Want to quit Robinhood? Try 7 investing apps you can use instead
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- Investing app Robinhood is getting backlash for temporarily halting sales of Gamestop stock after it soared.
- If you want to quit Robinhood or are new to trading, you can consider alternatives like Acorns and Ellevest.
- To find the best option for you, consider whether you want a hands-off or DIY approach to investing.
- See Insider’s picks for the best stock trading apps.
Gamestop made headline news recently after members of the r/WallStreetBets Reddit forum sent the stock price soaring. The investing app Robinhood, along with TD Ameritrade and Webull, temporarily halted sales of Gamestop and other surging stocks — which has led to some major user backlash.
As class-action lawsuits pile up and more users revolt against Robinhood, you may be wondering whether you should transfer out your Robinhood stocks and explore other investment apps. Luckily, there are plenty of choices for both hands-on and passive traders — and some of them are especially good options for new investors.
Keep reading to see which app is best for you.
Charles Schwab has a long list of investing and wealth-building products. Among those are self-directed brokerage accounts, automated investing accounts, IRAs and retirement accounts, education and custodial accounts, and more.
You can set up a brokerage account without having to meet an account minimum. In addition, Schwab offers commission-free trading for stocks, ETFs, and options. Charles Schwab also offers several other investments, including mutual funds, money market funds, bonds, fractional shares, international stocks, annuities, and more.
If you’re more of a passive, or hands-off, investor, Schwab also offers an automated investing platform that manages your investments for you.
Click here to open an account »
Acorns basically handles the investment process for you. All you’ll need is a minimum of $5 to start investing, and you’ll have to pay a monthly fee of $1, $3, or $5, depending on the plan you choose.
One of the app’s standout features is called Round-Ups that invests any spare change leftover from certain purchases. You’ll just need to link your debit or credit card to get started, and then Acorns will round up your purchases to the next dollar and invest the change.
You’ll have the choice of three plans: Acorns Lite, Acorns Personal, and Acorns Family. Acorns Lite costs $1 per month and includes access to an investment account. With Acorns Personal ($3 per month), you can take advantage of both an investing account, IRA, and a checking account. Acorns Family costs $5 per month and includes an investment account, retirement account, checking account and custodial investment account for kids.
Click here to open an account »
Fidelity Investments is another brokerage that consolidates both active trading accounts and automated accounts under one roof. You can both actively trade and utilize the help of Fidelity’s automated investing platform, Fidelity Go, if you choose.
Like Charles Schwab, Fidelity lets you trade stocks, ETFs, and options without running into commissions. Fidelity also provides fractional share trading, but its fees for automated advice differ.
You won’t need a certain account size to get started with Fidelity Go, but you’ll have to pay $3 per month if you’ve got an account balance between $10,000 and $49,999. If you’ve got $50,000 or more, you’ll pay an asset-based fee of 0.35% per year. You won’t have to pay anything though if you’ve got less than $10,000.
Click here to open an account »
4. Ellevest
Ellevest is an automated investing platform offering automated account management and career coaching geared toward women investors. Though the investment app doesn’t provide self-directed trading, it offers a range of financial tools and resources, including human advisor support.
This app also offers an Ellevest Save account, personalized management for traditional, SEP, and Roth IRAs, one-on-one sessions with financial planners and career coaches, and unlimited access to online learning opportunities such as workshops and email courses.
E*TRADE offers commission-free trading on US-listed stocks, options, and ETFs. The investment app’s account offering also includes IRAs and education savings accounts (ESAs). As for its investments E*TRADE offers more than 9,000 mutual funds. More than 4,400 of these are no-transaction-fee mutual funds.
The company also provides automated investing advice and managed portfolios, but you’ll need at least $500 to begin.
Click here to open an account »
Betterment is widely regarded as a pioneer of the automated investing platform industry (which you may have heard called robo-advisors). The investment platform offers automated investment management for investment and retirement accounts, and it lets you get started without meeting a minimum account size requirement.
You’ll just have to pay a 0.25% annual fee if you use the company’s digital plan. Betterment’s premium plan grants you unlimited access to certified financial planners (CFPs), but you’ll need an account balance of at least $100,000.
Click here to open an account »
SoFi only lets you actively trade stocks and ETFs, but you won’t run into any fees in the process. The investment app also provides an automated investing account that carries no fees, but you’ll need at least $1 to start investing.
SoFi accepts individual and joint brokerage accounts, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs. One of the biggest costs with SoFi’s active investing account is cryptocurrency trades. SoFi charges 1.25% on all cryptocurrency transactions.
Click here to open an account »
Rickie Houston is a wealth-building reporter at Personal Finance Insider who covers investing, brokerage, and wealth-building products.
