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Robinhood is a US-based discount broker that was founded by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt in 2013. It initially launched as a stock tracker app that lets its users discuss which stocks they should buy. Shortly after its launch, Robinhood got approval to provide brokerage services. What made Robinhood unique, at the time, was that it gave its users commission-free trading.
This meant that anyone who signed up could buy and sell an unlimited amount of stock without being charged. Although its app was simpler than its competitors, the prospect of zero-commission trading earned it 50,000 sign-ups by the end of the first week who started investing. By the next six months, their waiting list had grown to 500,000 sign-ups with 80% of them being between the ages of 18 and 29.
Fast forward to 2022, with the Robinhood company now public, it looks like they have everything under control. That is in light of Robinhood's role in the GameStop stock spike scrutinized by Congress recently. This is prompting multiple users on Reddit urging users to leave Robinhood and retail investors are taking notice.
One recent comment with thousands of upvotes stating:
“Leaving Robinhood is the best thing you can do for yourself in the long term”
In case you're in this boat, this article can help.
What are other apps like Robinhood?
We’ll be looking at sixteen alternatives to Robinhood. We’ll break down what these apps are, whether they charge any fees, and who they’re best for – so keep reading.
If you're in a hurry, here are our top online brokers for those looking for a better way to invest.
| App | Best for |
|---|---|
| M1 Finance | Passive investors |
| Webull | Self-directed investors |
| Public | New investors |
| SoFi Invest | Fee-free active trading |
| Acorns | Investors in college |
| eToro | Crypto-trading |
1. Public
Public is a micro-investing app with a twist – it allows for social trading, too. As you deliberate which slice, or fractional stock, to buy, Public lets you see what other users are trading. What’s more is that you can direct message, post on discussion boards, or create group chats in-app.
Public also gives you the option of picking your own stocks to invest in or going with a preloaded theme. A theme is a list of companies that are in the same industry. Themes are particularly helpful if you want to support companies with specific causes (like environmental sustainability) or you want to discover new companies.
- Commission Fees: $0.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Beginners
Public.com is a commission-free investing app that caters to Millennials and Gen-Zers keen on investing in line with their social preferences and with good company. New users can receive a free slice of stocks valued between $3 to $300.
2. M1 Finance
M1 Finance is best for making automated, long-term investments. Similar to Robinhood, M1 Finance allows users to buy fractional shares. This is great for diversifying your portfolio as you can buy multiple stocks and ETFs at your preferred price. It’s a robo-advisor and one of the cooler features the M1 Finance app offers is the choice to construct investment pies.
A Pie is a portfolio that is fragmented into different stocks and ETFs you’d like to invest in. It looks just like a – you guessed it – a pie chart. Once you’ve chosen your assets, select what percentage of your money you’d like to each of them, and the app will automate your investments.
- Commission Fees: $0.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Beginners; hands-off traders
M1 Finance offers free automated investing as would any robo-advisor. And while it classifies as a robo-advisor in terms of features and functionality, it varies in a few key ways. Fund your account with $10,000+ and get up to a $500 bonus. It’s that easy.
3. Webull
Although Webull was established in 2017, it’s already ranked among the top apps rivaling Robinhood. It gives users a great mobile and desktop interface, free stock upon signing up, and two different brokerage accounts to choose from. Arguably, Webull’s best feature is its in-depth analysis tools.
In partnership with NASDAQ, Webull now offers its clients three months of free Level 2 market data. One of the perks of this offer is that you'll be able to see the best 30 bids and asks of all stocks listed on NASDAQ. This info gives traders a better view of the total market.
You’re able to trade stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrency, and ADRs.
- Commission Fees: $0.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Intermediate – advanced traders
Webull offers a promotion where you can get up to 12 free stocks worth between $3 and $3,000 each. To qualify, you need to make an initial deposit of any amount. The free stocks are randomly chosen from Webull's inventory of settled shares. They are from companies listed on NYSE or NASDAQ with a minimum market cap of $2.5 billion.
4. SoFi Invest
SoFi, short for “Social Finance,” is a relatively young firm that transitioned into brokering after initially focusing on student loan refinancing. Only available to US residents, SoFi's services are limited to US stocks, ETFs, and a few cryptocurrencies. Although it has a blog and YouTube channel that provides educational content for new traders, SoFi doesn't offer any tutorials, demo accounts, or webinars – which is common of its competitors.
- Commission Fees: SoFi doesn’t charge a commission fee in US stock and ETF trades.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Beginners
SoFi Invest allows members to buy and sell stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fractional shares, initial public offerings, and cryptocurrency. SoFi Invest also offers commission-free trades. Join now and get $25 worth of your favorite stock to start building your portfolio when you fund your SoFi Active Invest account with at least $10.
5. Acorns
Acorns is a robo-advisor that automates your investments. Its unique selling point is its Round-Up feature which lets you invest all of your spare change. To do this, you’ll need to link your accounts and cards to your Acorns investment portfolio.
To boot, Acorns also makes it easier for families to invest together. Custodial accounts let parents invest on behalf of their children. When the child reaches the legal age, the account will then become theirs to own and manage. This seems like a pretty good way to teach your kids financial literacy at a young age and maybe even save up for their college tuition at the same time.
- Commission Fees: Acorns charges a flat monthly rate of $1-$5.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Families; hands-off traders
With Acorns, automatically invest spare change from everyday purchases in expert-built portfolios recommended for you, easily save for retirement, get paid early, and more. Start in under 5 minutes and get a $20 bonus today!
6. eToro
eToro is best-known for its emphasis on social trading. In fact, it prides itself on being the world's leading social trading platform. It has over 13 million registered users worldwide and offices in Cyprus, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Right off the bat, eToro already has a broad reach. It also gives you the option to trade and invest in numerous assets like stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrency, Forex, and more.
What’s more, the platform is highly transparent. Some apps will let you follow and copy successful traders, but eToro goes a step further. It will show you a users’ gain percentage, portfolio composition, and risk score. You can also purchase CopyPortfolios, which are ready-made investment portfolios.
- Commission Fees: $0.
- Account Minimum: $200.
- Who it’s best for: Beginners
7. Moomoo
Moomoo is a brokerage app that covers stocks, ETFs, and options. While its tradable assets are limited, it gives you access to Hong Kong, China, and US markets. Remarkably, it also provides users with free in-app currency exchange.
Moomoo’s merits include a free demo and educational content on paper trading, financial analysis, and more.
- Commission Fees: Moomoo doesn't charge any commission fees for trading in US markets. It charges a 0.03% commission fee for trading Hong Kong stocks.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Active traders
8. Stash
Stash is a robo-advisor that specializes in making it affordable for everyday people to invest in stocks. Stack has 3 tiers of accounts with varying incentives and monthly charges. The Stash growth account costs $3 per month and the Stash+ account costs $9.
One of its features, Stock-Back rewards, lets users earn shares of stock or ETFs when purchases are made with a Stash debit card. Stash Coach is also an excellent (and fun) game that teaches you financial literacy.
- Commission Fees: Stash charges a flat monthly rate of $3-$9.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Beginners
9. Wealthsimple
It’s easy to see why Wealthsimple has been hailed as one of the world’s leading robo-advisors. During the sign-up process, you are required to fill in a user profile, which is then used to create a personalized investment portfolio for you. Based on this portfolio, Wealthsimple offers you a range of accounts to sign up for and constantly rebalances your portfolio to make sure it’s in-line with your goals.
- Commission Fees: $0.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Everyone
10. TD Ameritrade
If there’s one thing TD Ameritrade has excelled at, it’s being a platform that meets everyone’s needs. It provides a wealth of educational material, charts, and stock research analytics to assist beginners. Concurrently, TD Ameritrade’s Thinkorswim platform caters to advanced, active traders and is one of the best options trading platforms.
It also offers a variety of accounts that range from custodial to taxable. As the cherry on top, you can trade almost any security.
- Commission Fees: $0 on stocks, ETFs, and options.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Everyone
11. E*TRADE
With two mobile apps and multiple online platforms, it’s only fitting that E*TRADE was one of the first online brokerages in the US. It lets you trade a diverse set of securities such as common stock, futures, mutual funds, options, and so on. Its platforms host a variety of educational content, liver market commentary, and free real-time quotes.
- Commission Fees: $0 for online stock, options, and ETF trades.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Active traders; beginners; options traders
12. Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab has been in the brokerage game since 1971, giving it time to firmly establish itself and its services. For example, Charles Schwab offers a variety of securities that many of its newer counterparts don’t offer. At the same time, it adapts to new trends – like when it became one of the first brokers to stop charging commissions.
It provides a wealth of support in the form of platform tutorial videos, daily webinars, educational videos, and high quality articles.
- Commission Fees: $0.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Everyone
13. Fidelity
With its Active Trader Pro platform, Fidelity is strongly geared towards self-directed traders. Active Trader Pro ensures you are updated on market movements and allows you to manage up to 50 orders at a go, making it ideal for day trading. If you prefer a managed account, Fidelity caters to you as well. It has a robo-advisor and two other professionally managed accounts.
Add the fact that you can trade both US and international stocks as well as have the option of 16 base currencies, and Fidelity really stands apart from the crowd.
- Commission Fees: $0 on US stocks and ETFs.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Active traders
14. Ally Invest
Ally Invest is linked to one of the oldest companies in the US, Ally Financial Inc. and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, in terms of an online brokerage, it’s only a decade old. It was previously known as TradeKing, which was among the most cost-efficient investment platforms.
Ally Invest offers a wide selection of accounts and securities that cater to both self-directed and managed traders. It leans more on providing investors with the tools needed to stand on their own. Charts, quotes, and graphs among other tools help self-directed traders gauge their profits/losses and plan ahead.
- Commission Fees: $0 on stocks and ETFs above $2.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Self-directed traders
15. Stockpile
Stockpile takes an interesting approach to online brokering. It works by letting users trade stocks and buy gift cards that can be used to purchase fractional shares. It's a simple platform that doesn't offer much in the way of analytics, educational material, or a variety of assets.
The gift cards can be either digital or physical. Depending on which type of card you purchase, your total cost will be different. Physical cards are sold in increments of $25 while the starting price for e-cards are $2.99 for the first stock and $0.99 for each additional stock.
- Commission Fees: Stockpile charges a $0.99 commission fee for trading.
- Account Minimum: $0.
- Who it’s best for: Beginners; casual traders; young investors
Is there a better app than Robinhood?
Robinhood has gotten a lot of buzz over the past several years. Its commitment to offering zero-commission trading and no minimum account balance has drawn in millions of users. It also has a simple interface that’s easy-to-use for most beginners. What's more, is that they entice new members by offering free stocks for joining. As an increasing number of brokerages adapt to the market and begin offering the same incentives, it’s time to reevaluate whether there are better alternatives to Robinhood.
For instance, Robinhood has a limited variety of tradable assets. You can only invest in US-Exchange listed stocks and ETFs, options, and a few global exchange stocks. In terms of educational material, Robinhood offers articles best suited for beginners but little else. Other trading platforms often provide videos and webinars in addition to educational articles. The app has also experienced multiple outages during market surges.
Either way, whether or not there’s an app better than Robinhood is partially subjective. It depends on what you’re looking for. We’ve compiled a list of apps like Robinhood so you can decide for yourself.
Why should you use a Robinhood alternative?
There are many reasons why you might want to use a Robinhood alternative. Perhaps you don’t like the idea of giving your personal information to a company like Robinhood. Maybe you don’t like the idea of having your money tied up in one investing app. Or maybe you just want to have more options when it comes to investing in the stock market.
Whatever the reason, there are plenty of great Robinhood alternatives out there. Here are some of the reasons why you'll enjoy using investing apps like Robinhood.
You are a newer investor
Robinhood (and its competitors) is mostly aimed towards newer investors. This isn't to suggest that more sophisticated traders won't profit from them; rather, it implies they have a platform, pricing, and features that are tailored to new investors. Robinhood alternatives are great for those investing with little money.
You want to trade for free
Robinhood established the standard for commission-free trading. So, if you're searching for a no-commission alternative to Robinhood, look at one of the platforms I've suggested above (and save money on stock trading fees).
You want ease
Whether you're searching for an easy-to-use app or a hands-off approach like a robo advisor, those looking for an alternative to Robinhood will want investing to be simple. All of the choices on this list are extremely simple to get started with and utilize.
Why shouldn’t you use a Robinhood alternative?
There are some cases where these alternatives aren't appropriate for you. They include:
If you want to trade cryptocurrency
Of course, if you want to deal in cryptocurrency, I recommend using a reliable cryptocurrency exchange like Coinbase. While some of these apps do offer cryptocurrencies (such as Webull), your crypto must remain on the platform. If you trade with an exchange, you have more control over your currency. You can check out some of the best cryptocurrency apps to learn more.
You like advanced charting and options
While TD Ameritrade and E*TRADE, none of these platforms dominate in terms of complex research and charting. So if you're a day trader or someone looking for extensive study, you'll want to look elsewhere.
You have a ton to invest
If you have a lot of money to invest (I'd say invest $100,000 and up), you might want to explore a wealth management solution, which will provide more specialized advice and attention. Or see the following articles below to learn better how to invest larger sums of money and double it:
- How to invest $10,000
- How to invest $25,000
- How to invest $50,000
- How too invest $100,000
- How to Invest $200,000
- How to Invest $500,000
Most important features of a Robinhood alternative
Here are the key things you want to look for in a Robinhood alternative platform:
Fees
Look for a broker that doesn't charge any commissions. Wire transfers and usual SEC costs are usually accompanied by some kind of fee, but you can typically find brokers who won't charge you anything.
Read the account particulars and the associated broker's pricing schedule thoroughly so you are fully aware of what you will be charged, if anything. There might be hidden costs if, for example, you have a Roth IRA and wish to move it out in the future.
Mobile app
Everyone nowadays is using their phones. Make sure the broker you choose has a great mobile app experience. The app doesn't need to be loaded with features, but it should be simple to use and allow you to make investments quickly.
Extra account options
Despite our attempts to provide you with all possible Robinhood alternatives, you won't find this feature with every one of them. One thing to search for is extra account choices, such as a checking account or savings account, especially if you don't have an existing Robinhood account. Stash does this, as does Betterment, and other brokerages are implementing these features.
The advantage of this is that you may keep all of your money in theory with one brokerage/app. Instead of having a checking account somewhere else and an investment account on an app, there's only one place to store everything.
Best Robinhood Alternatives Summary Table
| App | Rating | Fees | Best for | Promo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 Finance | 4.3 | Commission-free trades and automated investing | Passive investors | $30 sign up bonus with $1,000 deposit |
| Webull | 4.7 | Commission-free trades | Self-directed investors and intermediate traders | Five free stocks with $5 deposit, valued between $32 – $8,000 and $5 worth of crypto for making one crypto trade |
| Public | 4.7 | Commission-free trades | New investors with limited capital | $10 of free stocks for signing up |
| SoFi Invest | 4.6 | Commission-free trades | Fee-free active trading and automated investing | Free stock worth between $5 – $1,000 |
| Acorns | 4.8 | $1/month – $5/month | Investors in college looking for a complete personal finance solution; custodial Roth IRAs | $10 sign up bonus when making first deposit at account opening |
| eToro | 4.6 | Commission-free trades | U.S. investors focused on crypto-trading | None |
Robinhood Alternatives FAQs
nly available in the US, but other countries are being considered. If you are looking for the best Robinhood alternatives, you can consider using M1 Finance, Webull, Public, SoFi Invest, Acorns, Stash or eToro.
If you are looking for the best free stock trading apps, you can consider using M1 Finance, Webull, Public, SoFi Invest, or eToro. Free stock trading apps are great because you can get started with little investment and it's easy to sign up.
If you are looking for apps that allow crypto trading, you can consider using Robinhood, Coinbase, TradeStation, or eToro. Crypto trading is a great way to invest in the growing cryptocurrency market.
Webull and Robinhood both allow you to trade stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies for free. Both of them also offer paper trading if you want to practice without real money. However, Webull provides more features such as market updates and news feed for free users unlike Robinhood that only has the watchlist feature free on their app.
There are a few apps that offer free Bitcoin for joining or free stocks. You can see the best promotions listed in this article.
Take Your Pick
It’s no secret that Robinhood revolutionized the way online brokerage platforms operate. It caused an on-going trend of zero-commission fees that have become the industry standard. However, no app is perfect. Robinhood has presented challenges to investors, and you might be among the investors who are looking for an alternative to Robinhood. The good news is that there are a host of other apps like Robinhood to choose from, each with its own unique selling points, so take your pick!
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