Best Robo-Advisors: Top Picks for 2025
These top robo-advisors charge low fees but still offer high-quality features, including automated portfolio rebalancing, exposure to a range of asset classes and financial planning tools. Many also offer access to financial advisors.
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Our deep, independent analysis of robo-advisors cuts through the details to find and evaluate the information investors want when choosing an investing account. To see our full methodology and learn more about our process, read our criteria for evaluating robo-advisors.
Over 60 investment account providers reviewed and rated by our expert Nerds.
More than 50 years of combined experience writing about finance and investing.
Hands-on testing of provider websites and investment platforms.
Dozens of objective ratings rubrics and strict guidelines to maintain editorial integrity.
If you're in the market for a robo-advisor, there are plenty of providers to choose from — but important factors like fees, portfolio diversification and customization options, account minimums and other features can vary widely.
In our analysis, four robo-advisors earned the highest possible score from our team: Wealthfront, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, Betterment and Fidelity Go. They are all well-rounded offerings that are a good fit for most investors, with affordable fees that deliver a lot of value. Wealthfront and Betterment offer a few extra perks — most notably, investors get advanced tax optimization strategies with no balance minimum. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and Fidelity Go are both ideal for investors who want to keep costs as low as possible — Schwab's service charges no management fee, and Fidelity Go is free for balances below $25,000. Fidelity Go also uses its own index funds that do not carry any fees for investors.
That said, all the robo-advisors on this list scored highly and impressed our testers — if they didn't, they wouldn't be here. The best one for you will depend on your individual needs.
Best Robo-Advisors: Top Picks
| Broker | NerdWallet rating | Fees | Account minimum | Promotion | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024 | 0.25% management fee | $500 | Get a $50 customer bonus when you fund your first taxable investment account | Learn moreLearn more on Wealthfront's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
4.9/5 Reviewed in: Nov. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Nov. 2024 | 0.15% per year
(approximately) | $100 | No advisory fees your first 90 days of Vanguard Digital Advisor investment management (Enrollment requires a Vanguard account with a minimum of $100) | Learn moreLearn more on Vanguard's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024 | 0.25% with a balance over $20K or qualifying recurring deposit. Otherwise, $4/month. | $0 $10 to start | Get up to $1,000 when you open and fund a new investing account. Terms apply. | Learn moreLearn more on Betterment's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
4.4/5 Reviewed in: Nov. 2024Period considered: Oct. - Nov. 2024 | 0.25% management fee | $50 | 1% match on rollovers and contributions Terms and conditions apply. Roll over a minimum of $20K to receive the 1% match offer. Matches on contributions are made up to the annual limits. | Learn moreLearn more on SoFi Invest's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
4.6/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024 | $3 -
$12 per month | $0 | $10 sign -
up bonus | Learn moreLearn more on Acorns' website AD Paid non-client promotion |
Fees
0.25%
management fee
Account minimum
$500
Promotion
Get a $50 customer bonus
when you fund your first taxable investment account
Fees
0.15%
per year (approximately)
Account minimum
$100
Promotion
No advisory fees
your first 90 days of Vanguard Digital Advisor investment management (Enrollment requires a Vanguard account with a minimum of $100)
Fees
0.25%
with a balance over $20K or qualifying recurring deposit. Otherwise, $4/month.
Account minimum
$0
$10 to start
Promotion
Get up to $1,000
when you open and fund a new investing account. Terms apply.
Fees
0.25%
management fee
Account minimum
$50
Promotion
1% match on rollovers and contributions
Terms and conditions apply. Roll over a minimum of $20K to receive the 1% match offer. Matches on contributions are made up to the annual limits.
Fees
$3 - $12
per month
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
$10 sign-up bonus
Fees
$12
per month
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
2 months free
with promo code "nerdwallet"
Fees
0% - 0.35%
management fee
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:
Learn more about robo-advisors before you open an account
What does a robo-advisor do?
Robo-advisors automate investment management by using computer algorithms to build and manage an investment portfolio for you, based on your goals and your tolerance for risk. Since portfolio management is handled by software rather than a human financial advisor, robo-advisors charge lower fees, which can translate to higher long-term returns for investors. A few of the advisors on our list even offer completely free portfolio management.
Robo-advisor services range from automatic rebalancing to tax optimization, and require little to no human interaction. A robo-advisor might be a good fit if you prefer to be largely hands-off with your investments and you don’t have the kind of complex financial situation that requires a direct relationship with a human financial advisor.
That said, many providers offer access to human advisors available for questions related to account management or long-term investment planning — though these services may cost more.
How do you open a robo-advisor account?
Opening a robo-advisor account is very similar to opening a brokerage account or bank account: You'll provide some personal information and then link an existing account from which you can transfer money to fund the new account. The primary difference is in most cases, robo-advisors will take you through an onboarding quiz to help determine how to invest your portfolio. These quizzes generally ask about your investment goals, risk tolerance and time horizon, and the robo-advisor will use your answers to build the most optimal portfolio for you.
How do robo-advisors get paid?
Robo-advisors are paid through their account management fee. This is usually shown as a percentage, such as 0.25%. This means the fee is a percentage of the money that you invest. For example, if you put $1,000 into a robo-advisor investment account, and it charges a 0.25% fee, you'd pay $2.50 for that year's worth of investment management. If you put in $100,000 you'd pay $250. Both of those figures are significantly lower than what they would be if you worked with a traditional financial advisor.
Expense ratios are different from management fees: They are not paid to the robo-advisor, but to the people and institutions that manage the funds you're invested in.
What factors should you consider when picking the best robo-advisor?
Here’s what you'll want to look at — and what we look at when curating this list:
Management fees. This is what you’ll pay annually to have an account at a robo-advisor. See our calculator below to help you analyze these.
Expense ratios. These are like management fees, only they’re paid not to the robo-advisor, but to the investments the robo-advisor uses. Mutual funds, index funds and exchange-traded funds all charge this annual fee to cover the costs of running the fund.
Account types. Investment accounts fall into two general categories: Retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, that offer tax advantages while adhering to certain rules; and taxable accounts, where there are no specific tax advantages but also no limits on contributions or distributions.
Investments. Most robo-advisors use low-cost index funds and ETFs.
Rebalancing. Portfolios are fluid, and market fluctuations can cause the mix of investments you hold to get out of sync with your goals. Rebalancing brings that allocation back to its original mix.
Access to human advisors. Many robo-advisors have merged computer-driven portfolio management with access to human financial advisors. Some services offer a dedicated advisor to individual clients; others offer only email or online chat with a team of advisors.
Last updated on December 19, 2024
Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).
For more details about the categories considered when rating providers and our processes, read our full broker ratings methodology and our full robo-advisor ratings methodology.