Robinhood vs. Acorns: 2024 Comparison
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Robinhood and Acorns each have a unique target audience, but the biggest difference between the two is that Robinhood may be better for beginners looking to choose their own individual stock and ETF investments, while Acorns may be a good choice for hands-off investors who want help building a diversified, long-term portfolio. See our comparison of Robinhood and Acorns below.
Robinhood is best for:
Mobile-first investors.
IRA investors.
Margin traders.
Robinhood at a glance
Account minimum | $0 for brokerage accounts, Robinhood Gold accounts and IRAs. |
Stock trading costs | $0. |
Options trades | $0. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) | No annual or inactivity fees. $100 ACAT outgoing transfer fee. Robinhood Gold costs $5 a month. Matching funds in IRAs may be taken back if money is withdrawn in less than five years. Instant withdrawals cost a minimum of $2 and a maximum of 1.75% of the amount withdrawn. |
Interest rate on uninvested cash | 0.01% for free accounts, 4.5% for Gold accounts. |
Tradable securities | Stocks, ETFs, Options, Cryptocurrency, American Depositary Receipts for over 650 global companies, Fractional shares. Bonds only available in the form of bond ETFs. |
Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds | Not available. |
Trading platform | Robinhood's mobile and web platforms are known for their smooth sign-up, funding and trading processes. The broker now also offers a desktop platform, Robinhood Legend. |
Mobile app | Mobile trading platform includes customizable alerts, news feed, advanced charting and ability to listen live to earnings calls for some companies. |
Research and data | Access to professional research from Morningstar and Level II market data from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange (with Gold subscription). |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | 24/7 chat support. Phone support available from 7:00 a.m. ET to 9:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday. |
Acorns is best for:
Hands-off investors.
People who struggle to save and would benefit from roundups.
Earning cash-back rewards.
IRA investors.
Acorns at a glance
Reviewed: Oct. 2024
Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024
Account minimum | $0 to open account; $5 required to start investing. |
Account management fee | Prices are per month: Bronze Tier: $3. Silver Tier: $6. Gold Tier: $12. IRA match for qualifying contributions at Silver and Gold tiers could wipe out management fees. |
Investment expense ratios | 0.04% to 0.22%. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing) | $35 per ETF to have them transferred to another broker when you close your taxable Acorns account; no charge to sell your investments and have the resulting cash transferred. |
Portfolio mix | Well-diversified portfolio with exposure to domestic and international stocks, bonds, REITs and a Bitcoin-linked ETF. |
Socially responsible portfolio options | Sustainable portfolio built with ESG ETFs available for no extra cost. |
Accounts supported |
|
Tax strategy | Not available. |
Automatic rebalancing | Free on all accounts. |
Human advisor option | Not available. |
Bank account/cash management account | Acorns offers impressive high-yield checking and savings accounts. At the time of this review, the checking account earns 3% APY and the savings account earns 4.52% APY, with no minimum balance to receive the interest rate. The checking account has no overdraft fees and access to 55,000+ fee-free ATMs. |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | Customer support is available 7 days/week from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. PT via live chat, phone and email. |
» Compare more options: View our picks for the best robo-advisors and the best brokers for beginners
NerdWallet rating 4.8 /5 | NerdWallet rating 5.0 /5 | NerdWallet rating 4.6 /5 |
Fees $0 per online equity trade | Fees $0.005 per share; as low as $0.0005 with volume discounts | Fees $0 |
Account minimum $0 | Account minimum $0 | Account minimum $0 |
Promotion None no promotion available at this time | Promotion Exclusive! U.S. residents who open a new IBKR Pro account will receive a 0.25% rate reduction on margin loans. Terms apply. | Promotion Earn up to $10,000 when you transfer your investment portfolio to Public. |
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