium account - costs $125 per year. This includes more investing options plus an interest banking account with a tungsten metal card.[9]
Get M1 Plus Free for First 3 Months
New M1 customers get M1 Plus for free on their first 3 months. M1 Plus is $125/year.
M1 Plus is a $125 annual subscription offering products and services from M1 Spend LLC and M1 Finance LLC, both wholly-owned, separate but affiliated subsidiaries of M1 Holdings Inc.
*Your free trial (a $31.25 value) begins the date you enroll in the M1 Plus subscription, and ends 90 days after ("Free Trial"). Upon expiry of the Free Trial, your account is automatically billed an annual subscription fee of $125 unless you cancel under your Membership details in the M1 Platform.
Commission Free Stock Trading
M1 Finance allows investors the choice of ETFs and stocks. M1 charges no management fees or commission.
11. Fidelity: Best for Mutual Funds and Index Funds
Fidelity is one of the largest, oldest investment companies. It offers a very highly rated iPhone and Android app that allows the user to monitor your investment portfolio from anywhere.
Fidelity offers a number of no-minimum investment mutual funds. A lot even have 0% expense ratio. Besides Fidelity funds, it also offers over 10,000 funds from other companies.
Fidelity is a full-service investment firm, so it's a great choice for investors looking for a long-term brokerage to grow with them. Both beginners and more experienced investors can learn from its excellent educational resources.
Top Features:
- Daily customized news feeds, including portfolio, stock market, and company research information.
- Retirement calculators and other tools.
- Real-time quotes and charts, live Bloomberg streaming videos, and stock market research reports, such as Zack's Bull & Bear of the Day.
- View your watch list in grid view or as a heat map.
- Syncs with your Apple Watch and Google Assistant to get real-time market quotes and alerts on your wrist.
Cost:[10]
The Fidelity app is free and requires no minimums to open. $0 commissions for U.S. stocks, ETFs, and options (+ $0.65 per contract fee).
Fidelity also offers a free Cash Management banking account with mobile deposit, bill pay, checkwriting, and unlimited domestic ATM reimbursements.
Olivia S. Mitchell, Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, Wharton School
12. SoFi Invest: Access to Financial Planners
SoFi Invest offers both DIY and robo investing. You can choose how you want to invest.
You can invest yourself and trade stocks and ETFs with no trading fees, starting from just $1. Crypto trades have a 1.25% fee and have a minimum of $10 per purchase. [11]
Or you can have SoFi automated investing service build a portfolio and manage it for you. The best part about that is that there is no management fee for this service. You only need $1 to start as well.
Top features:
- Buy fractional shares from $5.
- Choose DIY or automated investing.
- All SoFi members get access to real human financial planners at no cost.
- Access all of Sofi's products, including SoFi Money (the checking and savings account), Invest, and loans.
Cost:[12]
No trade fees for stocks and ETFs. No management fee for robo-service.
Full-Service Brokerages Apps
Here are some of the best options for those looking for a more traditional investment company.
These apps may not be as sleek as the newer apps targeted towards Millennials, but these companies have solid reputations.
Vanguard:
Vanguard is one of the most well-known mutual fund companies. It has over 130 of its own mutual funds. For most Vanguard's actively managed funds, the minimum investment is $3,000 ($1,000 for Vanguard Target Retirement Funds).[13]
Charles Schwab:
Charles Schwab offers commission-free stocks and ETF trades. You can even buy fractional shares of the S&P 500 companies for as little as $5.
Another outstanding feature is the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios robo-advisory service. It charges no management fees, but the minimum investment is $5,000.[14]
Merrill Edge:
Merrill Edge is a great choice for Bank of America users. It also offers a robo-advisory service with portfolios built and managed by their professionals.
One advantage is that your investment balance can qualify you for BofA Preferred Rewards, which reduces the advisory fee (along with other banking and loan benefits).
What to Look for in Investing Apps
Consider these important points BEFORE choosing the best app for your needs.
- Fees: Most investing apps are free, but some make you pay per trade. Some apps, like Acorns, charge a yearly or monthly fee.
- Accessibility: Not all apps work on both iOS and Android devices, and some are best suited for desktop.
- Variety of offerings: Not all investing apps offer every type of trade or account type. For example, Robinhood only has individual taxable accounts. On the other hand, Fidelity offers a wide range of accounts and investments.
- Research and tools: This is important if you count on research to make informed decisions. TD Ameritrade offers in-depth company research and market analysis, while apps like Stash are more bare-bones.
For passive investors, some apps will select investments and manage your portfolio for you. Look into a robo-advisor if you wish to be hands-off.
If the investing app is registered with the SEC and FINRA, you can trust that it's a legit broker. If the brokerage goes out of business, your money is insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). The SIPC will cover up to $500,000 per account type. Note that the SIPC does NOT protect against the decline in the value of your assets due to market loss.
What the Experts Say
As part of our series on investments and saving, CreditDonkey asked a panel of industry experts to answer some of our readers' most pressing questions. Here's what they had to say:
Reasons to Use Investment Apps
- Convenience: With an investment app, the user can buy and sell, add more funds, or withdraw funds right from their phone.
- Saving money: Many investment apps have no commissions on stock trades. DIY investors can save a lot on fees.
- Smaller upfront investments: Many investing apps have no account minimum. This makes investing easy for people who don't have a lot of money to start.
Bottom Line
Investment apps are meant to make life easier. Each investor has different needs, so know yours before choosing an investment app. Take the time to research fees and features and read reviews, then begin investing responsibly.
References
- ^ Robinhood Gold, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Stash Pricing, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Webull Pricing, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Acorns Pricing, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Are There Fees to Invest in Crypto Through Public?, Retrieved 2/11/2022
- ^ Betterment Pricing, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Crypto.com. Fees & Limits, Retrieved 5/22/2022
- ^ Crypto.com. Visa Card Fees and Limits (United States), Retrieved 5/22/2022
- ^ M1 Plus, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Fidelity Pricing, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ SoFi Invest Crypto, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ SoFi Invest, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Vanguard Mutual Fund Fees & Minimums, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ Charles Schwab Pricing, Retrieved 1/3/2022
- ^ "How to Research Investment Opportunities": FTC.gov, 2020.
Jeremy Harshman is a protector of art and writing at CreditDonkey, a personal finance comparison and reviews website. Write to Jeremy Harshman at jeremy.harshman@creditdonkey.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for our latest posts.
Note: This website is made possible through financial relationships with some of the products and services mentioned on this site. We may receive compensation if you shop through links in our content. You do not have to use our links, but you help support CreditDonkey if you do.
Paid non-client endorsement. See Apple App Store and Google Play reviews. View important disclosures. Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This material has been distributed for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended as investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Investing involves risk.
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